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Tanith’s laughter cut off abruptly. “You aren’t serious,” she said, her voice hard. “What possible motive would I have to kill a human or a mage?”
“The human could have been a botched feeding,” I offered.
Tanith’s reptilian gaze glinted at me. “I assure you that if I were to lower myself to feed from a common human, I would not botch the job.”
She had me there. I knew that the Dominae all refused to drink any but the finest blood from human virgins or genetically superior specimens. “You’ve got me there, but who’s to say you didn’t kill him just for fun?”
“I will admit I’ve killed humans for sport.” She shrugged. “But that doesn’t explain why I’d risk peace negotiations by killing a mage. How would that benefit me?”
Orpheus rubbed his lower lip thoughtfully. “She has a point. Tanith knows that screwing me over will result in me unleashing the full brunt of mage magic on her and every vampire in existence.” He said the words conversationally, but the threat in them glowed like neon. “Besides, are we really going to believe the ravings of a known criminal over the Despina?”
“Plus,” Alexis said, “the Despina was in a meeting with Orpheus the night the human was murdered.”
Orpheus inclined his head to confirm Alexis’s claim. “She’s correct.”
Adam nodded. “I apologize, Despina, but you yourself said we should explore every angle.”
Tanith lowered her head regally. “Understood. Now that that’s settled, I believe you were telling us you had found no other evidence.”
“But that doesn’t mean that evidence doesn’t exist,” I pointed out.
“Mr. Corbin?” Tanith said, ignoring me. “Did you find any additional clues in your club?”
He shook his head. “No, Despina.”
“And should we assume by your presence at Mr. Malone’s club earlier this evening that you also believed he was the culprit?”
“Yes. Of all the vampires under my jurisdiction, Tiny was the most vocal about his opposition. I had reports from more than one witness who heard Mr. Malone say that he wanted to take me down.”
“Wait,” I said. “Something’s been bothering me about Tiny as a suspect. If all he wanted to do was make Slade look bad, why would he go to such lengths?”
Orpheus frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it. The human in Central Park wasn’t just murdered. He was brutalized and dismembered. That level of violence was either orchestrated to make the cops freak out or it was done by a monster who couldn’t control himself. And let’s not forget the mage’s murder was over the top on the violence scale with bonus Dominae symbolism thrown in for good measure.”
“So?” Alexis said. “You know as well as I do that most hired killers aren’t exactly the most stable beings. Maybe he decided to play with his food before carrying out Tiny’s orders.”
“Right, and now we’re supposed to believe that if Tiny contracted this, the killer’s just going to stop?”
“Sabina, please,” Slade said. “You know how this works. When the money dries up, so does the blood. No more Tiny means no more cash.”
I jerked my head toward Alexis. “Well, thanks to Stabby McStabberson over there we can’t know for sure whether Tiny used a hired gun, can we?” I said. “Or if Tiny was even behind the murders. Has anyone considered all this has nothing to do with Slade and everything to do with the peace treaty?”
“Sabina—” Slade began.
I talked right over him, warming up to my new role as devil’s advocate. “The timing can’t be a coincidence. The signing is next week. What if someone is trying to stop the alliance? It’s not a secret that some beings on both sides are opposed to the end of hostilities.”
“You’re making it sound like this is some conspiracy orchestrated by the Caste of Nod,” Orpheus said. “But we all know that is impossible.”
I went still. I hadn’t been specifically thinking about the Caste or its leader, Cain. But now that Orpheus mentioned it, I started thinking about my dream. Was it just a coincidence that I had another Cain dream just after the first murder?
I knew that the next thing out of my mouth was going to cause a scene, but I had to put the theory out there. “But… we never caught Cain. What if he’s behind this?”
The room went quiet. I looked around at the shocked faces, waiting for someone, anyone to say something. Adam had gone still and alert, as if just saying Cain’s name would summon him to the room. Slade and Alexis stared at me with puzzled expressions, as if trying to decide if I was joking. Orpheus’s frown deepened into an all-out scowl. Tanith looked nervous, like I’d said “Bloody Mary” three times into a mirror.
“Sabina,” Orpheus began slowly, “that’s simply not possible.”
I knew it sounded crazy, but I also knew this was the best way to make my case. Playing devil’s advocate was always more effective than trying to debate with people who wouldn’t listen. “Just hear me out. The other night I had a dream about Cain. He said something like, ‘We’re not finished.’ ”
Adam blinked at me. “Red,” he said carefully. “You’ve been having dreams about Cain for months now. Plus, no offense, but we both know seeing Marty’s body strung up like that dredged up some issues for you about Lavinia.”
A hot flash consumed my body. How could he bring that up here, in front of everyone?
Despite the lava-hot glare I shot in his direction, he soldiered on. “It’s understandable you’d have some disturbing dreams with everything going on. But that’s hardly proof Cain committed these murders.”
My cheeks burned at the careful, pitying stares. “You don’t understand. It’s not just the dream. Think about it: Who else would be more motivated to cause trouble than the man who tried to start the war between the dark races to begin with? Peace is the last thing Cain wants.”
Cain, in his role as leader of the Caste, wanted to start a war between the races because he believed it would bring on the second coming of Lilith. No one knew why he was so determined for that prophecy to happen, but he’d caused a ton of problems for the leaders of both races in pursuit of that goal. He’d even recruited my grandmother to his side, a move that led to her death.
