I didn’t need his permission — heck, I didn’t need Cormack’s permission because I would’ve done what I wanted regardless — but I was glad to have backup. “It shouldn’t take long.” I exhaled heavily and pressed my fingertips toward the mangled man’s temple. The images that immediately assaulted me were of the bloody and horrific kind.
“Oh, geez.” I didn’t pull away. I’d been down this road enough times that I knew it wouldn’t change the outcome. I would definitely see the images — and hear the screams — for weeks to come. “Oh, man.”
“What do you see?” Cormack asked, his voice gentle. He didn’t touch me, which was good. I didn’t want to inadvertently transfer the images to his head. They would be in mine long enough that I would have to refrain from holding Lily for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a mess,” I said. “The guards were caught completely unaware. They were already under attack before they realized there was a problem.”
“Did you see who did it?”
That question was harder to answer. “I don’t know.” I licked my lips, searching. “I saw blood ... and there was screaming ... and I saw a flurry of movement. I saw two of the men — Pat and Stan — and they looked normal. As for the others ... .” I was at a loss.
“Just give me the basics,” Cormack prodded, ignoring the haughty look on Drake’s face. It was obvious the doctor wanted to say something derisive but was fearful enough of Cormack that he didn’t push matters.
That was for the best.
“It was dark,” I replied. “There was limited light in the hallway. Keep in mind, I saw things from the guard’s perspective. He was fine ... until he wasn’t. I don’t know what killed him. I don’t know if it was man or beast. It happened so fast. He was gone within seconds.”
Apparently giving up on his effort to remain disassociated from me, Cormack rested his hand on my shoulder. It was big ... and warm ... and soothing. I was glad for his presence. “You don’t have to touch him any longer, Izzy. It’s not necessary.”
He was right ... and I felt like an idiot. “Oh, yeah.” I drew my hand away and pushed myself to a standing position. “All I can say with any degree of certainty is that the first noise they heard was from behind them. That means it came from the ward, not the hallway in front of them.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that another force didn’t come from that direction,” Drake persisted. “Multiple forces could’ve been working together.”
“They could have,” Cormack agreed, lifting his eyes to the door when it opened and nodding at the man who poked his head inside. “Danny, did you get the footage we’re looking for?”
“No.” Danny looked resigned, as if embarrassed and worried. “The cameras are wireless and something disrupted the feed moments before the attack. The cameras have a backup system, but it didn’t kick in for five minutes. By that time, this was already done and there was no one in the hallways. We’ve been over the footage five times. There’s nothing.”
Cormack visibly sagged. “Five minutes? Are you saying all of this happened in five minutes?”
“That’s what I’m saying, sir. We don’t know how. We don’t know anything. There’s no way for us to ascertain what door they went out or if they were altered when they left. We have absolutely nothing.”
Cormack pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and tracked his eyes to me. “This can’t be good. I mean ... are revenants capable of this?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know enough about revenants to even hazard a guess.”
“Do we know anyone who has knowledge of revenants?”
I shrugged. “I don’t even know how to figure that out.”
“I can only think of one way.” Cormack was grim. “I’ll have Cillian start digging. We need someone with unique life experience ... and I just don’t know where to look.”
I risked a glance back at the bodies and shuddered. “We’d better find out quick. We don’t want this to start happening with the general public. It will send the city into a panic.”
“Which means the residents will arm themselves and things will only get worse when they start firing guns into shadowy corners,” Cormack agreed. “We need to solve this before that happens ... and fast.”
Fourteen
It turns out there was only one person on the payroll with a knowledge base expansive enough to help us. I was ridiculously impressed — and a little awed — when Paris was shown into Cormack’s office. By that time, Redmond and Braden had been pulled from their work details. They were being added to reconnaissance teams to search for the missing men. Before that happened, we needed a little magical help.
“Revenants, huh?” Paris looked more intrigued than worried. “I guess I should’ve considered them from the start, but they never entered my mind.”
“Have you dealt with them before?” Cormack asked.
“No, but I’ve done a lot of research,” Paris answered. She was matter-of-fact. “There was a time I thought it was possible revenants were attacking a friend, but it turned out to be run-of-the-mill zombies.”
Redmond snorted. “I had no idea zombies were ever run of the mill.”
Paris was blasé. “You’d be surprised. I’ve seen them several times now and they’re really only terrifying the first time ... and maybe the second time. Actually, now that I think about it, I was terrified each time. They were only a problem when we were trying to figure out how to kill them.”
“And what did you hit upon?” Redmond was clearly amused. Honestly, if I was reading his expression correctly, he was also turned on. Paris had ten years on him, but she was exotic-looking. Besides, Redmond was the sort who didn’t discriminate based on age. He would sleep with anyone.
“She’s married,” I blurted out before Paris could answer, earning a speculative eyebrow from my assistant.
Redmond balked. “I wasn’t doing anything.”
He was full of it. “And she has a child.”
Cormack snorted and shook his head before dragging a hand through his hair. I’d never seen him looking this disheveled. He was always so put together. “Let’s forget about Ms. Princeton’s dating status for the moment. I need to know more about these revenants.”
“And I want to know how the zombies were killed,” Redmond added.
“Fire,” Paris replied simply. “My friend magically set them on fire. They were easy enough to take down after that.”
“You have a friend who can set magical fires?” Redmond looked impressed. “Is she single?”
The mirth in Braden’s eyes at the question was enough to have me send him a pointed look. He instantly turned serious.
“Stop being an idiot, Redmond,” he chastised. “We have dead people to deal with. It’s time to get serious.”
Redmond didn’t bother to hide his eye roll. “Whatever.”
For her part, Paris looked caught, as if she would rather be anywhere else. That surprised me. Finally, when she spoke, it was with gravitas. “Listen, I know what’s in my file,” she started. “I’m well aware I have two files, in fact. One is very basic and the other, the secret one, goes into greater detail regarding my past.”
I was taken aback. “Wait ... you have two files?”
She nodded without hesitation. “I’ve lived a very colorful life. I told you that.”
Actually, she’d avoided questions when I asked. Her non-answers, however, were enough to fill in some of the blanks. “You were there when Covenant College was razed, weren’t you?”
“Kind of,” she hedged, clearly uncomfortable. “I wasn’t lying when I told you I didn’t know how that happened. That is the truth. We didn’t do that. We were there for the run-up to those events, but ... that was something else.”
“What?” Redmond was awed.
“A lesser god,” Paris replied. “And, before you ask, I have no idea how to find him. He shows up occasionally because he’s interested in my friend.”
“And who is this friend?
” Cormack prodded.
Paris stubbornly jutted out her chin and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s none of your concern. It doesn’t matter. She has nothing to do with this.”
“I’m not saying she does.” Cormack appeared calm, but I could feel the agitation wafting off him. “I’m curious as to whether she’ll be able to help us with this. By your own admission, you’ve only researched revenants. We need someone who has dealt with them before.”
“And that is not my friend.” Paris was firm enough that I believed her. “She’s dealt with a lot — sometimes with me and other times on her own — but she can’t help us with this.”
“And you don’t want to call her in,” Braden surmised.
“Not really,” she admitted, rueful. “They’ve been through enough. It’s been a quiet year and a half — at least for the most part — and they deserve a break. I’m not going to call them in unless there’s a reason ... and we’re most certainly not there yet.”
I had so many questions. This friend that she talked about in quiet and reverent tones had to be powerfully magical. I wanted to meet her, pick her brain, and maybe even compare notes. That clearly wasn’t going to happen until Paris felt more comfortable with us. She wasn’t going to betray her friend. Quite frankly, I would never ask her to do so. It was unfair. We had to focus on our own problems.
“Here’s what we’re dealing with.” I told her everything, not omitting a single detail. When I was finished, Paris’s face was lit with intrigue. “Well, that’s ... interesting.” She pursed her lips. “It certainly sounds like revenants from all I’ve read. The thing is, they’re not all that common on this continent. They’re a Western Europe thing.”
“Well, they’re here now,” Cormack responded. “We have to deal with them. Does anyone have any suggestions?”
“It sounds to me as if Izzy managed to eradicate one already.” Paris, ever the pragmatic sort, never changed her inflection. She attacked the problem from a clinical perspective that I admired. “If she took out one, she can take out the others. In fact, if we work as a group we should be able to handle the problem without losing a single soldier.”
“We have to find them,” Redmond pointed out. “Do you have any suggestions as to how we do that?”
She instantly started nodding, taking me by surprise. I was hopeful. “You do?”
“They wanted to go home,” she reminded me. “That’s all they wanted. I have no idea why Ray Smith returned to Belle Isle. The gate might be calling to them, although that seems unlikely.
“Listen, they were obviously sent here for a reason,” she continued. “This wasn’t a naturally-occurring event. Someone set a plan in motion. We don’t know who. I’m not even sure it’s important to know who at this point. We simply need to find the other men and either capture or eliminate the revenants. I mean ... it would probably be beneficial if we can catch one of them alive, but the most important thing is getting them off the streets.
“There are people out at Belle Isle right now,” she said. “If the revenants show up there, we’ll hear about it. We need to hit other locations. The most obvious are the homes of our missing men. It might be a natural instinct for them to return there even if they’ve become monsters.”
“What if they’re not there?” Cormack challenged. “This could be a waste of time.”
“It could be,” Paris agreed. “The thing is, we don’t know where else to look anyway. We might as well start there.”
“We need addresses,” Redmond said. “They shouldn’t be too hard to track down.”
“We need multiple addresses,” Paris corrected. “We need the addresses of the homes these men lived in at the time they disappeared and the addresses of where their loved ones live now. They could be at any of those locations.”
“That’s going to be a lot of locations,” Cormack muttered, paling slightly. “I didn’t think about that, but you’re right. It makes a lot of sense.”
“We need those addresses and you’re going to need more teams. I don’t think we can wait to start checking.”
“No.” Cormack was resolute. “We’ll start now. I’ll give you three addresses and you can head out. I’ll keep in contact if I have updates.”
I smiled but it was only a reflex. “That sounds like a plan.”
“TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF.”
Redmond didn’t argue when Braden directed him to sit in the back seat of his truck with Paris. In fact, he seemed eager to get her in a confined space, and he immediately started peppering her with questions as we headed toward one of the older Detroit neighborhoods.
Instead of being put out or annoyed, Paris looked amused. “You really are wasting your time,” she offered. “I’m married — happily so — and I’m quite a bit older than you.”
“That’s okay.” Redmond’s smile was wide and impish. “I love older women. I think they’re great.” He made a weird cat sound and batted his hand. “You have no idea how fond I am of cougars.”
“Oh, geez,” Braden muttered under his breath as he navigated onto a narrow street. “Leave her alone. She’s not interested in you. She has a baby.”
“I like babies.”
“She also has a husband,” I added.
“And a friend who can shrivel your junk until it looks like raisins,” Braden supplied. “I mean ... if this woman can conjure fire out of nowhere to burn zombies to a crisp, she can handle you without a problem.”
“Geez.” Redmond made a face. “You guys are absolutely no fun. Why can’t you just chill out? All I’m trying to do is get to know her better. I’m really not going to hit on her.”
“He’s fine,” Paris agreed. “He’s not offending me or anything. In fact, I’m flattered. As for my husband, he has nothing to worry about. I’m completely in love with him and Alvis.”
“Alvis?” Redmond’s forehead wrinkled. “Is that your husband’s name?”
“No. That’s my son.”
“As in ‘Alvis has left the building’?”
Paris let loose a defeated groan. “Ugh. I really should’ve listened when people told me not to use that name. I had no idea it would turn into this.”
I laughed despite the serious situation. “He’ll be fine. You can call him Al and he’ll charm women left and right.”
“He’s a bit away from that ... at least I hope.”
“And what about your friend?” Redmond clearly wasn’t letting it go. “Is she single?”
“No. She’s most definitely married — has been with the same guy since we were in college — and she has a daughter. If my friend doesn’t kill you and her husband somehow misses — which is unlikely — I know a certain teenager who will make you wish you’d listened to your brother about the raisin comment.”
A picture, unbidden, pushed itself to the front of my brain. I thought about the dark-haired girl who kept calling Paris. It made sense. There was power emanating from that girl even though she was miles away. If I could feel her from this distance, she had to be something special.
Still, it was none of my business.
“What other things have you fought?” I asked. It seemed a safe enough topic. “You mentioned zombies, and I know you’re familiar with vampires.”
“I’m familiar with a lot of things. Sphinxes, evil witches, ghosts.”
“Gods,” Redmond added. “I’m dying to know how you met a god.”
“Not me. My friend.”
“You never met him? How do you know she wasn’t lying about meeting him?”
“Technically I did meet him. I didn’t talk to him much. He was much more interested in my friend ... and her family.”
“But what sort of god?”
“Does it matter?”
“I’m simply curious. What was his name? That’s all I want to know.”
A small smile played at the corners of Paris’s lips. “Bob. His name was Bob.”
“A god named Bob?” Redmond was obviously dubious, as was I. “That doe
sn’t sound right.”
“It’s not. That wasn’t his real name. My friend couldn’t pronounce his real name and she didn’t take the time to try to learn to. She re-named him Bob and it kind of stuck.”
“She re-named a god?” Redmond’s eyes lighted with delight. “Okay. I definitely have to meet this woman. I don’t care if she’s married. She’s clearly my soul mate.”
“Oh, her soul is already joined with another.” Paris’s smile was whimsical. “I’m sure you’re charming, but there’s nothing you can do to entice her. Sometimes souls join once and never separate. That’s what happened to her.”
There was something poetic about the statement. I was stirred enough to glance at Braden and wasn’t surprised to find him watching me with contemplative eyes.
“This is the address,” Paris noted, leaning forward and turning to the business at hand. “This is Doug Dunning’s house. I guess we’ll find out soon enough if our idea holds water.”
She was right. It was time to get serious. Talk of her magical friend could wait.
“WELL, THIS DOESN’T LOOK GOOD.”
When no one answered the door, we decided to let ourselves into the Dunning house. It was a risk, but Braden and Redmond seemed up for it, both of them whipping out lock-picking tools as if this wasn’t the first time they’d attempted something of this sort. Instead of pointing out I could use my magic to open the door, I decided to let them compete — because it was clearly what they wanted to do — and five minutes later we were inside. Luckily, nobody saw us.
The scene that greeted us in the living room was enough to chill me to the bone. I was in complete agreement with Redmond for once. “It definitely doesn’t look good.” I rubbed my cheek and stared at the overturned coffee table. There were items strewn about the room, huge holes in the couch where stuffing spilled out. Something very bad had clearly happened here.
“There are no bodies,” Paris noted. She was all business. “There’s a little blood in this corner, but no bodies.”
Only the Lost Page 14