Feeling as if they needed to go as well, Trisk took Daniel’s elbow and drew him to his feet. “We should find a radio station,” she said, eager to be gone and back under an open sky. The sooner they could start telling people how to avoid getting sick, the better.
Daniel glanced back at Piscary, the old vampire preoccupied by his own thoughts. “So much for my career. You know anyone hiring?”
She sighed, too tired to even chuckle. Too tired, and too depressed. The need to publicly announce that it was her tomatoes causing the plague was both an itch and a fear. It would cast a shadow on not just her future, but her past. It wasn’t her fault, but she’d never work in a lab again. “Sorry about the mess,” she said as she stepped carefully through the chunks of door, her mind already on how to find a way out of here. Perhaps Leo could drive them.
“Where are you going?” Piscary said, and she and Daniel froze, the hallway feet away.
“Ah, to find a radio station,” Trisk said, exchanging a worried glance with Daniel. Piscary’s pupils had widened to a thick black, and she stifled a twitch when he stood in a smooth motion, buttoning his coat and running a hand over his clean-shaven skull.
“You misunderstand,” he said as he ghosted forward. “We do not come out, and no mention of the T4 Angel plague will be announced, until we find Dr. Kalamack and he agrees to provide us with a drug that allows one scion to supply a master with enough blood for a chance at immortality.” He looked at her pointedly. “I hope you have a firm will, Dr. Cambri. I fear Kalamack will be most reticent and need much encouragement. If he doesn’t agree, I won’t allow anyone to break the silence. In any way whatsoever.”
Trisk’s lips parted. She’d been so anxious to get the word out that she’d forgotten Daniel was still in danger. Her hope died, then rose again as she saw Piscary standing ready. “You’ll help us find him?” she asked, and Piscary’s black eyes glinted with the hunger of a hunter.
“Absolutely,” Piscary said, taking a huge breath of air. “Le-e-e-o-o-o!”
37
It was Halloween, though no one trick-or-treated. Trisk and Daniel had been looking for Kal all day to no avail, joined by Piscary after the sun had set. Trisk sensed a quiet restlessness in the master vampire, now sitting in the front seat of the large luxury sedan. A tiny Asian woman was driving, all in black silk and smelling of cherry blossoms. Leo and Daniel were with Trisk in the back. Another car full of Piscary’s men was behind them, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d fallen in with a mob boss as they cruised through not only Cincinnati, but also the small city of Newport across the river, where Piscary actually lived.
After several hours, the tension in the car had become palpable, and she clenched her jaw as Leo cracked his knuckles, starting with his pinkie and working his way down until he reached the end and started over. Daniel seemed oblivious, slouched into the car door as he yawned.
“Keeping you awake?” Leo said, flushing in embarrassment when Piscary frowned in disapproval.
“Sorry.” Daniel stretched where he sat, only to immediately slump back against the door to stare out at the dark city. “Long day.”
Which was true. On Trisk’s advice, they’d gone to the airport, using the finding charm they’d gotten in Chicago to see if Kal was trying to flee with the refugees. There’d been no ping of magic on their slow drive-by.
From there they had crossed the river to cover every inch of Cincinnati in a half-mile grid pattern. Their afternoon had been spent at the outskirts, physically checking in at the vampire-manned roadblocks. Sunset had them back to Newport to get Piscary. The need to produce results had become unbearable, and Trisk was starting to think Ulbrine and Kal had vanished into the ever-after.
“Dr. Cambri, is there any indication from your charm?” Piscary asked, his eyes on one of his watches. He wore two of them, in case one failed. Getting belowground before sunrise wasn’t simply prudent, but the difference between life and death. Or undeath, perhaps.
Her gaze dropped to the tiny disk in her hand. If not for the tickle of energy running through it, she’d say it was just a hunk of metal. “No.”
“You think it’s even working?” Daniel asked, his voice as tired.
“No,” Trisk said again, nervous when Piscary’s eyes dilated at her sudden surge of fear. Exhaling, she calmed herself, not liking the uneasy glance Leo and the Asian woman shared through the rearview mirror.
“Be easy, Dr. Cambri,” Piscary said, clearly having noticed her angst. “There is more than witch magic to find the missing.” He looked at his watch again. “Ellen, Fordges probably has something by now,” he said, and without a word, the woman took the next right, wheeling the car off the sporadically lit main street and into a more certain dark.
“Fordges?” Daniel asked, but Trisk thought it was more to wake up than out of true interest.
“My informant.” With a confident grace, Piscary flipped open the glove box and took out an envelope. He turned in his seat, handing it to Leo as the car smoothly parked at a nondescript corner store. The nearby streetlight had been broken, and only the light spilling out the windows lit the cracked, weed-choked parking strip in the depressed area.
Immediately Leo got out, his smile wide and showing sharp but small canines. “Be right back,” he said as the chill night slipped in with the scent of garbage and chili. The door shut, and he sauntered into the store.
Trisk watched as he stood at the register and talked to a bearded man, a Were by the look of it, who gestured wildly, then clung to Leo when the vampire began to leave. Her pulse quickened when Leo glanced at the car, then turned back to the rough-looking man to listen.
Good or bad? she wondered, settling back into the plush leather. There was a plethora of ley lines in the area, most of them on the Ohio side of things. It would be a nice place to work—even with the large vampire community. At least the stores would be open all night. She didn’t mind that the streets were darker here than across the river in Cincinnati—darker and somehow more dangerous, though the buildings were lower and wider spaced.
She’d been seeing darting shadows at the edges of the light all night, as if people were out tasting the wind to see what was changing. Piscary had said nothing would be announced until Kal agreed to manufacture the metabolism booster, but clearly the city knew that those in power were considering breaking the silence.
“Here he comes,” Daniel said, but her hope faltered as she took in Leo’s hunched shoulders. “We’ll find him,” Daniel whispered, seeing it as well.
“We’ve been at it all day. Every hour we wait, more people die,” she said, and he gave her hand a squeeze.
“No one eats tomatoes for breakfast,” Daniel said, and then his eyes widened in alarm.
She turned to look, her intake of breath pulling Piscary’s attention as well. A shadow of a man had detached itself from the building and was striding after Leo. Her lips parted to call out a warning, but Leo had sensed him and spun.
“Ellen,” Piscary said shortly, and the woman reached for her door.
More car doors were opening as the vehicle behind them emptied and the lot began to fill with wary vampires. Yelling at them that he was hers, Ellen jogged forward. The shadow stopped, a hand raised in placation.
Trisk felt her expression go blank. “Quen,” she whispered, recognizing his silhouette. “That’s Quen!” she shouted, fumbling for her door. “Don’t hurt him. Quen!”
“Dr. Cambri, get back in the car!” Piscary demanded, but she was out and pushing her way past the tall vampires between her and the storefront.
“Get out of my way!” Trisk shoved the last man aside. Her eyes widened. “Stop!” she shouted as the Asian woman did a martial arts move and Quen hit the ground, his hand on his stomach as he tried to breathe. Running forward, Trisk tapped a line, loath to actually use it in the street. “I said stop!” she cried out. “What is wrong with you people! He’s my friend!”
Quen looked up. Guilt flashed over him
, and then his eyes dropped. The woman’s domineering posture shifted as she looked past Trisk to Piscary, now out of the car. He must have told her to back off, because her hand drawn back to strike slowly extended to help Quen up. He took it, rising to his full height, then stumbled back when Trisk crashed into him.
“Whoa. Trisk,” Quen said, and she gave him a hug, arms wrapped awkwardly around him as the scent of honey and shortbread puffed up between them. “Hey . . .”
She let go enough to look up at him, sorrow crossing her face as she saw the healing pox scars past the thick stubble. The rash was gone, but it would forever mark him. “I—I thought . . .” she stammered. “How did you find us? You ran away like an old cat to die!”
He smiled down at her, his short-cropped hair catching the light coming out of the store window. “I never left you,” he said, his fingers touching her hair, running down its length to straighten the necklace he’d given her. She’d never taken it off, finding strength in it.
“What do you mean, you never left?” she asked, letting go of him when she realized the watching vampires were chuckling at them. But then she thought about it. The distraction with the Weres in Chicago, the flash of distant light and the falling rock at the ambush, and now this. “That was you? Why?”
Quen took her arms and bodily shifted her back a step. “Because I’m a fool,” he said, reluctantly letting go of her as he looked past her at Daniel, who had boldly pushed through the ring of vampires as if they were just everyday people. “Human blood is not a shame, but an honor,” he added, and Daniel seemed to lose some of his frustration. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left.”
“If not for you, we never would have gotten away. Just don’t do it again,” she said, simply glad he was back. Still holding his arm protectively, she turned to Piscary. The elegant, somewhat small man looked out of place in front of the tired, dilapidated store.
“Sir,” Quen said respectfully, and Piscary stepped forward, eyeing Quen’s healing pox scars.
“Leo said someone followed him from the roadblock.” A pale hand lifted, almost touching him. “You were so beautiful. Like a warrior poet of old.”
Quen’s eyes narrowed in warning, but it wasn’t until the Asian woman visibly stiffened that Piscary’s hand dropped. “He still is,” Trisk said, and the vampires behind them chuckled.
Clearly more put off than afraid, Quen watched Piscary’s men begin to break up. “I saw Kal,” he said, and hope spilled back into her. “Ulbrine was with him.” He turned to Trisk. “When he left Piscary’s in such a hurry, I knew you were safe. Trisk, I shouldn’t have left you. Sick or not.”
“It’s okay.” The fervent pressure he gripped her with was worrying. “Where are they?”
Quen’s gaze lifted to the night. “Hiding with those seeking comfort. The basilica.”
Leo whistled, arms moving to point at two of the better-dressed vampires, then the night.
“We’re within a half mile,” Piscary said as his entire posse except Ellen vanished on swift feet, their orders either silent or already known. “Why is your charm not working?”
Head down, Trisk thumped the ring of metal against her palm as if it were a malfunctioning radio. “I don’t know. Perhaps Ulbrine is blocking it.” Quen’s hand on her elbow, they started back to the car, a new hope quickening their steps.
“Hold,” Piscary said suddenly, his feet scraping to a halt. “I have people there now.”
An unsettled feeling of wrong tripped down her spine as she pocketed the useless charm. Piscary’s eyes were unfocused. Ellen stood by, the jealous slant to her eyes both a warning and promise, protecting her master while he was vulnerable. His breathing was faster, and it was obvious he was seeing through someone else’s eyes. Leo’s, perhaps.
Piscary’s focus sharpened, then his gaze went pupil black, chilling her when his smile tightened with anticipation. “This way,” he said, breaking into an easy jog into the dark.
Ellen was at his elbow, and after a moment’s hesitation, Trisk followed. Quen’s hand slipped from her, and he ran beside her.
“We’re going to run?” Daniel said, his jog reluctant and slow. “What about the car?”
Quen leaned close, whispering, “Cars are noisy, and we hunt.”
Pulse fast, Trisk watched her footing, glad that they were running perpendicular to the direction Piscary’s men had gone. “And this is a good thing?” she muttered breathlessly.
Quen’s teeth shined white as he smiled. “Be ready. They’re flushing them to us.” Never slowing, Piscary looked at him, surprise in his dust-eddied eyes, and Quen shrugged. “It’s what I would have done,” Quen said in explanation, and Piscary turned back to the night, satisfied.
Daniel’s panting grew loud, and worry furrowed Trisk’s brow. It was more than him spending his days in a lab. He wasn’t as strong simply because he was human, and when surrounded by those who weren’t, it showed.
“Hold!” Piscary whispered as they came out on a dark intersection. A smoldering bonfire sat at the center, the blinking streetlight above it making more of a statement than the circle that someone—probably witches—had etched before the flames. The muffled shout and clatter of rapidly retreating footsteps gave evidence that they’d scared someone off. Piscary slowly moved out into the firelight’s reach with the powerful grace and command of a lion taking over a kill.
Ellen was tight to his elbow, head swiveling as she scanned the cut the night made above the two-story buildings facing the street. Brick and mortar, metal and stone—not even a tree to relieve the downtown shops. An appliance store spilled light onto the street, the display TVs still on as a late-night comedy show played to no one.
Staggering, Daniel lurched to the storefront stoop, collapsing on it to put his head down between his upraised knees. “Are you okay?” Quen asked Trisk, and she nodded. “Hey, your smut is gone,” he added as he took her arm, and guilt flashed through her. “You didn’t call him again, did you?” he whispered intently.
“I’ll tell you about that later,” she said, pulling out from his grip.
“Ellie?” Piscary said softly, and the woman’s attention jerked down from the empty second-floor windows. “Minimize the noise,” he said, and immediately the woman jogged down the street. She gave a hissing whistle, and what were probably living vampires came out from behind closed doors and alleys. They clustered around her in the shadows, then fanned out.
The bonfire made orange shadows on the storefronts, and Piscary backed into the dark to vanish. Trisk grasped Quen’s hand, dragging him with her to leave the intersection at least looking as if it were abandoned. A thrill was spilling through her, embarrassing somehow. Not all of it was because they were going to find Kal. They were hunting. It was that simple.
“Daniel!” Quen all but hissed, and the man looked up, lips parting as he realized he was alone. “Get out of the light!”
But it was too late, and Trisk waved him to stay at the sound of shoes on the pavement. “No, don’t move!” she whispered loudly, and Daniel sank back down, pressing into the door. Tension coursed through her, and her skin tingled from the line Quen had pulled into him.
“There,” Quen murmured as Ulbrine and Kal ran down the street.
“I’m telling you, we’re being driven,” Ulbrine said, clearly struggling.
“You’re blocking the tracker, aren’t you?” Kal slowed at the edges of the bonfire’s light, clearly not wanting to pass into it.
“Of course.” Ulbrine jerked to a halt, grabbing Kal’s arm as Piscary stepped from the darkness. The vampire’s smile widened. There was no one behind Piscary. He didn’t need anyone backing him. His entourage was to comfort those in it, not him. He wasn’t just the city’s master vampire, he was the city’s apex predator. More, he was enjoying his night out, free of the restraints that a watching human might otherwise impose. What looked like a memory lit his expression.
“Ulbrine,” Piscary said, his voice smooth with promised threat and a
nticipation. “You left my meeting prematurely. There’s something important you need to bring to the enclave’s attention.” His eyes slid to Kal. “And I have a small task for you, Dr. Kalamack. Dr. Cambri told me you know of a metabolism booster. Is that true? Be careful; your life depends upon it.”
Kal jerked his arm free of Ulbrine, the remembered betrayal of the enclave member haunting his eyes. “I do,” Kal said, and Piscary beamed. The expression seemed practiced on the master vampire, but was effective nevertheless.
“Grand!” Motions fast, Piscary made a gesture, sending Leo for the car, presumably. “There will be no more ruckus tonight. You’ll stay in Cincinnati and make your metabolism booster for all of the vampire society. Something clean and without undesirable side effects.”
“I will not,” Kal said clearly, and Piscary jerked to a stop, his eyebrows high.
“I force no man to do anything,” Piscary said, and Trisk surreptitiously tapped the nearest ley line, laying a thought among it so light that even Quen beside her couldn’t feel it. “But if your answer remains unchanged, you alone will take the entirety of blame for the plague.”
Kal drew himself up. “I hold a chartered name that can be traced back to our beginnings. You can’t force me to do anything.”
Piscary’s eyes went to Ulbrine, who was standing deathly still with no expression. “The enclave will do anything to hide that the Angel tomato plague was the elves’ fault,” Piscary said. “Sacrifice you without thought. He did so once already. If it’s allowed to become public knowledge that the elves caused the unbalance, the world would band together and finish what the demons started.” Piscary’s smile shifted from one of practiced, fond persuasion to one of pure dominance. This one was real, and Trisk shuddered, glad it wasn’t directed at her.
“Tell me I lie,” Piscary said to Ulbrine, and the man’s jaw clenched. “One elf, even from as high a house as yours, is a small sacrifice to save your species.”