It was only a few minutes to seven, but the shopping center was nearly deserted by the time we got there, although there was one car in particular that I thought I recognized, but I ignored it as Archer pulled into a spot near the entrance closest to Ray’s shop. Thankfully, it was a well-lit area.
“We’re taking the elevator, with your knee.”
I didn’t like elevators, given how easy it was to be trapped in them, and I’d had that happen more than once, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so we crowded in and I held my breath as the car began its shaky ascent. But it made it, and as the doors opened with a shudder, we spilled out onto the main floor.
We turned left and headed toward the center of the shopping mall. I hadn’t been around this part of White Tower Center for some time. Most of the shops had closed up, though a few were still open and a handful of straggling shoppers still wandered through the mall, but I paid no attention to them, focused on finding the tattoo parlor.
“Ray’s shop is supposed to be about seven stores down, on the right-hand side.” Archer led the way, with Nate and Dani behind me. Marsh was next to me—he told me so even though he was keeping out of sight.
My knee wasn’t particularly happy, but the more I walked, the easier it got. I had the feeling it was going to be stiff by morning, though, even with the infusion of chi that I had gotten from Archer. I still planned on milking the injury for all it was worth out at Wynter’s court.
Nate craned his neck as we went. “This looks just about like any shopping mall.” He sounded disappointed.
“You expected what? Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley?” I stifled a snort at his glare.
“No, but…I guess…I expected something more dramatic or exotic. You know, specialty stores for Weres or Fae or…just something. Hell, there’s a Car Jar—you can find them everywhere.” He pointed toward the auto-accessory shop.
“Fae and Weres need to drive, too.” I relented after a moment. “I promise, we’ll all come back together later on and take you to see the places you’re expecting. Though maybe we’ll focus on Fae-oriented shops, given the current state of my relationship with the Weres. There are plenty of shops here like you were expecting, but they’re interspersed with the ones for everyday life.”
He flashed me a smile. “Thanks, Lily.”
“I still can’t believe you’ve never been here.”
“You know…it’s not a welcoming area to humans, and we stand out in a crowd.”
He was right. Humans didn’t give off the same vibe as Supes—it was an energy thing, and even those who were headblind knew it. So, when I thought about it, I really wasn’t all that surprised. Nate was shy, and while he was built and in shape, he wasn’t a fighter. All that compounded by being around people who made you feel like you were the one who stood out? It had to be difficult.
Archer pointed to the right. “There, Bender’s shop.”
As we swung in, I thought I heard something behind us, but when I turned, I only saw the back of a couple men, laden down with bags and packages, who must have come out of the shop next to the tattoo parlor.
Well lit compared to some of the holes in the road I had seen, Ray’s shop was spacious. He was a well-known artist in his own right. There would never be another Souljacker, or at least, if there was, they hadn’t come forward, but Ray was a talented artist with a lot of satisfied customers.
Ray was nowhere in sight, but we heard the buzz of the tattoo gun as we entered the shop. I motioned toward the banquette to one side of the shop. As we sat down to wait, I breathed a sigh of relief for the break from walking. So far, so good, but I still hurt like hell.
The walls were covered with flash, as well as beautiful, macabre paintings of roses and elaborate sea creatures, and sugar-art skulls. Dani wandered over to one, glancing at the signature. She turned. “Bender’s work,” she said. “He’s really incredibly talented.”
“That he is.” Archer glanced at me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m all right. My knee aches, but the chi helped a lot. If you’re up to it later, I wouldn’t mind a top off.” I grinned at him.
He reached out, and for a moment I thought he wanted me to hand him a magazine, but instead he took my hand and wrapped his fingers around mine and squeezed. “I’ll always be happy to give you a top off.”
I bit my lip, wondering just where we were going with this.
“What the hell?” Nate was staring at his phone in disbelief. He didn’t sound happy.
“What? What happened?” I leaned around Archer, worried.
“I just got texted from a friend at work. They’re going to fire me. He heard my boss talking about it. They say that program I wrote? The one I told you about that will automate services? They say it was done last year in China and that if we proceed, it will be a patent infringement. I swear, I didn’t know! But Modal Technologies thinks I tried to steal the idea.” Stricken, Nate just stared at his phone, his jaw hanging open.
“That’s ridiculous. You aren’t a thief.”
“I know that, and you know that, but Modal Technologies apparently thinks so. This is so bizarre—how could this happen?”
Archer let out a soft grunt and let go of my hand. He rubbed his forehead, looking pained. “I think I know, and if I’m right, well…it’s my fault.”
“Your fault? How so? I only just told Lily about it two days ago.”
I was equally as confused. “How on earth could this be your fault?”
Archer gave us a sheepish look. “Do you forget what I am? I’m a chaos demon. When I get involved in peoples’ lives, chaos follows. I don’t instigate it deliberately, but it happens. Not all the time, and never in the way I expect it to. I’m afraid that this off chance of them discovering a similar program isn’t random—it goes against the odds, but that’s what happens around me. Things that are a one in a million chance? Take cover, because sure enough, I’m a chaos magnet for beating the odds, in both good and bad ways.”
Nate paled. “Crap. Then that means they’re right—there is another program out there that’s like mine? I didn’t discover something brand new, but just…”
“The hundredth monkey theory,” Archer finished for him.
Marsh’s voice echoed from the other side of where I was sitting. “What’s that?”
Startled—I had forgotten he was there—I said, “It’s a theory that was proposed about the simultaneous eruption of a single idea among multiple groups. Basically, meaning that Nate and this person in China had the same idea at the same time, with no communication between them. And it probably means there are others who think they’ve discovered the same thing too.”
Nate let out a long sigh. “I wonder if I can convince my boss of that. I guess I’ll have to deal with it when I go into work. There’s nothing I can do right now.”
At that moment, the sound of the tattoo gun stopped. A few minutes later, Ray Bender emerged from the back. I had met him once or twice around White Tower Center, and recognized him right off. His client—a young Fae woman—winced. Her bandaged shoulder looked inflamed, but that was common given how big the piece seemed to be.
“You come back in three weeks and we’ll see if we need to touch it up. Meanwhile, here are your aftercare instructions. Don’t get it wet. Don’t scratch. Do use the ointment. Call me if you have any concerns.” Ray waved her out and turned to us.
“I’m glad you made it. I’m heading out as soon as we get done talking.” He paused, staring at me for a moment. “Lily? Lily O’Connell?”
I nodded. “Long time, no talk. Thank you for seeing us.” I was about to ask if there was someplace private we could discuss matters, but realized that there was nobody else in the shop. “We need to ask you a few questions about Charles Schafer.”
Ray Bender was a tall man, burly. His hair was long, pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and he had stretched ear lobes, with plugs made of sparkling crystals that were the size of buttons. He looked like the type of man you w
ould think would have a beard, but he was clean shaven. His jeans and shirt were meticulous, even though he worked around ink all day.
“I’ll help if I can.” He pulled a rolling chair out from around the counter and wheeled it over to sit down opposite us. “I heard he’s out. I heard about what’s going on.” He paused, then asked, “You all have his ink, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Well, all of us except Archer. This is Archer Desmond, he’s a private investigator. And I don’t know if you’ve met Danielle Halloran and Nate Winston. The Souljacker did their ink. We were wondering if you’d heard about what happened, but you answered that.”
Ray shook his head. “He and I were going to exchange ink, but before we got the chance, he was taken.”
“Excuse me,” Dani said. “Is there a restroom near here?”
Ray pointed toward the front of the shop. “Turn right, and about three shops down turn right again. There are restrooms and water fountains down that hallway.”
“You want me to come with you?” I glanced up at her.
“No, save your knee the strain. I’ll be right back. Something didn’t sit too well with my stomach.” Dani was out of the shop before we could stop her.
I turned back to Ray. “Tygur Jones was killed in my salon the other night. We’re trying to find out where Charles is, since the police won’t touch vampire executions.”
“Cops won’t touch much of anything anymore.”
I let out a slow breath. “You’ve got that right. Which means we have to do the job for them, especially since you know he won’t stop hunting his former clients until he has what he wants. We’ve figured out that Charles is after his art in the hopes of recovering his humanity. It’s nuts. He’s jumped the shark, gone over the edge, disappeared into la-la land. Call it whatever you want, he’s lost all touch with reality.”
“What are you planning?”
I closed my eyes, suddenly realizing how tired the past few days had made me. “You know what we need to do, Ray. If you have any information about where he might be, please tell us. I don’t know if there’s a code among artists but…”
“Oh, we have a code of sorts, but the artist is gone, girl. The real Souljacker? He died when that vampire turned him. If I knew where to find the creature that’s out there now, I’d tell you in an instant. Like a rabid beast, you gotta put ’em down when they get dangerous.” Ray leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
“I will tell you, though, that you’re not the only one looking for him. Not twenty minutes ago, a man—human as me—came through, and he was accompanied by four vampires. He was dressed to the nines. I know that was the Souljacker’s father because I recognized him from the newscast about the escape.”
Crap! Terrance had already been here. “What did he want?”
“He was asking questions about Charles. Wanted to know if I knew where he was. I was damned relieved to be able to honestly say I know nothing. I didn’t like the looks of them. Beady eyes…dangerous. Vamps scare the fuck out of me, and not much else does. I’ve dealt with things that would make most people faint dead away. But vampires?” He shook his head.
Beside me, Archer stiffened. “You say they were here less than twenty minutes ago?”
“Yeah, they pulled me out of my session, which is the only reason I was still here when you arrived. I needed to finish up my client’s piece, and the goons forced me to step outside to talk to them. At first, I was afraid they didn’t believe me and were gonna rough me up.”
Exactly what we didn’t need. Terrance and his cronies…and then I froze. “Greg. I’ll bet you Greg was with him. And if they are still in the shopping center somewhere…”
“Dani.” Nate jumped up. “I’ll go find her. She should be back by now anyway.” He took off out the door.
I turned to Archer. “What do we do?”
“We’d better get moving. Find Dani and get the hell out of here before we run into Schafer and his posse. The last thing we want is for them to get wind that we’re after Charles.” He turned to Ray. “Please don’t say anything about our visit. A lot of peoples’ lives depend on secrecy.”
Ray nodded. “I’ll do what I can, bro. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get my ass home before the storm keeps me trapped in here all night.” He paused. “You do know that there aren’t any wards allowed in the mall, right? Not White Tower Center. Vampires are bound by an honor code not to feed here in exchange for being allowed to shop freely. It’s not always followed, but for the most part, the Deadfather keeps to the treaty. However, someone like Charles…”
He didn’t have to finish the thought. The Souljacker would no more abide by an honor code than a rabid badger would.
We were headed toward the entrance when a scream echoed through the wide plaza.
“That’s Dani’s voice.” I tried to run, managing a fast walk, but Archer was already out the door and down the hall. I turned to Ray, a frantic look on my face. “My friend—”
“Come on girl, I’ve got you.” He swept me up as if I weighed nothing and jogged into the mall, turning right. As the burly tattooist carried me along, I could only pray that Dani was okay, and that neither the Souljacker nor Greg had managed to find her.
Chapter 29
I draped my arm around Ray’s neck, leaning into his chest as he carried me down the hall at breakneck speed and turned right, into a hallway. Up ahead, we could hear Nate’s voice, coming through a set of swinging doors at the end of the hallway beyond the restrooms, which were to the left of the hall. Ray turned slightly as we came to the doors so that his shoulder met the doors and not my leg. As we burst through, we found ourselves in a wide hall, which I assumed was the back-alley portion of the mall. Still enclosed, it looked like where the shipping, receiving, and general behind-the-scenes work for the stores took place.
Archer was nowhere in sight. Nate was waiting for us, looking frantic. “Hurry! Archer’s headed out to the loading dock. He’s got her—the Souljacker. He has Dani. He was dragging her toward the door when I saw him.”
“He must have been watching and followed us from the house.” I wanted to scream or hit something, but instead, turned to Ray. “Please, can you help me get out there?”
He nodded and, without a word, followed Nate through a back door that led to a loading dock. We were just in time to see Archer crossing the street, heading toward the Underground’s back entrance. Damn, the Souljacker was taking her into the labyrinth. I was frantic. I needed to be stronger, so I could run. I looked back at Ray. If I drank from him, I could manage it. Archer had given me a good start, but I needed more. But if I drank from him, I could easily kill him.
You can’t do this, I thought. You can’t take his life just to save Dani’s life. You don’t know this man, he may have a family, a wife—kids. You aren’t starving…if you drink from him, you’ll be deliberately chancing his life.
“Damn it!”
My shout in his ear threw Ray off his game, and he stepped on a patch of snow that was hiding ice and we both went down.
“What the hell? What happened?” He shook his head, looking confused.
“I’m sorry, my fault. Dude, I…” As I searched for something to say, a noise behind us caught my attention. I turned in time to see two of the weretigers who had attacked me earlier burst through the door behind us. “What the hell? Are you guys stalking me?”
“Tricia doesn’t like failure,” Tall Boy said. “When we saw you walking through the mall, we decided to prove to her that we’re not screw ups.” As usual, he couldn’t resist running his mouth off.
I groaned. Not this again. Not now. And then I realized that the car I had recognized had been the one in which they had sped away from the parking lot earlier.
As my mind flipped through potential outcomes to this scenario—all of which were bad—I suddenly had an idea. “You. Tall dude. Come here. I dare you. You and me—winner takes all. You’ve got an advantage, you know. I’m hurt already.” I glanced at Ray
and whispered, “Get on your feet and get ready to run like hell when I grab him. You do not want these men on your ass. Trust me.”
He frowned, but did as I said, reaching down to haul me up with him. I stood there, motioning for him to move aside as Tall Boy sauntered toward me. Apparently, he and his partner were just about as bright as they had been earlier in the day.
Nate was frantically making tracks back to the stairs leading up to the loading dock. “Lily!”
Ray refused to budge. “I’m not leaving you alone with these thugs.”
I sighed. “Just stay out of my way, okay? I know what I’m doing.”
He frowned, but just then Tall Boy planted himself right in front of me, a cocky grin on his face. The oaf really thought I believed I could take him down.
“Okay, succuslut. You and me. Let’s go.”
As he made a sudden grab for me, I lunged for him, throwing my arms around his neck and planting my lips on his. As we toppled over, with me on top, I immediately began to suck in his breath, drinking as deeply as I could, as quickly as I could. Startled, he lay there like a pancake. I could make the experience hurt, and I did—draining his life force at the fastest rate that I could. Nate raced past me as Ray gave a shout and I heard a scuffle. I ignored the noise, focusing on draining Tall Boy of every ounce of energy that he had. He was struggling now, finally realizing just what was happening, but like a drowning man, there wasn’t much he could do. He flailed, trying to push me off, but by now the flow of energy was so rapid that he was rapidly losing strength. Another moment, and he lay still.
I looked up in time to see Ray and Nate trying to hold down the other one. I jumped up, my knee feeling almost 100 percent, and unsheathed my dagger. As I headed over, I realized that from here out, everything would change. I had already gone beyond the pale, irrevocably cementing myself as an enemy to the Weres.