“Yeah. She left ten minutes ago with some guy,” the barista replied.
Some… guy? This didn’t make any sense.
“He left this note before they went out,” the barista said, clutching a piece of paper. She extended it out to me. I took it. I unfolded the paper, reading letters crudely cut out of a magazine and patchworked together.
She belongs to me.
I recognized the signature trait, because he’d left similar notes behind on occasions when he’d slaughtered girls he considered prizes. I’d seen it in the crime photos Charlie researched for his Advanced Criminal Justice project. My hands began to shake, and the paper quivered in my hands.
The Dollmaker.
The minute I thought it, shared horror passed between Charlie and me. He grabbed onto a nearby chair to steady himself, and Oberi crooned lowly.
“Ancestors,” I whispered, and nearly gagged. “He’s got her.”
“Who’s got her?” Chancey asked frantically.
“The Dollmaker. Valen Christoffer,” I whispered, and a horrified tear slipped down my cheek. “Kallie’s ex.”
“The psychopath whomurderedall those girls in Malovia?!” Ivy screeched. “It just can’t be!”
“This is one of his signatures. Iknowit is. I’ve seen it before when Charlie did his criminal profile,” I said miserably, raising the note in the air. “Somehow, Valen found out we were in Chicago, and he waited until she was vulnerable enough to take her.”
Charlie’s features had gone pale. “This can’t be right. The Dollmaker always strikes at night. If he really took Kallie now, it goes against his M.O.”
“Kallie’s the girl he’s fixated on this whole time,” I pointed out. “He’s not going to stick to his M.O. if he saw his chance to take her. Those other girls were a fantasy of his, but Kallie’s always been his ultimate target.”
“No,” Marcus whimpered, and he backed away. “No, he can’t… this isn't…fuck!”
Marcus lost his shit. He punched a nearby picture, and the glass broke. Shards cut into his hand, and he started bleeding everywhere, but Marcus didn’t feel it. He picked up a nearby side table and broke it across his knee, sending the legs scattering. I jumped in my seat. Chancey ran forward to restrain him, and held him in place. Marcus fought back, but he couldn’t match the strength of an angel. The barista freaked out, giving a scream and running out of the café.
“Take it easy, pal,” Chancey said. “You gotta keep a clear head.”
“Are you fuckingkidding me?” Marcus screamed. “The person I love is in the hands of a serial killer, and you’re telling me tokeep calm?!”
“She left ten minutes ago, which means we might be able to get to her before he does anything,” I said in a rush.
“Chancey, start looking around the hotel for Valen. We don’t know how far he’s taken her,” Charlie said, immediately giving orders. “Try to stay out of sight.”
“I will,” Chancey said, already heading toward the door.
“She wouldn’t leave with him willingly,” Marcus raged. “She’d put up a fight. How did he just walk out with her?”
“Check her drink. It’s still here,” I said quickly.
Marcus snatched the only coffee sitting out and held it in his hands. The coffee glowed a bright purple at his alchemy magic,and he stated, “It’s been tampered with. Some kind of heavy magical sedative.”
“He must’ve gotten into the hotel and slipped the drugs into her coffee without the barista seeing,” Charlie growled. “We don’t know how long he’s been here.”
“Give that to me,” Ivy ordered, and Marcus handed them the coffee. Ivy sniffed it again, and their lip curled. “This isn’t just a sedative. It’s a compulsion charm, a powerful one made by a strong-ass vampire. If she drank this, she’d be forced to do whatever he said until it wore off.”
“That’s probably what he used on her before, when he compelled her to kill her brother,” I said in horror. “Kallie and I talked about this. She suspected Valen was working with vampires, using compulsion items on his victims that vampires gave him, and this is proof. He’s in Chicago for a reason— no wonder the Union hasn’t been able to track him down, if he’s got vamp friends around here who are willing to hide him.”
“Ivy, you need to stay here in case she comes back, or in case Valen returns,” Charlie said.
“I’m on it,” Ivy said dangerously. “If this fucker comes crawling around, I’ll rip his throat out.”
Marcus stared down into the cup, and his features darkened. "My Aunt Talia gets visions of the past through touch. Perhaps I can, too. I should be able to follow his path and see where he took her."
