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She paled and shook her head. "No. Not a single clue."
"We have five hours till sunrise. We'll have to just start searching the city—" I stopped as Delilah's cell phone rang.
"Chase," she whispered, flipping it open. Please, please let everything at home be okay, I prayed, hoping that for once the gods would be listening. She hung up. "We have to go home. Chase just got a call from Sharah. Four more vamp victims—the FH-CSI team got to them before the regular force heard. They haven't risen yet, but you know they will."
I glanced at Tim. "Tim, we have to go. We have to take care of them before they rise and hurt somebody else. We don't have any choice."
"Can't Chase take care of it? Erin's out there with that monster…"
"I know, and if there was any way I could go get her right now, I would. But we don't have a clue to where they took her. I promise you though, we'll do everything we can. Morio and Camille will drive you." I glanced at them. "Along the way, try to figure out if there's something you can do to locate Erin." I begged them silently to play along, even if they didn't think they could help. Tim needed to hold onto hope for a little while. And I had to go to the morgue and stake some bloodsuckers.
Camille jumped on board. "There are still spells we haven't tried that we can cast at home. Come on, Tim. Menolly, are you going alone?"
I glanced at Wade and Nerissa. "No. Take Nerissa, Iris, and Trillian with you. Trillian, once there, head out to the morgue with Chase. Delilah, Wade, and I will meet you there." I hated putting Delilah in danger, but we had no choice and she was better in a physical fight than Camille.
Things were bad now, but I had a feeling they were going to get much worse over the next few months and here on the front lines, we didn't have the luxury of retreat. As we headed out into the night, my thoughts flashed to Erin and I felt queasy all over again. Whatever happened to her, I prayed it was quick. But in my heart, I knew Dredge would never offer anyone that much mercy.
CHAPTER 10
"Morio, take Nerissa and Iris in your SUV. I'll ride with Camille and Tim," Trillian said.
Camille bundled her arm around Tim and led him toward the door. She glanced back at Delilah and me. "You guys be careful, okay?"
Nerissa held open the door as they hurried out into the glittering night. I turned to Delilah. "You and Wade go on ahead to the morgue. I'll meet you there. Don't play hero—wait for me before going in. Wade, we need stakes. Got any handy?"
He snorted. "Yeah, like I keep those around."
"He may not, but I do." The voice from the door made me jump. I spun around. Roz entered the shop.
"Have you been spying on us?"
"Not exactly. I checked out the zoo like I told you I was going to, then followed your… trace… here." He tugged at the belt of his duster, looking almost bemused.
"My trace? I've got a trace?" Traces were like a magical GPS and usually meant you'd been tagged by some wizard or witch. If I had one, then somebody had slapped a spell on me to monitor my position and I damned well wanted to know who'd done it.
His eyes flickered and he looked surprised. "You didn't know about it?"
I frowned. "If I'd known, I'd have put an end to both the trace and the person who triggered it."
Wade feather-touched my arm. "There's no time to debate whether or not you're being spied on. We have to take care of those newborns before they rise."
"He's right," Delilah said. "We can ask Camille and Morio to find out who's behind it later. For now, let's get moving. Chase will be on his way to the morgue pretty soon and I don't want him there alone. And it's not safe to leave Sharah holding the bag, either. If those vamps rise before we get there, she's dead meat. Or maybe undead elf."
They were both right. I motioned to Roz. "Come with us."
Wade jumped in Delilah's Jeep, while Roz climbed in my Jag. "After we're done," I said, "we need to have a little talk. Dredge captured one of our friends—a human. We can use your help rescuing her."
"What do I get in return?" Roz turned his head out the window and stared as the blur of dark buildings and incandescent lights flew by.
I didn't answer. As I pushed the gas pedal to the floor, I thought about the trace. Could Dredge have somehow whammied me? But that wouldn't make sense. He didn't need a trace to find me.
"Did you put the trace on me? You'd better give me the truth because Camille and Morio will ferret it out."
Roz didn't even turn at the question. "I had no need. The trace was already there. I just picked up on it."
"Do you know who did? Was it Dredge?" I had the feeling he knew more about it than he wanted to admit.
"Your guess is as good as mine but if I had to come up with an answer, I'd say no. Your sire wouldn't need to do that. My guess is that Queen Asteria had it fixed to you and your sisters. That way she can find out where you are, should something happen."
