“She was not!”
“Okay, maybe not in on it. She’s done jobs for me, here and there. But she got rid of a zompire nest I had quarantined and marked for the fights, and then she ran afoul of one of my vampire allies. She knows how things go—she cost me money, so I used her to make more. If she has a problem with it, she can come talk to me herself. I would have cut her in on the profits if she had won fairly. She’s even fought willingly a few times before.”
She participated? Willingly? Then why did I have the dream about her in trouble? Maybe because that was her first unwilling event. Or maybe because I was supposed to bring her back with us. To save her from what was coming after the fights. I slump in one of the chairs facing Sean. It’s a beautiful chair, all clean lines and utterly rigid bottomly discomfort. No matter how I shift, I’m sure my entire butt will be asleep within seconds. “I’m actually not here about Cosmina. I’m here about Doug.”
Sean sits up straight, intense greed lighting his face. “You know where Doug is?”
“I did. He, uh, got away.”
“Dammit. I sent two of my best-trained hellhounds after him.”
“Those were yours? They attacked my friends and me!”
Sean holds out his hands in an oops sort of gesture. “Hazard of the trade. I make certain they’re well fed before they go out, but some of their instincts can’t be avoided. They were only trained not to rip apart their actual target. If something else gets in the way, well. It can end poorly. If it makes you feel any better, they’re an endangered species now.”
“Good riddance.” I might have some weird compassion for the caged demons and for Doug, but not hellhounds. “Your hellhounds aside, we’ve got two dead bodies we need to figure out. And the last one led us here.”
Sean looks genuinely surprised, peering past me. “You have a zombie? How much do you want for it?”
I’ve got to start being more specific. “No, I mean, clues at the scene led us here. And you’re connected to everything that’s happened. You and Doug.”
“Could Doug have killed anyone?” Leo asks.
Sean scratches at his artful stubble, frowning at Leo. I half suspect Sean forgot he was here. “Nah. He only eats happiness.”
“Maybe your hospitality pushed him too far.” Leo cocks an eyebrow. He didn’t sit and is standing ready and alert in the center of the room.
“Wouldn’t be unprecedented, but it’s unlikely. Doug is just . . . Doug. I can’t see him killing anyone, and I’ve known him for years.”
I have the sudden urge to raise my fists in triumph. Score one for the Slayer instincts.
“My guess is it was another demon entirely. Tell me where you’re located and I’ll pop up and take care of the problem,” Sean continues.
I glare at him. “And profit from it.”
“Naturally.” He smiles. “Who are your dead people? Any connection to Doug?”
“One of our Wa—one of my relatives.”
“A Watcher, huh?” Sean grins at my cringing reaction. “You mentioned them earlier too. Best be careful with those secrets, love. Wouldn’t want the wrong type to know that there’s still a group of Watchers, alive and well. Wasn’t just followers of the First who had it out for you. But I’m safe as churches with that secret. How did this bloke die?”
“In his sleep. No marks. The other death was similar.”
“Another Watcher?”
“No. Cosmina.” I watch for his reaction.
He leans back again, letting out a long exhaled curse. “That’s disappointing, innit? I don’t have any other Slayers. There’s good money there. Used to be fantastic money, but then the market got flooded with them. Still, people will pay a lot for a Slayer.”
“You’d sell a Slayer?” I’m ready to punch things now. I actually believe that he didn’t know she’s dead. His disappointment is too callous to be faked. No one could pretend to be this awful.
“Not sell, employ. Like with Cosmina. I do all sorts of things in this brave new world, and Slayers are useful. And okay, I might also sell if the conditions were right. What can I say, I’m a businessman.”
“Tell us about it,” Leo says dryly.
Sean takes his request at face value. Most of his accent fades, as though he’s giving a practiced pitch. “The black market for demon products has always existed. I dabbled. It was tough work. Most of my competitors depended on magic. They went under when magic died, may it rest in peace.” He solemnly traces a pentagram onto his chest, then grins. “But I was always old-fashioned. I preferred hunting down my demons to summoning them, preferred relying on human means to trap the supernatural. My competitors are out of business. Meanwhile, all these demons with no hell dimensions to slip back to are wandering around, trapped on earth. Alone and vulnerable. My empire is booming. I even have a new investor.”
“Are you the one killing demons, then?” I ask. When he frowns in confusion, I add, “We heard from a vampire that demons are turning up dead in the area.”
“I’ll look into it. No money for me in dead demons. Well, except the ones with good skin or valuable bones. But I’m not killing demons left and right. Bad for business, innit? You have to think long-term. Keeping them alive means you can generate continual income.”
I know my entire family exists because of the need to fight demons, but Sean is . . . gross. There’s a difference between protecting people from demons and profiting off them. “Income like you generated with Doug?”
“Like Doug! Exactly. I built everything on him. Started on the streets, dealing my own brand of happy pills. Worked my way up from there. And now? Sky’s the limit. I have to avoid any governmental attention, but my newest investor has connections. I’m talking with pharmaceutical companies. Think about it. There are seven species of self-healing demons in this basement alone. If we can isolate that, do genetic research on them, imagine what we could do. We could cure cancer. We could reverse aging. I’m turning profits, sure. But I’m also doing good! That night in the pit—those zompires were ready to infect this whole city. Now they’re gone. Everything is for the benefit of humanity, innit.”
“Wasn’t much humanity for the werewolves, or any humanity out there in those cages.”
Sean waves his hand dismissively. “Half those demons would kill you the instant they got out.”
“And the other half?”
“You don’t understand.”
I do. I really do. A demon forced my father to kill himself. Another killed Cosmina and probably killed Bradford Smythe.
And Sean’s right too. Demons are a threat. Am I such a broken Slayer that I can’t kill demons and I can’t stand to see them caged? How can I reconcile my natural instincts to take care of things, to heal things, with what my calling actually is? Maybe Honora’s right, and I was only ever compensating for the things I couldn’t do. Am I still doing that, pretending like I care about living creatures when really I’m just a sucky Slayer and I don’t want to admit it to myself?
I hope not. But with so many lives at stake, I can’t afford to be wrong.
Leo has drifted over to the aquarium. He turns from the remora demon. “How did you get involved with demons in the first place?”
Sean undoes a flask, taking a drink. He holds it out to me. I recoil, and he shrugs, putting it back. “Same reason I do anything. Pretty girl. And there she is.”
The girl in the leather walks into the office. I turn around and we both freeze, stunned.
“Honora?” I ask.
“Wheezy.” She pulls out a gun and points it at my head.
25
“WHY DO YOU HAVE A gun?” I should have known Honora would be here. Of course she’s here. She’s working hand in hand with Sean. I can’t believe she’d tell someone like him about the Watchers. After everyone we’ve lost.
Honora rolls her eyes. “I have a gun, idiot, because I’m not going to carry around a miniature crossbow. We don’t all pretend like being a Watcher still means anything. This is my c
ity. I don’t have to play by any rules at all.” She lowers the gun slightly, shaking her head meaningfully at Leo, who had started moving to get around her. “You should try it sometime, Leo.”
Sean clears his throat. “Honora, love, you realize that I’m directly behind her, so there’s a high likelihood that you’ll shoot me as well?”
“This bitch is the reason we lost Doug.”
“Don’t you dare call my sister a bitch.” Artemis appears in the doorway behind Honora, her face a mask of fury. She’s here! And she finally knows I’m right. She kicks Honora’s hand, knocking the gun free. It clatters menacingly to the floor. “You lied to me. You used me to find that demon. He didn’t really kill anyone, did he?”
“There are two of them?” Sean looks both alarmed and bemused as he stares at Artemis and then me.
“I don’t want to fight you, Artemis. I like you.” Honora holds her arms out to display her innocence. I stand, ready. Leo is perfectly still, waiting to see if he needs to pounce. Honora ignores both of us, focusing on Artemis. “Listen to what we have to say. I think you’ll understand.”
Then, to my shock, she throws a punch. Artemis ducks it. Honora laughs. They spin in a flurry of kicks and blocks, punches and dodges.
Honora is holding back, though. I can tell. She used so much more force on me this morning. If she were really fighting, Artemis wouldn’t be conscious. I think Artemis knows it too. She dodges another punch and—smiles? She’s smiling? Gods, they’re flirting. Honora was pointing a gun at me not two minutes ago! I look at Leo, aghast. He shrugs.
Catching herself smiling, Artemis scowls, kicking at Honora’s side. “How could you work for him?”
“Please.” Honora dodges the kick, then spins around behind Artemis, pinning her arm to her back. She rests her cheek against Artemis’s neck. “They don’t deserve you. They have you serving them meals, Artemis. Look at you. You’re a goddess.”
“And you’re working with a drug dealer!” Artemis spins away, chest heaving, fists up.
Leo clears his throat. He has a slender but heavy-looking metal rod in his hand. It must have been up his sleeve. I feel a surge of triumphant glee. Honora thought he was unarmed. I doubt Leo’s ever unarmed. “Let’s all calm down, or I’ll shatter this glass and release the remora demon.”
Sean stands in alarm. “Are you touched? Without water pressure, they grow to the size of their container! It’ll fill the office and kill us all!”
Leo smiles. It’s weirdly adorable, given the situation. I catch a flutter in my stomach and squash it. He gestures with the rod. “We’ve got two Watchers and a Slayer on our team. I like my odds. Do you like yours?”
“Honora!” Sean snaps. “Please!”
Honora steps back from Artemis. “Sean, remember how I told you about the woman who hated my mum, so she made sure I got sent away on assignment to the crappiest places imaginable? Meet her daughters.”
“I thought you wanted to leave,” Artemis says. “You could have come back.” She looks more upset by this than she did by the fight with Honora. But they were never really fighting. They might as well have been dancing for all either of them intended any damage.
“I did want to leave! You should too.”
Sean clears his throat. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather work this out somewhere else?”
Honora has a knife in her hand now. She picks at her fingernails with it. “It’s okay, really. I got assigned deep cover in a demon-worshipping cult, and then acolytes of the First Evil blew up the Council. So your mum hating mine actually saved my life.”
“Honora, I—” Artemis starts, staring down at the floor.
In a flash, Honora darts to me and holds the knife under my chin, spinning so that I’m between her and my companions. “Go on,” she says to Leo. “Try to free the remora. Artemis won’t let you. She won’t let anything happen to endanger poor little Nina. Nina’s the reason Artemis stayed with the Watchers, played their servant when she deserves so much more. ‘Nina needs me,’ ” Honora says in a perfect imitation of my sister. “And now you’re a Slayer?” Her knifepoint digs into my chin. “Tell me how it makes any sense that you’re a Slayer and Artemis isn’t. What kind of fate would choose you over her?” She pauses, and her next words are so soft I wonder if she meant them to be out loud. “I wouldn’t.”
Her words cut better than her knife could. Artemis won’t meet my eyes, confirming what Honora says. I did hold her back. And it’s obvious even Artemis feels like, of the two of us, she should have been the Chosen One.
But she’s not. I am.
I grab Honora’s hand and twist until she drops the knife.
Honora’s eyes go wide with fear and pain. I remember all the taunts, the nickname, the way she humiliated me. I twist harder.
“You’re hurting me,” she whimpers.
I don’t buy it. I maintain pressure but don’t increase. She rolls her eyes, annoyed, and swings her free fist at my face. I lean back, dodging the blow, then push. She flies across the office and slams into a wall, sliding down in a heap to the floor. Fortunately, it was away from the remora tank, not into it.
“She—” She laughs, gasping in pain. “She broke my ribs.” She pulls something out of her jacket and swallows it. Her eyes close, and she takes a deep breath. Then she stands, shaking out her arms as if she’s totally fine. “Let’s go again, Slayer.”
What the hell kind of drug is she taking?
Artemis steps between us. “Please, Honora.” Her voice is quiet. Pleading. Intimate.
Honora tears her eyes away from mine. She looks at my sister, and something softens. “I wouldn’t have hurt her. Not really.” Then she shrugs, walking to the open chair and sitting in it. She puts her boots up on Sean’s desk. “You’re still letting her control your life.”
“Well, this has all been very interesting.” Sean pokes at Honora’s boots. She doesn’t move them off. “On the bright side, our search for a replacement Slayer is over before it started, innit. I have a lot of work for you if you’re interested.”
Leo has Honora’s knife, picked up during the distraction. The gun is gone too. He got both weapons when we were all looking elsewhere. “Does he know anything that will help us? Because I don’t like the things he knows now.”
Sean holds up his hands all defenselessly. His smile slides into place like the remora demon slides through the water. “We’re on the same side. You want to protect people from demons. I keep demons where they won’t hurt anyone. Our jobs are six of one, half a dozen of the other.”
“We are not the same,” I snap.
“You came to me, remember? You want me as an ally. We all want Doug caught.”
I shake my head. “You want Doug caught. I just want him to get into a Coldplay concert.”
Sean smooths his suit. “Well, we can agree that we all want whatever it was that killed Cosmina stopped. Caught. Killed, if necessary. Besides, I know more about this new world of hell-less demons than anyone else. I can give you access to things the Watchers never will. Information. Powers.”
Artemis draws an involuntary gasp. Honora tips her head back, giving my sister an upside-down wink. “We can hook you up,” she sings.
Sean’s smile gets slicker, sharper. “That’s right. There might not be magic in the world, but I’ve got the best of what’s left. You missed my big pitch, Artemis. You’d be amazed what I can do with a dash of demon and a pinch of medical science. We can change the world.”
A demon outside the office moans in pain, the sound haunting and lonely. “I don’t really like your style,” I say. Sean looks hurt, his fingers drifting to his ponytail. I roll my eyes. “Not really a fan of that, either, but I meant this whole demon-captivity thing you’ve got going on.”
“You kill them. How is what I do worse?”
“I don’t know. It just is.” I rub my face, remembering Cosmina. Remembering how brutal she was, how determined to work alone. And how alone she was at the end. We’re supposed
to kill demons. She was good at it. And now she’s dead.
How has Buffy survived this long?
Sean stands. “All I want is Doug back. We’ll do a trade. You bring me my happy demon, I’ll figure out who killed Cosmina and your Watcher fellow. We’ll all come out ahead.” He sweeps his arm toward the door. “Forgive me if I don’t escort you out. And please, next time you drop by, call. No destruction necessary.”
“You know where to find me,” Honora says. I bristle, thinking it’s a threat. But she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at Artemis, and there’s no threat in her eyes.
There’s only promise.
• • •
Sean’s true to his word. No one stops us as we leave. I try not to look at the pathetic demons as we pass them, but they’re seared onto my brain.
Back in the car, Leo guides us smoothly to the road that will take us to Shancoom. “So,” I say, because no one else is, “I was right.”
“Can you not,” Artemis says.
“Why not?”
“Just let me think!”
“Think out loud. Honora has new employment. No wonder Sean has done so well! He has a Watcher on his side. How could she take the generations of knowledge and training she’s been entrusted with and use them to help someone like him?”
“Nina,” Artemis snaps.
“Too many bodies led us to Sean and whatever he’s running here. We have to tell the Council about Honora.”
“Why?” Artemis asks.
“Umm, because she’s working with the demon underworld? And she’s also got some kind of superstrength that’s not normal.”
“Look, I get it, she’s doing some messed-up stuff. You were right. Fine. But you had no problem keeping secrets before. I want to give her a chance to explain herself.”
I twist in the passenger seat so I’m facing her. “Did you miss the part where she could have done that, but instead she held a knife under my chin?”
“Everyone was being confrontational!” Artemis pauses, taking a deep breath. “She shouldn’t have done that. I know. I really do, Nina. Honora can be impulsive and defensive. You don’t know what she went through growing up. There’s a reason she doesn’t trust the Watchers. Why she would choose to work for someone else.”
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