by Deanna Chase
She nodded. “It has traces of red powder. We still need to test it, but I’m pretty sure it’s that new street drug. Scarlet is what they’re calling it.”
It was the same drug that had killed Rhea. I knew it well. It was an extra-potent drug that was a manufactured mirror of opium and strong enough that it worked on vampires and shifters. If humans took it, the dose was often fatal. Our bodies just couldn’t handle it. “You need to run a tox screen on Simone as soon as possible. If this is in her system—” I pulled the syringe that she’d been clutching out of my pocket and showed it to Victoria. “She was holding this.”
“Shit!” Victoria took off at a dead run.
I glanced once at Tanner, who was still passed out, and sprinted after her. Finn already had Simone in the van. Victoria jumped in and said, “She needs a Scarlet detox shot now!”
Finn’s lips pressed into a thin line as he immediately rummaged in his emergency bag and pulled out a syringe. Without another word, he jabbed the needle into Simone’s chest.
The witch’s eyes flew open as she sucked in a gasp of air. In the next moment, Simone’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she went limp.
“Whoa. What the hell was that?” I asked, climbing into the van to get a better look.
“Special antidote. If she’s been drugged with Scarlet, there was no time to do a tox screen or administer an IV.” Victoria whipped out a stethoscope and listened carefully to Simone’s heart. She closed her eyes, and after a moment she nodded. “Heart rate is up, but that’s to be expected. Let’s get her out of here. She needs a full workup.”
Finn checked her pupils, noted her pulse rate, then turned to me. “Did you see her take the drug?”
I shook my head. “No.” I produced the green syringe, handing it to him. “It’s empty, but I’ve only seen this type of green syringe once before. This morning. A young shifter had one stuck in her arm. It was a Scarlet overdose.”
Both of the Void employees stared at me, their eyes asking the question neither of them wanted to voice.
“I found her too late.”
Victoria nodded and held out an evidence bag to Finn. He dropped the syringe inside, and as I watched them work, I had an overwhelming urge to wash my hands… or take a scalding-hot shower. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that drug. It was extremely dangerous to anyone who wasn’t immortal.
I hopped out of the van. “I’ll get Tanner.”
“Leave him,” Finn said, reaching to close one of the back doors. “I already have backup on the way.”
“I’ll stay.” I was unwilling to leave an unconscious vampire out on the street. There was no telling what could happen if he woke up. Or worse, if some clueless do-gooder stumbled upon him.
“Suit yourself. See you back at the office.” The other door slammed shut and the van took off, its lights flashing as the sirens rang in my ears.
I walked back over to Tanner, glanced down at his beady-eyed face, and felt my gut churn. The green syringes weren’t just a coincidence. I was sure of it. And that meant there was some sort of a connection between Rhea’s overdose and Simone’s attack. I prayed Simone would be awake and have some information when I got back to the Void. Because whoever was responsible for this… I was going to make them pay.
I sat next to Tanner’s cell, drumming my fingernails on the small portable table. The vampire was awake, but he was lying down, staring at the ceiling, pretending he hadn’t noticed me. I knew better. He was grinding his teeth to the beat of my drumming.
“The sooner you tell me why you attacked Simone, the sooner we can end this torture,” I said, eyeing the pouch of blood the guard had brought for him. I’d confiscated it, refusing to let him feed until he answered my questions.
Nothing. No reaction.
I made a notation of the time and his nonresponse just as I had each time I’d asked over the past two hours. He was consistent at least. Always silent, no denials. “When’s the last time you fed?” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Twelve hours?” That was how long it’d been since I found Simone.
Still no response, but he did glance over at the clock, then at the pouch of blood sitting on the floor next to me.
“Hungry?” I asked.
His eyes darted to the pouch again. Then he growled.
“Just answer my questions and I’ll let you feed.”
“Kilsen,” a familiar, angry voice said from behind me.
Dammit. I stood and turned my attention to Eadric Allcot. He was dressed in an expensive suit, his blond hair slicked back. He’d been turned in his late teens, but despite his young appearance, he exuded power and had an arrogance that only the powerful seemed to possess. The vampire towered over me, his angular jaw clenched as he glared at me.
“Eadric,” I said, unfazed by his presence. “What can I do for you this morning?”
“You can let my employee out of that cage.” His eyes flickered to the blood pouch. His expression turned darker. “Since when is it acceptable to attack a vampire without provocation?”
“Oh, I was provoked.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him in the eye, noting his gray eyes had almost turned black with anger. He wasn’t wearing the colored contacts he’d become so fond of recently. Good. It made it easier to read his mood. “You can bet on that. Next time you want me for something, why don’t you try a phone call?”
His brow wrinkled for just a moment before it smoothed out and his expression turned blank. “I didn’t send Tanner to find you.”
“Then why was he stalking me?” I asked, casting a glance at the incarcerated vampire.
“I wasn’t stalking you,” Tanner said with a sneer as he rubbed the hole in his chest. “Why would anyone stalk a crazy bitch like you?”
My fingers curled into fists. “You tell me, Tanner. Why was it I could feel your stale-ass breath on my neck right before I jammed my knee in your balls?”
Allcot cocked an eyebrow in his flunky’s direction.
Tanner raised both hands and shrugged. “I was just bored and fucking around. She’s the one who attacked me. I never laid a finger on her.”
I opened my mouth to protest but closed it when the director suddenly slipped through the door, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line. What was Director Halston doing down in the basement?
“Kilsen, let the vampire go,” she ordered, her blue fae wings fluttering in agitation.
“But—”
“He’s right,” she barked, cutting me off. The small fae was barely five feet tall, but her confidence and take-charge demeanor always seemed to fill the room. “It says right here in the report you signed that the vampire in question never even touched you before you buried your knife in his chest. You’re lucky you don’t have a lawsuit on your hands.”
“I never said I wouldn’t sue.” Tanner was on his feet, a gleam shining in his dark eyes. He raked his gaze over me again and added in a disturbingly seductive voice, “But if you want to settle, I’m open to negotiations.”
His words made my skin crawl. The problem with vamps like him was that it was all fun and games until it wasn’t. All too often their “fun” turned into assault. And while I could certainly handle him on any given day, most of the women walking the streets of New Orleans weren’t Void-trained witches who could bring a vamp to his knees with just one spell. “If I ever hear you speaking to me or anyone else like that again, you’re going to have much bigger problems than a hole in your chest, got it?” I said, letting my gaze linger on his crotch.
His gaze followed mine, and he growled as he took a step back as if I’d already cursed him.
“That’s enough,” Allcot said. “Tanner, you aren’t going to sue Kilsen, and she isn’t going to curse your dick.” The head of Cryrique glanced over at me. “And you aren’t going to go around stabbing my people either. Otherwise, you and I are going to have a problem. Got it?”
I scowled at him. “Just keep your people away from me. I don’t appre
ciate being harassed while I’m doing my job.”
“Understood.” Allcot nodded at the door to the cell. “Now release my employee before I get impatient.”
Arrogant Jackass. What was he even doing there? Bailing a minion out of jail wasn’t usually on Allcot’s personal to-do list. There were others he usually sent in his place. I glanced between them, trying to work out what made Tanner so special. Last I knew, he was just a vampire who worked security at the Red Door, Allcot’s nightclub over in vampire territory.
Director Halston let out an impatient sigh. “Kilsen, release the vampire.”
I gritted my teeth and punched the code into the security panel. The buzzer went off and the door slid open. Tanner stalked out of the cell, grabbed the blood pouch at my feet, and tore into it.
Allcot waited patiently for his employee to finish his breakfast, then told him, “Kilsen is off-limits. Get in her way again and I’ll leave you here.”
Without another word, the pair strode out the door and up the stairs. I turned to the director. “What the hell was that about? That vampire is a suspect in the attack on Simone.”
She shoved her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat. “How so? He obviously hadn’t fed recently. And thanks to your overzealous attack, we don’t have anything else that will stick either. Reread the report, Kilsen. Tell me where it says the vampire attacked you. Or even threatened to attack you.”
I didn’t need to. She was right. Tanner had pissed me off by invading my personal space and being a general jackass, but he hadn’t actually touched me. I’d made the first move. And even then, all he’d done was defend himself. “Shit,” I muttered, running a hand through my long dark hair. “You’re right. But we both know he was up to something. Allcot’s vampires know better than to mess with me.”
“If they didn’t before, they sure as hell do now,” she said, already striding out of the room. “Clean yourself up and meet me in my office in ten minutes.”
I glanced down at my bloodstained T-shirt and grimaced. It had to be from when I’d carried Simone. I’d been at the Void all night doing paperwork, checking on Simone, and interrogating Tanner, and I hadn’t even noticed.
The sound of the clock ticking in the silent room drew my attention. It was just past nine. And well past the time Dax would’ve shown up at my house to pick me up for work. I took the stairs two at a time and ran into the locker room. I wasted no time stripping and jumping into the shower. Five minutes later, my hair still dripping, I pulled clean clothes from my locker and glanced at my phone. Eight texts, two messages, and five missed phone calls.
“Shit,” I muttered. Willow and Dax were losing their minds because I hadn’t come home the night before and hadn’t answered either of their calls. After pulling on fresh jeans and a plain black tee, I texted both of them, letting them know I was at the office.
Dax texted back immediately. Your brother has been sighted.
3
My heart stopped, then got lodged in my throat as I typed back. Where?
I stared at my phone, clutching the device so tightly I was sure my hand would cramp. No response.
Dax?
Nothing. Too impatient to wait, I pulled up his name and hit Call. It went straight to voice mail. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said into the phone. “You can’t just text me that Seth has been sighted and then nothing. Call me back ASAP.”
After I ended the call, I checked my text messages again and scowled at the lack of response. “Dax had better be either incapacitated or beating the shit out of some rogue vampire. Otherwise, I’m going to kick his ass.”
“It must suck to be your partner,” a woman with short red hair said as she glided into the dressing area. The witch was a new tracker who’d just started with the Void a few months ago. “What are you going to do next? Stab him in the chest? I never thought the badass Phoebe Kilsen would let some two-bit bouncer get under her skin.”
I scowled at her but said nothing, unwilling to take her bait. There was no doubt my fuckup with Tanner was flying through the gossip mill like wildfire.
“Watch it,” Sabastian, the witch’s partner, said from behind her. “Kilsen has been in rare form lately. You don’t want to fuck with her.” The tall, wide-shouldered shifter winked at me as he handed the witch a file. “Besides, you don’t want to get on the bad side of the witch who has the highest vampire-takedown rate in the entire organization.”
“She what?” The witch turned to stare at me, her mouth open.
I gave her a tight smile, nodded at Sabastian, and then took off. Who cared about my record? I hadn’t gotten to Simone soon enough, and she was still lying unconscious in one of the med units. Meanwhile, someone had spotted my missing brother. Records didn’t mean shit to me.
The fluorescent lights flickered in the stark white halls of the Void building as I hurried upstairs to Halston’s office.
“You’re late,” the director barked from where she stood behind her desk. Her frizzy gray hair was pulled back, and she was wearing black-rimmed glasses as she studied a file.
“My apologies. I was—”
“Never mind.” She waved a hand. “Sit down.”
“I’ll stand.”
She pierced me with her dark eyes. “You’re agitated.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t trust Allcot. A young shifter, who I’m not at all convinced was a drug addict, died of an overdose, and a powerful swamp witch was attacked while waiting for me in the Arcane library. I don’t know how it all adds up, but my gut says it’s all connected. And we just let Allcot take one of his vamps out of here without answering any questions. So yeah, I’m agitated.”
“Good. Because I think you’re right. Something is fishy, and it looks like Cryrique is right in the middle of it.” She passed me the very thin file. “Here’s a list of shifters who’ve suffered drug overdoses in the past two weeks. Five barely survived. The other three have perished. I want you and Marrok to follow up on all of them. Find out who their dealers are, if they were regular users, and any other relevant details of their lives. If I’m correct about my suspicions, then someone is using a modified and deadly version of Scarlet to deliberately try to purge this city of shifters.”
I glanced at the file. There were eight victims listed. Rhea’s name was at the bottom. I sucked in a sharp breath. If someone had deliberately killed Rhea, I was going to produce their head on a silver platter. “By somebody, do you mean Allcot?”
“Maybe. It’s hard to say. Just follow the leads and report back to me.” She pulled out her chair and sat at the desk as she punched a few keys on her computer. “Fill in Marrok when he finally deigns to grace us with his presence. If Allcot or any of his employees are involved, do not make a move before you inform me. Understood?”
“Understood.”
She gave me a short nod as she picked up her phone and instructed her assistant to get a director from another branch on the line. She glanced up and jerked her head toward the door. I’d been dismissed.
“Dax?” I banged on the door of his new place in the Irish Channel neighborhood. He’d recently moved into one half of a shotgun double that was walking distance from the home I shared with Willow and Talisen.
There was no answer.
I pulled out my phone and texted him again. He hadn’t answered me since he’d dropped the bomb that Seth had been spotted. That had been forty-five minutes earlier. If the man wasn’t trapped under something heavy, I was going to kick his ass.
“He left early this morning.” The neighbor had come out onto her porch. She was wearing bright orange hot pants, a formfitting tank top, and had a cigarette dangling from her perfectly painted pink fingernails. “I was just getting in from work when he ran out the door. Looked like he was in a hurry.”
“Thanks,” I said, giving her a nod. “Did you see Leo? The blond kid who’s been crashing on his couch?”
She shook her head as she took a long drag of her cigarette. A lock of her
curly black hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it back. “Nope. Last I saw him, he was sittin’ on this porch drinking a twelve-pack of Abita. He looked rough. I tried to cheer him up. Offered him free passes to the midnight burlesque show where I work, but he said he wasn’t up to it.” She took another drag of her cigarette and gave me a half shrug. “First time I’ve ever had a man turn down free passes.”
“There was a…” I shook my head. “We lost someone important to him last night. Don’t take it personally.”
Her face fell, and sympathy exuded from her as she stepped forward and placed a hand on my arm. A faint trace of unwieldy magic skittered over my skin, and I jerked back out of reflex.
“Sorry,” she said, obviously annoyed as she held her hands up. “Didn’t mean to invade your personal space. Christ,” she muttered as she turned back to her door. “That’s what I get for trying to show some empathy. Everyone’s so touchy these days.”
“Wait,” I called, still unsettled. Her power had felt wild, uncontrolled, just the way my own had when it had manifested in my teen years. Did she know she had magic? Had she felt mine when she’d placed her hand on me?
The woman paused just before she stepped into her house. “What?”
“What’s your name?”
“Iris. Yours?”
“Phoebe.” I shoved my hands in my pockets as I cleared my throat, not quite sure how to broach the subject. But I quickly became impatient with myself. I usually wasn’t one to mince words. “Do you know you’re a witch?”
“Um… what?” She chuckled softly. “Are you sure you haven’t been drinking this morning? You look a little… Well, let’s just say that you look a lot like me and my girlfriends after a particularly fun night out on the town.”
I took a step closer and shook my head. “No, I haven’t been drinking, unfortunately. I was working. It was a long night.”
“I can relate,” she said with a small smile. “New Orleans is that kind of town.”
“It’s also one full of the supernatural,” I pressed. “Vampires, shifters, and yes, witches like you and me.”