by Kim Harrison
The car began slowing, and I looked out the front window as the driver stiffened. “Sir?” the man said without turning around. “We’re at the outside perimeter. I was going to go straight to the drop point, but we’re being flagged down.” His voice shifted, and he added, “It appears to be I.S. personnel bumming a ride.”
Glenn looked over his shoulder, and Jenks darted to the front, stopping just short of hitting the windshield. “It’s Nina,” he said, his wings turning a particular shade of orange that meant he had mixed emotions. Ivy, too, looked uncomfortable.
“Pull over,” Glenn said, sounding tired. “We have room.”
“You’re taking her in?” Wayde said loudly, and I winced as Ivy’s jaw clenched. “She killed a man. Why isn’t she in custody?”
Ivy took the map and folded it smaller as the car rocked to a stop. “The vampire she was channeling at the time is high up in the I.S. If he wants to go, she’s going. I doubt very much he’s going to let her take the fall for his error in judgment.”
“Besides,” Glenn said as he leaned over to open the door, “if we don’t pick her up, Felix will commandeer another car. The fewer outside the library, the better.”
I was unable to find fault with his argument even though I was sort of agreeing with Wayde for a different reason. Nina was in over her head, and Felix was dragging her into deeper water. Nina would be a detriment in a fight, but as Glenn had said, if she wanted to be there, she was going to be there. Might as well try to have a say in where she’d be.
The wind from the river was brisk as the door slid noisily open. Nina stood waiting with her hands behind her back, looking professional in her elegant, sharp dress suit, her haunted eyes and posture telling me that it was she alone. Ivy’s words lifted through me, and I hoped we weren’t making a mistake. Both Felix and Nina had failed by murdering that suspect, but that’s probably not how Nina saw it. Behind her was a slew of I.S. and FIB vehicles, officers yammering as last-minute details were hammered out. We were about a mile from the library, and it was still too close for me for the level of activity.
“Mind if I ride with you?” she asked meekly, and Ivy pushed Glenn over to make room.
Nina hesitated, looking for recrimination in everyone’s faces, and from the front of the car, Jenks shouted, “Get in, will you? Were you born in a stump? It’s cold out!”
The light was eclipsed as Nina gracefully entered in a wash of nervous vampire and expensive perfume. My mood worsened as she shunned the space beside Ivy, sitting beside me instead. I found out why when Nina shivered, pulled herself straighter, and turned to beam toothily at me, Felix firmly in control once more.
“Good afternoon,” she said, her voice smoother than before, and now holding the cloying richness of caramel. “What a wonderful day for a procurement.”
My welcoming smile faded, and I said nothing, not happy with the man behind the woman. Slowly Nina’s smile vanished. Ivy wasn’t happy, either, and when the door shut, the car smoothly reentered traffic. The lights were off, and I inched away from her, trying not to look like I was.
“Mmm, is that a schematic?” Nina extended her hand, and Ivy gave it to her. “This is a much better copy than we have,” the vampire admitted, spreading it open on her lap, her knees spaced apart far more than I’m sure Nina normally would allow.
Glenn leaned back into the seat, clearly not liking her on the run, much less in the car with us, even if it was his idea. “It’s the original,” he said.
“The detail is exquisite,” Nina breathed, her finger tracing the circular defenses. “We have nothing like this. You say it was in the FIB files? Ah, here’s the secondary entrance. That’s where I will be.”
“I have a team there, but you’re welcome to observe,” Glenn said stiffly.
Nina looked up from the map as we rocked to a halt at a stoplight. “Observe. Yes,” she said, smiling in a way that said she’d be doing a little more than that if he/she got her way. Glenn was frowning, but I thought it was a good place for an unreliable vampire. She’d be out of temptation’s path unless the excitement came to her, whereupon she’d be justified in letting loose and doing some damage to fleeing felons.
Glenn stiffly took the map up and refolded it. “Your people have a net sink in place?”
A shadow of annoyance crossed Nina as the map slipped from her, but she stifled it and smiled at the FIB detective. “It took me all morning, but I found three witches in the tower with the skill to set one and the ability to work together.” Her eyes came to me. “Witches are a funny lot, picky about whom they share their minds with. If anyone tries to jump out using a line, they’ll find themselves in a cell.”
I stifled a shiver, and feeling it, Nina said, “How are you doing, Ms. Morgan? I’ll admit I’m surprised to see you after your capture and injury.”
Jenks snickered from the rearview mirror, and Glenn shoved the folded map into his jacket pocket. “I’m not,” the detective said sarcastically.
Jenks flew into the backseat. “You thought she’d stay home and watch my kids?”
Nina ignored the pixy yo-yoing up and down, instead looking at me with a worrisome intentness. “I understood you were shot at close range,” she said, her gaze flicking to the patch job on my pants and back again.
I shrugged, wishing she wasn’t sitting so close. “It was a small rifle,” I said, trying to downplay it. “Algaliarept ran a healing charm. I’m better than before.” My lips pressed, and I didn’t care if my anger pushed her buttons. “Don’t you think it’s odd, how HAPA always seems to get away?”
Nina glanced sidelong at Glenn. “Yes, I do, actually. But very well,” she said as if she had a say in the matter. “If you say you’re a hundred percent, you’re a hundred percent. What concerns me the most is your reputation, Detective Glenn.”
Ivy stiffened, and I wondered if I should ask the driver to crack the window. It was starting to smell really good in here. Which wasn’t good at all. What was Felix playing at? There was no reason he needed to be in Nina right now. He was making matters worse.
“There’s nothing wrong with Glenn’s reputation,” Jenks said for the rest of us as he came to land on the headrest of the empty front-passenger seat.
Nina shifted the hem of her dress coat and smiled, showing no teeth. “I’m starting to wonder if HAPA is even there,” she said, and Jenks made a rude sound, his wings folding, and turning his back on the vampire. “My amulet has failed to ping, and we’re right on top of them. There’s no line to interfere. From all appearances, we are descending upon an empty bunker.”
I felt a stab of worry. I looked at Ivy, who was looking at Glenn. Glenn wasn’t looking at anyone, his jaw set and his focus distant. Crap on toast. Were we out here when my amulets hadn’t worked?
“They are there,” the FIB detective said defensively as the car eased to a halt at a light and I braced myself. “We didn’t find HAPA with Rachel’s magic. We found them through careful detective work.” Glenn finally met my gaze, and my heart seemed to skip a beat in worry. “Not to say your amulets weren’t helpful, but if HAPA chose their last base knowing they’d have to circumvent magic, their next would be the same. Kalamack told us his intel pointed at the city center. I sent a few people that way in the archives.”
“He told me that, too,” I said, glad now that I had his charms with me.
“I simply matched up city-owned buildings with abandoned medical sites. It wasn’t until I threw in military posts developed during the Turn that I found the lower levels to the library.”
Jenks strutted across the headrest, walking right off it with his wings going full tilt. “You don’t think Glenn would get us out here unless he checked it out first, do you?”
The knot of worry in me eased, and I leaned back into the seat. “I didn’t know anything like that even existed.”
Glenn nodded, reaching out when the van took a corner tight. “You don’t build a library that spans two blocks for no reason. It was set to hide
a military base, right in downtown Cincinnati.” His attention going to Nina, he added, “I’m surprised you don’t know of it. It was built under your nose. It’s perfect for HAPA’s needs.”
HAPA’s needs, I thought, frowning. Their need to hold people against their will. A place with electricity and solitude, one with quick access to people and escape.
“The bunker is too deep for magic to easily penetrate,” Glenn was saying, “but your amulet will light up as soon as we get deep enough. We sent a team in this morning. Someone from HAPA is down there. I guarantee it.”
My eyes narrowed, and my gaze shot past Glenn and out through the front window as the van’s brakes squeaked. “Approaching the drop-off zone, sir,” the driver said, and my shot of adrenaline made Ivy’s and Nina’s pupils dilate. Crap, I had to get out from between these two before someone got bitten. Like me.
I tugged my bag onto my lap to check that my splat gun was in there, hesitating when I saw Trent’s charms in a haphazard pile. Nerves were starting to hit me hard. This was the best part except for the takedown. Jenks was feeling it, too, wiping his wings and checking for tears. I reached to turn off my own cell phone, accidentally hitting Wayde. “Sorry,” I said, but he was fidgeting, trying to find a way to tell Glenn he was coming with me. Good luck there, Wayde.
Oblivious to Wayde’s distress, Glenn had slid closer to the door, his entire mien shifting to hard-assed FIB officer. “Get out, cross the road, get into the library,” he said tersely. “There’s an FIB officer behind the main desk in the back. Jenks is going to loop the cameras, but no sense in pushing our luck. They belong to the library, but Jenks assures me that someone has tapped into them for their own use.”
Own use? I looked at Jenks, surprised. “When did you have time to scope out the library?” I said, and his dust shifted an embarrassed red.
“Give me a break, Rache,” he muttered, landing on the headrest. “Ivy and I knew about the library this morning. We didn’t know if we were going to let you come or lock you in the bathroom until an hour before Glenn called.”
My eyes narrowed and my grip on my bag tightened. Lock me in the bathroom?
“There are FIB and I.S. people on-site,” Glenn was saying, and I turned my glare to Ivy, “so if you spot them, ignore them. We’ve been bringing them in all afternoon, undercover. Rachel, if you’re sure you want to risk yourself again?” Glenn prompted as the van rocked to a halt.
I scowled, not liking having been so far out of the loop. “Ask me again, you won’t have to think about your family planning. Ever.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Glenn said; then his smile faltered. “That you’re ready, not the family-planning part.”
“What about you?” I asked Wayde as Glenn pushed the rolling door open and the smells and sights of the city streets flowed in. “You’re staying, right?”
Glenn got out and stood on the sidewalk, his stance loose and easy. “He’s staying,” he said as he helped Ivy out. “Wayde, do I have to cuff you to the van, or will you be good?”
His disappointment obvious, Wayde settled back. “I’m good. Just keep her alive, Detective Glenn, or you’ll find out what a pissed Were who doesn’t care if he goes to jail is like.”
“Thank you, boys, for that overwhelming boost of confidence,” I said, impatient, as Nina still hadn’t gotten out, and getting nervous. Damn it, if they shut the door and drove off with me still inside, I was going to be ticked. “Will you get your vamp ass out of this van!” I shouted, and someone on the sidewalk turned to look.
Nina stepped gracefully from the van, and I followed, quick on her heels. My grip on Glenn’s hand extended to help me was more than a little too heavy, and he eyed me until I let go, my feet securely on the sidewalk. Reaching behind me, Nina shut the door, and the van drove off. Before us was the library, traffic moving slowly between it and us.
Arms swinging, I crossed in the middle of the street, sure they’d follow. Jenks zipped over my head to go fix the cameras. Head down, I paced quickly, Ivy meeting me stride for stride. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” I muttered. “What were you planning on doing? Saying you were going out for ice cream and not coming back?”
Ivy glanced askance at me. “You were always going,” she said. “The question was, and still is, just how close to the action you’re going to get.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I grumbled.
“No, but I’m not going to let you mess up Glenn’s run because you’re too much of a carrot for HAPA.” She glanced behind us to Nina and Glenn. “Nina is going to be enough of a loose cannon. We don’t need another one.”
I frowned as she opened the library door, and I proceeded her in. She was right, but I didn’t have to like it. My gaze went up, and I felt myself relax despite the reason we were here. I like libraries, and I breathed in the smell of the books, the quiet, and the reverent feel to the air. My gaze dropped to the tiled floor, and I smiled, remembering having fallen here, swearing loudly enough to make the head librarian frown at me from across the large room.
My smile vanished, and I started for the front desk, everyone following at their own pace, trying not to look like an invasion. The lady behind the desk didn’t look like your average librarian—not with that bulge under her sweater that said pistol. “Back and to the left,” she said, glancing once at the camera on the ceiling as she lifted the counter gate and invited us in.
I glanced up at the camera, seeing Jenks’s tiny slip of silver dust sifting from it. Satisfied that HAPA wouldn’t know we were here that way, I headed for the back offices.
I’d been here before, and the desks with their stacks of books and light-starved plants were familiar, but I stopped short when I saw Dr. Cordova bent over a cluttered table, giving directions to two FIB officers. Behind her, another officer manned a portable radio switchboard. The woman looked up as Nina cleared her throat. A flash of irritation crossed her face, then vanished.
“I didn’t know you would be here,” I said, and Glenn pushed past me, telling me to mind my manners with a slight shoulder knock.
“I could say the same for you,” the woman said, her gaze lingering on my shot leg, then rising to my empty wrist. Slowly her smile faded. “How is your leg?”
“Fine,” I said, smacking it. “It wasn’t a very big bullet.”
She stared at me, her expression bland. “I’m so pleased to hear that. A human would still be in the hospital.”
It sounded like an accusation, and my tension spiked. “It went in and out, no big deal,” I lied. “If humans would try witch medicine, they’d be on the streets a lot faster, too.”
“Teresa!” Nina strode forward with the fading scent of copy paper and vampiric incense. “How pleasant to see you again. I must commend Detective Glenn on finding this place. Marvelous blending of both our respective strong points, don’t you think?”
By her sour expression, “marvelous” was probably the last adjective on her mind. “Splendid,” the woman said flatly. One of the men with her had a question, and she turned away.
I leaned against a vacant desk and crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t care if it made me look pensive. It was better than looking mad. The last time Dr. Cordova was on a run, everything went to hell and I ended up captured and then shot. She didn’t like me, and the feeling was mutual.
The growing wing clatter of a pixy was a welcome distraction, and I brushed my hair from my shoulder an instant before Jenks landed on it. “I don’t trust her,” the pixy whispered.
“Why is she even here?” I said, gesturing with one hand. Apparently my voice was too loud, because Dr. Cordova turned, her expression ugly.
Jenks snickered, and in the near distance, Glenn smirked as he picked up three radio sets. They looked very polished and professional, far beyond what the FIB usually had. “We need to get downstairs,” he said, and she turned away.
Nina eased up to me, breathing deep of the anger I’d given off, her eyes dilating. “
Ms. Morgan?” she said as she extended an arm for me in a decidedly masculine gesture. “I’d be delighted if you’d walk with me.”
I just bet. The memory of her losing control rose in my mind, the snarl she’d worn, her strength that had overpowered Ivy. She had killed a man. Ivy had tried to stop her and failed. We might have gotten all of them if not for her/him. My eyes went to Ivy’s, and Nina slowly dropped her arm. “Uh, I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” I said, adding, “You going down there, I mean.”
Glenn winced at the delay, but Nina was undeterred, and she gracefully took my arm and pulled me into motion. “I’m in control,” she said, her gaze fixed on a point somewhere ahead of us as we began to walk. “I have spent two days breaking Nina of her . . . innocence.”
Two days? No wonder Ivy was worried. Two days of practice against a thousand years of evolution meant nothing.
Jenks’s wings hummed, and I jerked away, not because I didn’t want a woman to escort me, but because the vampire controlling her was an ass. His breaking Nina was not a good thing, and I glanced at Ivy, seeing her anger. She had probably spent yesterday putting the woman back together again. Being a vampire was hard enough, but add in the depravity of a master and the demands they made on their favorites, and it was akin to legalized abuse. And Ivy thought there was a chance neither was going to survive . . .
Accepting my refusal with a fake hurt expression, Nina gallantly gestured for me to go before her. Ivy fell into place beside me, smiling falsely as she cheerfully said, “Relax, Rachel. If Nina so much as twitches in a direction I don’t like, I’m taking her down and Felix with her.” She smiled and patted Nina’s face. “Nina and I have it all worked out. Felix.”
Nina’s smile grew thinner, showing both gratitude for Ivy’s helping Nina and irritation that it gave Ivy a whisper of control over him. My mood worsening, I followed Glenn to the elevator. “Why is Dr. Cordova even here?” I groused, not really expecting an answer.