Dirty Magic (39 page)

I shrugged. “Because he wanted us to miss it. He put in extra quicksilver to help disguise it, probably.” I moved a few bottles around looking for what I needed.

“Green vitriol is over there.” He sounded weary. “Might be a good idea to add some extra sulfur, too, just to balance it out.”

I looked up and over at the cabinet he pointed toward. This one had locked doors. Not surprising. High-quality green vitriol was expensive and difficult to lay hands on since the government regulated its sale. “The key?”

He removed it from his pocket and tossed it over. “There’s not much.”

“I only need a little. Enough for a cure for Danny.” I pulled down the small vial filled with green crystals. I poured a quarter gram into an unglazed earthenware container.

“Kate?”

I ignored him. So far I’d been doing a fairly decent job of convincing myself not to freak out about Abe’s involvement. Keeping my hands busy helped, and so did just plain old denial. But fear was curling around the edges of the wall I’d erected, like poisonous smoke. As much as I tried to convince myself that I could just get the cure for Danny and then go on with my life, the truth was I was now tangled up in Uncle Abe’s web as sure as Volos was.

John got tired of waiting for me to respond. “I’m sorry.”

I shoved the green vitriol into the furnace. The heat from the flames was intense and made my skin burn. I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard him. I didn’t want his apology. I didn’t want our shared predicament to forge any sort of intimacy. “Forget about it,” I said finally. I turned before I continued, “I’m just here to help Danny. Don’t expect me to help you fight him, John. I can’t afford to get involved any more than I am.”

He watched me for a moment. My gaze skittered from the disappointment in his eyes. Finally, he nodded curtly. “You think that’s going to work?”

“I sure as hell hope so,” I said. “Otherwise we’ll be screwed.”

A laugh echoed through the lab. Low, mean, and very unexpected. We both swung around to see Ramses Bane himself standing by the doorway. “Oh, I’d say you’re both a little more than screwed.”

M
y gun was in my hand before Bane finished his sentence. “Stay where you are.”

Those doll eyes were dancing with humor and his lips were twisted into a sick pretender of a smile. “Does that mean I’m not invited to your little magic party?” His tongue darted out to lick his pale lips, like a predator tasting blood on the air. “Put down the gun, please.” He had one of his own pointed at us.

It was the first time I’d seen him since he’d forced my brother to use a potion that almost killed him. Maybe still would. Hatred boiled up in my stomach, and my fingers itched to scratch his eyes out. But I couldn’t let him see how angry I was because he’d use it to his advantage. No, I had to play it nice and cool, even if I felt anything but. “My team is already on their way here, Bane.”

While I spoke, I slid the vial of antipotion up my left shirtsleeve. If Bane got ahold of it, we’d have to create a new batch from scratch, which would delay my ability to get it to Danny. Although, honestly, hiding it was a mere formality. I’d tear Bane apart with my bare hands if he tried to take it.

“Don’t be silly. Your team isn’t coming for you at all.”

“Yes, they are,” I said. “You’ve got maybe two minutes.”

He laughed too confidently. “Nope.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because I’ve been watching you, Katherine.” At my curse, he chuckled. “That dreadful car of yours isn’t exactly difficult to spot.”

John’s hand came up to grab my arm in warning. “What do you want, Bane?” he demanded.

Bane threw back his bald head and laughed. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.” He glanced toward the end of the aisle. “Michael, come help your friend get more comfortable.”

From the shadows behind the coven leader, Officer Michael Hanson entered the room with a gun raised high. “Drop the weapon, Prospero.”

Rage threatened to boil out of every pore in my body. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m more comfortable with the gun,” I quipped, but the tremor in my voice gave me away.

Bane’s lips quirked at my bravado. Hanson made quick work of divesting me of the Glock and the S&P spray from the pocket of my jacket. He didn’t take the amulet tucked into my bra, though. Or the salt flare at my ankle. Rookie fucking mistake.

But there was no way for me to activate the amulet with Bane watching me like a hawk staring down some juicy carrion, and they were both positioned to put a bullet through my brain before I got anywhere near my ankle.

A smile spread over his cherry Kool-Aid lips. Now that Hanson had his own weapon and mine pointed at us, Bane put his weapon in his waistband and removed something from his jacket pocket. He held it up for us to see that it was a vial. He popped open the top of the ampoule and brought the potion to his nose for a sniff. “Mmmm,” he murmured. “This is something new I cooked up. A youth potion.” He glanced at me and winked. “None of us are getting any younger, are we?”

With deliberate movements, he darted the tip of his tongue out for a taste. “Coppery.” He closed his eyes and tasted again. “Sweet. That’s the goji berry, I think. Oh, and there’s the turmeric and chili.” He opened his eyes and licked his lips. “Spicy.”

He tipped back the vial and drank the rest of the potion. His eyes rolled back and his whole body shuddered.

An unsettling giggle escaped him. “My tongue is numb.” He leaned forward and whispered, “It’s the cocaine. I add it for energy.” He placed a pale finger in front of his lips, as if it was our little secret.

“You’re a lunatic.” Volos’s tone was calm but had a cadence that was engineered to make the listener feel like an idiot.

“Careful, boy. I’ve skinned men for less insult.” Bane sniffed. “Tell me honestly, Kate. How is dear Danny doing?”

I saw red. Hot, bloody red. If I’d been able to burn him alive with my eyes, I would have charred him to the bone. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Not if I kill you first,” he sing-songed.

“How do you think you’re going to pull that off?” John asked. “The minute they find our bodies they’ll know it was you.”

“That’s right,” I said quickly. “You think the cops circled the wagons after you hurt Danny? Wait until you see what they do after you murder a cop.”

Bane snorted. “Methinks the city will be more torn up to lose the mayor’s new toy. Tell me, John, is it true Owens is a power bottom?”

I glanced up and saw John’s face had hardened into a bored expression, but his eyes glowed with heat.

“All right,” Bane continued, “I can respect that you don’t want to kiss ass and tell. Regardless, you’re more valuable than Prospero to this town.”

A scornful laugh escaped Volos. “And you’re nothing more than a tunnel rat. You’ll die in the gutter where you belong.”

“Careful,” Hanson warned, stepping forward. “You might be good at magic, but you’re not immune to lead poisoning.”

“Back off, you fucking traitor!” I yelled.

His gun swiveled in my direction. He didn’t look angry or as if he anticipated making me bleed. Instead, he almost appeared resigned.

Bane clicked his tongue. “Oh, Katherine. Why the harsh language? Poor Michael here is as much a pawn in this game as you, I’m afraid.”

“What?” I demanded.

“Go ahead,” Bane said with an indulgent smile. “Tell her.”

Hanson’s jaw tightened. “He got some … pictures that he’s going to send to Eldritch if I don’t help him.”

I tilted my head. “What kind of pictures?”

Bane giggled. “Poor Michael has a taste for magical pussy, don’t you, Mikey? It was a simple matter of having my dear cousin take a few snapshots during his last visit to her temple.”

His cousin was Aphrodite Johnson, the leader of the sex magic coven—the Os. Last I’d heard Bane and Aphrodite had been on the outs over some sort of debt she owed him. Probably he had used that to convince her to help him with Hanson, too.

“You asshole,” I said. “Why not just kill him?” I stabbed a finger in Bane’s direction.

Hanson’s face morphed into an offended mask. “I’m not a murderer, Prospero.”

My mouth fell open. “What the fuck do you think he’s planning to do to us?”

“Oh, I’m not going to kill you.” Bane paused and let that sink in. Let that spark of hope grab a little oxygen and flare before he stomped it out. “John is.”

Something cold exploded in my heart. It felt a lot like fear. My brain scrambled, looking for angles and escape routes.

“Why would I do that?” Volos sounded a lot less freaked-out than I felt. But then he moved a fraction closer. I wasn’t sure whether the move was designed to reassure me—or him.

Bane shrugged. “Because once I dose you with Gray Wolf you won’t be able to stop yourself from tasting her tender flesh.”

All the blood drained from my face. Even the marrow in my bones felt cold.

“Oh no,” Bane said with a giggle. “You both look so upset. Does this mean you’re fucking again?”

Over the years, I’d had perps say all sorts of things to try to distract and unsettle me. Bane had just misfired by a long shot. I shook off the specter of John’s getting potioned and focused on getting us both out of there before it could happen. “Yeah. We’re fucking.” My tone was flat and dry as an Arizona highway. “You figured us out.”

Volos cleared his throat. “Might I suggest we come to some sort of compromise?”

Bane and I both looked at him. John’s posture was casual and his tone was formal, but the steel in his eyes made him look every inch a man capable of wreaking revenge of biblical proportions. If I hadn’t wanted to kill Bane so much myself, I would have felt bad for him.

“No compromises,” Bane said.

Bane raised his gun as casually as a man checking the time. With dawning horror, I watched him squeeze the trigger. An instant later, the bullet punched a large, red hole in the center of Michael Hanson’s chest.

The cop’s eyes widened in surprise. The betrayal had only just begun to register on his face when blood seeped from his lips. And then, just as quickly, the light dimmed in his traitor’s eyes. His body collapsed into the steel worktable. Glass beakers shattered across the floor along with his blood.

Regardless of whether Hanson was coerced or aiding Bane willingly, watching a fellow cop get murdered so easily, so coldly by that psychopath made my blood run icy-hot. Suddenly it felt a lot less as if we’d make it out of there alive.

“Now, where were we?” Bane asked, his tone bored. “Oh yes. I was going to start the game.” He moved, as if to get the Gray Wolf from a pocket.

“Why did Abe get involved in this?” John asked quickly, desperately.

Bane looked up with a slow smile. “Simple: He wanted revenge.”

“Why?” We needed to keep him talking. I shifted ever so slowly toward my right, hoping maybe I could reach some sort of makeshift weapon from the supplies.

“If he hadn’t testified against Abe, then none of this would have happened.” Bane pointed the gun at Volos. “You should have kept your fucking mouth shut.”

My eyes jerked toward John. He looked resigned. “So trying to frame John was Abe’s idea?” I asked.

“No! I went to him once this asshole announced plans to take over my turf.” Bane was panting with anger now. “Abe made the potion, sure, but it was my idea. I was finally going to earn the markers to take over the Cauldron. Just had to take Volos out of the picture.”

“How did Danny figure into this?” I asked, my voice hard and low.

“Payback for arresting Hieronymus and blackmailing him into betraying his daddy.” Bane shrugged. “Plus I needed to get you out of the game. Figured the kid would either kill you or you’d just walk away. But as usual you were too stubborn to know what was good for you.”

“Jesus, Bane.” I pushed aside the baiting words as it all clicked together. Bane had failed to take out Volos. He’d failed to hold onto his turf in the Cauldron. And he’d gone after Danny—Abe’s own blood—to try to fix his fuckups. “Do you have any idea what Abe’s going to do to you once he finds out you screwed up everything? You won’t survive a day in Crowley.”

I hated Bane more than anyone, but the threat of Abraxas’s vengeance was enough to make me pity him. Failure not only wasn’t an option—it was a crime punishable by extreme pain and a slow death.

“I won’t be going to Crowley.” He sounded so sure of himself. And that’s when it hit me: Bane was screwed only if this last-ditch effort didn’t work. Abe might be pissed the original plan failed, but if Bane could pull off a scheme to make Volos hit the evening news as a werewolf cop-killer, well, even Abe couldn’t stay mad too long. Especially if the cameras just happened to catch the BPD shooting Volos dead. “Abe won’t be able to stay mad at me. Especially when he finds I took out Volos and his traitor niece.”

I frowned. “Abe gave me his blessing when I left.”

“He figured you’d come running back for help, but then you had to go and become a fucking cop.” He shook his head, as if he was cursing his dumb luck. “When I found out that asshole MEA snitch attacked you, I tried to clear you so you’d stay away from the case. But then you had to go and get yourself assigned to the task force. Always sticking your nose where it’s not wanted. And you!” Bane stared at Volos with wild eyes. “The Sangs should have ruled the Cauldron after Abraxas went to prison. Instead, you decided to get in bed with the government and steal our corners and tunnels from us.” He pulled a second gun out of his rear waistband with his left hand.