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“I always thought you were referring to a group when you cal ed it that,” I said. “We al did.” The Demon Underground was a network of rogue demons hiding from Shadow Wing, over Earthside.
They had formed an al iance to fight against the demon lord, and Vanzir had often consulted them for us when we needed a heads-up on one Big Bad or another.
“It is. A group. But they have to live somewhere, and not al demons can pass for FBHs. I can, to a degree, though most people think I’m one of the Fae, but a good share of the demons look like .
. . wel . . . demons. Monsters, to the mortals.” He shrugged. “Where the hel did you think they were al living? In condos along the waterfront?”
“No, I guess not.” But now that he asked the question, it made sense. It had never occurred to me to ask where al the demons who’d fled the Subterranean Realms had ensconced themselves.
Carter, of course, lived in Seattle proper, but he had the ability to mask his appearance, probably because his father was one of the Greek Titans. He wasn’t ful demon.
I looked up at Vanzir. “I can’t believe none of us ever thought about this before. We can be shortsighted at times.”
“You can’t remember everything while trying to save the world.” At first I thought he was mocking me, but then he laughed and I realized he’d attempted a joke. He reached out and hesitantly patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. We’ve done a good job of keeping this place under wraps. Karvanak didn’t even know. And he beat me senseless.”
“Now I see why you tried to veer me off from here. You wanted to keep it secret.” Part of me understood why—secret organizations need secret headquarters. Part of me wondered just how far we could trust him.
“Hel , eventual y you or your sisters would have come back. Better I’m with you to explain matters than you get yourselves in trouble. The demons here may hate Shadow Wing, but they don’t necessarily like humans or Fae. They protect the Underground with a passion. In fact, we’d better go before we’re caught. I need to warn them to set up a new guarding system now that the shadow men are gone.”
“You guys put those fuckers there?” I stood, suddenly understanding what he was saying. “They almost kil ed me. They almost kil ed Morio. What do you think Camil e’s going to do when she finds out you’re partial y responsible for her husband lying in the hospital? What do you think she’l do if he dies?”
“We didn’t put the ghosts there . . . just the shadow men, and they weren’t the ones that staked him.” He paled. “Menol y, please don’t let her think I was the one who did that. I didn’t assign them to guard the entrance. I don’t run the Underground, I’m just part of it.”
“No, but you didn’t warn us even though you knew they were there. You let us walk into a deadly situation without warning—”
“You were determined to head down the passage. You knew about the actual ghosts that are there. You knew the area is haunted. What more could you have known that would make it al come out al right? I couldn’t fight the shadow men, either. And you’l notice they were coming after me, too. It wasn’t my fault Morio got hurt, it was whatever that ghost-thing was that did it.” His eyes whirled with anger.
Even though he was right, I pressed my lips together, keeping my thoughts in check as rigidly as I could. It would be so easy to strike him down, but what he said was the truth. Final y, after a few minutes, I managed to regain my equilibrium and nodded abruptly toward the stairs.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
We silently returned to the tunnels, and I flipped open my cel phone. No bars, but it was time to cal Iris. And only ninety minutes before dawn.
“Let’s get out of here. I’m not going to find the kil er tonight, that’s obvious.” I hurried ahead, letting him try to keep pace with me. When we reached the exit, I floated up topside and, in a blur of movement, headed toward my Jag. Vanzir struggled behind me.
I slammed my door, popped my seat belt into place and was speed-dialing Iris by the time he climbed in the car. Ignoring him, I waited until Iris answered and then blurted out, “We’re on our way home. We’re al right.”
“Good, but Menol y, I got a cal from Chase. We have a problem.”
“Morio?” Oh gods, let Morio be al right. None of us could handle losing him, let alone Camil e.
“He’s stil hanging in there, blessed be Undutar. No, Chase cal ed to tel me he got a tip about an hour ago and he’s going to have to fol ow up on it.”
“A tip? What tip?”
“That Wade’s the serial kil er.”
I stared at the phone. “You have to be kidding. I’m headed over toward the FH-CSI now.”
“Remember: less than ninety minutes until dawn,” she warned me.
“I know. Trust me, I know.” I put the car in gear and, without a word to Vanzir, sped along the silent snowy streets.
“So, are you just never going to talk to me again?” Vanzir stared out the window as the city streets passed by in a dark blur.
I stared straight ahead, clutching the steering wheel. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Going to make it hard to tel me what to do,” he said, cajoling me. I gave him a sharp glance and he smiled, faintly, shrugging at my gaze. “What can I say? I could grovel, but you three don’t like groveling. But remember: Beyond being your slave, I’m part of the Demon Underground, and we have a loyalty oath there, too.”
