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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."
Queen Asteria! I'd never have thought it, but it made sense. "You might be right. She's protective, and she knows we're in danger. And dropping in on her with a few dead demons hasn't exactly put her mind at ease." I glanced at Roz. "No doubt she told you all about it, so don't even ask. I don't want to think about Bad Ass Luke and his cronies."
Roz laughed, throaty and deep and I suddenly was all too aware that I was in the presence of another demon who, like me, walked between shadow and flame. "I wasn't going to. All I care about is hunting down Dredge and destroying him."
I shifted and headed up the hill toward the morgue, Delilah's Jeep keeping pace right behind me. "What will you do after he's dead?"
"Go back to doing what I do best, I suppose," he said. "Seducing women in the night. What else is there?"
"You ever think about putting some of your talents to use for the greater good?" Roz was helpful. We needed to know more about him, but I could see him becoming a strong ally in our fight against Shadow Wing.
"No, but I might be open to suggestions," he said, looking through his bag. "I've got seven stakes. That should be enough. I hope."
"Three more victims. Three more chalk marks on the board. I wonder if the female contingent of our four newborns are the culprits. After all, Dredge and the men were busy kidnapping Erin." I found it odd that nobody had noticed any of Dredge's cronies wandering the area. They would look just as out of place as he did, but the two vamps who helped him kidnap Erin had been our newborns. What was going on?
"You think he's trying to build a master nest here?" Roz frowned. "If he can form a big enough one, then he can hive them off. Maybe he's looking to take control of the area." He paused for me to answer but before I could speak, he waved toward the park. "Something's going down over there. I can feel it."
He was right—something nasty was going down. The scent of blood hung so heavy in the air that it seeped through the closed windows of the car. I skidded to the curb and thrust open my door, hitting the bricks before I had time to say a word. Roz was close behind me. I heard a screech as Delilah's Jeep skidded to a halt near ours, but I was already on my way into the park on the corner lot intended to beautify the area.
As I lightly skimmed the ground, my heels making the barest clicking sound, my fangs extended. The smell of vamps filled the air—that unmistakable fragrance of blood and death and hunger.
The park was half a block square, and filled with fir and maple and weeping willow. I dashed into the dark, following my nose. At this point, I could hear the last gasps of someone dying.
Strike someone, and make it a mob, I thought as I broke through into a small clearing shrouded from the view of the street. Our gang from the theater was there, having a heyday. Two women lay on the ground, each with her very own hunka-vamp leaning over her. The two females were holding a struggling young man between them. He looked around fifteen and he'd already been bitten. As I watched, he went limp in their arms.
"The master said take them with us this time!" one of the women yelled as they spotted me racing toward them. "Let's go."
"What about this bitch?" asked one of the men. His name was Bob. I recognized him from the morgue photos.
The other shook his head. "Leave her. Dredge said she's all his."
I poured on the speed as they tossed their victims over their shoulders and took off running. "Follow them!" I yelled back to Roz as I dodged trees and leapt over rocks trying to keep them in sight. They were fast, but I was faster, and I managed to get within arm's reach of good old Bob, who was struggling to keep hold of the plump matron hanging over his shoulder.
He spun, hissing, and I let loose with a swipe that ripped his shirt, leaving a trail of deep scratches down his back. As he tossed the woman's body to the side, a crack fractured the night air as something inside her snapped. There was no time now to let myself worry about her. She was already dead.
As Bob spread his arms, ready to meet me, fangs out and eyes glowing, I leapt at him, growling as I body-slammed him to the ground. I was older, I had more experience, and I was far more ruthless. As he keeled over backward, I swiped at his throat, gashing a long slice from ear to ear.
"Here!" Roz tossed a stake to me and I caught it firmly in midair. As I held it over my victim, though, I paused. "What are you waiting for?" Roz said. "Stake him now—stake him while he's down."
"No. He's alive and he knows Dredge. Maybe he can tell us where that cocksucker is!"
Roz knelt beside me, keeping a wary eye on the retreating backs of the others. They'd managed to elude his attempts to catch them. "They sure learn fast, don't they? Give loyalty to Dredge, and to Dredge only. Anybody else falls, leave them behind."
"You got it. That's how he works," I said. "Hey, have any silver twine on you?"
"I've got better than that," Roz said with a grin. "I put this little goody together today." He pulled out a rope and I recoiled immediately. It had been drenched with garlic oil. "Yeah, I thought that would do the trick," he added, smiling at my reaction.
