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I retracted the blade and glanced at it, lungs heaving.
No one could know I’d stabbed Leclerc, especially Brien.
He might say he wanted me. He might promise to give me anything I asked for.
But I knew how syndicates worked. He couldn’t let a thrall get away with staking his father and primus.
On top of that, I’d pretty much outed myself as a slayer. An untrained human would’ve never been able to stake the primus. If it came out that Brien had known all along I was a slayer, I might take him down along with me.
I gave myself a shake and sprang into action. First, I had to get rid of the damn switchblade. I darted back to the koi pool and pushed it into the stones forming the pool’s perimeter.
A bolt of lightning split the sky, followed by a boom of thunder so loud it shook the castle. Rain sheeted down, drenching me and the primus’s ashes.
At least it would wash the scent away.
I scooped up the wet black mass, scattered it around the rosebushes and patted mulch over it. For a long moment, I stared down at Leclerc’s final resting place.
“You really fucked things up for me, you know.” I blew out a breath. “But may you find some peace.”
Wiping my hands on the grass, I rose back up and set out at a jog for my apartment.
Prosper met me on the path a few yards from the door. My heart kicked into overdrive.
I pasted on a bright, thrall-like smile. “Can I help you?”
He brushed past me and kept going straight to where I’d hidden the primus’s ashes, while I followed more slowly.
He crouched beside the rosebushes and sniffed the ashes. Then his shoulders slumped. He scraped a hand down his face.
I halted a few feet away, the rain stinging my cheeks, staring at him with a hopeless desperation. We remained like that for what was probably only a few seconds. But it felt like an entire day passed.
The lieutenant rose and turned to me, eyes flinty, mouth a harsh slash.
“I knew you weren’t who you said you were.”
20
BRIEN
Istarted awake at the instant the sun set.
Twilight’s in danger.
Ten seconds later I was dressed and out of my apartment. Hurtling around the corner, I slapped my palm on the pad next to her door but the lock didn’t disengage.
I swore under my breath, waving my hand back and forth until the camera recognized it. The lock clicked and I wrenched the door open.
I knew immediately she wasn’t there. Even if she’d been hiding, I would’vefelther. Smelled her. Sensed her heartbeat.
I went through the suite anyway, opening the bathroom door, checking the closet. I even looked under the goddamned bed.
When I couldn’t find her, I checked the garden. A light rain was falling, but I called her name anyway.
Demon appeared like a white wraith out of the darkness, meowing in agitation.
“Hey, girl.” I hunkered down, rubbing her behind the ears. “Where is she? Where’s Twilight?”
Demon ran past me into the living room, where she crouched on her haunches and stared fixedly at the front door. When I opened the door, she darted into the hall, then stopped and looked up at me with another distressed meow.
