by Jamie Wyman
Nothing much about him had changed in the interim, though. He looked as tempting as ever. His black hair hung in waves just past his shoulders, his goatee and moustache were clipped to precision, and mischief twinkled in his easy stare. I’d grown used to seeing Marius in designer suits, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him in torn jeans and a green sweater that matched his eyes.
Memories brushed over my skin as I took in his musky scent. Illusory kisses and smacks on the face. Fights for our lives, sins that would never be forgiven—and others that could never be committed.
I could almost hear my stomach squelch on the sidewalk.
What the hell was he doing here? He wasn’t supposed to be in Vegas, let alone in Polly’s room. My face flared with jealous heat as I took him in.
“Great,” Flynn sneered from behind. “The goatfucker is here.”
Marius surreptitiously touched his neck as he glared at Flynn. A few months wasn’t enough to make the satyr forget Flynn’s strong grip on his throat last time they’d met.
“The gang’s all here then,” Marius rumbled. He glanced between Flynn and Karma, brow wrinkling. “Do my eyes deceive me, Flynn, or have you actually gotten laid?”
Flynn hissed something I couldn’t catch.
“You can do better than him, darling,” Marius said, addressing Karma, “but you won’t find better than me.”
Crimson anger flared from Karma’s hairline down all of her spiral curls, and purple light arced between the fingers of her free hand. Without stepping away from Flynn, she brandished her power and stared daggers through the satyr. “Just give me a reason. I’m not in a good mood.”
“Well, Flynn, I have to say you certainly have a talent for attracting stubborn women.” Marius looked me up and down, his appraisal evident in his leer. “Catherine, you’re looking charming as ever. Apparently Asgard agrees with you.”
“Back in town on business or pleasure?” I asked pointedly.
The satyr’s smug mask faltered for a nanosecond as my implied threat hit him. For all his velvet words and lecherous glances, Marius lived a lie. Centuries before, he’d pissed off Zeus, and the Lord of Olympus smacked a curse on him. Since that day, Marius hadn’t been able to enjoy food, wine, or women. Not getting laid for a year is enough to make even the sweetest ray of sunshine cranky, but centuries of blue balls turned Marius into a sour, snarky bastard. Very few beings knew about his impairment, and he’d do just about anything to keep that information under wraps.
“Perhaps a little bit of both,” he offered. “As I recall, you still owe me a date for services rendered.”
Shit. I hadn’t forgotten that detail, and apparently neither had he.
“What are you doing here?” Nate snapped. He tried to muscle past Marius, but the satyr blocked his path. Nate instead called into the room, “Polly!”
Marius took in Nate with one sweep of his eyes. “Pan’s balls! Catherine, have you been trolling preschools? He looks half your age!”
“Shut up and answer him, Marius. Why are you here?”
Nate puffed himself up so he was eye level with the satyr. “Did Eris send you? What would she want with Polly? Polly!” he called into the room again.
Marius snorted. “You refer to the eldest of Muses as Polly? That is adorable. Insulting, but adorable.”
I blinked in astonishment. Polly? Seriously? A real Muse? Funny, but all she’d inspired in me was a certain desire to kick her ass.
I sighed. What the hell had Loki gotten me into now?
“Answer the question,” Flynn snarled. “What does Eris want with Polyhymnia?”
I shot a look to Flynn at the use of the Muse’s full name. How did he know? And why didn’t he tell me? Then again, Flynn kept a Google search tab open in his brain at all times. He could’ve accessed that information the instant Marius revealed Polly was a Muse.
Marius, always eager to enjoy the sound of his own voice, was quick to answer. “The Lady asked me to come visit her niece. Or are they cousins? You know, I can never keep the lineage straight.”
“No one else knew she was staying here,” Karma sniped, her voice shrill with the bite of accusation.
“Can’t help it if I’m both devilishly handsome and clever. Polyhymnia’s brilliant at her work but ridiculously abysmal at hiding. However, now that my work is done, I believe you and I should toddle off, Catherine.”
“Dark hair, athletic build, and reminds Polly of home,” I thought aloud, piecing together her description of her tail. “You? You’re the one who’s been stalking her?”
Marius sucked at his teeth. “Stalker is such an ugly word, Catherine. Now come along. We have some catching up to do and accounts to close.”
Marius began to shut the door behind him, but Nate burst past with a guttural growl of frustration. A moment later, Nate shrieked. Karma darted in after him, calling his name.
“That’s my cue to leave,” Marius said.
“I don’t think so,” Flynn said.
Flynn and I bowled into the satyr and shoved him back through the door. I heard it shut behind me, heard Flynn’s chains rattling and Marius sputtering. While my friend took care of keeping Marius from bolting, I followed the sounds of Karma’s and Nate’s wheezing gasps.
Polyhymnia lay dead on the floor. No one could be such a mass of blood and gore and still be alive. Her ribs stabbed out of the torn skin. She hadn’t been cut, though. Whole chunks of flesh had been ripped out as if bitten by a very large shark. Her milky, sightless eyes turned to the ceiling.
I pitched forward, my legs wobbly as I fought against my gag reflex. Flynn caught and steadied me. I could hear Nate and Karma crying, their pleas for help, for Polly to come back. I couldn’t force my eyes away from the body.
“Him!” Nate screamed. He thrust an accusing finger at Marius and took the room in three quick steps. “You did this to her!”
Baring his teeth, Nate grabbed Marius by his sweater and slammed the satyr against the wall. A light shower of dust puffed out from a Marius-shaped dent in the drywall. Nate glowed with a faint, golden aura, and before he could build his power and unleash it on the satyr, I dove forward and grabbed at his arm.
“Nate!” Karma called, her voice shrill.
Flynn gripped Nate by the back of his coat and pulled him away. Nate’s fists flailed, and he kicked and jerked, trying to strike Marius. A golden bolt of half-formed power slammed through the door just to the left of Marius’s head. It didn’t even singe his hair.
I stood between them, not so much to shield Marius but to keep him from running off. He didn’t make the effort, though. He just stood there, relaxed, with his fingers laced in front of him. I realized that he didn’t have much choice of where to put his hands, though. Flynn had used the chains from his own pants and a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs to bind the satyr. One of the chains clipped the satyr’s belt to the security latch on the door. I covered my eyes, willing away the question of where Flynn had gotten the cuffs.
“He killed her, Karma!” Nate hissed, struggling against Flynn’s strength. “You killed my friend. Did you kill my sister, too?”
I stared at Marius for an answer. Just tell them you didn’t do it. Please, gods, say you didn’t do it!
Marius remained sedate and cool. “Who are you again?”
“Answer me!” Nate roared. “Did you kill my sister?”
“I didn’t kill anyone,” he said. As he lifted his bound hands in surrender, a white strip of fabric fell past the hem of his shirt and dangled limply against his side.
Karma snatched it away, drawing the full length out from under the sweater. She cradled the scarf in both hands as if holding the limp form of her friend. “This is Polly’s scarf.”
“The veil,” I corrected. It had to be. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
Marius answered with a smug tilt of his head.
Cold dread broke over me. I knew Marius for his cheeky charm and considered him an odd sort of friend, but I’d also seen him in t
he heat of battle. He had the capacity to be just as fierce as he was annoying. The satyr was a consummate deceiver. Staring at him, I wondered just which Marius stood before me.
I worked hard to keep my voice level and calm as I asked, “Why do you have it?”
He looked down at me, his gaze sharp. “Business,” he replied stonily. “And none of yours, at that.” Returning his attention to Nate, Marius said, “I did not kill Polyhymnia. She was dead when I arrived a few scant moments before you. And I’m fairly certain I didn’t kill your sister, either, as it has been quite some time since I had to do such dirty work. Oh, and I have no clue who the bloody hell you are!”
“So, what?” Karma’s face twisted with disgust. “You show up, find her dead, and just leave with her scarf?”
“I came here for the veil,” Marius said. “I’ve retrieved it, and now I should be on my way.”
He reached out for the scarf. Karma jerked, clutching it to her chest, and I smacked Marius’s hand.
My lip curled. “You’re despicable.”
“You just left her here?” Karma wailed.
“Oh and just what was I supposed to do? Ring up the local constabulary and inform them that a Muse has just met her untimely and rather grotesque demise? No, thank you. Also, not in my job description.”
Chewing on his thumb, Nate growled, “He’s lying.”
“Probably,” I said. I looked into Marius’s face. “It’s his best skill.”
“Second best,” the satyr corrected. “You’ve never experienced the first.”
“And I never will.”
He clucked his tongue. “Never say never, Catherine.”
“Hey!” Flynn barked.
All eyes swept to him as he crouched over Polly’s body, his face lined and serious.
“Phone,” he said, pointing to her pale hand. “And it is asking if it should save a video.”
Nate stomped over. “Do you think Polly took a video of this guy killing her?”
“I didn’t kill her,” Marius said again.
“We’ll see,” Flynn said.
He gently took the phone from Polly’s dead hand. Flynn’s screen appeared in the air as it had so many times before. My stomach twisted. I didn’t want to see this. Didn’t want to watch Polly’s last, bloody moments.
But I had to know if Marius killed Polly.
At first, the video shook so violently I couldn’t make out anything but conflicting blurs of green and rusty brown. The only sound was the frantic rhythm of Polly’s breathing punctuated by the occasional bleat of panic. A jerking stop to the motion made everyone in the room flinch. She’d dropped the phone.
Other than the ceiling and the shadow of the bed, the video frame showed neither Polly nor her killer. Flynn’s magic amplified the sounds, and I heard something low and rumbling, a venomous purr. Off camera, Polly screamed in surprise. A snarl. Polly began to sputter as if choking or gagging.
Someone stepped into the frame. We saw only a pale hand relaxed against a thigh. My heart plummeted into my stomach to see that the star of the video wore jeans and a green shirt.
My eyes shot to Marius.
It can’t be. He wouldn’t.
In answer to my thoughts, Marius shook his head.
On the video, a silver coin rolled over the hand’s knuckles before it swept out of frame. In a voice straight out of Hell’s furnace, someone said, “Sing.”
My blood froze. Behind me, Marius gasped.
“Pan’s balls,” he whispered.
Polly’s choking grew more urgent, as if her throat were being squeezed tighter. “Sing for me,” crooned the terrible voice. The same horrible voice that had come out of Muriel’s phone. “Sing for me, Muse,” it said.
A guttural roar. A thready scream. A sickening squelch and splash of blood. Mewling sounds. Then hungry noises filled the air as something tore into Polly’s body. Bones crunched, and Polly gagged. I closed my eyes, but that would do nothing to keep this from being the soundtrack of my nightmares for a while to come.
“Turn it off,” Karma moaned, voice trembling.
“No,” I sputtered.
“Why?”
“Because there’s nothing here that says Marius did it. We need to watch as much as there is.”
“What more do you need?” Nate roared. “His hand was in that shot.”
“Wasn’t mine,” Marius sang.
A snarl from the video cut us off. Scuffling noises and that low rumble that was both growl and purr. Scratching along the carpet. The video jerked, and Polly’s bloody face came into view.
“M…Mmm…” she tried to speak, her lips trembling, sound barely making it through her ruined throat.
“She’s trying to say his name,” Nate hissed.
I shushed him and listened carefully. The video showed Polly choking on her blood. She gave a thick guttural ach, and the video froze. It was finished. And so was Polyhymnia.
A pall of silence hung over the room. I stared at Marius, unwilling to believe he’d murdered Polly. The voice hadn’t been his. But had he been there, watching, merely waiting to take the veil?
“Marius,” I said quietly, uncertain how to ask the rest of the question.
“Did you kill my sister?” Nate asked quietly.
Marius’s eyes lingered on mine before he looked to Nate. “No. I’ve not killed anyone since before you were born. Which—judging by your looks—must have been what…last week?”
Nate, swathed in his golden aura, grabbed the satyr from his hook on the wall and threw him to the bed. Before Marius could bounce up, Nate’s fist flew and connected with his face in a hit so jarring that I jumped. Marius took the blow and fell back on the mattress, face wide with shock in a way that would have been comical in any other situation. An imprint of Nate’s fist on Marius’s cheek disappeared beneath the satyr’s glamour.
Flynn and Karma didn’t seem keen on intervening this time. Maybe the video was enough for them. Maybe they thought Marius deserved it.
Maybe he did.
He wrenched at his jaw, working out the sting of Nate’s punch. When he spoke, the satyr’s voice was damn near chaste. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Who do you think did?” I said.
Nate stopped, his fist drawn back for another hit. “You’re not serious.”
“Cat,” Flynn said solemnly, “it doesn’t look good.”
I kept my eyes fixed on Marius’s face. “Who do you think killed Polyhymnia?”
Marius glanced from Nate’s fist and back to me, a hint of wariness playing over his features. “I can’t be certain, but the voice on the tape sounds like Hellspawn.” A chill skittered over my spine. “I suppose it could be some sort of troll or one of the Titans, but they’re not as articulate as the murderer,” he added. “Either way, it wasn’t me. If I killed her in such a messy way, don’t you think there would be all the evidence you need on my clothing? Catherine, tell them. You know I’d sooner shag Flynn’s mum before soiling a single stitch of my rather expensive wardrobe.”
“Don’t trust your eyes,” I muttered to Marius, casting back an old warning of his. “You work in glamours.”
I’d stung him, and it showed in his face in the sharp look he sent across the room at me. “I thought you believed me, Catherine.”
I shrugged.
His voice rose with frustration. “The Muse was dead when I walked in the door. I came in, took the veil off the floor, and turned to leave. I was here for less than half a minute before you showed up.”
“Wouldn’t we have seen someone leaving,” Flynn said.
“Did you?” I asked Marius. “Did you see someone leave before you came in?”
His hair fell into his face as he shook his head. “No.”
“Hang on,” Flynn said. Orange light glowed around the edges of the screen and a time stamp appeared in the corner to show when the video had stopped recording. I looked at the bedside clock. Polly had died less than five minutes ago.
“God
s,” I breathed. “You got here right after… She might have even still been alive.”
Karma scoffed. “Assuming for a moment that I believe this asshole—which I don’t—this means he showed up just as the video ended. He says we got here less than a minute after that. We’ve been here the rest of that time. If he’s so innocent, where’s the real killer? Hmm?”
“Teleportation?” Flynn offered. “It’s possible. Lots of things can open portals into other planes.”
“On my side now, are you, Flynn?” Marius asked with a wry grin.
“I’m never on your side.”
I mentally played the video over and over. The hand flipping the coin. The clothes were similar to Marius’s, but were they the same? The voice was not his. Even beneath his glamour Marius did not shelter such a horror.
“He couldn’t have done it,” I whispered. I wondered who I was trying to convince, them or me.
“How do you know, Cat?” Nate protested. “You don’t.”
“I just know, all right?”
I tried to find it, the missing piece that would prove he was…well, Marius was never innocent, but he was no murderer. Too soon. Too little time had passed. No evidence of another person. Realization hit me like a cold slug to the chest.
“Guys!” I barked. “It’s obvious why we didn’t see anyone leave.”
“Duh!” Karma said. She jabbed a finger toward the satyr. Slowly, Marius reached up and gently slid her hand away so that her long nails didn’t point at his eye. His moustache twitched with satisfaction. “Because he killed her!”
“No!” I said, firmly. “Because whoever did kill Polly is still in the room.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Resistance”
They may not have believed me, but Karma, Nate, and Flynn sure as shit stopped to think for a minute. I didn’t wait for them to agree with me. I started looking in all of the obvious hiding places. I whipped the covers up and searched under the bed. Down on the floor, I gagged at the stench of decay and coppery blood. When I came up, hand to mouth, Marius stared at me with an alien expression on his face. Was that gratitude?
“I do believe I’ve missed you, Catherine,” he said softly.