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She didn’t answer, but I could hear the sprite’s soft breathing. Feeling under the gun, I sought for something else to soothe her worry. “I have to do this. We can’t let any more women die—and there was another murder tonight.”
“I know,” Iris final y said. “I just don’t want you going down there feeling guilty over Morio. I don’t want your subconscious doing anything to get you hurt. Sometimes you have more conscience than I think is good for you, girl.”
“I have to. Otherwise, I’d just be another monster.” Hanging up, I slid my phone in my pocket, watching as Wade hustled over to my side. “Yo. We’ve got to get moving. He could be long gone by now.”
“Do you real y think he is?”
I shook my head. “No. Actual y, I think his lair is near here.”
“If things end up playing out the way we think they are, I wouldn’t worry about him disappearing.
He’s pul ed to this area. I worked up a quick profile based on everything we talked about. He’s probably feeling so much guilt over either fucking a hooker, or even thinking about it, that he’s compel ed to stay here. He’s constantly searching out his sire, and—in his mind—kil ing her over and over again. But because she’s a vampire, she can’t die and his subconscious knows that. So he has to strike again and again. In a sense, he’s trying to cope with a feeling of impotence since he can’t seem to strike her dead.”
I stared at Wade. “We real y need to talk more often. Crap, that’s good. And we are dealing with a priest.” I told him what Chase and I had found out about Charles Shalimar.
“That adds a whole new layer of guilt. I guess we’re good to go.”
I brought out several wooden stakes, handing him a couple of them, fixing several in my own belt. Then I handed him a cross.
“What the . . .? Religious objects don’t work on us.” He took the wooden T and frowned at it.
“What should I do with this?”
“Ah, it won’t work on you or me, but remember—he was a priest. He’s had a psychotic break.
The cross may very wel carry some impact with him since he is a believer and he sees himself. . ..
wel , hel . . . I don’t know exactly what he thinks he’s thinking, but it can’t hurt to try. The crosses won’t actual y hurt him, but he might think they wil . And that could buy us valuable time.”
“Bril iant. So, shal we?” He motioned to the gaping hole.
I flipped open my phone and cal ed Chase. He might be only a block or so away, but it was easier to cal than run over there. He answered. “Chase, Wade and I are headed down. I suggest you keep some of your men in the area for a while.”
“I’l stay myself. We’l be over in a few. And, Menol y—”
“Yes?”
“Be careful.”
I slid my phone back in my pocket and looked at Wade. “Time to go hunting, babe.” And I jumped into the hole, floating down, hoping that this time we’d successful y bag our quarry.
CHAPTER 21
The tunnels were becoming al too familiar. Old friends, almost, or rather—frenemies. They were comforting in their darkness, and I felt at home in the dusky passages, but they were also fraught with danger and my common sense kept me alert.
“I smel something,” Wade said. “Blood.”
I inhaled deeply and the coppery scent spread through my body. “Blood. Of course—he has to be covered with her blood. You didn’t see . . .” Visions of her mutilated body raced through my mind and I tried to shake them away. “He has to be covered in her blood. Fol ow the scent and we fol ow him.”
And so, silent, we tracked him through the tunnels. We headed in the direction of the passage where we’d found the shadow men, but fifty feet or so before the fork, the scent led us to the left wal of the passage. It was brick and seemingly solid. I frowned, running my hands over the aged tablets. And then I felt it—a thin line, running vertical y.>“But why would he kil one type of woman, over and over?”
“Think about it for a minute.” Wade let me figure it out for myself.
“Oh, Great Mother.” And I knew. I knew exactly why our kil er had turned into a serial kil er. “He’s attacking his sire, over and over.”
“There you have it.” I couldn’t see him through the phone, but I could hear Wade smiling.
“I’ve got to go. I need to tel Chase what we’re dealing with.”
