Without the cloak, the chill of the dimension sank deep into my bones; combined with the pain in my arm, it was that much more difficult to bend it as we faced the doorway. I scooped some blood onto the stiletto’s tip and flicked some droplets at the doorway.
Nothing happened. Shit, maybe too much of Vasquez’s blood was on the weapon still?
I bent toward the cloak to wipe the blood off just as darkness descended in my peripheral vision along with glowing red eyes and chittering squeals.
Son of a bitch—with Vasquez gone, the swarm had been released.
Twenty-Five
Don’t Speak
“Please open the portal now!” Melinoë shouted.
“Trying!” Goddamn it—I swiped harder at the stiletto to clear the blood off, but I didn’t know if even the slightest bit of Vasquez might taint it. Fuuuuuck...
I looked over my shoulder—the swarm was nearing, but no longer rolled like a blanket of chittering darkness on the ground. Instead it rose up into the shape of a human like we’d seen in the subway and forest, and it walked toward us with steady purposeful steps, a swirling mass of screeching darkness.
I very badly wanted to see what was under the swarm—I suspected there was some sentience, some kind of demon that controlled and hid behind them—but I couldn’t say if that was tempting me because of genuine curiosity or self-destructive tendencies.
Fuck it—I dropped the stiletto, let out a cry as I held my bleeding wrist out, and dragged my arm back and forth across the air. The fucking doorway had to be somewhere and—
At last the blood sparked just as Melinoë crowded around me and screamed. It whirled in a circle but was taking too goddamn long.
I spun and thrust lightning from my outstretched hand with what little reserves I had left; the blue-white light struck the assembled figure and the swarm burst apart and scattered.
It was just enough time—the doorway split open and we both leapt.
Melinoë and I crashed hard on the other side, intricate marble tile floor meeting us. I looked back to see the swarm approaching, then the portal squeezed into a tighter and tighter circle before disappearing entirely.
For a moment I closed my eyes and bowed my head, resting on the tile. Though the chamber was only room temperature, it felt like stepping into an oven after the cold of the pocket dimension, and as musty as the air was, I was grateful it wasn’t cold. An ache throbbed behind my eyes and Melinoë’s plan to hole up in a hotel room and just crash and get food delivered was seeming more and more what I needed.
As I thrust myself to a sitting position, a hand appeared in my line of vision—claw-tipped, paper-pale skin. I recoiled but checked myself so at least physically I didn’t look rude, simply ignoring Ashur’s offer and getting to my feet stiffly.
Pain flared up and down my arm—and a few other places—but that was the worst of it and the bleeding was already slowing. Melinoë looked like she was feeling about as well as I was.
I cradled my arm to my chest again and then turned my attention to Ashur—he was far closer than I preferred and I had to tilt my head back. “He’s dead.”
Something resembling pleasure touched his face—he was pleased and that scared me a whole lot more than anger ever did from these creatures.
“Anything you want to tell me about who he was?” I lifted my chin in the direction of where the portal had been. “Why you needed my blood?”
“It was a gamble. But you are a combination of your parents.”
Then my parents were the ones who had originally created that portal? Of course that made sense now, and Vasquez would have figured out who I was as soon as I said my blood could open the doorway. That he admitted he knew I shouldn’t exist suggested he’d been around before my birth—he’d known my mother before.
I wondered if, as a child, Ashur had targeted me. If it wasn’t my bravado for setting him on fire—if it was specifically me and my blood he’d wanted, if he’d been waiting all this time for the right circumstances to align and get me right in this spot right now. If this was the whole reason he didn’t kill me back then.
But I didn’t ask. I wanted to be truly done with it, to no longer have him in my peripheral plaguing me. His schemes were no longer my problem.
Ashur looked down with distaste at the skeletal hand. “Shall we retire somewhere a little less...grim?” One hand of extra-jointed fingers grasped the air and tore, revealing pale light and fresh earthy air beyond it.
I didn’t say a word, just stepped through with Melinoë.
Time can pass differently in other dimensions, so I wasn’t sure how long we’d been gone. It was dawn now, the sun not fully broken but the sky a deep glowing blue with fingers of sunlight reaching over the trees in the horizon. Either we’d been gone a full day or all that had happened just overnight.
We’d come out near a wooded area next to my red Mini Cooper. The keys were draped over the driver’s side mirror and I glimpsed my messenger bag on the seat. Presumably we were somewhere outside St. Philip Point.
I snatched up my keys but didn’t go for the car yet. “My brother? Did you find him?”
“I did not.”
I rolled my eyes—of course he didn’t. Lying fucker.
“He is outside my ability to track.”
“Which means...?”
An enigmatic smile. “Take from that what you wish.”
Whatever. I turned back to my car.
“I did learn...something about him, however.”
Every conversation with Ashur seemed to take ten times as long because he wouldn’t come out and just say shit. Maybe he drew it out because no one wanted to talk to him but could you blame me?
I sighed and leaned my back against my car. “I am potentially going to bleed to death by the time you get to the point, Ash.”
He reached for me and I stiffened, arm still clutched to my chest. His hand wrapped around my wrist and heat flared—I braced for pain but it never came, just a sharp spreading warmth like sinking into a hot bath. The pain dissipated and as he released me, I glimpsed the skin healed beneath the torn hoodie sleeve still soaked with my own blood.
“Thank you,” I said carefully, although I was still left unsettled. “What did you learn about Dev?”
“It is actually about who he has been spending time with.”
I frowned—the girl the warding had recorded, maybe?
Melinoë shifted at my side, lips parted to speak before he looked directly at her and said, “Or rather, who he has not been spending time with.”
The world slowed, and I didn’t know if it was the combination of my blood loss and magic depletion or the reality crashing down around me as my brain scrambled to process this information.
My gaze shot to Melinoë. “Excuse me?”
Her eyes flickered between me and Ashur. “Elis, I—”
“What the fuck is he talking about.”
“I can explain—”
“From what I can glean,” Ashur said, “she has never met Devdan O’Connor.”
The whole world tilted sideways. I stared at her, mouth agape.
Her eyes reddened and she shifted, her gaze still darting. “I...”
“Are you even his cousin?” I asked.
“Yes! Yes, I didn’t lie about that, I just...” Her expression was panicked, face going red. “You have to understand—”
Son of a BITCH. It dawned on me then. “The swarm. It was never after Dev—it’s after you.”
“I know Dev has the amulet and I thought if I could just get it—”
Jesus Christ, it was her. She didn’t sense demon magic back at his apartment—she knew the amulet was there and she was looking for it. “Is my brother even missing? Even in trouble?”
She nodded. “I don’t know where he is, but I needed the help and—”
I was not listening to this anymore. She dragged me out to the middle of nowhere, nearly got us both killed, left me in a sitch where I had to use a favor from Ashur to
get us rescued and it was all bullshit. I squeezed my car key so hard my palm nearly bled, and opened the door.
“Elis, please—”
I climbed in, slammed the door. Ashur was gone, just Melinoë calling me and rushing for the window.
I twisted the keys to start the engine and slammed my foot on the accelerator, leaving her crying on the side of the country road.
Twenty-Six
Tender Sugar
I wasn’t sure if the cops might still be watching my apartment—my phone was still missing, apparently Ashur hadn’t added it among gathered possessions, so I couldn’t check for messages from Tanvi.
The office wasn’t in my name, however. Wasn’t in my parents’ names, either—it was linked to some corporation, and I didn’t think the local police had the resources to go digging deep enough to find the information. Even finding the door when looking would be a challenge with my warding.
Unless my ex sold me out. I wouldn’t put it past her at this point.
Mid-morning had hit by the time I rolled back into town, the city streets busy and everything business as usual. I parked around back, headed into my office, which was warm from the sun in the south-facing windows. Cleaned up in the bathroom, ate a granola bar while I changed into fresh black leggings and a t-shirt. All my blood-soaked clothing would have to be tossed but I might be able to get my boots clean again, at least. I pulled out a backup phone, locked my old one remotely, and sent a text to Dad saying I was back in town with no sign of Dev. And that was all I was planning to tell him, for now.
I felt...foolish. I had believed her. It all made sense in the heat of the moment—she was right that Dev was gone, then we were pursued. She was right about Dev’s hotel room. And the Brethren definitely had me thinking something might’ve indeed happened to him.
Elis O’Connor didn’t trust people. Not people she’d just met, not people she’d known for years. Why had Melinoë suckered me in so easily? Why had I believed her? Even when Dad warned me.
Dad had always wanted me to cautiously trust people. To follow my gut and hone my instincts, to give folks the benefit of the doubt even if I did my homework to verify their stories. If he suggested caution with Melinoë, I should’ve heeded that more than I clearly had. It was probably some bullshit trauma bonding since we kept nearly getting killed together, but I was still angry about it.
I conjured an ice wrap for my ankle, and crashed on the couch in the heat of the sun, napping fitfully while thoughts whirled in my brain.
It was still bright when I woke suddenly. The city noise continued on the street beyond, maybe it was a siren or—
A knock came on the front door to the office.
I sat up with a yawn, stretching painfully. My clothes covered most of my bruises, but a few remained on my arms. Though it was warm, I grabbed the throw off the back of the couch and wrapped it around me, then started for the door.
The police were waiting.
I didn’t let my steps hitch, kept my face calm, but my stomach twisted in knots. It was the OPP – OD. Three officers—one of whom was Tanvi.
Fuck fuck fuck. She was one of the few people who had an exception to the wards—they’d only find it with her looking for it. She had sold me out.
I plastered on a smile and went to unlock the door.
I mean, if worst came to worst, I could get out of here. I wouldn’t be arrested—even with the magical restraints the department had, they couldn’t touch my magic. They didn’t have the funding for the netting the Brethren of Angels threw on me. I wouldn’t be able to return to the city, of course, so I was going to avoid fleeing from the law as long as possible...but maybe my time had finally run out here.
I opened the door. “Officers.” My gaze snagged on Tanvi’s, but her face was blank.
Even though I told myself she’d throw me under the bus, I still felt the sting of betrayal—batting zero with women today, apparently.
“Elisabeta O’Connor?” the one in the lead asked—a taller, forty-something black woman watching me like I was not getting away with a single fucking thing while she was here.
I nodded. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m Constable Griffin.” She showed me her badge, as if I’d doubt her. “May we come in?”
In answer, I held the door for them and stepped back.
My office seemed crowded with three fully uniformed officers standing there and I played it up, huddling in my throw and making a show of yawning.
“Late night?” Griffin asked. Tanvi stood at her side, and the third—a shorter man with medium brown skin and an officer’s hat covering his black hair—stood off to the side watching the door.
I nodded. “My brother is missing, I’ve been out looking for him.”
“Can you tell us your whereabouts four nights ago?”
“Um...” I yawned again and scratched at my temple. “Probably looking for my brother? It’s been my focus the past several days.” If pushed, I could say I was at my dad’s—if someone ever called and asked about me, he’d probably give me an alibi without me having to even ask.
She turned a tablet my way. “Does this man look familiar?”
She was showing me Ben Fraley.
It was a casual photo—not a license one, nothing professional. Just a smiling guy with water and boats behind him, his head and upper torso showing. It would probably play well in black and white for an obituary.
My expression was neutral—this wasn’t my first rodeo, after all, and if they were trying to shake me up, they’d have to work harder.
I shook my head. “Not that I recall. Who is he?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “He was murdered. Your vehicle was seen in the area that night and it’s nowhere near your office or home.”
“What night was that again?”
“Tuesday.”
I made a show of thinking about it, peering up at the ceiling as I debated. “What area and when? It’s not Magic Alley, is it?”
“Peterson and Seventh Street. Around two a.m.”
My eyes widened. “Oh, I found a cat.”
That caught her off guard. “A cat.”
“It was missing. I’ve got the paperwork...” I moved to the desk, opened the top drawer, and rifled through some papers until I found what I wanted. “Here.” I handed it to her.
She accepted it with a skeptical angle to her brows. “You find lost cats.”
I leaned on the arm of the couch. “Work is work. I have a unique skillset—I’m actually very good at finding missing pets.”
And having a paper trail. Just in case someone saw Joy and Yamila come to my office, just in case I was seen somewhere in the area like this—I ensured my ass was covered. Yamila had signed off on it and had the ready explanation that she’d hired me to find her friend’s cat.
Constable Griffin didn’t believe me—I could see it clearly. Her gut was telling her I couldn’t be trusted, but she didn’t presently have the evidence to back that up beyond a sighting.
“Did you happen to see anyone when you were out looking for this...cat?” she asked.
I pretended to think about it. “Not that I can recall, it was pretty late. But I also don’t know the area very well, I’m not sure if anything would’ve stood out to me.”
The door chimed as it swung open then; I looked past the cops to see Melinoë enter the office.
Her gaze skimmed the three new additions, then she swept right past them for me. “Hey babe, sorry I got hung up—you haven’t been waiting long, have you?”
“No. Still beat, just took a nap.” I plastered on a smile as she came to stand next to me and leaned over to kiss my cheek in greeting.
“Trust me,” she whispered.
Which was asking a hell of a lot at this point, but not like I could pick a fight with an audience.
She turned back to the others. “Is there news on Devdan?”
“That’s the brother?” Griffin asked.
I nodded and then spoke to Me
linoë. “No, it’s about a murder a few nights ago. Not Dev. You remember when I went out to find that missing cat? I think it was that night.”
“And you are?” the lead constable prompted.
“I’m so sorry.” Melinoë opened her leather coat and pulled out a badge. “Detective Melinoë Hayden.”
They looked over her badge and wrote down the number. “You’re a long way from Seattle.”
“On holidays.” She bumped my shoulder with hers. “I had some vacation days and she needed help looking for Dev.”
“And you two know each other how?” Tanvi finally spoke up.
“Old family friend,” I filled in.
They’d been on shaky ground before; now Melinoë had put up a blockade completely. Who was going to question my alibi when it was provided by a fellow cop? A few more questions and they took their leave. Tanvi didn’t even look back at me.
I sighed when the door shut again and went to get a bottle of water from the mini fridge. “What the fuck, babe.”
“You’re welcome.”
I swung back to her after I’d had a sip. “You don’t get thanks for anything.” At least the water cooled my dry throat and eased some of the aching tension behind my eyes, though it didn’t help my temper. “You’re really a cop?”
She perched on the arm of the couch and nodded, arms crossed at her stomach. “Yes. On a leave of absence.”
“Because you’re being hunted by the swarm.”
She nodded again. “I was investigating organized crime and ran afoul of the wrong people. I think they sent the swarm...and I can’t outrun them, I can’t kill them, and I don’t know what to do. But I know about Dev, about the amulet from Oblivion. I thought...” A shrug.
“You really don’t know where my brother is?”
“Not since he left St. Philip Point. I came to you because I thought you could find him.”
“How did you get into his apartment if he didn’t give you a way in?”
Blood Ties Page 18