"She's not a girl."
"Yep, which only makes her more dangerous. The hound can wait. I'll talk to Ioan. See how the hell something like that can happen."
He was pissed off enough that he nearly strode through the front door. It was only when I caught the back of his Saints jacket that he halted.
"Fuck," he muttered. "Sorry. Have you got--?"
"Gun out, switchblade and tusk in pocket."
He nodded and took out his blade.
"We should circle the building," I said as he reached for the knob. "See if the lamia is around."
"Right. Sorry. Distracted."
"I know, so fall in behind and watch my back."
I added a "please," but he was already moving behind me. We conducted a full circle of the building. There was no sign of Melanie or anyone else.
"Before we go in," Ricky said, "text Gabriel, presuming you haven't already."
"I don't want to bother him."
"When he came after you the first time you were here, he texted me so someone knew where you both were. We should do the same."
"I'll leave a message at the office--"
"He didn't ignore your cry for help when you were trapped, Liv. He ignored what he thought was just you trying to get in touch after your fight. He won't do that again, either."
"I know. I--"
"You don't want to be proven wrong. You'd rather tell yourself he'll never repeat that mistake, cross your fingers, and hope you never have to test the theory."
"It's not like that."
"It's exactly like that, and I don't blame you one bit. If you want me to text, I will, but we need to keep him in the loop." He lowered his voice. "You've already tested him, Liv. You fell off a bridge."
"I know."
"Then you also know that jumping after you was a conscious choice, not a mistake he regrets. Text him. Please."
I sent the message and let Ricky take the lead as we headed for the back door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The door was unlocked. As Ricky held it open, I leaned through to find the cold-forged iron Melanie had mentioned. As soon as I did, I felt that weirdly burning cold. When I shone my penlight around the door frame, the beam reflected off a glaze of iron shavings, encircling the entire frame. I touched them and felt the icy burn.
"Thou shalt not proceed," I murmured.
"Innovative," Ricky said. "It looks like they spray-glued a layer of the stuff. You said Gabriel feels it?"
"It burns him. I'm guessing for a full-blooded fae it would be like leaping through a ring of fire." I set the knife down, took out my phone and texted a warning to Gabriel, on the off chance he needed to come after us.
I picked up the knife again and shone the light on the door frame, as Ricky ran his hand up and down it.
"Nothing?" I said.
"Just a tingle."
As soon as we stepped from the back hall, I smelled blood. Ricky did, too, and we followed it into the main room. The first thing I saw was the portrait of the lamia who'd died in my vision. Blood spattered and streaked the glass. It spattered and streaked the walls, too, and when we peered in, squinting against the darkness--
I fell back as moonlight lit a figure in the middle of the room.
Ricky caught my arm. He held me there a second and then whispered, "You can stay here."
An offer. Not an order or even a request, and he only nodded when I shook my head.
Ricky barely spared a glance for the figure as he checked through the two open doors and closed them. Only once he was sure no one could surprise us did he turn to that figure. He let out a deep sigh, muttering, "Fuck."
It was Erin--the young woman who worked with Aunika. She'd been bound to a chair and tortured. I'll say no more about that, only that the room was flecked with blood and I suspected she hadn't had the answers her killer wanted.
As Ricky crouched in front of Erin's body, my phone rang. It was on vibrate, but in the silence, even that was loud enough to make me jump.
"Gabriel," I said.
I told him what we'd found.
"Should we notify the police?" I asked.
"Not if you don't have to."
That's what I'd figured. Considering the sheer number of dead bodies that turned up in my wake, I needed to avoid being associated with one whenever possible. Especially when I didn't have a valid reason for being here at four in the morning.
Gabriel had me run through what we'd done so far, to determine how likely it was that we'd ever be tied to this crime. Then he said, "Exit the way you came in. Wheel the motorcycle. Don't start the engine until you're at least a block away. Have Ricky remove his Saints jacket until you're a few miles from the scene. Then ask him to drive here. I want to discuss this with both of you."
"Sure. We'll--"
Sirens sounded in the distance. Gabriel must have heard them and said to me, "I'm sure they're going elsewhere, given the neighborhood. But ask Ricky to check out a front window--"
"He's already there."
"Good. If you don't see lights, leave through the back immediately. But make sure before you step onto the street."
"Look both ways and don't walk in front of any police cars?"
The flash of lights filled the room.
"They've turned the corner, heading this way," Ricky said, striding back to me. "We need to go, just in case--"
Brakes screeched as we jogged into the back room.
"Shit!" Ricky said.
"Gabriel? They're coming here. Do we--? No, wait. There's a secret passage."
Ricky looked back at me. "What?"
"That's how Aunika and I got out. Gabriel--?"
"Do that," he said.
"I'm going to lose you as soon as we go underground, so this is goodbye. We'll call as soon as we can. Hopefully not from the police station."
--
Ricky was as impressed by the escape hatch and subterranean passage as I'd been.
"We need one of these under the clubhouse," he whispered.
"You can dig a tunnel, but you aren't going to get the ambiance of a proper nineteenth-century version."
"We'll decorate."
I smiled and, we strained to listen to what was happening overhead. It only took a few minutes before someone banged on the front door hard enough to shake the ladder. Then a shout of "Police!" The door opened with a crash and boots stomped in, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to fall into memories of my parents' arrest.
"It's okay," Ricky whispered, his arms going around me. "Look at me."
I opened my eyes, and his face was right over mine.
"Just focus on me. Deep breaths."
I wanted to say I was okay, but his arms tightened around me. I took a minute to recover and stepped back with a thank-you.
Ricky reached for my switchblade and pushed the off button for the light. "Just for a minute, okay?"
We didn't want cops seeing light coming from a closet. Ricky found my hand in the dark again, entwining his fingers with mine while we listened.
The police found Erin. They called for assistance and began searching the building. Ricky flicked on my light just long enough to see our surroundings. Then he moved my free hand to hang on to his jacket while he led us deeper into the tunnels. My night vision is pretty good. His is better--another gift of his stronger Cwn Annwn blood.
Once we were partway down the next tunnel, he turned on my light and held it out to me.
"You want it back?" he whispered.
"No, keep it," I said.
He shone the beam around. "Wow. If we weren't running from the cops, I'd totally want to go exploring down here."
I chuckled. "That's what I thought last time I was fleeing through here. It's fascinating, isn't it? All this, abandoned, and--" I stopped short, my head swinging to the left.
"You hear something?" he whispered.
"No, sorry, just...I'd totally forgotten what happened the last time I was down here."
"Hypothermia, rem
ember? The doctors said you might have black spots. Was it a vision?"
I nodded. "There were lamiae, they'd been held captive..."
I'd promised to see to their remains. I had to make sure I did that.
I continued, "The point for now is that the last time I was down here, I had visions."
"Got it. Which means this time..." He took my hand. "Hold tight. If you see anything move, tell me. Don't wait to be sure it's not just a rat."
"There are rats?"
"Underground? Near the river? Nah."
I managed a soft laugh. "Right. Okay then, let's press on."
We couldn't hear anything overhead. Which didn't mean the police were gone--they'd be there for hours. We had to find our own way out. That would be much easier if I could recall anything about the layout of this place.
We continued down one passage after another.
"Starting to feel like we should have brought breadcrumbs," Ricky said.
"Wouldn't help. The rats would eat them."
He chuckled and pushed open a door. It got partway open and stopped. He looked down. "What the--?"
The room strobed. I heard soft sobs. The rattle of chains. A man lay on the floor, his body decomposing. Another body lay near--
"--and wrong room, apparently."
A yank on my arm, hard enough to make me stumble, and I found myself back in the corridor with Ricky, his fingers wrapped tight around my arm as he shut the door he'd been opening.
"Wrong room," he repeated.
"Yep." I glanced down. "Was there a...?"
"Skeletonized body blocking the door? Unfortunately." He looked around. "Okay, so let's back up, away from the vision-inducing hell-room and--"
"Wait!" I said. "This way. There's a window right around the corner. That's where Gabriel found me."
I led him through a doorway to see a figure coming through the broken window. I gripped his arm. "I'm seeing--"
"It's not a vision," he whispered. "Unless we're sharing it." He tugged me back along the passage. "You said Gabriel came through there?"
I shook my head. "He couldn't fit, so that can't be him."
He turned off the light and we stood there, listening. Footsteps whispered across the floor. Then Ricky pulled me toward a doorway. We slipped in and waited.
As I listened, I picked up breathing. Fast, deep breathing, like someone trying not to panic. Three careful, light footfalls.
"Don't take another step."
I jumped at the voice--an unmistakable baritone.
"There is a gun trained on you," Gabriel said. "You will raise your hands and take two steps back toward me."
"I'm--" It was a girl's voice.
"I do not care. You will step back or you will be shot, and it may not kill you, but I suspect a bullet doesn't need to be cold-forged iron to be rather uncomfortable."
We slid from our hiding spots. I took the lead now, my gun in hand. I peeked around the corner to see Gabriel crouched at the window. Moonlight flooded through. He caught my eye and nodded.
"Turn my way," he said to the lamia.
She did. Then she said, "Hey, you don't have a--"
"I said there was a gun trained on you. I did not say I was holding it."
"That'd be me," I said.
She looked over her shoulder. "Mat--Olivia." She went still. Then she turned sharply to Gabriel. "Gwynn," she whispered. "I didn't recognize you at first."
"Possibly because my name is Gabriel," he said dryly.
"I-I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect." She glanced quickly at us, nodding for Ricky, but then turned back to Gabriel and stared. "Th-thank you. For coming. To help us. We appreciate it."
"They came for you," Gabriel said. "I came for them."
"We need to get out of here," she said. "Before the police join this party."
"Which is, I believe, why Olivia and Ricky are crawling around in those tunnels," Gabriel said.
"Yes, my--sir," the lamia said. "I just meant...I'm sorry. I'm flustered." She stopped suddenly. "The police. That means there's a body, right? It--it's not...Aunika?"
"Erin," I said. "She's--"
"I know her. We...we were on the streets together a few years ago." She closed her eyes and looked sick. Then she asked, "Was it quick?"
"Seemed so," I lied.
She nodded, her gaze down as she chewed her lip. I took my first good look at her. She appeared as a girl of maybe seventeen. Dark hair in a ponytail. No makeup on an olive-skinned face that wouldn't have been out of place on a Grecian urn, with big dark eyes and a somber expression. Her outfit, though, was classic twenty-first-century teen: hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.
Ricky spoke up. "Considering the police are upstairs, and they conveniently arrived after we were summoned here by you, you're going to follow us and answer some questions. Hopefully, with responses we like."
"Y-you think I called the police on you?"
I'd say that the shock on her face proved she hadn't, but I reminded myself of what Gwynn had said. Remember these were fae. I could not take their expressions at, well, face value.
"If I framed their Mallt-y-Dos, the Cainsville fae would stomp me and all my sisters," she said, "just to make a point."
"You said you couldn't get into the center," I said. "But we just caught you using the secret route."
"Which is blocked by cold iron at the door to Aunika's office. I can't use it to get up there."
That was true. Of course, it raised the question..."If Aunika is so intent on helping the lamiae, why is she blocking her office and apartment?"
"Can I answer later? Please? The police--"
"--are otherwise occupied," Gabriel said. "The longer we're down here, the easier it'll be for us to leave, allowing the first responders to clear the scene. Now you will answer Olivia's questions or you will not contact us again."
Melanie cast a sidelong look at Gabriel and finally said, "We don't ever need to go into her office. The iron protects her against other fae. It's a place to retreat if she's threatened, a precaution all samhail take, warding their private quarters. In her apartment, it's just the doorknob. We can get in if she lets us. As for why I was entering this way, I knew Mat--Olivia and Ricky were inside and I wanted to help them. I hoped I could do that without crossing her office threshold."
"You weren't exactly rushing to our aid," I said.
"We know the tunnel exists, and we've used it in emergencies, but we avoid it when we can. Things happened here. To our sisters. A long time ago." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I can still feel it. I hear them. Crying and--" She broke off and rubbed her arms.
That was why she wanted out of here so fast.
"We'll go," I said.
"I need to make a stop once we're out," Melanie said. "My sister is waiting."
"I'm sure she can take care of herself."
"No," Melanie said. "Actually, she can't."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Melanie led us nearly a half mile along the wharfs until we came to an empty building. As she tugged open a heavy door, I took out my gun.
"Pepper?" she called. "It's me. I brought company." She glanced over at us. "I'm hoping she recognizes you, but if she spooks, I'll have to go after her." She turned back to the dark room. "Hey, Pep? Come on out. I--"
A girl appeared in the circle of my penlight beam. It was the one from my visions--the one who'd chided me to help the lamiae. Yet it wasn't. The girl in my visions had been younger than Melanie, smaller, too, with straight dark hair and a solemn face. All that matched this girl. But her expression wasn't merely solemn. It was empty. And her eyes...She had a snake's eyes, greenish yellow and slitted. She stared at us, unblinking. That empty gaze moved from me to Ricky. Then it landed on Gabriel.
Something flashed in those eyes. Life. Thought. Emotion. Enough to say someone lived behind the serpent's gaze.
She walked toward Gabriel, and I could see him holding himself still, wary. She reached to touch his arm, and as he tensed, I caught h
er hand.
"Pepper, right?" I said.
Her skin was ice-cold and rough, like scales, though I saw only skin. As my fingers touched hers, she let out a sigh, almost a hiss of satisfaction, and her fingers wrapped around mine, her other hand reaching for my bare wrist. I started to pull away, but Melanie said, "Don't! She won't hurt you. It's just...You're warm. She can't regulate her body temperature."
Pepper laid both hands on my skin, her eyes slitting as she shuddered. I motioned for Ricky to take my gun. Then I clasped Pepper's hands to warm them, and she melted against me.
"Pepper," Melanie said, taking her shoulder. "We'll get you warmed up. She doesn't want that."
"It's okay," I said, and awkwardly embraced the girl. As Pepper huddled against me, her one sleeve pushed up and I saw scales. I rubbed my finger over them.
"What's wrong with her?" I asked.
"Her glamour's broken." Melanie hesitated, and her voice cracked. "She's broken."
I rubbed Pepper's shoulders, and she snuggled closer, her body warming as she absorbed my heat.
"What happened to her?" I asked.
"There was a man. A client. She'd been seeing him for a while, and he seemed fine, but I guess he was...what do they call it? Grooming her? He invited her to his place for a night. Promised her a lot of money. Only it wasn't just him, and it wasn't just a night. We didn't find her for a week, and by then...Lamiae can handle a lot. We're used to it. But sometimes..." She walked over and hugged Pepper. "Sometimes even we break."
Melanie backed up, hands going into her hoodie pockets. "Aunika helps with her. We--the others and I--we feed her. We'd never expect her to...She couldn't...Not after that. We can feed her our energy. It's not enough to fix her, though. Nothing's enough." Melanie exhaled. "Anyway, that's Pep. She'd never hurt anyone. But she can be hurt. Easily. With this psycho hunting us, Aunika was trying to figure out a safe place for Pepper. Where he can't find her, and where we won't have to worry about her so we can focus on protecting ourselves until someone catches this guy. That's what you're doing, right? Trying to catch him?"
"Let's get her someplace warm," Ricky said, his first words since we arrived. "Do you guys eat?" He looked at Pepper. "Or I guess public places are out of the question, with those eyes."
"She has contacts. Aunika got them." Melanie squeezed Pepper's shoulder. "Hey, Pep. Can you put in your contacts? We're going someplace warm. Get you some soup, maybe."
Pepper's empty eyes lighted as she dipped her chin in a nod. Then she hurried to a backpack in the corner and riffled through it.