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Maddox cursed under his breath as he went to the door. He had hoped none of the humans he knew would attempt to make contact before he made contact with them. His meetings with his human law enforcement associates had been on hold since he went on vacation, so there should have been nobody to come over. And yet, there the door was, being rapped upon.
He opened it to find the stern, concerned features of his favorite middle-aged detective. Candy’s hair was pulled back in a professional blonde ponytail, her lips marked with a hint of pink gloss. She was a handsome woman, and probably his closest actual human ally. Strange to come to that conclusion now.
“Candy. I can’t talk now,” he said, suddenly worrying for her wellbeing. He hadn’t even thought of her. He should have thought of her. She would be just as worried about Will as he was.
“I saw lights on,” she explained.
“Uh huh. Lorien and Henry have been living here for a long time. Didn’t you think it was them?”
“No. They never turned the lights on. I mean, at least, not that I noticed. When I came past. On patrol. You know. We still had SUCU business, even if our key liaison was out of town.”
Candy was a terrible liar, and an even worse benign obfuscator of the truth. She had been keeping an eye on the place, that much was obvious. Telling her to stay away wasn’t going to work. Her guilt about the past kept her tied to Will, and by default, Maddox, in the present.
Maddox stepped outside and shut the door behind him. Taking her by the elbow, he walked her several blocks away into a crowd of people. It felt so much better to be thronged by strangers. It almost erased the feeling of Gideon’s influence. Almost.
“I need you to do something for me,” he said.
“Sure, boss,” Candy agreed. “What’s wrong? Where’s Will?”
“I sent Will to the country. There are some vampire politics going on that put him at risk. They put anybody with wolf blood at risk. I need you to stay clear of the house. We can meet at one of our other rendezvous locations later. I can’t talk now.”
Candy was frowning as she nodded. “Is everything okay with you, sir?”
“I am unharmed.”
“Is this to do with what happened to the Library? That entire place has been cordoned off and they put up scaffolding and shields. Looks like it collapsed.”
“A sink hole, of sorts,” Maddox lied for a moment, before deciding not to. “Listen, Candy. My maker has risen. He does not approve of Will, and he usually brings death and destruction wherever he goes. Now would be a good time to move your family out of the city. Gideon usually only wakes to attend war. It seems peaceful enough for the moment, but you would be shocked how quickly peace can turn to conflict.”
“Will is in danger?”
“Everybody is in danger. Did you hear me, Candy? I said you need to move your family.”
“Right,” she said. “And William is in danger.”
“Don’t worry about Will,” he said, knowing she would do little else. Lora Candy’s guilt as the secret teen mother of the man he loved had become what he’d considered a constant threat to Will’s equilibrium. Her burgeoning need to confess was one of the lesser reasons he had taken Will away. The last thing the boy needed was to be confronted with more chaos from his past. At least she couldn’t find Will. He couldn’t find Will, at least, not directly. It would take a series of messages through confidential channels to find him now.
“Tell me about this maker of yours,” Candy said.
“Listen, Candy. I know you want to help, and your help will be useful at some point. But for now, the best thing you can do is move your family. They’re not safe here. Nobody is. You would be best to take them as far north, or south, as possible. If you want to make contact with me, call and we will meet elsewhere. Do not, under any circumstances, come to the house again. Understand?”
Candy nodded quickly. “So. What did you need me to do?”
“Be in contact when you have secured your family. I need to get back.”
“Where were you?”
Raymond was keeping tabs on him. Maddox hated that fact. Gideon looming above him was at least something in the natural order of things. Raymond being about the place and paying an inordinate amount of attention to him was just an irritant.
“Outside,” Maddox replied tersely. “I have business to attend to, Raymond. Surely you do too.”
“I’m attending Gideon,” Raymond said. “As you will be once he has recovered from a long period without feeding. I would clear your schedule, Maddox. Our maker is not in the mood to tolerate your waywardness any longer. He is unimpressed with the state he has found you in.”
“And what state is that?”
“You should be building an empire, Maddox. While our maker sleeps, it is your responsibility to continue his work. Instead, you’ve hidden yourself away and you’ve distracted yourself with unsuitable companion.”
Ray’s lecturing was unwanted, but at least it warned Mad as to what was likely coming down the pipeline. He doubted Gideon cared about empire building. The creature lived only to destroy what had been built since his last slumber. The Library having been designed to be destroyed at his rising was no coincidence. It was a very minor decoy, in truth. Gideon had destroyed much greater repositories of knowledge in his time, including the Library of Alexandria which was set to flame on Gideon’s whim. This monster did not merely haunt Maddox’s personal life, he was at the heart of much of the darkness in human history.
