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Wade cleared his throat. "You okay?"
"No, I'm not okay. That fucking sadist may have one of our friends. An FBH no less. I know just how far Dredge can twist the mind and body. He almost destroyed me. There's no way Erin can survive if he decides to torture her. And if he turns her afterward, we'll have to destroy her because she'll go stark-raving mad. How do you think I feel, knowing I may have to stake a friend who should never, ever have gotten mixed up in something like this?"
Nerissa leaned forward. "I don't mean to interrupt, but if he's this bad, why did the OIA let him live? Why didn't they deport him to the Subterranean Realms?"
"I see you've been talking to Zachary. That boy needs to keep his mouth shut before he says something to the wrong person." I deliberately took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't yell at you. Here's the deal. Dredge was on the list for deportation. We were ready to go in to verify what we knew and I was assigned to the case." I paused, trying to push back the tears that I felt sting my eyes. Blood was saltier than water. It hurt to cry.
"You don't have to go on," she said, but I stopped her.
"No. You deserve to know what you're headed into. If you want, I'll drop you off at a safe place and you can go home. Dredge wasn't deported because I failed at my job. He caught me. He tortured me. He raped me. He killed me and when I rose as a vampire, I went over the edge. By the time the OIA figured out what happened, he and the nest had moved on."
"How long did it take for you to… to return to sanity?"
I flashed her a cold grin. "Any day now, babe. I keep hoping."
She laughed, but her laughter was tinged with sorrow. "Oh, Menolly…"
"Seriously… it's okay now. I've adapted. But I went nuts for over a year. I couldn't tell the OIA a thing for a long, long time. You can't hold a trial when nobody's there. You can't deport someone you don't have locked away. Dredge and the Elwing Clan stayed on the move for a long time and the OIA didn't want to risk another operative going in. And I refused to go back. The rest, as they say, is history."
"Don't stop," she said quickly. "We have to get to your friend's shop as soon as possible. I want to be there with you."
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Nerissa couldn't see me, since I left no reflection, but I could see her, and her gaze was fastened on the back of my head. The look of desire was naked on her face and I could smell the perfume of her heat fill the car.
I caught Wade glancing at me, then back at Nerissa. A slow smile spread across his lips, making him look geeky-sexy. He gave me a wink and I saw the tips of his fangs extend.
"Don't say it," I said so quietly that even the werepuma shouldn't be able to pick it up. It was like whispering words made of mist that vanished the moment I spoke.
Wade winked at me. "You hooked a hot one," he whispered back. "Want to make it a threesome?"
"In your dreams, psych-boy." But I grinned back. I wasn't the only one repressing feelings. Wade was true to his ethics, but sometimes I thought he sublimated the predator within to the point where, one of these days, he was going to slip. When he did, I hoped it would be his mother he'd take out, for the peace and quiet of everybody in the vamp community.
"I'll just keep dreaming," he whispered back.
I ignored him this time. We had to focus on Dredge, who never slipped because he'd jumped into the shadows feet first and sucked them into himself until now his entire being reeked of the abyss.
Flipping on my left turn signal, I silently took the light and caught up to Camille. Delilah was right on our tail. And then we were there—the Scarlet Harlot. Parking was plentiful during the dark of the night, and I smoothly guided the Jag into an open space and flipped off the ignition.
Iris leaned forward. "Menolly, could this have something to do with what Grandmother Coyote asked you to do?"
Again the ton of bricks. Shit. Was I clueless tonight?
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," I said, jumping out of the car. Was I going to have to stake Erin? And would Camille be put through the wringer, forcing me to obliterate her friend? "The gods are walking on our graves tonight," I muttered as I headed toward the door. "By the time we face Shadow Wing in battle we'll be demons ourselves."
And then the irony hit me and I laughed, my voice hoarse and scratchy. I was a demon. I was already on the wrong side, according to logic, holding on only by making the conscious choice to avoid diving into the hellfire. I ignored Iris's questioning glance as we ran to the door, steps behind Camille and her boys.
We blew through the door like a tornado, Camille and Morio with magic at the ready. Trillian had his serrated blade out. We immediately went into search mode, and Morio cast a Reveal Illusion spell. Nothing. After a few minutes, we were sure the shop was clean, and Camille called out the safe word that brought Tim out of hiding.
Dressed in Dockers and a thick sweater, he looked nothing like Marilyn Monroe, the current fave in his retinue. His short brown hair had grown out into a curly mop, and he had faint traces of stage makeup still dappling his face, but what struck me was the fear that lingered in his eyes.
"She's gone… They took her. I couldn't stop them. I knew that if I tried they'd—"
"Shush," Camille said as Delilah enfolded him in her arms and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. He leaned against her shoulder, looking war scarred and weary.
"Did you hear anything, Tim? Did they say where they were taking her? How many were there? What did they look like? I know you're upset, but you need to tell us everything you can remember." I hated to press him, he looked so bewildered, but the sooner we could go after them, the better.
Nerissa noticed a microwave on the side counter, along with a box of tea and a bag of Oreos. She hurried over and popped a mug of water in the microwave and in less than two minutes, pressed a steaming cup of peppermint tea and a few cookies into Tim's hands. "You're in shock. Eat, drink… the sugar and mint will help."
Wade started sniffing around the shop, trying to catch a scent, while Camille and Morio moved off to the corner and crossed hands. I caught his whispered comments to her.
