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Damien Malik had stolen one daughter from the Blood Hunter, and we were doing everything in our power to lead him to believe that the politician had stolen another as well. I couldn’t think of anything more guaranteed to throw the Blood Hunter into a frenzy.
A frenzy big enough to forget himself and his sense of security, if we got our way.
When Steffie’s SUV had disappeared out the end of the alley, I turned to Garrison. “Time for part two.”
“That it is.” He reached over and touched my cheek, staring intently into my eyes as if it was the last time he’d see me. “We wanthimgetting in over his head, not you. Don’t push it too far. Wait until you’re sure he’s vulnerable enough. We’ve got plenty of time to whittle away his defenses. None of this matters if we lose you.”
My throat tightened. “Same to you,” I said. “I know what I’m doing. We’ve got this.”
Please, let that be true.
Garrison nodded and then tugged me to him, meeting my lips in a motion of pure passion and desperation. It was a goodbye kiss if I’d ever felt one. He moved his hands, gripping my jaw and wrapping his long fingers around the back of my head, holding me in place in a way that told me he never wanted to let go.
I didn’t either. I didn’t want to leave him to an unknown fate, but we had to do this. With only three of us fully mobile, we couldn’t afford to stick together. And as the one with the most combat training, I could handle myself better on my own than he or Blaze could.
I slowly pulled away, giving Garrison’s hand a quick squeeze. “This isn’t good-bye,” I insisted. “I expect an even better kiss than that when we meet up again afterward.”
My comment provoked a chuckle, a little of the somberness in Garrison’s hazel eyes fading. “Oh, I’ll do a hell of a lot more than kiss you then, sweetheart. That’s a promise.”
We exchanged one last look and then split up, Garrison jogging toward the third car he was going to put in place for a later part of the plan, me heading off on foot. After getting a few blocks of distance from the scene of the hand-off, I summoned an Uber using a new account Blaze had set up with no links to my real identity.
The next stage of the plan relied on me alone. We knew exactly where the Blood Hunter would go first.
When I got to the Malik family home, it was still and silent. I’d half expected police tape, but it occurred to me that the bodies of Iris and Ruby probably hadn’t been found yet. I’d left them down in their secret basement room. I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone who’d wondered about their disappearance assumed they were running from a potential trial after the evidence that’d been discovered about their murderous activities.
That was no problem. It made it even easier for me to waltz into the house as if I belonged.
I went upstairs to the master bedroom with its bay window overlooking the front lawn, pulling over the wing chair from the corner to sit and wait. The room’s smell, crisp and slightly acrid, made me think of my father. He’d have applied cologne in here while he got ready to face the world in his role as defender of justice. What did his political supporters think of his ideals now?
We hadn’t been sure how long it would take for the Blood Hunter to realize what had happened, but he must have gotten the message quickly. I’d been waiting at the house for less than an hour when four cars pulled up outside, flanking the motorcycle the man himself rode on.
Of course he’d come, but he’d brought a small army with him. Fifteen men spilled out of the cars, all of them armed and slightly bulky beneath their crisp shirts in a way that suggested bulletproof vests. The Blood Hunter himself kept his helmet on, his own chest clearly protected. He wasn’t panicked to the point of foolhardiness—not yet, anyway.
Four of the men marched up to the front door in formation around their boss, shielding him from potential shots. The Blood Hunter’s strides were hasty, his hand jerking at his side as he snapped out orders. I could see the tension reverberating through him. He wasn’t his usual cool, collected self. We’d rattled him at least that much.
He had to be both raging at this violation of his family and unsettled by the possibility that he’d made an even greater mistake.
“If Malik’s in there, find him,” he spat out, sounding as if he was practically frothing at the mouth.
He didn’t know whether he’d failed in his revenge, whether he was going to lose another daughter. The plot he’d spent nearly thirty years planning might have gone off the rails without him even realizing it, and now he was teetering on the brink too.
A few more guards hustled up to the front door behind the Blood Hunter’s cluster, and the rest fanned out around the building to check the back and possibly enter through windows as well. I darted downstairs and slipped into my chosen hiding place just in time. I’d locked the front door to give the appearance that no one wanted them to enter, but the man at the head of the pack smashed it open without missing a beat.
That was just fine by me. I wanted them inside where I could do my real work too. There was no way I could hope to strike at the Blood Hunter directly right now, but the fewer guards he left this house with, the easier the rest of our task would be.
“Malik!” the Blood Hunter bellowed as he charged inside. “Face me for once, you fucking coward!”
He and his core group of guards hurtled upstairs. As more busted open the back door, a few men came toward me down the hall. I watched them from the top of the secret basement staircase, where I’d left the hidden doorway open a crack.
One of the guards noticed the gap in the wall, just as I’d intended. I crouched down as he hurried toward me. “Over here!” he shouted to his colleagues.
Three of them burst past the door. The second they stepped into the darkness, I swept out my leg and slammed out my hands.
The guy at the back heaved forward into the others, and they all tumbled partway down the steps. I leapt out and hurled a knife into each of their heads before they could recover. As they slumped on the stairs, I slipped out and closed the door firmly behind me.
A guard was just emerging from the dining room. His gun arm whipped up, his mouth opening to raise the alarm, but I sprang at him and snapped his neck before he could get out more than a grunt.
More footsteps were thumping toward me from various directions. The Blood Hunter would have seen that the second floor was empty. I darted the short distance to the back door and braced myself there in the mud room, using the narrow wall for cover.
