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“Remember that my friend is in there. And she’s mortal. Don’t go blowing her up or I’ll never forgive you,” I said.
He was silent for a moment, as if taking in my words. “If she’s important to you, she’s important to me.”
He turned and started walking. It took me a second to shake his words from my head.What the fuck was that all about?
I hurried after him, joining him at the front door. Usually, I wasn’t so brazen when going after a mark. I’d search the place, find the best entrance, sneak up on them if possible.
But I wasn’t solo on this and my companion’s magic was deadly.
For the first time since I met Elias, a thrill rushed through me knowing his magic was on my side. The fear that usually accompanied my thoughts was missing. Was it possible I was starting to trust him?
I didn’t have time to analyze my feelings for Elias right now. Especially since I’d have to find a way to explain that kiss and I just couldn’t go there yet.
We had work to do.
Elias kicked in the door and it blew from its hinges landing flat on the ground with a thump. A cloud of dust billowed up around it and I waved my hand in front of my face to send it away.
“Subtle,” I deadpanned.
“You liked it,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes, but he was right, I kind of did. I’d help Heidi fix it later. We stepped onto the fallen door and walked into the foyer. It was set up like a sitting room right out of the Victorian era, complete with uncomfortable but beautiful furniture, small tables with sculptures, and leather-bound books.
“Don’t come a step closer.” The speaker had a thick, southern accent. “Or this girl goes the same way as your other friend.”
My chest tightened. Whoever that was, he’d all but admitted he killed Lola. I couldn’t see the perpetrator, but I knew the setup of the house well enough to make a guess. Beyond the hallway, there was a large formal room that was often used for services for the deceased. A smaller room where they’d lay out the coffin was partitioned off with a velvet curtain. The office was beyond that, a place I’d never been. From the sounds of it, the voice was nearby. Likely in the large service room.
Elias took a step off the door onto the ancient, polished wood floors. They creaked under his movement.
“I only got a taste of your other friend before her blood went cold. I might drain this one dry,” he drawled.
“That has to be the guy.” My words came out small, my voice choked. I’d been hunting her killer this whole time with nothing but red in my vision. Now that it might be time to take him down, something else fought for dominance.
Justice.
Lola deserved that. She deserved to be avenged, but she also deserved to have the truth known. If I took this guy out, would the enforcers just brush it under the rug? If we brought him in alive, would he get off? I’d been worried someone higher up would pay off the system to get this asshole out. Now, I wondered if that was worth it to find out who wrote the check. This was so much more than a single person working alone.
“Maybe hold off on the sparklers for now,” I said. “If he really is the killer and he really did take a bite out of Lola…” I cringed, still pissed about all of it: the fact that my best friend was dead, the fact that they might have fed on her. None of it was okay. I took a breath. “If they did, we might be able to get a fang match.”
I hated saying that. I wanted the killer to suffer the way Lola had but I also wanted to make sure we had the right guy. What if this was so big, they’d set someone up to take the fall? What if the man holding Heidi was a decoy?
I felt a little insane even thinking like that, but this case was making me question everything.
The one thing I did know was that Lola entrusted me with the stone. It was the only way I could honor her memory. I had to do what would help me most on that quest. Finding out if this vamp really was the killer was more important than letting Elias blow him to bits.
So far through this thing, I’d been set on revenge. But after discovering how much bigger this was, I was rethinking a few things. As long as I had that stone (and hopefully I’d still have it after this) I was in danger. If I wanted to keep it safe and honor Lola’s memory, I had to solve this all the way to the end of the trail.
“Lola deserved better than all of this,” I said.
“Yes, she did,” Elias said.
“I hear you out there, and I’m serious, I’ll kill the girl,” he said.
“I’m unarmed.” I pulled my knife out of my pocket and threw it toward the voice. “I’m coming in. I just want to talk.”
