All That Bleeds

by Kimberly Frost

  The blood drained from her face, and she gripped the arm of the couch. Her voice sounded far away as she said, “That’s not true.”

  “Hell,” Grant said, moving quickly to her side. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

  Alissa’s rigid body resisted Grant’s attempt at comfort when he put an arm around her. The icy rush that washed over her whenever she had to face prying cameras or unkind scrutiny returned reflexively.

  “If you’re going to slander her, you’d better have evidence, Grant. And if you do, I want to see it.”

  Chapter 12

  Merrick had sent Ox upstairs and had taken Tobin out of the room with the drains. With its lead-lined walls, there was no way to get a cell or Internet connection. It had been done on purpose, so that no tracking devices would operate inside its walls.

  But with Tobin spilling information, Merrick had moved him to a room down the hall. Tobin sat next to Merrick, downing painkillers and pressing an ice pack to his swollen eye.

  The pictures were what Merrick had expected, and he controlled his reaction, even if he couldn’t suppress it.

  Alissa’s body had been artfully posed. Head tipped back, mouth slightly open, eyes closed. A pillow hidden under her back created an arch. Cato Jacobi’s tongue licked blood from the puncture wound on her arm while his fingers splayed over an exposed breast or thigh. Image after lascivious image. Even though her expression never changed and Merrick was sure she’d been unconscious, it was impossible not to be stirred by the way she looked. Tobin was a great photographer, and Merrick wanted to kill him for it.

  Merrick focused on Jacobi. When Merrick had first seen the bite mark on Alissa’s arm, he’d wondered why Jacobi hadn’t bitten her throat, which would’ve been more intimate and a greater show of dominance. Merrick had thought it might be because Jacobi wanted a wound that could be concealed, but that wasn’t it. Jacobi had chosen to bite her arm so that his body wouldn’t obscure the camera’s view of her.

  Merrick clicked through the pictures as they became more graphic. A slow burn licked through him. He couldn’t kill Cato Jacobi so soon after they’d squared off, but things would die down eventually. Merrick could be patient when he had to be.

  He glanced at Tobin and noted the intent way Tobin studied the pictures, his pupils dilated. Tobin admired his own work.

  “Go sit over there,” Merrick said, nodding to the couch.

  Stiffly, Tobin moved away.

  Merrick erased the files, erased the emails, permanently emptied the computer’s trash, and changed the account passwords. He erased the browser history and systematically deleted all Tobin’s files from the hard drive. Then Merrick ripped the laptop open and yanked the drive out, pushing the empty computer casing aside.

  “So who from the Etherlin helped Jacobi?”

  “I don’t know,” Tobin said woodenly.

  “Guess.”

  Tobin shrugged. “Most likely one of the other muses. Or one of their family members or friends, supporters. Someone who wanted to eliminate the frontrunner from the competition.”

  “Which of them has connections outside the Etherlin? Who makes trips to this side of the wall?”

  “None of the girls themselves come this way often. People watch their every move. They’d never be able to party in the Sliver without someone finding out.” Tobin leaned back, warming up. He sold plenty of pictures to the tabloids; peddling gossip was as natural as breathing for him, and this was a final chance to show off what he knew. “But if you’re asking if one of them could be in secret contact with someone from this side, you know the answer to that, Merrick.”

  Tobin’s tone was snide, but Merrick didn’t react. If Tobin wanted the satisfaction of poking the tiger before it ripped out his throat, so be it. Finding out what the weasel knew was more important than knocking him out.

  “Which one? If you had to pick?” Merrick asked without missing a beat.

  “Ileana Rella is a cold fish. She’d gut her parents for the chance to be Wreath Muse, and her brother Troy and Alissa aren’t friendly. The Rellas could’ve orchestrated something like this.” Tobin’s hands folded together, and he tapped his thumbs against each other.

  “Alissa has always outshined Cerise Xenakis. Could be Cerise finally got sick of it. She’s got a huge following, and some of them are on this side of the wall. Any hungry musician or athlete from the mean streets hoping to make the big time would kill for a shot to work with Cerise. She’d just have to say the word, and it would get done. The little sister, Dorie, just joined the scene. She’s too busy enjoying the attention and learning the ropes to cause real trouble yet.”

  “What about Dimitri Xenakis? I’ve watched him testify at hearings about crime in the Varden. He’s got a killer instinct,” Merrick said.

  “He does, but Xenakis is Council President and totally elitist. He wouldn’t spit on Cato Jacobi, let alone conspire with him. Besides, Alissa’s his girl.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Tobin gave a little shrug. “Xenakis was crazy for Helene North, but the husband was always in the way. Now, Helene’s dead. The father’s a recluse. Uncle Dimitri’s been there every second since. Grown up, Alissa’s a ringer for her mother. You do the math.”

  “So what about his wife then? Would she make a deal with the devil to get rid of the North women for good?”

  “Maybe. Never heard that Calla Xenakis has connections Varden-side, but she’s a quiet one, so it’s hard to know. She’s been out of town for almost a month though, so unlikely.”

  “What about Grant Easton? Alissa’s had him on ice for years and won’t commit. Is he bitter about it?”

  Tobin smiled. “You wouldn’t mind that, would you? Me helping you pin a target on the boyfriend’s back?”

  Merrick gave Tobin a steady stare. “Do I look worried about Easton?”

  Tobin’s smile faded. “You’re first-gen ventala, making you half vampire. Any humanity you might have been born with got choked out of you by that vamp blood a long time ago. So no, I don’t think you look worried about Easton. I doubt you ever look worried about anything, Merrick.”

  “In favor of Paragraph Seventeen, were you?” Merrick asked coolly, referring to the one part of the Human Preservation Act that had been struck from the bill. In the Varden, they called it the Genocide Clause because it had proposed killing the ventala along with their vampire parents.

  “Vampires are the ones who went on a killing spree,” Tobin said. “You can’t blame people for wanting to protect themselves from another Rising.”

  “Survival’s a universal preoccupation,” Merrick agreed to keep the conversation flowing.

  “You know who’s really in favor of Seventeen? Easton. So no, he wouldn’t conspire with Jacobi. If Easton ever met Jacobi, his first order of business would be to cut off Cato’s head.”

  “Jacobi would carve up Easton and use him as fish food.”

  “Think so? You might be right. You and Jacobi probably don’t need to worry about him outside a courtroom, but Alissa does. If he finds out she’s cozy with you, she’s done. Grant likes her as much as he likes any woman, but he’s a straight arrow. The Wreath Muse is the most important symbol of the Etherlin. If he finds out Alissa’s been pen pals with a ventala, the council will hear about it before she has time to lick the seal on another envelope.”

  “ ‘As much as he likes any woman.’ If he’s gay, who’s his lover?”

  “The guy’s not sloppy. He’s head of Etherlin Security and an assistant DA. Next, he’ll be DA. Then he’ll be on the council and eventually Council President. This guy has a plan. He’ll marry the right wife. He’ll have the right kids. If he swings both ways, he’s gonna keep that secret well buried.”

  “Nothing stays buried if there’s someone around who knows how to use a shovel. Who’s the lover? Your best guess.”

  Tobin shrugged. “Couldn’t say. All I know is that Easton doesn’t stay over at her place, and she doesn’t stay over at his.
I’ve staked the places out tons of times, trying to get a shot of them kissing each other good-bye. Now I ask you, what straight guy with Alissa North as his girlfriend is going to let that relationship turn platonic? Unless she’s an ice queen in the bedroom, but if that’s the problem, you’d think he’d have a girl on the side.”

  Alissa had certainly felt warm enough to him. It would be convenient if Easton were gay. Alissa could be Easton’s beard, and Easton could be hers while she was with Merrick. Also, there would never be reason for Merrick to kill Easton out of jealousy, which was good because killing the director of Etherlin Security would’ve been a complicated thing to achieve without getting caught.

  Tobin pulled his arms into his body and rubbed them with his hands. The room was a few degrees warmer than a fridge, but not many. The chill was getting to Tobin now. He hunched his shoulders as the grim reality of his situation set in again.

  “Any other inside information I should know?”

  “You want to know the best way to protect her? Leave her alone.”

  Merrick walked over to the door and unlocked it. He swung the door open. “I suggest heading straight to the airport. Jacobi’s third-generation ventala, but the extra humanity doesn’t seem to have made much of an impression. He gets his hands on you, and his fish are going to eat well for a month.”

  Tobin stayed in the chair, staring at the door. “Are you kidding?”

  “Well, I’m no expert on fish, but you’re what? Two hundred and fifty pounds? Even piranhas would take a while with you,” Merrick said. He knew what Tobin was really asking, but didn’t want to dwell on the fact that he was going to let the prick go.

  “You’re letting me live?”

  “Unless ventala-assisted suicide appeals to you. In which case, just say the word.”

  Tobin raised his eyebrows and a slow smile turned up the corner of his busted lip. “You promised her, didn’t you?” The guy’s tone was almost smug. “Promised that you’d let me go?”

  Merrick’s gaze slid over him, recalling the pictures Tobin had taken of Alissa. There hadn’t been a mark on Tobin when Ox had found him, so Tobin hadn’t even put up a token resistance to taking them. Had he set up the lighting and helped Jacobi pose her for the best effect? It had looked that way. The extreme close-ups made Merrick think Tobin had enjoyed having her helpless and exposed for his lens.

  Rage seeped slowly into his veins again, and Merrick’s eyes narrowed.

  “There are a lot of ways to make a body disappear, Theo. I know them all.”

  Tobin’s triumph melted away.

  “And what I promised was that I wouldn’t kill you when I met with you in the Sliver. The Sliver’s what? At least eight miles from here? Also, there’s Ox. When you were checking into my past, did you hear how he came to work for me?”

  Tobin licked his lips and looked nervously at the doorway.

  “This used to be the most dangerous part of the Varden. The cops wouldn’t drive into it after dark. People had bars on the windows and locked their houses up around seven every night.

  “There were a dozen underground nests that kids and young women were dragged into. They were kept chained for easy use. Rogue vampires that escaped extermination controlled the underground. Anyone who tried to stop them was slaughtered, and his family was murdered in retaliation.

  “When I took power here, I started raiding the underground. Naturally, the predators and their clientele came out in force to stop me from disrupting their way of life. The price on my head was so high, the oddsmakers gave me a life expectancy of about two weeks.

  “Ox showed up with a little local muscle. He said he’d work for nothing if I let him keep me alive long enough to raid every nest. I don’t know which one his little sister was in. Those kids were in such bad shape when we first got them out, you couldn’t tell one from the other, and Ox never said.” Merrick popped his knuckles.

  “I’ll tell you this though: the Varden oddsmakers still like taking bets on life expectancies. For a rapist or pedophile who tries to move into this slice of the Varden, it’s about forty-eight hours. It takes about a day and a half for word to get to Ox and then about six to ten hours for him to take care of them.

  “Which is why I know that if I mention to Ox that while Alissa North was drugged unconscious, you stripped and photographed her, he’ll tear you to pieces with his bare hands.”

  “They forced me—”

  “You were there. You didn’t try to stop it. You kept the pictures.” Merrick gave him a hard look. Pausing for effect between the last four words, he repeated, “He will tear you to pieces.”

  The color drained from Tobin’s face, and he shifted in his seat.

  “What I suggest is that you start running and don’t stop. I may have promised I wouldn’t kill you today, but I never said I’d keep you safe.” Merrick swept a hand toward the doorway. “The airport’s that way.”

  Chapter 13

  Grant didn’t have any proof that Alissa’s mother had had an affair with Dimitri. ES’s supposition that there had been an affair was based on the fact that Dimitri and Helene had apparently spent a lot of time together, often at night. But their meetings had been at their respective houses, sometimes when their spouses were in town. Who would conduct an affair that way? If they’d wanted to see each other in secret, they could’ve met out of town or even in the Sliver. In her mother’s time, passing the wall wasn’t considered nearly as dangerous as it was now.

  Chastened by her anger, Grant had been conciliatory and agreed to review the security footage after she left and to show her anything he found that might be useful.

  On her way home she got a text message from Theo Tobin, thanking her for handling Merrick and saying it was essential that she be at Handyrock’s. There were certain things he would only tell her and no one else, and she needed to hear them immediately.

  She didn’t understand how he knew that she’d spoken with Merrick. Had Merrick already talked to Tobin? She frowned, trying to remember if she’d made it clear that Merrick should help Tobin get back home.

  Tobin’s text suggested that she invite some of her current aspirants, many of whom had come to town for the upcoming retreat and banquet. Meeting with the aspirants would be a good cover, since it looked like she would still have to go to the Sliver herself to find out what was happening.

  The question was whether or not to take Etherlin Security officers with her. Normally she would have, but the talk with Grant had made them seem as gossipy as teenage girls. Also, with them hovering, there would be no way for her to discreetly talk to Merrick, assuming that he hadn’t yet seen Tobin and would be at Handyrock’s, too. If he was going to be there, his bodyguard Mr. Orvin probably would be as well. Then she wouldn’t need an ES detail because Merrick and Mr. Orvin certainly seemed capable of handling any sort of trouble.

  The key, she decided, was to be sure that everyone else arrived before she did, so she wouldn’t be sitting there alone.

  She called Pead’s Florists. They answered immediately.

  “Hello, this is Alissa North.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” a male voice said.

  “There was a young man who delivered flowers to my house today. Is he still working? I’d like to speak to him.”

  “That was me. Robin.”

  “I didn’t see you today, Robin. We’ve met before, right?”

  “Um, yeah. I delivered the…um, package to you on February the thirteenth and the one on January tenth.”

  “Do you know who sent them?”

  “They were sent anonymously. Dropped off by courier to the shop with instructions. Anonymously,” he repeated.

  “It’s funny that you’re always the one who gets those deliveries. And it’s interesting how you usually catch me on my way in or out of the house or at Bick’s Café with them.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “It would be easier to just drop them at the house.”

  Again there was silence.
/>   “A couple years ago there was another young man who did the deliveries, and he sometimes helped me send a return message to people who sent me things anonymously. Do you think you could help me with something like that?”

  “Yeah, um, maybe.”

  “I’d like to send a note tonight.”

  “Tonight?”

  “I realize it’s not convenient, but I’d like to take care of it right away. I’d certainly compensate you for your time and trouble.”

  “I think today’s stuff came from pretty far out,” he said nervously. “And maybe they wouldn’t want me showing up uninvited, since it was sent anonymously. There are kind of a lot of instructions about keeping things private.”

  “Yes, I’m sure they value their privacy, but I don’t think they’d mind if you were bringing a message from me, do you?”

  “Um.” He paused. “Maybe not.”

  “You’re not comfortable. It’s okay. We won’t worry about it.”

  “Um, listen. What I can do is check if it’s okay to bring a message. I’ve got a number to call in case of emergencies, if there’s any kind of question or problem with the delivery. Like I was supposed to deliver the package to you directly today, but you didn’t go out and that housekeeper lady wouldn’t let me hand it to you. So I called, and they said to leave the one package by the trees and to change the note. You got the package, right? Not just the flowers?”

  “I got it. Thank you. And actually, if you’re calling, you don’t need to deliver a note at all. You can just deliver my message by phone. How would that be?”

  He exhaled audibly. “Better. Yeah, a lot better.”

  She smiled. She didn’t blame him for not wanting to go into the Varden alone at night, uninvited.

  “What’s the message?”

  “Tell them that I’m going to have to take that eight o’clock meeting after all.”

  “Yeah, okay. No problem.” He repeated the message once, then repeated the time again.