Page 50 of Bold Mercy

Chapter Twenty-Six

The city seemed to have calmed slightly, whether because of the heavy police presence or mere exhaustion, I couldn’t have said. I was sure that if Avis had anything to say about it, it was simply the calm before the major storm she was about to bring.

Even in the daylight, the streets were nearly empty, and a hazy, eerie pall hung over the city. Some shops had been burnt out, and the sidewalks were full of overturned grocery carts, garbage, and the occasional brave—or inebriated—person.

I saw a total of eleven spirits and twice I spotted men who looked like they’d picked up a demon. I kept going. Later I would deal with spirits and demons. Right now, the vampires were getting all my attention.

I called Joe, Max, Zach, Bastien, and the alpha on my way home. Bastien would be sleeping, but Jared didn’t answer either. I left voicemails asking them to come and to gear up for a battle—not only for the viewing audience, but just in case Avis and her rogues appeared.

Lucy’s car was parked in my driveway when I arrived home, and the “car full of wolves,” as my mother put it, was parked at the side of the street. There were three wolves inside it—more than enough protection if a killer dared approach Lucy. The wolves were overkill, really. My mother could easily have handled a lone human serial killer.

I waved at the wolves, then walked my mother, Lucy, and Ash into my house. I inhaled, pulling in the familiar scents, as Lucy hurried into her bedroom to drop her bags and my mother went into the kitchen to put on coffee. I figured she didn’t want to be alone with me just yet. She wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened at Shadowfield. Her daughter was an alpha. Her daughter had forced her shift.

Yeah. I wasn’t quite ready for that conversation either.

I sat on the sofa and patted my lap, and Ash jumped up to get some love. Funny how he could make the stress melt away—at least for a little while.

Then Lucy came in and sat beside me. Ash lay down between us and went to sleep immediately, as though he knew playtime was over and it was time for the adults to have a serious discussion.

“I’m going to cook something,” my mother called. “Lucy, when you can, come help me?”

“I will,” Lucy murmured, but she stared pensively at Ash as she ran her hand over his back, and finally, as I opened my mouth to prompt her, she spoke. “You’ve lost some weight,” she said. “And I’ve lost the serial killer dreams.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” I said tentatively. “Maybe that means he’s not coming for you after all.”

“Yeah,” she said, attempting a smile. “Maybe that’s what it means.” Then she sighed. “I’ve been having other dreams instead. That one had taken over for a while. Every time I closed my eyes, I was with the killer. I felt him, and it was overwhelming. I’ve never been so immersed in my dreams in my whole life, Kait. I should be glad they’ve stopped, but…”

“What, Lucy?” I took her hand and held it, squeezing gently, because she seemed to need the comfort. “Tell me.”

She couldn’t look at me. “My dreams, when I’m having them, are reality. I’m there. To me, it’s not a dream. Sometimes when I dream I become the person I’m dreaming about.” She waved her free hand impatiently. “Anyway. This serial killer.” Finally, she looked at me. “I…I like him, Kait. I like being with him, even though I’m aware of what he’s doing to those women. Even though I’m aware that he killed them. Not dreaming about him upsets me.”

I didn’t pull my hand away. “You’ve connected with him.” I wanted to say “bonded” but that was somehow worse.

“I’ve never done anything like this. No matter what I dream, the bad guys are the bad guys and I detest them.” Abruptly she pulled her hand from mine and stood. “I’m going to help Susan. I have a name. A first name. It’s Samuel. I don’t know if that’ll help Detective Moreno or not, but it’s something.” Just before exiting the room, she stopped. “I’ve had that name for two days, Kait. I just couldn’t bear to tell you in case the information got him captured.” She laughed, and it was full of panic. “I don’t want a serial killer, a man who kills women, to be caught.” She walked away and I let her go, because nothing I could have said would have made a difference.

Lucy was losing it.

“We’ll have a meal ready in half an hour,” my mother said, when I finally got up and wandered into the kitchen.

“I’ll get cleaned up,” I said. My stomach growled ferociously, but no one laughed. There was too much weighing on our minds.

The mayor called as I was getting out of the shower. “Can you be here at ten? I’ve got everything set up. I’ve had announcements going out to TV, the Internet, radio stations…nearly everyone in the city will be tuning in.”

“I’ll be there,” I promised. “And I’ll bring some people.”

“You needn’t call Rick,” he said. “He’ll be here by the time you arrive. Can I send a car for you?”

“No, I’ll drive over. Are we doing this outside?”

“Absolutely. I’m not inviting vampires into my house, not even if you’re likely to kill them.”

“Outside is better,” I assured him. I was hoping Avis would show herself. So was the mayor. She was going to be watching for information, so chances were, she’d be aware.

“Dress like you mean it, Kait,” he said, before hanging up.

I knew what that meant. He wanted me to go into full badass mode for the cameras. I could do that. For the first time in a while, I pulled my vampire kit out and opened it up, checking to see that everything was inside and that I didn’t need to replace anything.

When I walked into the kitchen, Joe, Max, and Zach were already there, happily eating up all the food my mother and Lucy had prepared. “Damn, guys,” I complained. “I was only gone for twenty minutes.”