by Laken Cane
“I’ll hold these two anyway,” Louisa said. “You’ll need to question them, and I’ll need to make sure they hold nothing back. They’re tough motherfuckers, though. I’d not managed to get much out of them before you arrived. But together, we’ll rip every truth from them piece by piece, until we know where my daughter is.”
And as though afraid they might think she was bluffing, she cut off a piece of the male human’s ear with two quick swipes of her blade, then dropped the flesh on his already bloody lap.
“Stop, Louisa. No more cutting.” Rune had to speak loudly to cover the human’s screams. “What led you to these two?”
She knew that no matter what Louisa promised, she wasn’t letting the two humans live. As soon as she got what she wanted from them, they were dead.
The crew began to spread out, surreptitiously, slowly. If at any time one of them got a clean shot, he’d take it—after she let them know it was okay.
But it wasn’t okay.
The Others were using the humans as shields, blades to their throats, but that wasn’t the only reason Rune hesitated.
She wanted to help Louisa find the girl, and she did need to question the humans. There was a story behind the disappearance, and she wanted to know what it was.
“It’s not only my daughter,” Louisa said. “Other people have disappeared. Young girls. Others.”
“What?”
Louisa spread her lips in an unamused smile at Rune’s surprise. “Ask your superiors, Alexander. They know.”
Rune glanced at her crew, but they were clueless. Sure, there were reported Other disappearances. Just as there were human disappearances. RISC had done what they could to investigate.
Hadn’t they?
“Tell me about these two,” Rune said, nodding at the humans.
“Two months before Meg’s disappearance, Mrs. Dunbar here became her music teacher. Meg loved music. She wanted to learn the piano. I couldn’t afford lessons, but guess what? Our generous human offered to teach Megan for free.” She paused. “I knew better. I knew better. The humans give us nothing. But Megan wanted it so badly…”
None of the Others with her made a sound. They watched with blank faces and let Louisa speak for all of them.
They were werefoxes—it’d taken Rune a few minutes to recognize them, but they all had telltale reddish brown hair with prominent widow’s peaks and long, narrow, brown eyes. Their features were as sharp as their crowded rows of teeth.
They also had a scent particular to foxes—it was musky and somehow darting—there one moment and gone the next.
Foxes weren’t the bravest, or the strongest, or the scariest. But they were born with the ability to bullshit. Cunning and quickness were their strengths.
The Dunbars remained silent, probably afraid to speak and draw swift retribution from one of the foxes.
But Mrs. Dunbar stared at Rune, begging her silently to help them.
“Megan became withdrawn after she’d been with the Dunbars for only a couple of weeks. When I pressed, she grew angry and…” Louisa pressed her lips together, gathering herself before continuing. “We had words. The last thing I said to her,” she whispered, “was what a fucking spoiled brat she was.”
“She became withdrawn,” Mrs. Dunbar said, her anger giving her courage, “because I let her know that your abuse was wrong.”
“I didn’t abuse my daughter,” Louisa screamed, and both the Dunbars flinched.
Rune glanced at the female Dunbar. The human was strong and calm, and nothing in her face made her seem like the type of person who’d harm a kid. No wonder Megan gravitated to her, if her parents were indeed abusive.
“Did you hit your kid?” Rune asked Louisa.
“Her father and I kept her in line,” Louisa said. “We didn’t beat her, we disciplined her.” She shook her head, her eyes wild. “And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She slid the tip of her knife a little farther into the soft flesh beneath the male’s jaw. “Tell me who has my baby,” she said. “Tell me or I swear to God I’ll cut your fucking throat.”
“I don’t know,” he cried. “I told you! I don’t know any names. Please, oh please…”
“There’s a broker,” Mrs. Dunbar said.
“You sold Megan Smith?” Rune was shocked. She hadn’t believed the Dunbars were guilty. She wasn’t sure why.
“No, no,” Mrs. Dunbar said. “But we’ve heard talk and we thought—”
“Shut up, Lorna,” Mr. Dunbar demanded. “Shut up.”
But she’d opened her mouth and there was no going back. The female Dunbar was giving up. “See the pikes.” She looked at Rune. “The ones that live in Wormwood. The master is a man named Sean Colley. That’s the only name we have.”
“Why wouldn’t you just tell?” Louisa asked. “You might have saved my girl.”
“No,” Mr. Dunbar said. “They don’t come back once the broker takes them. Never. It would have gotten us killed for nothing.” He managed to glare at his wife, though one of his eyes was swollen shut. “But we’re dead now anyway. Your mouth has gotten us killed.”
Louisa shook with the effort to restrain herself, but in the end she lost that battle as her rage and fear got the best of her.
Her face screwed into a grimace, Louisa pulled the knife tip free and went for the killing blow.
Chapter Seven
Rune shot her in the head.
The crew went to work controlling the other foxes, while trying to keep the humans alive.
If both of them died, the chances of finding Megan got a little bit slimmer.
Rune knew how Louisa felt, but it wasn’t her job to sympathize. As the woman lay bleeding on the floor, her body trying to fight off the silver streaking through her system, Rune dragged the man into a corner and out of the way.
“Stay down,” she ordered, but needn’t have bothered. He curled into a fetal position and didn’t move.
Denim tossed Mrs. Dunbar behind a sofa.
The foxes shifted, and the fight was on. One of the foxes tried to run, aware it was his only chance to live.
If the crew didn’t kill him, the state would.
The crew ended up killing only one of the foxes—a female who threw herself at Levi, buried her teeth in his neck, and tried to shake the life from him.
Rune nearly decapitated her with her silver claws. The fox wasn’t going to heal from that.
It took the crew only a few minutes to neutralize and silver the Others. They called paramedics to take the humans to the hospital, and Annex sent transport for the werefoxes.
It had been an unsatisfying encounter, but Louisa Smith had gotten what she wanted, even if she had failed in her attempt to kill Mr. Dunbar.
She’d gotten attention where she needed it—on her daughter.
Later, as she strode to Rice’s office, Rune thought the boy, Epik, must have been one of the pikes. But something was off about him. She didn’t know what it was, but something wasn’t right.
Bill motioned her into a chair, his brow furrowed, his hair standing on end. “Sit, Rune. Sit.”
She sat. “What’s wrong?”
He drew in a deep breath and visibly relaxed. “Too many things going on at once. But that’s nothing new, is it?” He took a noisy slurp of his coffee, grimaced, and clicked a button. “Alan, could I have a refill, please? And bring one for Rune.”
“Thanks,” she said. She’d never refuse a coffee. “Did you see the foxes yet?”
“No, but Elizabeth did.”
“Elizabeth is working?”
“Of course. It’s a tragedy about little Stefanie, but Elizabeth would rather keep busy than dwell on it.”
“What’s going to happen to George?”
Rice shrugged, his gaze darting to the door. “He woke up once, but went right back into his…coma, and hasn’t been conscious since.”
That didn’t answer her question. “Will Elizabeth take him if he recovers?”
“Certainly. Bu
t…” He spread his fingers. “It doesn’t look good for the boy.”
“Who took Fie?”
He took another drink of his coffee, then shoved it away. “Alan,” he bellowed, then grumbled, “I miss Ellis. He made a good assistant.”
Rune watched him. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Bill?”
He stood. “I don’t have time for questions right now, Rune. There is too much going on. Another body was discovered, we have those shifters to deal with, I’m trying to settle into this new place, Eugene is—”
“Another nailed body? You just found one.”
He nodded. “Our killer is keeping us busy.”
“And there are no leads?”
He hesitated, and she thought he might have told her something he hadn’t really planned on telling her, but the slow Alan finally made an appearance, tray in hand.
“At last,” Bill said. “Sit it there. Yes, there. Perhaps with practice you’ll learn how to pour a cup of coffee without taking an hour to do it.” He glared at the hapless Alan. “That’s all.”
Alan was a small, blond man with calm eyes and a ready smile. “You’re welcome,” he said to Bill, then left the room, shutting the door gently behind him.
Rune grinned.
Bill sighed. “I need to get back to work, Rune. Take your coffee with you.”
Rune didn’t move. “I want to investigate Megan’s disappearance.”
His ready agreement made her suspicious. “Of course, of course. But the emergencies take precedence.”
“Yeah.” She frowned, then stood up and took her coffee. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, Rune. Thank you.”
But she could see the difference in him, and that difference wasn’t just physical. His withdrawal was obvious. Since the Annex, Bill Rice had closed himself off. At least to her.
She still had Elizabeth. Elizabeth would keep her updated on the serial killer, the memory wiped shifters, and the werefoxes. Rune would also have to go to her for whatever they had on Megan Smith.
And maybe Elizabeth would be more forthcoming about who the hell had taken Fie.
“She’s in a psychiatric hospital,” was all Elizabeth would say. “She’ll be well cared for.”
“What exactly did she do?” Rune asked. “How did she…”
“Try to kill George?”
Rune shrugged. “Yeah.”
Elizabeth hesitated, then took off her reading glasses and sat them carefully on her desk. She arranged them just so. “I’ve never seen anything like it. She leaned over his face, opened her mouth, and began to suck the life from him.”
Rune pressed her fist into her stomach. “Shit.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I don’t know what she is or what all she’s capable of. We know about the necromancy, but this…” She shook her head. “We don’t know.”
“Can you visit her?”
Elizabeth pressed her lips together and picked up her glasses. “No. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an enormous amount of work to do.”
Rune stood. “Elizabeth, can I get the file on Megan Smith?”
“Of course. There isn’t much there, though. I had a look after you brought in the foxes.” She peered into her computer monitor and began typing. “I’ll make it available for you. You’ll need your password.”
“Thanks.”
She left Elizabeth’s office, her mind on the foxes. She’d pay a visit to the Dunbars and then she’d read Megan’s file. She was pretty sure that Louisa’s need for blood had interrupted a lot more information from Megan’s piano teacher, and she meant to get it.
But when she arrived at the hospital, the cops inside Mrs. Dunbar’s room informed her the Dunbars were dead.
Mr. Dunbar had been right.
His wife’s mouth had gotten them killed.
Chapter Eight
The Annex had become fully involved in the investigation of Megan Smith, Elizabeth told Rune. The foxes were being interrogated, and the pikes were next.
“I’m going to talk to the pike alpha,” Rune told her.
“The Annex has investigators, Rune. You don’t—”
“Send them as well, but I’m going to talk to the pikes. And the pike alpha.”
“Sean Colley. Good luck finding him.”
“Yeah.” Rune clicked off and drove to Wormwood. She wanted to do another search for Gunnar anyway.
The pikes spent most of their shifts inside Poison Pond. The water was more of a lake than a pond, but the naming folks must have thought Poison Lake didn’t sound as cool.
The berserker called before she reached the cemetery. “We have a run. Where are you?”
“I got the message. Can you handle it?”
“Why?”
“I’m headed to Wormwood to talk to the pikes.”
She could almost hear him grinding his teeth. “The pike alpha is—”
“A son of a bitch. I know. But I meet a lot of sons of bitches. I can handle him.”
“Be careful and call me if you need me.” He clicked off.
She tossed her cell in the passenger seat. Sometimes Strad was overbearing, overly protective, and a pain in the ass. But most of the time…
She smiled.
When she arrived at Wormwood, Owen was waiting for her. She climbed out of her car, not unhappy with the unexpected company. It wouldn’t be easy to find the pike alpha.
And most likely if the pike didn’t want to be found, he wasn’t going to be found. Maybe she’d get lucky and grab Epik again.
“How did you know I’d be here?” she asked Owen.
“Elizabeth called me. Remember how Eugene offered to protect you against the assassin?” He grinned. “I’m it.”
She walked with him into the graveyard. “Our Eugene is generous.”
He lifted an eyebrow at her sarcasm. “I’m confident the two of us can handle one hired gun.”
“Maybe. But he’s a mean fuck.” She told him what Epik had said about the assassin. “He gives me the creeps.”
“Must be the mask,” Owen said.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice dry. “That must be it.”
He didn’t flirt with her, didn’t send her any smoldering glances from his bottomless eyes. He just walked along beside her, his fingers brushing his holstered weapons.
She began to relax.
But then…
“I want you,” he said.
She groaned. “Dammit, Owen.”
“I’m not addicted to your blood. I’m not out to kill you. I don’t need you to take a bite out of me.” He stared straight ahead, which made it easier for her to shoot startled little looks at him. “I don’t want anything from you.”
He hesitated, but when she said nothing, he continued. “You’re hot, you’re a freak, and I dig you. That’s all.”
She cleared her throat and stepped with extra care around tombstones and logs and bits of Other litter. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I said what I needed to, and we don’t have to talk about it.”
He wanted her to know he had no ulterior motives, that he expected nothing from her, and that he was into her. She got it.
No matter how much the berserker called to her, no matter how tightly he held her heart, he wasn’t the only man who tempted her.
Oh, no.
There was Owen Five.
And she wasn’t sure they both wouldn’t crush her, in the end.
“I couldn’t find anything on Owen Five. It’s like he never existed. Whoever he is, he’s not who you think. Don’t trust him.”
Sam Cruikshank’s words echoed in her mind, and she stared harder at Owen. “Who are you?”
He grinned and brushed a long, floppy lock of hair out of his face. “Maybe someday I’ll tell you my story.”
She started to tell him she knew he hadn’t taken Cruikshank to the hospital, that Sam had hidden from him and called to warn her. But she didn’t.
Because part of her didn’t trust Owen Fi
ve with that information.
She trusted him to have her back, but she didn’t trust his secrets. She didn’t trust that he wouldn’t shut Cruikshank up for good.
She was the one who’d end Cruikshank if it came to that. Not Owen.
They were quiet the rest of the way to the lake. She stared into the murky but tranquil depths of the water, wondering what dark secrets the lake bottom held.
“The pond feels sly to me,” she said, more to herself than Owen. “Almost alive.”
“Like it’ll grab you and drag you under if you get too close,” Owen agreed.
“Wormwood is full of mystery. I don’t think anyone has ever tried exploring Poison Pond.”
“If they did,” he replied, his voice grim, “I doubt the ones who call Poison Pond home let the explorers escape.”
“Sometimes you have to leave things alone.” She looked at him.
He smiled. “Sometimes you do.”
“I’m going in.”
“Don’t linger. Not sure I could come in after you.”
“You keep my assassin at bay. I’ll handle the pond scum.”
“You got it. And be careful. I heard the pike alpha is a—”
“Real son of a bitch. I know.”
“Can you can breathe under there?”
She shrugged. “I’ll know in a minute.”
“If you—”
“Owen,” she said, gently. “I’ll be fine.”
People worried about her. She understood that. But their worry sometimes made her doubt herself, and that wasn’t good.
She was going into that lake. Not just to question the pike about Megan Smith, but to find out what the hell was going on with Epik. She wasn’t one to let Others do as they would to each other. The humans believed that was a good idea. She didn’t.
She stripped to her underwear, ignoring Owen’s stare. “Don’t let anything happen to my blades and guns.”
Then she took a deep breath and waded into Poison Pond.
Chapter Nine
Rice hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said there was too much going on. But right then, Rune had to focus on the pike alpha and shove the rest away. Lack of concentration could get a person killed.