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“That’s Vanzir,” I said. “Remember, I told you about him?”
“Oh.” Trillian gave him a long look, then went back to his soup.
Vanzir coughed. “Yeah, and I can imagine what she said.”
“You’re being paranoid again.” I let out a long sigh. “Don’t always be so defensive. I gave you more than enough kudos in my description. Back to the matter at hand. Roz, where the hell did you get the shiner?”
Rozurial frowned. “Nothing we can fix right now, but nothing we should ignore, either.”
I put my spoon down. He’d just yanked me away from the happy place I’d found through Chase’s dinner. “What happened?”
“The Bonecrusher has spies out and about. Tregarts. Not that bright, but loyal. They’re insanely strong, too. I found out the hard way. And I gather she’s trying to start up a training camp in the woods somewhere.”
“Training camp? For what? Demon Army Brigade 101? Holy hell. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. So do you know anything else? And just what went down to net you the black eye?”
“How about one question at a time? I tried to pry more information out of our informant than he was willing to give. Damn creep sucker-punched me, then kneed me.” Roz blushed and Vanzir let out a sharp laugh. “Yuck it up, buddy. You weren’t on the receiving end. His knee felt like solid steel. My balls are so black-and-blue it’s going to be a while before I take them out for a spin.”
Menolly let out an audible sigh. I flashed her a snarky look and she quickly sobered.
I sobered, too. “So does he know who you are? We have to be discreet. We can’t maul suspects and then let them go free.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Vanzir answered for him. “He’s gone. I got him before he hit the door.” He gave me a little bow with a snarky flourish on the end.
“Good,” I said, feeling altogether too bloodthirsty. That was Menolly’s department, not mine.
Rolling his eyes—whether in disgust or amusement, I didn’t know—Trillian said, “So tonight we’re set for cemetery duty? We need to know what we’re facing. Anybody have any idea?”
Chase frowned. “I’m not the best person to ask. I don’t know what all of these creatures are, or how to differentiate ghosts from spirits from . . . whatever.”
“From what Chase told me before you meandered down to dinner, we’ve got a mixture of walking dead and spirit activity out there.” Menolly sighed. “No vampires as far as I can tell, which is a good thing. But with so much spiritual turbulence, we’re going to need more than just fighting gear. We have to be able to repel them. And if there are any creatures like shades . . .” She left the thought unfinished but the conclusion was easy to reach and it wasn’t a pretty one.
“Or revenants,” Delilah added.
“I think we’re going to need more spell power than Morio and I can provide. And Smoky’s not back yet.” I stared at the table. The vampires wouldn’t help us, what with Wade and Menolly still on the outs, so we couldn’t ask Vampires Anonymous to come to our aid. And the Supe community wasn’t exactly rife with magical personnel, other than their innate powers.
“Wilbur,” I blurted out, jerking my head up to stare at the others. “We’ll ask Wilbur. He’s a necromancer.”
“What makes you think he’ll help us? He’s not exactly buddy-buddy with us.” Menolly grimaced. “Every time I run into him, I want to fang him one—and not for fun. He’s too interested in women as cock fodder.”
“Yeah, I know, but there has to be something we can offer him to help us. Maybe a couple dead bodies to play with?” I glanced around, stopping as I came to Chase’s gaze. He was staring at me, almost sadly. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head.
“No, tell me.”
“It’s just . . . you’ve changed. You’re tossing around dead bodies as payment now? I know you have to practice raising the dead for your magic, but remember—these were people at one time. Living, breathing humans who had lives, loves, families.”
Feeling unjustly attacked, I blinked back a sudden spate of tears. “No, you listen. I don’t like it. I don’t like desecrating graves. I don’t like dabbling in decay. But if I don’t learn how to work this magic, then we’re at even more of a disadvantage. Maybe I am becoming a fiend. Maybe I’m turning into a monster, but if that’s what it takes, I’ll do it. And who said the bodies had to be human? I’m sure we can find a couple of goblin corpses somewhere. He might have fun raising something else besides people.”
Delilah whispered something in Chase’s ear and he winced.
“I’m sorry. I know you don’t like this,” he said, lifting his hand to stare at the missing fingertip. “I guess this is my reminder of why you do what you do. Why we do what we do. I never served in the military, Camille. I wasn’t brought up in a military household like you were. I had a rotten childhood, so I tried to make up for it by going into police work, but all that happened is that I encountered a seamier side of society than I ever did when I was a kid. I suppose I’ve had my fill of being on the front lines against creeps and losers and psychos. But there’s no discharge in sight.”
Menolly surprised everybody by walking behind the detective and ruffling his hair. She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to stare in his eyes. “Quit sweating, you know I won’t bite you. And I’m sorry you’re feeling torn. But, Chase, I guarantee you, you haven’t seen anything yet. Whatever Karvanak did to you, it will be a thousand times worse if we can’t stop Shadow Wing. If we have to break a few eggs in the process . . . or raise a few bodies . . .”
“Speaking of worse,” I broke in. “I’ve got worse for you. Or it seems like it to me. I wish Grandmother Coyote was around, because we need her advice.”
“What happened? Does this have anything to do with the Black Unicorn?” Delilah asked.
