Heartless (Crossbreed Series Book 9)

by Dannika Dark

  “Isn’t that what we all pray for in the quiet moments? Maybe you should ask yourself why finding Raven is so important to you. Goodbye, Poe.”

  After exiting the room, Christian stalked through the club, eager to get as far away from Houdini as possible. Crush jogged after him noisily, his boots stomping against the floor and change jingling in his pockets. Distracted by his emotions, Christian let down his guard. The noisy world closed in on him. The clucking of tongues, thighs rubbing together, voices overlapping, whips cracking, the deafening sound of a hundred hearts beating, loud music, and the clinking of glasses.

  Once outside, he paced to the corner and anchored his hands on his hips.

  “Are you gonna tell me what the fuck happened in there?” Crush caught his breath and leaned on a lamppost. “Is that where Raven was working undercover? You let my little girl dance on those tables?”

  “Jaysus, will you get your knickers out of a bunch? She was only working the bar. The job’s over, but she wanted to go back and talk to someone. They said she left this morning without incident.” Christian turned his eyes up at the buildings. “We can visit a few clubs we frequent, but I don’t think she would have gone to those places alone.”

  “What about that diner—Ruby’s? I can swing by there and ask around.”

  “Aye, that’s a grand idea. After that, go home, you hear?”

  “I’ll go where I wanna go.”

  Christian wanted to get Crush uninvolved. He couldn’t possibly know her whereabouts, and Raven wouldn’t want him searching the dark corners of the city. “Perhaps she went to buy her da a nice present.”

  “That’s not where she went. Something’s wrong.”

  Christian looked back at him. “And what makes you so certain? Dreams?”

  “A gut feeling. And I’m holding you accountable.”

  “It’s hardly my fault.”

  Crush stepped up to him. “Anytime something bad happens to my daughter, here you are. When her mother died, there you were.”

  “I saved her life.”

  “Doesn’t change the fact that you were there. Maybe you’re a big scoop of bad luck.”

  “For feck’s sake. Get on that infernal contraption of yours and ride off into the sunset, will ya? I have errands to run.”

  “I’ll call you later,” he growled, storming off. “And watch what you say about my Harley!”

  Two women crossed the street and headed toward a donut shop. Christian tried to imagine where Raven might have gone, but there were a number of possibilities. She could be sitting on a random rooftop, or maybe she had fallen asleep on the train and wound up on the wrong side of the city.

  He called Wyatt, and when he answered, there was singing in the background.

  “Unless you’re a hot chick, Wyatt’s busy.”

  “Is Raven there? Has she called?”

  Wyatt laughed, but it wasn’t at Christian. Claude was finishing up a joke. “Nope. What’s the scoop?”

  “She’s gone missing.”

  “Did you call her?”

  “She doesn’t have a phone, you eejit.”

  Wyatt flapped his lips together as he sighed. “Fine. I’m on my way upstairs. I’ll look at her necklace and tell you if she’s banging another man. Sure you’re up for that, compadre?”

  “She’s not wearing the necklace. She left it at the scene.”

  “You two did the nasty, didn’t you? Shame, shame.”

  “How much have you had to drink? I need your help, and you’re busy killing brain cells.”

  Wyatt snorted. “They’ll grow back.”

  Christian grimaced when a man whistled to get someone’s attention. He shut out everything except Wyatt’s drunken ramblings. “What about the tracker?”

  “Good idea, Watson. Give me uno momento, por favor.”

  Lights were popping on around the city, splashing color onto the dreary buildings.

  After about a minute of Wyatt singing out of breath, he finally came back on. “Got it. Huh. That’s really weird.”

  “What’s the address?”

  “The tracker shows she hasn’t moved in almost ten hours.”

  Christian turned around to make sure no one had touched his bike. “Will you tell me where the feck she is?”

  “Hold your ponies. I’m trying to pull up the street view on the internet. Did you know they pay people to drive around with a camera mounted on the car so they can film every single street? Back in my day, you had to do real work to earn a coin. It’s pretty nifty though. I can look at neighborhoods without leaving the house.”

  “You’re a canker sore. You know that?”

  “I’m the life of the party. You can’t deny it.”

  “Be that as it may, you have the attention span of a midge.”

  “Are you comparing me to a bug? You have more in common with a mosquito than I do a gnat.”

  “I can’t fathom why the dead would seek your company.”

  “You need to lighten up. Eternity is a long time to be miserable. All right. I’m looking at the street view, and there’s nothing there. The picture was taken in February, so unless they built something in the past three months, she’s hanging out on the corner of nowhere. The street’s called Rustic Pines, just east of Walnut Grove. A field on one side with a bunch of overgrown grass, and… Yep. Same on the other. Maybe she threw out her shoes. Why does Walnut Grove sound familiar?” His fingers snapped. “Oh! What’s the name of that old TV show—the one with the little girl running down a hill?”

  “Wyatt, listen to me carefully. Raven’s missing. It’s not like her to disappear.”

  “Oh really? I seem to remember her skipping off to stay with her dad for all that time. Did you say something to piss her off? Wait, don’t answer that. You piss everyone off.”

  “Keep your phone nearby. I’ll call you back.”

  Christian didn’t tarry. He weaved through traffic like a bullet until he reached Rustic Pines. While he hadn’t necessarily been down every road in the city, he knew most of the main ones and a few of the alternate routes. Despite the headlamp from his bike lighting the way down the unlit street, he couldn’t get his bearings. This area was unfamiliar to him, and when he reached Walnut Grove, he slowed his bike and looked around. The weeds were high, to be sure. If Raven had wandered out of range, it would be time consuming to search the wide stretch of land. What he needed was a tracker.

  He called Wyatt. “Get your arse over here immediately. Bring anyone who’s sober enough to search, but I want Claude. I need his nose.”

  “I think his nose is in a wineglass.” Wyatt simultaneously hiccupped and burped. “Fine, fine. We’re on our way, just as soon as I locate a designated driver.”

  Christian tried not to crush the phone in his grip. “I’m not playing around. Raven might be in danger.”

  “Wyatt Blessing to the rescue.”

  “Jaysus wept.”

  Chapter 36

  Rustic Pines was so rural that traffic was nonexistent. Nary a car in sight for the length of time that Christian had waded through the tall grass. His worst fear? Finding Raven’s body. Maybe that was the reason he didn’t hear a heartbeat other than his own and a few wild animals. He violently knocked the weeds aside, imagining what he might do if he stumbled upon those boots still on her feet. He’d seen firsthand how immortal love never lasted. When one of them died, it left the survivor bereft of feeling. Their lives often went in a downward spiral. Christian refused to let that happen to him. He would channel that rage into a destructive force that would lay waste to everyone responsible for her death.

  A horn blared from the road.

  Gem poked her head out of the window of the driver’s side of the Keystone van. “Taxi! Someone said you needed a ride. What are we doing in the middle of nowhere?”

  Christian rested his arms on the window and peered at Wyatt, who had his laptop open from the passenger seat. “Who’s in the back?”

  Claude stuck his head between th
e seats. “Did you find Raven?”

  Christian shook his head. “I don’t hear anything.”

  Gem’s eyes widened. “Raven’s missing? Why doesn’t anyone ever tell me anything? You could have said something, Spooky!”

  “You’re driving, buttercup. I couldn’t have you under the influence of panic.”

  “I’m getting out.” Claude disappeared and jumped from the back of the van. He staggered before falling completely on his face.

  “I’m out here with the Three Stooges,” Christian murmured.

  Claude bent his knees and reached out his hand. “I’m the soberest. Everyone else had to stay home. Blue passed out, and Niko said everyone’s energy was mixing into one fantastic light show.”

  Christian jerked Claude to his feet. “And Shepherd?”

  Claude snorted. “Do you want a drunken Shepherd on a search and rescue? He would shoot up this town.” Claude stretched out his long arms and scanned the area. “Now, what do you want me to do?”

  “The tracking device is out here. Find it.”

  “I still think she tossed out her shoes, and we’re out here for nothing,” Wyatt said.

  Claude reached inside the back of the van and pulled out one of Raven’s old shirts. After a deep breath, he threw it back. “It helps when my senses are impaired.”

  “You’re langered. How much did you have to drink? Because I don’t think you can walk a straight line, let alone track anyone’s scent.”

  Claude narrowed his golden eyes and poked Christian’s nose. “Challenge accepted.” He ran at Chitah speed into the grass, but he also stumbled and fell.

  Christian had seen the team drunk, but they were so inebriated it was a wonder they were still conscious. He strode back to the front of the van.

  Gem reached out and picked grass off Christian’s forehead. “I’m sure she’ll turn up soon. I bet she’s already back at the mansion. Did you have anyone check the roof? It’s possible she got home hours ago and fell asleep up there. You know how she gets.”

  “Aye, I checked. She never made it home.”

  Worry filled her eyes, but Gem was searching for an explanation. “Maybe she had the same idea as you fellas and drank too much before attempting to walk home.”

  Christian gestured to Wyatt. “What’s on that computer of yours?”

  Wyatt opened up a plastic wrapper and admired a chocolate cake with white filling. “The blinking light.”

  Christian gave him an icy stare.

  After chomping into his pastry, Wyatt set it down on the dash and put on his loose beanie. “Look, I’m three sheets to the wind. I smoked a doobie before you called, and maybe I had another drink for the road. If you get me worked up, I’m gonna get paranoid and have a panic attack. Nobody wants to see that.”

  Gem played with the quartz pendant around her neck. “I haven’t heard the word doobie in an awfully long time. Did you know that they’re starting to make it legal?”

  Wyatt reached for his chocolate pastry. “If only I cared about human laws.”

  Christian tipped his head to the side. “You’re not concerned about brain function?”

  Wyatt furrowed his brow. “It’s only temporary. It’s not like it affects my hippopotamus.”

  Gem giggled. “You mean hippocampus.”

  “You see? Who needs the internet when you have a word nerd?”

  Christian turned around as Claude approached the van.

  Winded, Claude took a breath and swayed before tossing a bag at Christian. “Found the boots. Raven’s scent is barely on them anymore. There’s no scent trail, so it’s probably been out here all day. I didn’t see any footprints immediately around it, so I think she must have thrown it from the road. Maybe they carried too many bad memories of the club.” Claude widened his eyes all of a sudden as if waking himself up. “What was in that bottle Viktor gave us?”

  Wyatt licked his fingers. “I don’t know, but some things aren’t meant to ferment for that long.” He pulled another cake from the box and used his teeth to open the plastic. “I still remember when they used to wrap these in foil. Why do you think they call them Ding Dongs?”

  Christian pounded the top of the van and made everyone jump. “What’s nearby? Where the feck are we? This isn’t the way home, so where was she going?”

  Gem gazed through the front windshield. “I bet she got lost. That happened to me once while flashing. I got turned around and wandered outside city limits.”

  Wyatt nonchalantly wedged half the cake in his mouth and then took out his phone. After a few finger swipes, he set the half-eaten cake on his closed laptop. “Ten-mile radius shows a few farmhouses, a place that sells yard art—”

  “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to one of those places!” Gem chimed in before giving Christian a solemn look. “After we find Raven, that is.”

  Wyatt kept swiping, his upper lip coated with brown crumbs and white cream. “Nothing, nothing, a cemetery, a garden center, a gas station—”

  “Go back to the cemetery,” Christian said, fearing that Houdini had done the unthinkable. “How far?”

  “Five minutes that way.” Wyatt pointed straight ahead. “Please tell me we’re not going to a cemetery. I can handle an old one, but this is a human cemetery. That means they’ve got freshies all over the place.”

  “Not my problem. Let’s go.”

  Christian and Claude circled to the back and got in. While Gem took directions from Wyatt, Christian buried his face in his hands. Where could she be? After pulling himself together, he reached down and rifled through her bag. Raven must have switched out her shoes, because her sneakers were missing. Maybe she really did toss out the boots. Raven wasn’t sentimental about such things, and would she be able to wear them again without associating them with a sex club? Aside from her boots, all he found in the bag were toiletries and clothes.

  “Do you think someone took her?” Claude asked. “Maybe it was the man who recruited all the women.”

  That hadn’t occurred to Christian. He’d never met this other fella, and he might want Raven out of the picture since she could identify him.

  Claude leaned back. “I wager she’s made a lot of enemies. It would be difficult to narrow them down. Do you think her Creator’s behind it? That repugnant Mage is still out there somewhere.”

  “It’s not him.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “It’s not his style.”

  Claude rubbed his nose. “All the same, I think it would be prudent to narrow down suspects.”

  Hearing Claude talk about suspects was making this frighteningly real. It was too convenient for there to be a cemetery on this road, and Christian had a gut feeling that Raven was there.

  “We’re here,” Wyatt sang. “Human cemeteries: the thing nightmares are made of. Look, there’s a freshy right there.”

  Gem slapped his arm. “Well, don’t look at him!”

  “I can’t help it! I’m seeing double, so I don’t know which way not to look.”

  The van came to an abrupt stop. “The gates are locked.” Gem turned in her seat and gave Christian a pointed look.

  Taking her signal, he hopped out of the van and busted the locks. Gem slowly steered through the open gates, the high beams providing the only light.

  Wyatt hopped out, dressed for the occasion in a long-sleeved shirt. Two cartoonish eyes looked to the side with I SEE DEAD PEOPLE written below them. He might as well have been a walking billboard for Gravewalkers.

  Wyatt finished his cake and then tucked his thumbs in his jeans pockets. “So what makes you think the love of your life is here? From my experience, when someone buries an immortal, they don’t do it in a high-traffic cemetery where someone might see them digging around. This is like the dead’s version of a mall. People doing sketchy burials go to old graveyards that are full up—ones with stones that are so broken that you can’t even tell if it’s a rock or a headstone.”

  Gem’s long grey duster appeared translucent
in front of the van’s headlights. She bent her leg and propped her white Doc Marten against the fender. “Maybe she’s not here. Where else does that road lead?”

  Wyatt joined their circle. “Nowhere. It eventually dead-ends. There’s this or the local dump.”

  “My vote is for the cemetery,” Claude cut in. “You take the dump.”

  Wyatt chortled, and Gem put her hands on her ears as if sensing a distasteful joke on the horizon.

  Christian snapped his fingers, his patience thinning. “Do your magic, Spooky. Walk the perimeter.”

  “The perimeter? Do you know how many acres this place has? I can’t see in front of my nose, and if I don’t kill myself tripping over a headstone, I’ll be so distracted by the ghosties that I won’t be able to focus.”

  Christian’s fangs punched out, and he gripped Wyatt by the collar. “Then find a way to focus.”

  “I need to look for a flashlight.”

  Claude pointed at a large shed. “What’s in there?”

  Christian didn’t hear anything inside, but he broke the locks and opened the door.

  Claude poked his head in and drew in a deep breath. “The female isn’t here.”

  Incensed, Christian stalked by Wyatt, who was beating on the end of an inoperable flashlight. “Do your job. I’ll start on the far side if that makes it easier.”

  Once Christian distanced himself from the van headlights, he shadow walked through the cemetery. They all looked the same. A tree here, a tree there, statues, benches, sometimes a mausoleum. He didn’t like spending his time in cemeteries, not since his own long-term residency.

  After fifteen minutes, he finished checking every grave in the back for fresh sod or upturned soil. In the distance, Gem called for Raven, and hearing her name shouted into the void with no reply splintered his heart.

  “I can’t pick up anything,” Claude huffed before collapsing in a heap by a headstone. “Someone urinated on a statue though.”

  Gem dawdled toward them, her eyes wide and arms outstretched. “This place gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can’t see a thing! Where’s Wyatt? I thought he was getting a flashlight.”