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“I made Vanzir drive me down, then told him to go home. What the hel happened with him? He seems mute, almost. . . docile.”
“You don’t want to know,” I whispered. “But you wil . Soon, Iris. It’s not up to me to tel you.”
And with that, we climbed in my car and headed for home, the silent streets passing by in a blur of snow and concrete.
When we got home, I silently went in to pick up Maggie. She was dead to the world but the minute I lifted her, she woke and gave me a sleepy yawn, then a giggle, and yanked on my braids. I held her close, sitting on the end of Iris’s bed, kissing her downy head and ruffling the calico fur that covered her body. Her wings folded and unfolded with delight, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and went to sleep against my shoulder.
For some reason, my heart felt like it was breaking, and for the first time in a long while, I wanted to cry. I pressed my lips to her head, then her nose, and then rubbed my cheek against the top of her head.
Iris came in, watching me closely. After a few minutes, I felt like I was back in control of my emotions and I softly slid Maggie back into her crib and fol owed Iris out into the kitchen. Shade and Delilah were there, both wearing pajamas. Vanzir was straddling a chair, leaning his arms on the back of it.
“We have a lot to talk about,” I said, sitting down next to Iris. “Can we do tea? I may not be able to drink it, but damn it, I need some feeling of continuity.”
Iris nodded, bustling over to the sink to fil the kettle. Shade offered me a bottle of blood from the fridge, but I wasn’t hungry. I’d drunk deep from Roman and stil felt sated from feeding on him.
Delilah pul ed out Camil e’s steno pad. “Okay, where are we at? And if we’re going to do this, I need cookies.”
“You just want cookies because you have a sweet tooth that won’t quit,” Shade said, grinning as he brushed his fingers down the side of her face.
“And what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing, because it’s part of you.” He bent to kiss her ful on the lips, and I tried to repress a grin.
“Get a room, you two. Come on, let’s please get a handle on what’s going down.” I waited til Delilah was finished smooching with Shade and paying attention, then said, “Wade and I kil ed the vampire who was murdering hookers. In doing so, we blasted a hole in the middle of the intersection. Or rather, our kil er did. He had a grenade. Grenades go boom when you pul the pin.
Which he did.”
Delilah blinked. “Say what? He was carrying around a grenade?”
“No, he had one in his bedroom down in the tunnels. By the way, there are several things we need to get on the table. Vanzir—I have to tel them. They have to know.” I was talking about the Demon Underground, but apparently he misunderstood.
“Fine, so tel them. Camil e would have to sooner or later. I’ve lost my powers thanks to a big-ass mistake.” He stared at them, and before I could stop him, he added, “I . . . I overpowered your sister in the tunnels when Morio was attacked, and the Moon Mother stripped me of my powers.”
Delilah jumped up, her eyes wide. “You did what?”
“Stop—before you think a single thing.” I stood up and crossed between their line of sight.
“Delilah, stop. Camil e and I had a long talk. She’s dealing with this—and there were extenuating circumstances that forced Vanzir’s hand. It was a bad situation, no matter how you looked at it, and neither one had much say in the matter. Vanzir’s feeding got away from him and Camil e made a choice.”
Delilah was shaking—I could see the tremors in her hand. She slowly took her seat, glowering at Vanzir. “What did Tril ian and Morio say?” Then a look of stark terror fil ed her face. “Oh Great Mother, what the hel do you think Smoky’s going to do? This isn’t something that you can keep from him.”
“We kind of figured that out, and hel . . . I don’t know. I’m thinking we should send Vanzir away for a little while until Camil e has a chance to talk to Smoky and smooth things over. We could send him to Otherworld for a little while, or to stay with Grandmother Coyote.”
Vanzir shook his head. “I can’t stay with her, she scares the crap out of me. I could stay with a friend in the Demon Underground.”
“Speaking of the Demon Underground, I’ve seen it.” Again, with Vanzir’s help, I outlined what we’d found below the surface. Once again, Delilah looked like she was seriously thinking of throttling Vanzir.
“You didn’t think to tell us about it? You didn’t tel them that the shadow men were guardians?
You put everybody at risk—” She hung her head, and when she raised it, I could see Panther staring through her eyes.
“Pul it in, babe. Pul it in—Vanzir has reasons. Maybe not the best, but he does have reasons.
Remember, we watch every thought about him. You don’t want to do something that cannot be undone.” The soul binder around Vanzir’s neck al owed us to kil him with a single directed and prolonged thought. I waited until her breathing softened.
Iris frowned. “You know . . . let me check something.” She stood and crossed to Vanzir, placing her hands on his shoulders and closing her eyes. After a few moments, she stood back, staring at him. “It’s gone. The soul binder is gone. ”
He hung his head again and crossed his arms. “Yeah, I know. It vanished when my powers vanished. I’m free of your Subjugation spel .”
