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I climbed over the nearest tree trunk that was blocking the path and headed into the woods. A thought crossed my mind, and I pul ed out my phone and cal ed Vanzir's cel we'd bought for him.
"We took them out, but it was tough. You can bring Amber back now." I hung up as something caught my eye. Something sparkling, resting on the ground. I began to smel scorched earth amid the moss and mildew-thick forest. As I hopped over another tree trunk, then ducked under one that rested at neck height, I saw it. On the ground, a wand. Silver, with an Aqualine crystal.
Iris's wand. And what was it doing out here, without her?
CHAPTER 21
"Menol y! Get your ass over here. Now." I knelt by the wand and ran my fingers along the scorched ground next to it. As I brought my fingers to my nose, I could smel Demonkin scent . . . bloatworgles. Had to be. Had they kil ed her? If so, where was her body?
"What did you find--oh fuck." Menol y stared at the wand. "The ground's been charred."
"Go get Camil e and tel her we need her to do a spel of finding right away. And I cal ed Vanzir, told him to bring Amber back." I sat on one of the deadfal s, not caring that my butt was cold and that the continual drip of the boughs was hitting me and running down my col ar.
Where are you, Iris? What happened to you?
This was al turning into one big mess. How the hel were we supposed to deal with everything coming at us? Had this been retaliation for our actions against Jaycee and Van? We'd trashed their lab, trashed their shop, and put an end--at least for the present--to them producing Wolf Briar. As I sat there, staring at the wand, my phone rang. I flipped it open.
"Delilah, get back up here to the house. Carter's here. We have another situation." She hung up.
Carter? He never left his basement apartment, as far as I could tel . Frowning, I grabbed Iris's wand and headed back to the house at a dead run. Vanzir drove into the yard as I looked up. Amber was stil with him, safe and sound. I motioned to him.
"Take her into the parlor and make sure she's comfortable, then join us."
He nodded. "Wil do."
Smoky and the guys had piled al the bodies to one side, and I skirted my way around them, then darted up the stairs and into the living room. Wilbur was just leaving, muttering about reruns on Nick at Nite, and how Martin was waiting for him.
Sure enough, Carter was sitting in the living room, his horns gleaming under the glow of the lamps. His foster daughter Kim sat next to him, but I noticed she was wearing some sort of chain around her waist and similar ones around her wrists.
Carter nodded for me to sit. We were al here--al except Iris--and I was frustrated, wanting to find her. Now.
"I hate to interrupt, but considering what your sisters have told me," he said, nodding to me, "it's imperative that I do."
"What is it?" I looked over at Kim, who sat unmoving, eyes cast down at the floor. A red mark on her cheek told me she'd been slapped and slapped hard.
"Remember how you were thinking there might be a leak in information? Someone feeding your moves to the Bonecrusher so she'd stay one step ahead of you?" His lips were tight, and I suddenly understood the chains around Kim.
"Oh, not you, Kim." I looked at her, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. I glanced over at Camil e and Menol y. Both looked ready to kil . "Is this true?"
"It's true," Carter said. "I found her copying my notes, and she also had a tape--she's been recording our conversations and taking them back to her new mistress. My foster daughter has put you into grave danger. There's no way I can ever atone for her actions, but I can help you now."
"But why? How? I thought Kim was . . ."
"She doesn't have to speak to relay information. She's highly intel igent, can read and write with ease . . . she's mute, not mental y deficient. And apparently her mother's blood is stronger than her father's, because she's chosen to walk the path of the Demonkin rather than find her own balance within society."
Carter glared at her, and she shrank back, wincing. "I should kil you here, now, without another word. You ungrateful turncoat. You traitorous bitch. I treat you like my own daughter, and this is how you repay me."
The look in Carter's eyes made my stomach knot. He was furious, and I was afraid he'd make good on his threat. "We need to know what she told them. We need to know what she knows about them. Don't hurt her. Yet." I glanced at her, and she met my eyes then, contemptuous and sul en. "We can't trust her to give us the proper information, so what do we do? And she can't talk . . ."
Vanzir stood up. "You know I can get in her mind. Knock her out, and I'l go in and find out what she knows. I can dig through her defenses, and she won't be able to stop me."
A dream chaser demon, Vanzir could do exactly what he said. He could feed on her life force, too, if he wanted. I looked at Menol y and Camil e. They nodded. We had no choice--we had to know what Kim had told Stacia. She'd probably listened in on every conversation we'd had with Carter and every bit of information he'd cal ed us about.
"Do it. You can find out why she's chosen to align herself with them, too." I stood up and walked over to Kim, who flinched away. "Menol y, can you mesmerize her like you can an FBH?"
"I'm more than wil ing to try." She strode over to where Kim was sitting and yanked her to her feet, baring her fangs. "Don't resist, or I wil do it the bloody way. Got it?"
The girl nodded, now looking petrified more than angry. Menol y leaned close and whispered something in her ear, grazing Kim's neck with her fangs, slowly slicing through the flesh to bite deep and hard. Kim gave a silent gasp, and a look of bliss washed across her face as Menol y lapped at the blood trickling out of the puncture.
