by Misty Evans
Compassion for myself, torn between two worlds, struggling to tame the evil inside me and protect humans. Struggling to be human when the only thing I would ever be was a raging demon.
But I was a demon who would fight for what I wanted. Fight for my friends. For the Council. I would fight for justice.
“Vengeance is mine,” I whispered, touching my ring fingers and thumbs together.
My magic, old as time, flashed through me, shocking my demon into submission and jolting Rad with a powerful charge that would have sent most supernaturals to their knees. But he hung on, to me and the dagger, nearly toppling us both.
Cole appeared, and with him, a group of trained Bridge soldiers. Damon to the rescue, determined to make good on his promise to Vlad since I’d fulfilled my oath and become queen of the Chicago Undead.
A resurgence of fighting began as Cole came up behind Rad and assumed the worst. Who wouldn’t when Rad was wearing that stupid Noctifector tunic and we were wrestling with a silver dagger? Believing I was about to buy it from a Noct, Cole thunked Rad hard on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Rad toppled, the blow enough to knock him out.
Surprised he hadn’t killed the Noctifector, I chuckled. “Do you ever actually shoot that gun?” I was searching for a life preserver to bring me down from the magical tug-of-war I’d just undergone and snark was a good one.
Cole kicked Rad’s ribs. “What, and waste a good bullet on Guitar Boy?”
So he’d figured it out. Figured out Rad was a Noct. I held out a hand for him to help me up and dropped the dagger on Rad’s chest. Swaying on my feet, I took in the horror around me, the piles of formalwear, their owners reduced to ashes. Bodies missing heads. Blood everywhere and screams still ringing in the room.
My compassion for Rad notwithstanding, he’d brought this massacre to the Undead, to me. He was responsible for the deaths of all these vampires, some of his own Nocts, and possibly Bridge Council soldiers.
I shook with rage, magic overload and adrenaline. “Where’s Maddy?”
Cole fended off another Noctifector, finally putting the gun to its intended use. The bullet was filled with holy water and would only wound the human male, but it did stop him in his tracks. “We’ll find her.”
Still swaying on unsteady feet, I stepped over Rad and let Cole lead me away.
Chapter Fifty
Two hours later, I sat in the Land Rover outside Carpathia House. The fighting had resolved shortly after Damon’s soldiers arrived, the Noctifector’s retreating and leaving behind a much smaller vampire population.
Vlad and Toel were missing. Maddy, too. Dru had been injured, but the gashes and cuts he’d received would heal. He stood on the front steps of his House, sword sheathed, and gave instructions to the handful of guards who had not deserted him to join Toel’s war. Rafael and Juliana stood behind him, lending their presence as support, even though they did nothing during the confrontation with Toel to make me think they cared one way or the other about Carpathia’s loyalties.
Despite Cole’s attempts to drive them away, Damon, Yasmin and Kirill had never left the property. Damon had inserted Bridge soldiers in the area as a precaution—would have been nice if he’d let me on his strategic plan, but then again, I’d refused to ride with him, so it was my own damn fault for not knowing—and had called them in when things went bad.
Two of the Noctifectors had been captured and Damon wouldn’t tell me what he planned to do with them. Neither of the Nocts was Rad, though. Either he’d regained consciousness shortly after Cole and I left him on the ballroom floor, or some of his peers had scooped him up and escaped with him.
My body, mind and magic were shot. Cole had given me his coat, sat me in the Land Rover and cranked the heat. The windows steamed up and I had to continually wipe mine off with the sleeve of the coat in order to see out. I stared at the house, seeing Rad’s face, the flash of the dagger. I switched on the radio, but all I heard were Maddy’s screams.
Cole had searched the house and grounds three times but hadn’t found her. There were endless piles of ashes inside the house, and as the hours went by, I was sure one of them belonged to her. The one ounce of hope I had was the fact no one had found a pale pink dress with weapons stored inside the tulle skirt.
Then again, most of the clothes left behind were covered in so much blood, who could recognize pink from white? Tulle from cotton? Everything was soaked crimson red.
One of the vamp guards emerged from the side of the house, joined Dru on the front steps and spoke into his ear. Dru, already tense, went rigid. He sent the group gathered around him off in various directions before jumping down the steps and heading toward me and the Land Rover.
I rolled down my window. He put a hand on the car, leaned down. “We think we’ve found Toel’s ashes. Thought you might want to see them.”
Toel was dead. I let go of a sigh. “Damn right I want to see them.”
I climbed out of the vehicle and followed Dru and the guard who’d brought the news. On the way past the house, I motioned at Damon and Cole, who joined our ranks. As they caught up to me, I told them the news. “Toel’s ashes have been found.”
Leaving the well-manicured lawn, we traipsed through undergrowth and woods to the south of the mansion. There was sort of a trail, but it was barely visible in the moonlight. After a couple of minutes of fighting our way through the trees and bushes, we came to a slight bend in the trail and a rocky outcropping. Here the sliver of moon bathed the rocks in a white glow. One of Cole’s soldiers stood guard over a pair of black pants and a white shirt, two flip-flops and a pile of ashes.
My heart, which had been clenched from the moment Dru approached the SUV, did a hard thud in my chest. Why Toel had been dusted this far from the house was beyond me, but there were those stupid flip-flops, finally silent.
I gave Carpathia’s Master an inquiring brow raise and he nodded. Together, we bent down and examined the clothes. The shirt collar was stained on the left side. The blood looked black in the moonlight.
I pointed it out to Damon. “I bit his neck.”
Nonplussed, Damon gave me a we’ll discuss this later look.
I stood. “Any way to confirm these ashes are his?”
Dru straightened. “Vampire forensics leave a lot to be desired. Vampires don’t share DNA per se. We share blood but without the blood running in his veins, we have nothing to identify him by except what he was wearing.”
I kicked a flip-flop, stared at the bloodied collar. I knew that was his blood, but there was no way to compare it to the ashes.
The skin at my temples tightened as Damon’s voice filled my head. What’s bothering you?
What wasn’t bothering me? Just being thorough.
You don’t believe these are Toel’s ashes?
I’d feel better if we have some way to prove he’s dead.
It’s been a long night. Have Cole drive you home. We’ll debrief at the Institute at twenty-one hundred.
Nine p.m. Enough time for a hot shower and a day’s worth of sleep. I’m not leaving until we find Maddy.
Long, pregnant pause. I’ll have someone call you the moment she’s found.
Dru asked his vamp guard to bag up Toel’s remains. We returned to Carpathia and Cole deposited me back in the SUV, ignoring my arguments.
“I want to look for Maddy,” I said, but I made no move to get back out of the car. The tromp through the woods in my stilettos had zapped the last of my energy.
Cole climbed into the driver’s seat. “She’s probably back at your place, raiding your closets and watching TV. Besides, Alexandru or Damon will call if they find her.”
As the countryside gave way to gas stations, fast food joints and early morning traffic, I stared unseeing out the window. Cole shot me worried glances but all his attempts at conversation fell flat in the car. I had no emotions left to hash over, no logic left to analyze what had happened. I was numb and that was the way I wanted to stay.
; “You hungry?” he asked, steering off the highway and heading toward a lit sign above a hamburger shop.
“No.” My stomach turned traitor the moment I said it, though, and growled loudly.
“We haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.” He finagled the Land Rover around the side to the drive-through. “What sounds good?”
I closed my eyes, laid my head against the cool window. “Surprise me.”
When we drove out of the lot a few minutes later, the SUV smelled like French fries. On our way to my place, we downed four bacon cheeseburgers, five large fries, two chocolate milkshakes and two fried apple pies between the two of us.
Demons have high metabolisms and that whole gluttony thing going on.
The fat and salt euphoria lifted my mood. Cole asked to crash on my couch. I sent JR home, got out clean linens for the couch and tossed them at my bodyguard. “You don’t have to stay with me, you know.”
He grabbed me by the back of my neck and drew me close, hugging me in an awkward embrace. “You did good tonight.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thanks.”
He released me. “So Guitar Boy’s a Noct?”
My shoulders tightened even though there was no accusation in his voice, no blame. Maybe a little curiosity, but nothing else.
“Yeah.” I dug a toe into the rug. “He’s one of my blood slaves too.”
“I figured.” Cole started counting off on his fingers. “He left you at the altar, he’s a Noctifector, and he needs your blood to stay upright. How many strikes does he get before he’s out?”
I shrugged and he chuckled. “Damn, you’re getting soft in your old age, Kali.”
There was only mockery in his tone, no condemnation. I wished I could be so light-hearted about it. “By rights, I know you have to inform Damon, but…”
I hesitated, not sure exactly what to ask for. More time? To do what? I’d given Rad a chance and he’d brought the Noctifectors down on Carpathia.
Cole grabbed the back of my neck again, gave me a little shake. “I’m not telling Damon a damn thing. You’ve taken it in the ass from the Council more times than I can count. If anyone deserves a free pass, it’s you.”
My shoulders relaxed. I gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”
“Go take a nap. We’ll figure out what to do with Guitar Boy tomorrow.”
Upstairs, I stripped down, showered and threw on my Hello Kitty pjs. I crawled into bed, said a prayer for Maddy and fell asleep.
A loud blaring woke me. Twilight seeped through my windows. I’d forgotten to draw the shades but had managed to sleep through the sun pouring in anyway. Rolling over and covering my eyes with the blanket, I groaned, my lids sticking together like Velcro.
The phone on my nightstand rang again and I stuck out a hand to locate it. Once found, I snatched up the receiver and drew it under the covers. “Hello?”
“I found my father’s cross.”
“Dru?”
“His cross, Kali. He never takes it off.”
Forcing myself to sit up, I glanced at the clock. Half past five. I’d slept the day away even though it didn’t feel like it. “Where did you find it?”
His answer sent chills down my spine. “Under Toel’s ashes.”
My depleted brain took a few seconds to piece the puzzle together. “Those weren’t Toel’s ashes. They were your father’s.”
Dru seemed to be on the same page, but he didn’t seem particularly upset about Vlad’s apparent demise. “He killed my father and faked his own death. But why? He’s not in line for the throne.”
“Toel wants ultimate power over vamps. You heard him at the coronation. He intends to take over the human world as well.”
A heavy, tormented sigh sounded on Dru’s end. “I’m going to need your help to stop him.”
Stop him? I was going to burn his ashes in my fireplace this winter and warm my hands by the fire. “My pleasure. I am a vengeance demon and the Bridge Council’s enforcer—” at least for now, “—after all.”
“And Vampire Queen of the Central U.S.”
“Going to hold me to that, huh?”
“Oh, yes.”
With all these jobs, Sweet Investigations was going to go straight down the tube. “I’ll be at Carpathia around midnight unless the Bridge Council has other plans for me.”
“See you then.”
We disconnected. I snuggled back down into bed and tried to sleep. My body was ready for another twelve hours but Maddy’s face kept hijacking my brain. Finally, I got up and went downstairs.
Cole was snoring like a bear on my couch, his gun lying on his chest. He’d stripped off his T-shirt and had one muscled arm thrown up over his head. His presence was comforting and that annoyed me a little. I’d had way too much company in the past few days, but I’d miss him when he left.
I snuck past his sleeping form, entered my office and saw all the security cameras were working. Everything appeared back to normal. The grounds were quiet, the parking lot was empty, the graveyard, foggy. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least on the surface, I could pretend nothing was amiss.
Remnants of JR’s presence littered the desk and floor. I cleaned up the candy wrappers and threw them away, rinsed out the soda bottles and recycled them. The recycler came on Tuesday, but I couldn’t remember what day it was. Didn’t matter. JR’s soda bottles were the only thing in the big plastic bin.
After I’d restored my office to order, I went to the shelves behind my desk and took down a brown leather journal.
I sat in my office chair, switched on the desk lamp and rocked back and forth for a minute, running my hand over the worn leather cover. I opened it to the first page, blinked back tears.
Goffredo Dulce.
Rachele Dulce.
Pippa Dulce.
The three names, written in my flowing script, were the book’s first entries. The ink had faded through the years and the paper had become crinkled and spotted from my tears. I touched the names with the pads of my fingers, tracing the letters.
Then I turned pages, reading off each name I’d entered in the book over the past two hundred and eighty some years. Names of friends, distant family members, some human, many more demon or supernatural. Most had a capital N next to their name, designating they’d died at the hands of the Noctifectors. If they didn’t have an N, it was only because I had no proof they’d been assassinated by the group. My family had M’s next to their names for Maria. I needed to scratch those out and replace them with an N.
No one close to me had died at the hands of the Noctifectors in years so the last entry was dated shortly after I’d landed in Chicago. Taking an ink pen from my pencil drawer, I poised it over the paper. I wrote M-a, then stopped. My hand shook and I brushed away the tears threatening to spill over my lashes.
I sat back, tossed the pen aside and closed the book. I couldn’t give up on her. Not yet.
Movement on one of the screens caught my eye. The sun had disappeared completely and the single lamppost spotlighted the empty parking lot. I stared at the screen, searching for what my tired eyes had picked up on. Saw nothing.
Beep, beep, beep. The security alarm blared from my computer speaker.
Someone was in the parking lot. I shot to my feet at the sight of long dark hair swept up in a messy bun and a tulle skirt flouncing haphazardly around thin legs. “Maddy!”
I yelled her name as I ran through the church, nearly giving Cole a heart attack. He jerked up from his sleeping position and waved his gun around trying to find the target. I threw open the front doors and ran out into the November evening, feet bare and still in my Hello Kitty pjs.
She was covered in dirt and grime, the ringlets around her face now stringy. The dress was torn and missing some of the embroidery. One shoe on and one missing, Maddy bobbed up and down as she walked.
But she’d never looked better.
If anyone had told me I’d hug a vampire like she was my BFF, I’d have whipped them. Overcome
with emotion, I did exactly that. “You’re alive!”
She grinned. “The Mouse always makes it out alive. She’s like a ninja. Never seen. Never heard.”
I might have been overly emotional but I still had to give her a hard time. “Is that why everyone in the three-state area heard you screaming last night at the coronation?”
She laughed, either from sheer exhaustion or my flair for standup. “Can I crash here for a couple hours? I need a shower in the worst way.”
The tang of sweat, old blood and moldy grave dirt hung in the air. “You got that right.”
I threw an arm around her shoulders, helped her limp to the church. Cole stood in the doorway, scratching his naked chest, gun hanging loose at this side. “Hey, kid.”
“Hey,” she said.
I took her upstairs, found her some sweats and let her use my bathroom to clean up. While she showered, Cole and I made eggs and waffles. Cole put his shirt back on, which was kind of a shame, but more appropriate for breakfast. I set three places at the kitchen bar and felt a homey twinge in my chest. Usually I didn’t even set a place for myself. I ate in front of the TV or standing at the kitchen sink. Looking at the three plates, silverware and napkins, I enjoyed the semblance to a family meal.
Maddy entered the kitchen, a comb in her hands and a snarl the size of a fist in her hair. She held out the comb. “Help me?”
I took the comb and my stomach twinged.
She saw the look on my face. “Kali?”
I shook my head and smiled at her. “Whenever I had a break from Court, I went home to my family. I used to brush my sister’s hair every morning.”
“What Court?” Maddy asked.
I sat her on one of the barstools and started working carefully on the knot. It came apart pretty easily and I wondered why she couldn’t have removed it herself. “A long time ago in Rome. My little sister Pippa had super fine hair and it would tangle while she slept. Poor thing. Sometimes, I feared I’d have to cut the knots out, they were so bad.”