Then she jumped back with a startled cry. “No,” she moaned. “No, please…”
I rushed over and put an arm around her before she could fall. She’d gone white as paint, and her whole body trembled. “What is it?” I said, glancing at the open briefcase. It looked like all it contained was a stack of papers and a handful of glossy pictures, and something attached to the top photo with a paperclip. A stiff white rectangle of paper.
“My pack.” She turned her face to mine, her eyes stark with fear. “Gideon, that photo. That’s where my family lives.”
“Oh, Jesus…” Gut wrenching, I reached in and picked up the picture on top. It was a large, bunker-style building, half-embedded into the side of a mountain. The photo had been taken from an angle above, showing that the structure was in some kind of canyon lined with moss-covered rock.
And the white rectangle was a train ticket from the Port Authority station to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Right in the middle of the Appalachians.
I’d been dragged through those mountains more than once on the Valentines’ endless hunting trips, enough that I knew without a doubt this picture had been taken in that range somewhere. This was where they’d been headed—to Sadie’s family.
Now I definitely had to talk to the dead kid.
CHAPTER 9
I put the photo back carefully and closed the briefcase. “Let’s leave that alone for now,” I said, still holding onto Sadie. “We’ll take it with us, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay,” she said shakily. “It’s going to be all right. I mean, you killed them all before they could leave,” she said, looking at Reun. “Right?”
He didn’t answer right away. Finally, he said, “All that were here. But if the human police did not take the boxes…”
Sadie gave a violent shudder. “Oh, God.”
“Hold on. We don’t need to guess, when we can find out for sure,” I said, offering a reassuring squeeze. “Let me talk to him.”
She nodded once.
I rubbed her arm and drew a bracing breath before turning to the body. Somehow I knew this was really going to suck. “I’ll do what I did last time, all right?” I said. “Whatever he says, I’ll repeat it.”
“Hurry,” Sadie whispered.
“Yeah.”
I got down carefully, kneeling in the bloody pool that surrounded him. There was no other way to do it. The kid had been dead for hours already, and he’d lost all traces of human coloring along with most of his blood. His staring eyes had started to cloud with the film of death, ghostly white patches on dulled brown.
Three years of moving bodies, and the young ones still got to me every time. There was no getting used to this.
I laid a hand on his torso near the shoulder, avoiding the worst of the slashes Reun had carved into him. “Hey, kid,” I said. “You there?”
OH GOD WHAT IS THIS! Is somebody there oh my God why does it HURT. Shit I think I’m dead I’m DEAD OH SHIT I’M DEAD. Hello? Is anybody there? I can’t—
“Calm down,” I said firmly, closing my eyes against the pain. It had skipped over needles and went straight to drill bits this time. “What’s your name, kid?”
Leonard. Leo. JESUS am I really dead? Who are you? What’s happening?
“My name is Gideon.” I glanced up at Sadie, who hovered nervously besides me, and shook my head slightly. “You are dead, Leo.”
Shit! That crazy guy with the knife, he killed me! Oh GOD, I’m dead, I’m in that ROOM and nobody knows about it. My folks! Jesus, this’ll KILL them. What if they never find me? What do I do? Shit oh shit oh shit—
“Leo. You’ve got to calm down.” My throat clenched, and not just because of the pain. “I need to ask you a few questions,” I said. “You’ll have to answer. But the less you talk, the less it’ll hurt. Okay?”
Okay. Okay, shit, okay.
“What’s going on?” Sadie said hoarsely. “Is something wrong?”
“He’s freaked out. Doesn’t know what’s happening.” I wouldn’t explain it all right now. This had to be as fast as possible, because it was killing me in more ways than one. “Just…don’t interrupt, okay? If he says anything important, I’ll tell you.”
“All right.”
Hello? Are you still there?
The utter terror and confusion in the kid’s voice nearly brought tears to my eyes. “I’m here, Leo,” I said. “Let’s get through this, and then you can go. Did you work for Milus Dei?”
Yes. I mean, sort of. Yes. Go where? Where am I?
“I don’t know, kid. I’m sorry.” Christ, this hurt my heart almost more than my head. But it wasn’t doing my head any favors, either. “Where were you going, before you…?”
I couldn’t finish it. I figured he’d know what I meant.
Scranton. The mountains. They said everyone was dead. Shit I’m DEAD. I’m dead…
“Leo, listen to me. Less words.” I let out a shaking breath. “Why were you going to the mountains? What were you going to do?”
Meet the rest of them. Ten, twelve already went. We had nine. Are we all dead? Where are they? They want to get the girl. The werewolf. GOD make it STOP!
I glanced at Sadie. “He says they were going to get a girl werewolf.” I couldn’t tell them the rest of it yet. Not until I could end this, let the kid go.
“Elara,” she rasped. “My little sister. Ask him if he means Elara.”
“Is the werewolf’s name Elara?” I said.
I don’t know! I’m just a research assistant! SHIT!
The last screamed word drew blood from my nose in a hot gush. I gasped and gritted my teeth. “Okay. Calm down, Leo,” I managed. “Less talking, less pain. Remember?”
Ye-es. He wasn’t exactly calm, but at least he’d stopped screaming.
“He doesn’t know,” I murmured to Sadie. “Last question, Leo. Do you know exactly where everyone was going?”
Some town. Elk Heights. Shuttle into the mountains.
“All right. Thank you, Leo.”
Wait. Gideon…will you make sure my folks find me? Please. It’s better if they know. And…I don’t want to rot down here.
I closed my eyes. “Sure, kid,” I half-whispered. “We’ll get you out of here.”
Thank you. The voice in my head wobbled slightly. What’s going to happen now?
“I really don’t know.”
I’m scared.
The broken whisper burned through me. “Everything’s going to be fine, kid,” I said, with no idea whether I was telling the truth. “No one can hurt you now.” Except me, I thought—but I’d never do this to him again. I could promise that.
Because I’m already dead. Right?
“Right,” I said. “Goodbye, Leo.”
Bye, Gideon.
I pulled my hand away and stayed on my knees, letting the pain in my head fade to a dull ache. At least no one tried to speak to me. I wouldn’t have been able to give a coherent answer—not for a few minutes, anyway.
Finally, I got up with Leo’s blood soaking into my jeans and my own running sluggishly from my nose. I ignored all of it. “We’re bringing him outside,” I said. “We’ll leave him around the back, and I’ll let Abe know to have someone get him.”
“You’ve released him?” Reun said harshly. “Why did you not interrogate him further? We must know—”
“He’s just a kid, Reun,” I spat, and he actually backed up a step. “He told me everything he knew. It wasn’t much.”
“It was bad, wasn’t it?” Sadie said.
“Yeah.” I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling for a minute, until the burning stopped. “Like I said, it’s not much. But he told me enough.”
“What did he say?”
“Let’s get him out of here first,” I said. “I’ll tell you on the way back.”
I expected Reun to protest. But he moved toward Leo’s body wearing a strange expression, and then went down on one knee beside it. “Is féider leis an éirí an bóthar leat,” he said in a lilting, al
most lyrical tone.
It wasn’t quite the Fae language, but it was close. “What was that?”
“It was said by the people of the Old World, when we moved among them. A blessing for the dead.” He stood slowly and gestured over the kid, his face turned down in solemn regard. “May the road rise to meet you.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I managed through the lump in my throat.
Reun helped me carry him out.
CHAPTER 10
It was pouring rain by the time we got back to the Castle.
I’d told Abe about the kid’s body. He took it well, considering I’d sworn that the two in the theater were the last ones. I figured he was saving up the shouting for the officers who’d investigated the church the first time—he didn’t even ask what I’d been doing there.
Sadie hadn’t taken the other news so well.
When I finished explaining that a bunch of them were already headed for Elk Heights, and the two others Reun didn’t kill must’ve taken the boxes, she lapsed into a pale, strained silence. Didn’t say a word for the rest of the drive. Whatever happened between her and her pack, she obviously still cared about them. And especially her little sister.
Reun reacted with a stony glare and a string of angry words in the Fae tongue. I’d figured now wasn’t the best time to say he wasn’t as great at hunting and tracking as he thought.
I parked the van in the front yard, then got out and ran for the entrance through the downpour. Sadie wasn’t far behind. I got the door open, stepped inside and shook water from my hair, just before Sadie rushed in.
After a few seconds, I said, “Where’s Reun?”
“Um. I thought he was coming.” She moved aside and half-turned to peer outside. “He’s…not coming.”
I looked out. He’d gotten as far as the stone path to the door—and just stood there, with his head bowed and the rain beating down on him. “Reun,” I called over the roaring whisper of water. “Something wrong?”
He lifted a pained expression. “I am not welcome in this house.”
“Screw that,” I said. “Come in and get out of the rain, at least. You can go back to your stakeout when it stops.”
A rueful smile crossed his lips. “You do not understand,” he said. “I cannot go inside. Taeral has cast me out—and once he’s left it, no Fae can enter a dwelling where he is not welcome.” He shivered a bit and crossed his arms. “I’ll not be able to enter again, unless Taeral invites me directly.”
Damn. That would happen somewhere around the time Miss Universe called me up to ask for a date. “Where did all these rules for the Fae come from, anyway?” I said.
“They have always been. The Laws are eternal.”
“Great.” I sighed and looked at the dark gray, cloud-choked night sky. This rain wasn’t going to let up soon. “Well, you can hang out in my van, then,” I said. “You’re officially invited.”
“Thank you. I will consider your offer.”
I smirked. “Got a lot of other offers to think about?”
“No, I suppose I do not.” He gave a faint smile. “Go on,” he said. “Taeral must know what you’ve learned of Milus Dei. I will survive the rain.”
“All right. Van’s there if you want it.”
Sadie hung back as I closed the door. “He’s really just going to stand out there?” she said.
“Apparently.” My opinion of Reun had gone up a few pegs. I still thought he was an arrogant asshole, but he was trying. I’d definitely give him that. “Think Taeral’s in his room?” I said.
“He is in the parlor,” a grinding voice answered.
I flinched. Damn, I’d forgotten about Grygg again. Considering how huge he was, not noticing him was surprisingly easy. He moved about as often as tectonic plates. “Thanks, Grygg,” I said. “Um…don’t go out there and rip Reun’s arms off, okay?”
“If you insist.”
I couldn’t tell if he was making a joke, so I decided not to laugh.
Sadie and I went in and found Taeral at the same table as before, but less conscious. Normal arm folded on the surface, head resting on it. Another full, unopened bottle in his metal hand. Unfortunately, that could just mean it was a fresh one he hadn’t started on yet.
“Taeral.” I crossed the room and shook his shoulder gently.
He was on his feet in a flash, so quickly I didn’t even realize he’d moved. And somehow, there was a knife in his hand. Then the furious expression he’d locked on me faded, and he slumped back in the chair. “You are drenched. And bleeding again,” he muttered, making the knife disappear. “What’s happened now—has your great army found us?”
“Not exactly.”
I told him about the kid.
“Taeral, they’re going after my pack. My sister.” Sadie dropped into the chair across from him and started fidgeting with her spirit bag. “I mean, I hate the rest of them. But they’re still family, you know? And Elara…she was only ten when I left. She had nothing to do with what happened.”
Taeral looked slowly from her to me. “You’ve brought Reun into this?”
“Listen, if that’s all you got out of what I just told you, you’re even more obsessed than he is,” I said. “By the way, he’s standing outside in the pouring rain right now because you threw him out, and he can’t come in without your permission.”
“Aye. That’s exactly why I cast him out.”
“He’s not that bad, you know.”
“Really.” Taeral’s eyes shone with a warning light. “You think you know him, now? Perhaps he’s convinced you that he is a kind, benevolent Seelie who’d not have harmed a soul, but for his regrettable promise. And, of course, the centuries he’s spent hunting down Unseelie and hauling them before the Summer Court, to dole out their twisted brand of justice.” He sat up straighter and glared at me. “Save for that, he is surely a beacon of noble virtue,” he said flatly.
I shuddered. “Okay, so maybe he is that bad. He never mentioned what he hunted.”
“Of course he’d not.”
“Anyway,” I said. “We were talking about Sadie’s family.”
Just then, a strange sound drifted through the air. A kind of clicking, buzzing rattle, like a penny sitting on a dashboard with the engine running.
Sadie made a choked noise, pulling the spirit bag over her head and off. It vibrated at the end of the cord. “They’re calling,” she whispered. “Oh, God. I’m too late…”
She opened the drawstring pouch and dumped the contents of the bag on the table.
It was full of bones.
The assortment of small, knobbed bone fragments was clearly human, extensively discolored with age. Knuckle bones, metatarsals and phalanges—fingers and toes—and a few that looked like teeth. Or fangs.
They vibrated briefly on the table surface like rattling dice, and then fell silent.
Sadie leaned over the bones. “Kehwe. I’m here,” she said. “It’s Sadie. Who is this?”
Nothing happened.
“Did you lose them?” I said uncertainly. I had no idea how magic bags worked.
“No. It takes a minute for the spirits to relay the message.”
“Spirits?”
She pointed to the bones. “Of my ancestors.”
“Oh.” Carrying the bones of your dead relatives around in a little pouch wasn’t creepy at all. “Hasn’t your family heard of cell phones?”
“Hush.”
Soon the bones rattled again. This time, the sounds somehow formed words in a toneless, dead-dry voice.
“Sadie, it’s Marlon. We need your help. Elara is gone.”
She clapped a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. After a long pause, she said, “Do you know what happened? Tell me everything.”
The wait was longer this time—and so was the message.
“She was taken by a group of humans with guns. Men in suits. Sparrow was near, but they didn’t find her. She said some of the humans had the ankh and sword, the symbol of legend. They’v
e never come this far.”
Again, Sadie put a hand over her mouth and paused. When she moved it away, she said, “Know that they won’t kill her. I’ll be there soon, Marlon. Watch for me. Onen.”
A shorter wait, and the bones rattled again.
“We need to talk about Mom. Onen.”
Sadie sat motionless for a long moment. Finally, she swiped the bone collection into a hand and poured it back in her pouch. “That was my brother,” she said thickly. “I have to go and help them. They have no idea how to deal with Milus Dei.”
I nodded. “All right, then. I’m going with you.”
CHAPTER 11
The hope in Sadie’s eyes died fast. “You can’t come with me,” she said. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
“The hell I can’t. You’re not going up against those bastards alone.”
“Gideon, you can’t. You’re Fae and human—the two things they hate most.”
“Come on,” I said. “I’m pretty sure Milus Dei is an equal opportunity hater.”
She shook her head. “I meant my pack.”
“So they’ll hate me. I don’t give a damn.” This was insane. No way was I going to let her rush off to her death, or let them capture her again, to save a bunch of people who’d spent ten years pretending she didn’t exist. I knew that much, at least. “What are they going to do, kill me?”
“They might.” She stared at me with a dead expression, then shuddered and looked away. “You don’t know werewolves. And you definitely don’t know my family.”
“Perhaps she’s a point,” Taeral said slowly, not looking at anything in particular. “Your valor is admirable, Gideon, but you’ve a tendency to disregard your own safety. As you are the DeathSpeaker, no Other should allow you to gamble with your life.”
I barely noticed that my pendant had started glowing. The moonstone reacted like that sometimes, when I got incredibly pissed off—like it wanted me to use it. “She’s not going to face them alone,” I said in a low, tight voice. “Play the DeathSpeaker card all you want. You can’t stop me. Sorry, Sadie, but I’m going with you.”
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