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“You too, Pat.”
He hung up without acknowledging my request—typical older brother.
I sighed as I put my weapons back, my nerves still twitchy.
I need to take care of the tracker. One way or another.
Chapter Two
Noctus
Iwalked around the freshly scrubbed pavement that marked the spot where the rigged spell—attached to a jewel brooch that acted as a low-level artifact—had gone off. When the brooch released the shadow monster, it had also liberally dosed a five-foot area around it in blood,humanblood.
The area had been meticulously cleaned—to prevent the blood from causing any unpleasantries with vampires, who weren’t always the best at controlling themselves when surrounded by so much of their sustenance.
Rumor had it the Curia Cloisters suspected the bloodbath was done to cause chaos and make the situation seem even worse than appeared to spread panic, but it seemed like an odd way to establish intimidation when—without the blood spell—the artifact probably could have unleashed another shadow monster.
It was possible it was an attack aimed specifically at vampires, except vampires weren’t the type to mingle with humans, and it had gone off during the day, so only two vampires were in the area at the time. Thankfully, one of them was a Drake vampire, who restrained the younger, more easily influenced second vampire until backup from the Cloisters arrived.
I finished my inspection of the sidewalk, then turned on my cellphone flashlight.
The sky was a swirl of dark clouds, blocking out the midnight moon and stars, and only one lamp had survived the monster’s rampage, so the street was dimly lit.
But I had good enough night vision, and night was the safest time to investigate. During the daylight hours we’d be noticed.
Besides, night is when it’s worse.
I shut the thought down and forced myself to stare at the evidence before me—or what little was left.
The claw marks left in the sidewalk from the shadow monster hadn’t yet been repaired, so I was able to study the jagged lines carefully.
The brooch had been hidden under a bench positioned at a bus stop, with a giant sign that contained the bus schedule next to it.
The monster had only injured six of the victims—the remaining four had been hurt in the ensuing stampede.
I raised my gaze, looking across the street where a new apartment building—one that had been toted in the supernatural community as a safe haven for the likes of lone wolves, unclaimed vampires, and Court-less fae—had been due to open in mere weeks.
Luckily, a Court-less fae and a lone wolf had been about to tour the building when the monster was released, and they’d been the ones to kill the monster before it truly started to rampage.
“A bus stop, huh,” Aristide said, his voice invading my careful focus. “I guess these creeps are declaring the humans as their targets for this round.”
The vampire gazed unseeingly down the street, tilting his head as he listened to the sounds of our surroundings.
“That is what the Curia Cloisters seem to think, according to their published information—although they might be holding some back for the sake of the ongoing investigation,” Charon said.
“Mmhmm. What do you think, Noctus?” Aristide asked.
“I am not convinced.” I felt a few raindrops on my skin and glanced up at the gloomy sky that would likely loosen a downpour on us any moment. “Its location near the apartment building is too close to be ignored, and including the blood seems an oddlyspecificchoice for intimidation when a second creature would have caused even more panic.”
“Then do you think they were aiming for the outcasts of supernatural society?” Aristide staggered a little when Ker—in her wolf form—started walking, leading him forward. “That would be a pretty big veer from their campaign with their illegal artifact ring we cracked earlier—if it’s the same guys, that is.”
Aristide followed Ker as she led him up a little closer to me, so intent on smelling she almost scraped her nose on the sidewalk.
“It is,” I said, certainty weighing down my voice.
Charon glanced at his tiny notebook. “The manufacturers that we caught are still in Ghast Prison.”
“Yes, but they weren’t the ringleaders. We have the video footage of the fae—who we believe set the illegal ring up—that put him on this street. There’s a good chance he planted the brooch.” I paused, then continued. “It’s most likely he works for the group the Paragon warned us of.”
