“Asshole,” she grumbled under her breath.
I ignored her comment and turned my head so that I could see Bronx from the corner of my eye. “How many are here?”
“More than three?” Bronx offered.
I was about to snap at him when Serah spoke. “Between two and three dozen on the low side. Goblin clans tend to be very large when they have the space and assurance of safety. This location would have likely been outside of Reave’s reach unless they had some kind of special arrangement with the dark elf. Either way, we’re massively outnumbered.”
I didn’t question how she knew about Reave. It was likely that she would have heard about the bastard while she worked as a cop. What surprised me was her knowledge of goblins. They weren’t your average criminal and were pretty good about avoiding the notice of the local law enforcement, even if their main business was illegal. In short, goblins wouldn’t have been required reading for surviving Low Town’s streets.
The TAPSS investigator looked up at me with wide, expectant eyes. “Is it true? Was Reave grabbed by the Towers?”
Even though the dark elf had been killed three months ago, his death wasn’t common knowledge yet. There had been no grand announcement, news report, or celebration. To most, he’d simply disappeared—possibly returning to the bosom of his own people, the Svartálfar, but some knew the truth.
“Yeah, he’s gone,” I mumbled, leaving out the part about how I’d been the one to kill him at the request of the Towers’ council. Turning to look at Bronx, eager to forget about Reave, I asked, “Would they keep their supply here?”
Bronx frowned. I was treading carefully here. I didn’t want to get involved in the baby black market. Don’t get me wrong: I didn’t like the idea of babies being in the hands of goblins, but the upside was that these kids were going to people who couldn’t have children and didn’t have legal options. It had taken the world centuries to give same-sex couples the right to adopt. Vampires were still fucking years away, as well as a number of mixed couples. Who said a banshee and an incubus couldn’t be great parents? Or a were-bear and a leprechaun? Hell of a lot better than the Towers.
“Unlikely,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “They’d keep them separated from prospective parents in case negotiations went south. Why?”
“In case questioning goes south,” I said, turning toward the foyer at the sound of approaching footsteps. If things went bad, I didn’t want to worry about the safety of any children who might be on the premises. Even with Bronx’s assurances, I was still worried there was a baby hidden somewhere.
Of course, I would have to worry about that later, as footsteps thundered across the bare hardwood floor, sounding larger in number than what should be approaching us.
“Got any more ideas?” Serah asked, taking a couple steps away from me and reaching under her coat to her back. She pulled out the gun she had hidden in the back of her pants and flipped off the safety with her index finger.
“Keep that hidden for now,” I said, waving her behind me. “Let’s see if we can still talk our way out of this.”
That proved to be wishful thinking on my part. A six-foot-tall goblin strode in, surrounded by more than twenty goblins of all shapes and sizes. The leader’s orange eyes glowed like beady fires in his wrinkled face, and pointed at me. “You lie!” he shrieked.
“Whoa! Hold on a second!” I shouted back, holding my open hands out toward him while putting myself between my companions and the goblins. “We’re just here to talk. Nothing more.”
“You bring a troll and a cop into our nest and you say this is only talk? Lies,” he hissed, taking a step closer. Around him, the other goblins brandished knives and vicious claw-like weapons that would do incredible damage if sunk into the flesh.
“Pregnant women are being killed in Low Town by some maniac. We only wanted to ask you if you’ve seen anything. Have you heard anything?”
“The killer? The baby killer? You know of this person?” the leader demanded, sending a ripple of unease through the gathered goblins. They had stopped speaking English and were chattering amongst themselves in a guttural, sharp language that I couldn’t understand, but with each passing second the group was growing more excited.
I took a wary step backward as several started screaming and waving their weapons again. This was really bad. They weren’t listening and the situation was quickly slipping out of my control. Or rather, I was finally coming to the realization that I had never really been in control of this situation. I’d gone looking for a shortcut and I was about to pay the price. And in my recklessness, I’d dragged two innocent people along for the ride.
“Look, we’re just looking for some answers!” I shouted over the growing noise.
“Have you led the killer to us? Threaten us? Threaten our business?” the leader shrieked.
“No!” I screamed over the din, but no one was listening to me now. The horde of goblins charged, pouring over me to surge toward my companions and fill the room.
For a moment, there was just a tangle of teeth and claws converging on us. They scattered briefly when Serah fired her gun in the air once, but they hesitated for only a breath before convincing themselves that their overwhelming numbers would win in the end.
Dropping down into a crouch, I launched my first attacker over my shoulder, sending him crashing into the table in the center of the room. The wobbly structure collapsed under his weight, scattering paper and pens. The lamp on the table clattered to the ground, splashing kerosene across the floor. The light went out, casting everyone in deep shadow as the faint glow from the next room could only stretch thinly to where we were pinned down.
I grabbed the chair closest to me and swung it into the face of the next goblin to reach me. An ugly crack echoed above the shouts and the wood frame shuddered in my hand, only to give way completely when I brought it down on the back of a second goblin.
Swinging the chair like an enraged lumberjack, I mowed down my opponents, forcing them back as I tried to reach Serah. I glimpsed four goblins writhing on the floor, clutching carefully placed wounds as they howled in pain. The swarm was giving her a little more space. They slowly stalked her, searching for an opening.
“An escape plan would be nice!” she shouted above the din before squeezing off a round into the groin of a goblin who had gotten too close.
I flinched as he went down, his low keening sending the remaining goblins scrambling away from her and over to me. The remains of the chair shrank in my hand with every swing until I was left with a jagged stake. We had been pushed back, while the horde of goblins didn’t seem to be waning. For every one that fell, two more popped up to replace him. They were wearing us down.
Dodging another goblin who had lunged at me, I thumped him in the throat before kicking him away. In a second I had between opponents, I found Bronx had been pushed back toward the front window. We had our exit.
“Bronx!” I shouted, catching the troll’s attention. “Behind you!” As the massive creature turned sharply, his elbow hit a goblin about to strike, knocking him into the window. The tinkle of glass was a pleasant sound. Bronx smiled and picked up his would-be attacker. With a low grunt, he tossed him through the window, where he bounced across the front lawn.
Stepping over another goblin, I grabbed the sleeve of Serah’s coat and jerked her toward Bronx. Unfortunately, I pulled her off balance. She knocked into small side table that had been hidden from my view. Two flickering candles fell to the floor. One went out. Time slowed down as we all froze, watching in growing horror as the flickering candle rolled to the spreading pool of red kerosene that was soaking into the old hardwood floor.
“Shit!” I muttered before pushing Serah ahead of me to the window. The whoosh of the growing flames nearly drowned out the screams of panic. I shoved Serah out the window, hoping she avoided the jagged teeth of the
broken glass. Diving after her, I kept rolling for several feet across the frozen ground to give Bronx some room to follow me.
When I stopped to catch my breath while lying on my back, I looked at the house to see that a good chunk of the lower level on the right side was already engulfed and the flames were spreading to the second floor. Panic riding hard behind the rush of adrenaline, I fought hard to slip into my inner center of calm as I gathered together the magical energy in the surrounding air. A quick whisper of words gave me insight into the occupants of the house—they were only goblins. Bronx had been right. They weren’t keeping any of the babies in the farmhouse.
The relief that swept through me brought the sting of tears to my eyes and my hands trembled. Most of the goblins were escaping into the woods to the south, heading away from us. Some would die in the flames, but I couldn’t summon up the remorse I was sure I was supposed to be feeling. I was just too grateful that we hadn’t accidently killed any children in our poor attempt to contact the goblin black market.
A soft laugh dragged my gaze from the burning structure to find Serah on her knees in the snow, staring at the house. Her laughter grew until she was shaking her head and holding her stomach. Sitting up, I found Bronx watching her with an equally quizzical expression. When she caught our confused looks, she smothered her laugh and pushed to her feet.
“I get why the TAPSS vamps are scared of you now,” she said, as I came to stand beside her. When I didn’t quite get what she was alluding to, she waved her hand to the burning building just a couple yards away. “We’re just going ask a few questions,” she said sarcastically.
I looked back at the house. Both floors were ablaze now, creating a massive orange-and-yellow ball of fire in the middle of the open field, pushing the darkness back. The kerosene lamps spread around the old building were speeding up the process, so that we were now sweating in the bitter cold as waves of heat poured from the farmhouse. The roar of the flames had become a ravenous monster set loose on the house, consuming anything within its path. God, I hoped this wasn’t a bigger fucking metaphor for the things in my life.
“I guess we should have started smaller,” Bronx said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He lifted one bushy blond eyebrow as he looked down at me. “Just grabbed one goblin for questioning instead of going to the source.”
I gave a jerky nod, frustration eating away at my patience. I was accustomed to going to the heart of the matter rather than sneaking around. When I had questions, I went directly to the person who had the answers. Obviously, the direct approach had been the wrong tactic when it came to dealing with goblins. Unfortunately, I was too eager to have this wrapped up so I could turn my full attention to putting a smile back on Trixie’s lips. It just wasn’t going to be that easy.
“I’ll have to remember that,” I murmured.
Serah stood and dusted the last bits of snow and dirt from her jeans. “What do we do now?”
Shoving my hands into the pockets of my coat, I led the way back to Bronx’s Jeep. We were far enough out in the middle of nowhere that it was unlikely any neighbors would call in the fire, but I didn’t want to be around when someone decided to investigate. “We keep digging. I’ll see if I can find a new way get info from the baby black market. You need to see if your cop buddies have discovered anything useful.”
“And me?” Bronx’s keys jingled softly when he drew them out of his pocket as he fell into step beside me.
I paused, trying to think of any possible avenues of information that we hadn’t explored yet, when an idea hit me. “Contact Jack.”
“Werewolf Jack?” Bronx said, his brow furrowing at my suggestion. “I thought he didn’t like you.”
“He’s gotten over it. Well, mostly.” You turn a guy into a chihuahua and he doesn’t like to forgive you for it. However, this past All Hallows’ Eve I helped his pack out at the risk of Trixie’s life. We were square. It also didn’t hurt that I got his pack out from under Reave’s thumb and put him in control of the Low Town underworld.
Pulling open the passenger door when Bronx unlocked it, I raised my voice so he could hear me over the vehicle. “See if Jack’s people have heard anything. A psycho killing pregnant women has got to have stirred up some chatter.”
Taking one last look at the house as Bronx drove down the deserted country road, I prayed that tonight’s botched attempt to get us closer to the killer didn’t result in a massive waste of time. The longer it took to find this insane bitch, the higher the likelihood that more people were going to die.
Chapter 8
When Trixie walked into my apartment later that evening, my frustration was pushed out the window in favor of gut-twisting anxiety. We hadn’t talked about my grand reveal from the night before and I didn’t have anything positive to relay from my adventure with Serah and Bronx out to see the goblins. All in all, I was feeling pretty damn useless.
Her smile was strained and uncertain when she stripped off her winter coat and tossed it over the arm of the sofa. And for the first time since we had started dating, I hesitated to hug her. I looked at her and I couldn’t tell if she would welcome affection from me.
“How was your day?” I asked, shoving my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans just so I didn’t do something stupid with them like reach for her.
“Long. Boring,” she said with a shrug as she dropped onto the sofa. The shop was closed on Sunday, but I think she would have preferred to have been working so that her mind wasn’t drawn back to the ugly truth. She was dating a warlock. “How about you? Learn anything interesting?”
Shaking my head, I sat on the center cushion of the couch, close to her so that I could easily reach out to touch her, but still with some space between us. “No. The whole fucking thing was a disaster.”
“You . . .” she started, but her voice drifted off as she looked at me funny for a second. “That fire I heard about on the news wasn’t from you guys, was it?”
I flopped back on the sofa and covered my face with my hands. “That wasn’t my freaking fault. We just went in to ask them some questions. They’re the ones who decided to launch an attack on us. There were like fifty of them against the three of us! What the fuck! Things got crazy and the fire started accidentally.”
My hands dropped at the sound of her soft laughter. She smiled at me, a look of sympathy and amusement dancing in her eyes for the first time in too long. “I’m sure you never meant to burn the place down.”
I groaned. “If I had, I’d at least have the balls to admit to it.” I dropped my head back against the couch, staring at the ceiling as the comfortable silence settled into the room at last. “Serah is trying to get information out of her police connections. Bronx is going to talk to Jack. Maybe the pack has heard something. It’s moving slowly, but with any luck we should have a lead on this woman.”
“Woman?” Trixie said with a horrified gasp.
I winced, suddenly remembering that I hadn’t yet told her of the spell I had cast in the basement of Asylum with Serah. As quickly as possible, I ran through the events while reassuring her that I planned to wipe the investigator’s memory as soon as this was all settled.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Trixie said, chewing on her lower lip.
“What? Let her keep that knowledge? It’s a big risk.”
“Yes, but if you think you can trust her, maybe her knowing would get Asylum a little more slack from TAPSS. We both know they love to come down on you.” The elf gave a little shrug, her wide green eyes drifting away from me. “But you don’t have to listen to me. It’s your secret.”
Reaching out, I placed my hand against her cheek and gently turned her head so that she was looking at me again. “It’s not just my secret anymore. You’re impacted by those who know about me. It’s a matter of your safety as well.”
Trixie took a deep breath, her expression growing sad. “And exactly h
ow safe am I, with you back at the Towers?”
“You’re safe,” I said firmly. “As a member of the guardians, the witches and warlocks don’t have a reason to hunt me like they once did. I do a job for them every once in a while. Then I come home and forget all about it. They aren’t going to come after me and I won’t let anyone come after you.”
“But doesn’t that mean you’ll be forced to kill people for the Towers? That you’ll have to hand over people for interrogation? How can you live among these people, pretending to be one of them, only to betray them later?” she demanded, her words growing more desperate so that they tumbled over one another in a rush to escape.
I stared at her, watching her chest rise and fall with each heavy breath, as if she had been running a race. Her words hadn’t been tinged with anger or disgust but with fear and worry. She was scared for me, for my safety, and I think even for my soul and sanity. I was living a double life, and the likelihood of failure was high.
“I know there will be times that I can’t avoid doing the will of the Towers, but I think most of the time, I’ll be able to act as a buffer for the people of the world. I can do a better job of protecting them as an insider than I ever could while I was hiding from the Towers.” Trixie started to shake her head, but I grabbed one of her hands in both of mine. “I can. Gideon has done it for years. He was tasked with watching over me, but his real orders were to find an excuse to kill me for breaking the agreement I made when I left. God knows I gave him plenty of opportunities over the years, but he hid the truth, protecting me. It’s time I returned the favor.”
“But you’re a target,” she whispered. “Because of who you are, you’ll always be a target.”
I tightened my hold on her hand. “It’ll pass. We’re just in a bad time right now. Things will settle down soon.”
I hoped I was right. God, I needed to be right about this. The past year had been pretty damn crazy. Between the Grim Reaper, Simon, Reave, the Ivory Towers, and even the incident with the Wild Hunt this past fall, we were constantly rushing from one disaster to the next. Every time I thought things were going to go back to normal, something new popped up to drag me back into the thick of things.
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