Edged Blade

by J. C. Daniels

  “Well, that’s the answer right there. I investigate. That means I look for answers and usually it requires that I ask questions, poke around…”

  She slid me a look from under the veil of her lashes. “So why poke at me?” She glanced around, but the look seemed to take in something beyond the room. “I’ve been here a few days. And these disappearances go back a lot farther, don’t they? How do you expect me to know anything?”

  Now the smile turned mocking. “It’s possible I could have been of some use…I proved useful in positions I’ve held in the past, but it seems I’ve been relegated to nothing more than a sentry.” Slowly, she lifted her head and studied me. There was a whole world of antipathy in that gaze. “Sentries can only do so much, investigator.”

  “Guess you expected to come back in high on the food chain.” I shrugged. “Can’t blame that on me.”

  I tapped my pencil on the table. She was uptight. I could see that, could even feel it, in the edged anxiety that all but colored the air around her, but she wasn’t afraid.

  All the others had been afraid.

  “What do you know about the hospital?” I threw it out there on an impulse, hoping I’d see nothing but a blank expression and I could just write her off as a dead end.

  Why in the hell do I even bother to hope?

  Her physical reactions were perfect. Everything was on key and she managed a confused tone when she parroted back, “Hospital?”

  But it was in her eyes.

  They truly are the windows to the soul.

  And I looked inside her eyes and saw the truth—she knew something.

  I suspected my physical reactions were as good as hers—and that she saw something in my eyes, too.

  Her body subtly tensed and for the first time, I sensed the first edge of fear. Real fear.

  She shifted, as though bored and lifted a hand to brush at her hair. With the other, she held up her phone and glanced at it, a casual gesture. Even the way her thumb swiped over the screen was casual.

  Alarm screamed down my spine.

  “Stop!”

  I lunged over the table, but it was too late.

  Her phone clattered to the floor as Chang grabbed her and threw her to the ground, one hand shifting—for one split second, I stared, fascinated, at the dense, black fur. He moved and the angle of the light changed. I thought I saw spots dance across the darkness of that clawed monstrosity of a hand.

  “Alpha?” Chang said as he muscled the struggling woman to the ground.

  Damon looked from her to me.

  He took a step closer and crouched down in front of Shanelle. He stared at her for a long moment and then jerked his head at Chang.

  Chang stepped back, his hand already melting back into its human shape. He cracked his neck, shifted his shoulders and once more had his urban businessman façade back in place. Son of a bitch, what a façade it was, too.

  Shanelle slowly pushed herself onto her hands and knees, blood trickling from wounds already closing. She stared at the floor. “This…” She swallowed. “I’m not involved in it, Damon.”

  I scooped up the phone, staring at the obviously encoded message. I had no idea what it was, no idea what she’d sent, or who she’d sent it to. Flipping it out, I showed it to her. “Who did you contact?”

  She gave me a disgusted look but said nothing.

  Chang held out a hand and turned the phone over. From the corner of my eye, I could see him tapping away furiously, brow furrowed. I moved closer. “What are you involved in?” I asked bluntly. “How do you know about the hospital? How is Megan involved? Saul?”

  She went to look away.

  A low growl made her freeze.

  Slowly, she darted a look at the man still crouched in front of her. Whatever she saw on Damon’s face wasn’t pretty because she paled and then looked back at me. “I’m not involved with it. I’ve…” She stopped and swore, hot and furiously. “Fuck,” she conclude.

  She went to push back onto her heels, but shot a look at Damon and froze once more.

  I turned her words over and over in my head, but I couldn’t find the lie in them. I wanted to feel the lie, wanted to hear it. I couldn’t see Damon’s face without moving so I shot a look at Chang. He wasn’t looking at the phone now—he was studying Shanelle and then, as if he’d sensed my gaze, he looked at me.

  She wasn’t lying.

  “Damon.”

  He didn’t move but I know he was waiting. “Can you let her up, please? I…” I swallowed. If I was wrong about her, then who the hell was involved? “I’ve got more questions.”

  Hell, I had more blanks in my theory now than ever before.

  Damon rose slowly. “Get up, Maguire. And you better start talking. Those questions Kit has? You’re going to answer.” He didn’t give her an or else.

  As she came to her feet, I knew it wasn’t necessary. She’d already heard it.

  She wiped at the blood still gleaming on her neck and then looked around. I was surprised when she moved to the chair, dropping down on it like her weight had become too much to bear. “I’m not involved,” she said again. Then her shoulders rose and fell on a sigh. “But…yes, I’m aware of it.”

  She flicked her blue eyes my way. “I knew Saul Tremble was one of the men grabbing people for them. I did not know Megan was involved…” She paused and tilted her head to the side. “She was involved, wasn’t she?”

  “You tell me.”

  “If I had to hazard a guess, then yeah. She was involved. She wasn’t the first high-level they dragged into this, but she sure as hell had the highest rank. Second in command…shit.” Shanelle dragged her hands down her face.

  “Son of a bitch,” I whispered. “You’ve been investigating.”

  When she looked back at me, her gaze was direct, and for once, void of most of the apathy she’d directed my way once she figured out who stood between her and Damon.

  “I’m here on business for the Assembly,” she said in a neutral voice. “That’s public knowledge.”

  “So did they hire you or is that just a cover?”

  “I have a real, legit job to accomplish for the Claw,” she said, lifting one shoulder. She tossed a look at Chang. “You’re not going to break the encryption on it.”

  He gave her a cool look and went back to whatever techno-magic he was trying to work on the phone. I love technology, but I don’t understand it. He could play with the phone all he wanted.

  “You need to worry about yourself, not your phone,” I advised. Then I paused, a thought occurring to me. “Unless of course you sent some secret message telling the people you’re working with to blow up my office.”

  “Damn.” She curled her lip. “I knew I’d forgotten something.”

  That bitchy reply made some of the muscles in my neck loosen. Grabbing the file that held the pictures I’d had printed from Charles’ phone, I tossed it across the desk and watched as the images spilled out. “Since you aren’t going to confirm whether or not you’re investigating, then maybe you can explain this.”

  “They look like pictures.”

  A few feet away, Damon shifted his stance and that subtle movement drew her gaze his way. It was just for a split second, but I saw her swallow, watched the way her hands tightened in her lap.

  “Why were you at my place?”

  She drew in a breath. Her gaze darted once more to Damon and then back to me. “That’s a question I think I could probably answer, but if I do, I suspect I’m dead in seconds.”

  “If you—” An ugly snarl escaped Doyle, who’d been silent the entire time.

  Damon caught the younger man’s arm. “You aren’t the kind of person to come at somebody’s back, Shanelle,” he said, his voice pulsating with rage. “And you knew Kit wasn’t there. She was with me that night. It only stands to reason you were looking for something. What was it?”

  Shanelle flexed her hands wide.

  She opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was in
terrupted by a pretty little chime that came from the phone in Chang’s hand. He eyed it and then looked at Shanelle. “I believe you have a message, Shanelle.”

  She slicked her hands down her pants and I could see the damp trails left by her palms.

  As Chang came toward her, she went rigid and I wasn’t sure who she feared more—Chang or Damon.

  She shot it a look.

  “What does it say?” he asked gently.

  “I don’t know. The code…” She stopped.

  “Take the phone.”

  Shanelle’s gaze bounced off him, then Damon before finally landing on me. I tried to read the expression in her eyes, but I couldn’t. Slowly, she reached out a hand and brushed her thumb down it.

  Another weird little tone came from the phone. “Identification.”

  In response to the automated request, Shanelle said, “Agent Maguire.” She then rambled off a series of number and there was a pregnant pause.

  Agent?

  Her gaze ran over the message.

  I wonder if she had time to read it before Chang took it away.

  “Clever,” he murmured. “Voice ID and the code are all that’s needed?”

  “No. Those are just two of the layers.” She shrugged and looked away. “If you want to know more about the toys, you’d have to ask the higher-ups.”

  I’d love to.

  “I’d rather talk about why you were at my house.”

  Her mouth went tight and then she gave a short nod. “You were on the short list. We knew there was somebody who had considerable trust who was covering up some of the disappearances, as well as setting up loners and other misfits who wouldn’t be missed if they were just gone one day.” Her throat worked as she swallowed and I could see her body tensing. It wasn’t me she was afraid of. “Your name came up on the shortlist. I was there looking to see if I could find anything to tie you into Blackstone.”

  I blinked. “Blackstone…?”

  “The hospital.”

  “You thought Kit was responsible?” Doyle demanded, striding up from his position by the door to glare at her.

  She met his gaze stonily. “I had a job to do.”

  “She saved your ass, you stupid—”

  “Doyle,” I said. I was pleased at how calm my voice sounded. “She did the same sort of thing I would have done.”

  He looked like he was biting back a slew of words—all of them ugly—and then he turned away, staring hard at me. “You got her out of there. I don’t know what exactly is going on, but I heard some of the rumors, heard the rumblings. You sprang her from some place and she still thinks you could have done it?”

  “Doyle, think.” I had to admire her persistence in seeing it through. “I was asked to help by my best friend. For the sake of argument, let’s say she was right—that I was involved. Would I really risk having anybody look too closely at me by acting out of character?” I hitched up a shoulder. “Justin needed my help. Of course I was going to give it.”

  It was a nasty thing, though, knowing some people thought I could be doing this. “For the record, I am not involved,” I said clearly. I stared at her hard as I spoke.

  She lifted a brow.

  I couldn’t force her to believe me.

  “You weren’t our first option, but you were…available,” she said after a moment. “I was working to clear who I could so I could move on to the next. That was my job.”

  “Was Megan on the list?”

  “No.” Shanelle cleared her throat, looking frustrated and embarrassed. “We’d considered her and then set the idea aside. Whoever was doing this went after those with weaknesses to exploit. Megan has no family. Her loyalties are to the MacDonald and the pack—or we thought they were.”

  Oh, Megan had a weakness. I just didn’t know what. Or who. I thought about what she had said, right before she’d shredded her own heart on the silver in my blade. They would leave them alone. Swearing, I slammed my fist down on my desk and stared at nothing. Who were they—

  Chang made a disgusted noise under his breath and tossed the phone down. It clattered on the scuffed table that sat under the window as he tucked his hands into his trouser pockets. I found myself staring at him, at the clean lines of his profile.

  Chang…

  Chang was to Damon what Megan was—or had been—to Dair.

  Chang’s loyalties lay to the clan, although he’d walk away from the clan in a moment if Damon asked him, I suspected. But there was another—or well, a collection of others.

  The kids.

  As if he’d felt the intensity of my stare, Chang turned his head and met my eyes. I was right. I knew it. “Megan…” I pushed away from the table and turned to look at Damon. “I saw her the other day. I was grabbing groceries and she showed up. There was a kid—a little girl. Megan said she was there to get a cub and it was that girl.”

  “Yeah?” He shrugged. “Megan more or less looked after the young in the pack. It was…”

  His words trailed away as he made the same connection. “Kids.” Woodenly, I turned away. “If you’re being straight with me, then I think that’s how they got to Megan. They promised they’d leave any stray kids alone, as long as they had adults.”

  “It stands to reason.” She inclined her head. “Now that I have a name, I can change the angle of the investigation, dig deeper. But if Megan is dead and Saul is in custody, then you have the main problems.” A ghost of a smile curved her lips. “The vampires already found their rat.”

  I thought of the woman I’d seen being tortured.

  Estella.

  “There could be more,” I said.

  “Could. And there likely are a few lackeys I’ll dig up.” She glanced at Damon and I heard the unspoken if I’m alive. “But it will take them time to replace the people they’ve lost. They must be very careful.”

  “Yeah. I imagine it takes work to find somebody who’d turn against their own.” I sucked in a breath, trying to stop the anger that tore gouges through my self-control. “Offer up strays for slaughter or we’ll take your kiddies. Son of a bitch.”

  The heat of rage built so hot and fast, I was amazed my skin didn’t show burns from it. Moving away from the near suffocating rage that encompassed them, I took up position behind my desk.

  I didn’t sit.

  I couldn’t.

  “Would she have done it?” I asked quietly.

  “Yes.” Chang slid me a look, eyes flat. “For the children, she would have.”

  I studied him for a lingering moment.

  He wouldn’t have.

  He’d have found another way.

  Chang inclined his head and I knew yet again he’d figured out just what I was thinking.

  “I’ll tell Dair,” Damon said, his voice tight. “It…it won’t help much, but at least he won’t have to think she betrayed them all for nothing.”

  Focusing on Shanelle, I asked, “Who else was on the list?”

  I wanted their names, because my mission was now to hunt them down and make them all pay—for the kids, because I had no doubt they’d grabbed some along the way—for the people we hadn’t been able to save, and even for Megan. She’d made an awful choice, but in some way, I understood.

  For the children, she would have.

  Shanelle hadn’t answered and I let some of my anger bleed into my voice. “Names.” Then I frowned. “And you know what? I want to know who in the fuck you’re working for and how you got involved in this.”

  The low, muffled purr of an engine filled the silence that stretched out while Shanelle and I engaged in a staring contest. I ignored it until it continued to grow closer and closer—

  “Kit. You have somebody…dude, that’s Amund,” Doyle muttered.

  I felt him now, that familiar presence that whispered vampire. And…no. I thought I’d felt something else, but with the sucker-punch of power that came from an undead more than a thousand years old, I don’t think it would be possible.

  “Another car,” C
hang said quietly.

  Shanelle sat quietly in the chair now, her face blank, void of all emotion.

  “What’s going on?” I asked her softly as I heard yet a third, then fourth car pull into my parking lot.

  When she didn’t answer, I strode to the door. “Back up. I need to activate my wards—”

  “You’re not in danger…Kit.” It was the first time she’d said my name and I shot her a look over my shoulder to see she hadn’t so much as changed position. “But if you want your questions answered, you should speak to them.”

  A series of car doors opening, then shutting filled the silence.

  I rested my hand on the locks. They were the keys to the wards Justin had designed for me and I put a whole hell of a lot of faith in them. Blowing out a breath, I looked at Damon. He stood with his feet spread wide, thumbs hooked in the front pockets of his jeans.

  Doyle was pacing, long, restless strides.

  Chang had his head cocked, a smile on his lips that spoke of some vague entertainment.

  Slowly, I let my hand fall from the locks. As I sat down, I laid my Glock on the table and cracked my neck.

  There was a polite knock. People tended to knock on my door rather than just come in, something I’d never quite understood. Damon nodded to Doyle and the younger shifter opened the door, quietly stepping to the side so that the first thing Amund saw was me—holding a gun leveled on the doorway.

  “Really, Ms. Colbana. That’s not necessary.” A smile ghosted around his lips as he stepped inside.

  “So…he’s your boss?” Clenching my jaw, I struggled not to snarl as I shifted my gaze back to the vampire. “That mess at the party—were you behind it?”

  “Of course not.” He flicked a look around. “Such a spare place. Oh, and I’m not her boss. I just…worked to make certain things went more smoothly once it was clear we needed eyes on the ground.”

  As he came near, Shanelle rose from the chair.

  He took it without speaking and she took up position at his back. Bodyguard style. Not that he needed one.

  “Certain…members of the Assembly have been aware of Blackstone for some time,” he said, without preamble. “We didn’t connect the disappearances to the hospital until a witch out of Blue Sky had a vision.” His mouth twisted in frown. “It was…brutal.”