“He’s under instruction from someone else,” Tobin said. “It’s not his voice. He’s remembering.”
Tobin then put his hand on Ciaran’s arm and played the memory for him.
Watch for shadows in the water, and let me know what you see.
“That’s Hadeom’s voice,” Ciaran said.
“What the fuck is this?” Dirk said, pulling at his restraints, rocking the chair he was currently tied to. “You gotta mind-reader? What kind of circus you running here, Brenner? A female and a human and a fucking mind-reader?—”
Ciaran smacked his tentacle arm on Dirk’s chest, and he howled.
And gods be damned, that had to hurt.
Tobin had once felt a very low dose of Ciaran’s “fire” toxin, simply to see what it was like, and holy fuck, that was enough for Tobin to never want to know what a full dose felt like.
Dirk panted, spittle foaming at his mouth, and he shimmered, struggling to keep his human form. He could have morphed and slipped his restraints, but he wasn’t stupid. Well, he was stupid, but notthatstupid.
In human form, Ciaran couldn’t kill him.
In cephamorph form, well... the rules of nature were different.
As the leader of his consortium, when in freeform, Ciaran could kill an intruder without consequence, and oh boy, it would be an excruciating death.
So yeah, human form was Dirk’s best option for getting out of this alive.
Sawyer took out his phone, pressed the screen, and hit the Speaker button.
“Detective. This is not like you to call. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, Hadeom. You could say that. We have someone here who wants to say hello.” Sawyer held the phone out to Dirk. “Say hello.”
“These fuckers are crazy,” Dirk said. “I just wanted to see my men.”
Hadeom sighed. “Dirk Bridges. They’re not your men anymore. I told you this. They left your consortium because you were inadequate and?—”
“We had a difference of opinion, that’s all,” Dirk tried.
“You moved them into waters so unsuitable, you should be glad no one died. And you disregarded their concerns and opinions?—”
“These crazy fuckers are torturing me. I’m tied to a fucking chair, Hadeom. And Ciaran is burning me with toxins. It fuckingburns. You need to do something!”
“Consider yourself lucky you still have limbs,” Ciaran said. Then he spoke toward the phone. “Hadeom, he came into our territory without permission and was searching for someone or something. Hoping you can shed some light on that, considering it was you who asked him. Tell me, what shadow are you looking for in our cove, Inspector?”
“I think you know.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“Salem,” he said. “That’s the name you know him by. He didn’t die by Lusca’s hand as you claimed. I know because of the water. I saw it. When Dirk said he was going to Tenebrae, I mentioned the water, and I shouldn’t have. It was a misstep from me, and I’m sorry. You’re protecting Salem, and...” Hadeom sighed again. “And I should be grateful. It’s enough knowing...”
Ciaran looked at Sawyer, and Sawyer shrugged. Tobin had no clue what was going on, but it was clear Ciaran and Sawyer were confused too.
“Enough knowing what, sir?” Sawyer asked.
“That he’s alive. Cern never told me. Can’t say I’m surprised, but...”
Hadeom sounded so tired, Tobin actually felt a bit sorry for him.
“What do you want with him?” Ciaran asked, all subterfuge gone now.
