Guardian Demon (GUARDIAN SERIES) (31 page)

“And perhaps it was also time to tell the victims exactly why they were going to die.” Taylor looked at the photos again. “They got measurements on the bruising?”

“Size indicates male, or a larger woman. Same length and finger patterns on all of them, especially on the arms—which is where I figure he took hold of them. The investigators assumed there were drugs involved due to the amount of damage in the strangulations.”

Because it indicated an abnormal amount of strength. “Two methods of killing them, but not two different vampires.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Joe said. “That first one is messy. The ME says he was squeezing, then let go. Then finished it off. Hard, too. Crushed the heck out of his throat.”

Probably his first kill, then. Either he hadn’t known when to stop or he’d begun doubting himself in the middle of it. “It’s hard to strangle someone, especially from the front like that. You’re straddling their chest, looking right at them, seeing them fight, seeing them die. They’re choking and convulsing under your hands, you can feel the trachea crushing, feel them struggling to breathe. And it takes a little while before they are done. But breaking a neck? Snap. It’s all over. So he graduated to that after three of them. Because it wasn’t personal. He wanted it to be. But then he had to make himself think of it as a job.”

Joe nodded. “That fits with the vigilante.”

Full of righteous anger, he would make them pay. But when the act of taking someone’s life—even someone who’d committed the crimes these victims were rumored to have done—ended up being more difficult than he expected, he’d taken a step back.

“So he got better at it, but . . . I expected more staging as he went along, too. We knew Brandt was different, because it was so much messier. We thought that might be for impact on the video, but there’s nothing in these that’s remotely similar. This one is in bed, this one’s on the floor of a living room, this one’s on a sofa. This one’s in a hotel. They’re all private locations, but that makes sense if he’s got an hour wait between feeding and killing. He’s not going to do that in a parking lot. But even those first ones, he’s not putting them on display. He’s not setting them up in a chair, he’s not saying to the world, ‘Look, someone finally gave these fuckers what’s coming to them.’ He’s just killing them, then leaving them like that.”

“Maybe that’s the statement,” Joe said. “Leaving them like garbage.”

“Yeah, maybe. Still.” She shook her head. “And maybe it’s because a demon was a more hands-on director with Brandt. But I can’t just make that assumption without something else to link them. Any idea how he selected them? The first is a small town in Alabama, that one in Montpelier, down to West Virginia . . . he’s all over the place.”

“We were thinking that it had to be online. And we don’t think he flew there. Savi ran the flights for the time periods and airports within five hundred miles. Nothing popped up.”

“Now
that
is similar to Brandt. We still don’t know if a demon provided the wings or if they had a vehicle.” She swirled wine in her glass, thinking. “And maybe there’s no obvious connection because he wasn’t looking them up himself. Maybe a cadre of sentinels was pointing him toward the targets. But there’s nothing solid there. What about their scent? Michael, you identified those ashes by his smell. If we open up these coffins, could you do it again? Maybe you could still smell the vampire on them.”

Michael shook his head. “After examinations and embalming, not much odor is left. I can try. But don’t expect anything more solid to come from that.”

“Damn it.”

“Andy,” Joe said. And he didn’t need to say more.

“I know.” She pushed her hands into her hair, fought her frustration. “I’m reaching. I’m so desperate for this to be what leads us to those fucking demons.”

“And maybe it will. Drifter’s coming over later, and I’ll sit down with him, and we’ll give everything another look while keeping those sentinels in mind,” Joe said. “And tomorrow, I’ll start visiting families again. We have a picture of the vampire who killed Brandt. I’ll ask if they’ve seen him.”

That would be something. “And no link between the families, either?”

“Nothing that plays out. A sister to one and a father to another who went to the same college twenty years apart, that kind of thing. The only thing the families have in common is that they’re all pissed that the cops haven’t arrested anyone.”

Taylor sighed. That was always how it went. The detectives weren’t doing enough, they weren’t looking hard enough, they didn’t care enough. “That’s another difference for Brandt, too. He doesn’t have any family left to be pissed.” So the Guardians were all he had. “What have you been telling the families when you show up? Do they know about the other murders?”

“Not how many there are. But I tell them that there are similarities to another murder in another state and I’m just ruling out possibilities.”

In another state, because there wouldn’t be reason for a federal investigator to be looking, otherwise. “Are you going to use your badge tomorrow?”

“I am.” Joe smiled a bit. “I won’t tell them that it’s not worth shit anymore if you don’t.”

“Language, Joe,” her mother said from the stove.

“Sorry, Carolyn.” He looked at Taylor, who was wincing over the number of
fuck
s she’d said since sitting down. “She’s helping me clean up. You were a bad influence, kid.”

Taylor laughed, scrubbed her hands over her face. “God. Okay. So you’ll probably get away with the interviews tomorrow, especially since you’ve talked to them before. But we’ll have to work out a deal with Bradford soon for those times when we need a little authority. Or just go full-on lying and impersonation whenever we have to work a case.”

Joe’s smile stiffened, and his eyes got that focused look that he had when something was about to play out, and he was worried about the direction it would go. “So does that mean you’re staying?”

Of course he’d heard that she’d talked about Falling. She stole a glance at Michael, but his face didn’t give anything away. Just quiet, watchful.

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted quietly. “I’m still working things out.”

“I think you’d be a fool to give up being a Guardian.”

Her heart squeezed in. “I know. But you’ve always felt differently about it than I have.”

His jaw clenched and his eyes hardened. Angry. With her? Taylor’s stomach tied into a sick knot. She’d expected him to be disappointed. But mad?

She didn’t have time to ask. Her mom appeared at the table, turned her back to Joe so that he could untie her apron.

“Looks like we’re all ready, then? I’ve got the plates filled.”

Taylor took a last look at the photos, the files, and nodded. “Yeah. Joe and Drifter will pick it up later.”

“Then clear the table, Joe.”

Automatically, Taylor scooted back and rose to bring the food from the stove. Michael looked to Joe.

“May I?”

“Be my guest,” he said, and when the files and photos vanished into Michael’s hammerspace, Joe grinned and shook his head. “Now, that’s handy.”

It was. And the tight knot in her stomach wasn’t going away. Joe wouldn’t quite meet her eyes when she set his plate in front of him.

“That one is mine, Andy.”

Her mother stopped her when Taylor set a plate in her own spot. Taylor frowned, glanced down. A twist of noodles, a little sauce, a bit of salad. Barely enough for a rabbit, but more than a Guardian needed. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. I’ve got two more pounds to go.”

For a wedding dress? Okay. Taylor switched plates. Her own was a big pile, no salad. Her mom must have decided to live vicariously through her, because Taylor hadn’t eaten anything near this amount in years. Maybe ever.

“I think you look perfect as you are, Carolyn. You sure aren’t getting anything half as pretty in return.”

Her mother shushed him. “You’re not going to be the only one stuck with me for a while. I’ve got to be happy with how I look, too.”

Maybe it was enough food to satiate even Michael. Taylor glanced at him, gestured to the plate, and raised her brows. Smiling, he shook his head. Taylor sighed. Okay. Either it was going to waste, or about three-fourths of it was going to end up in her hammerspace. She could save it for later, give the food to someone who actually needed it.

Taylor picked up her fork. “So have you set a date?”

“Nothing official,” her mother said. “There are still a few arrangements to make. Some papers that still need to be taken care of, and it’ll be easier to handle them all now rather than trying to squeeze in the time afterward.”

“And I still have a few updates to the house,” Joe said. “Making everything more secure for during the days.”

Because Jason would be there now. So they
were
moving. How long had they been planning this? Hopefully not for two and a half years, waiting for Taylor to wake up. “Has this been brewing a while, then? Or just all of a sudden?”

“A little bit of both.” Her mother shared a smile with Joe over her water glass. “Though every time I see another wrinkle in the mirror, I wish we’d done this twenty years ago.”

Twenty years ago? Her dad had still been alive then. And if her mom was saying that she and Joe had begun carrying on way back then, Taylor would never believe it. Her parents had been so in love—

Oh, God. Her fork dropped from nerveless fingers, clattered to the plate. “I thought you were getting married. But you’re talking about becoming
vampires
?”

“Both, actually. We thought of having a wedding, a honeymoon on a sunny island, then the transformation.” Her mother frowned, glanced at Joe. “I thought you knew.”

“I figured out part of it. But the part where you’re sucking each other’s blood? No.” Taylor laughed, shook her head. “Oh, my God. What about Jason?”

Lips suddenly tight, her mother asked, “What about him?”

“You won’t be awake during the day.”

“And I’ve considered that. We already have a nurse here when I’m working. And Joe’s house is on the same block as Mary Gallagher. She’s been living with Jack and Annie and watching over Cricket during the day while they sleep, but Cricket’s about ready to graduate and head back east for school, and Mary says she’s worried that she’ll be feeling useless. So she’ll fill in during those hours we can’t.”

Of course her mom had considered that, made arrangements. And now Taylor had pissed her off, too. “I’m sorry. It’s just—a surprise. And it’s a good community. Colin and Savi are . . .”
Being tortured by demons.
“They’ll be back, and everything will be great. But have you thought about the video of Brandt? Last I saw, it’s playing over all the stations, the news sites. Vampires might be exposed. And if they are, you might be in danger.”

“Vampires are always going to be in danger,” Joe said. “From demons, from nosferatu. Maybe humans, too. But that’s what Guardians are for, isn’t it?”

Taylor’s throat closed. She nodded, looked down at her plate. “You’re right. I know. And I’m glad for you guys. I’m just— Wow. Making the mental adjustment. I think it will take a few minutes to sink in.”

Her mother’s expression lightened. “You are ahead of me, then. It took me six months before I decided, ‘I can do this.’”

And Taylor had had thirty seconds. With bullets in her chest and Joe begging her to accept the transformation. Thirty seconds to decide whether to live forever as a Guardian or to die.

But she’d thought there was still a choice left. That maybe “forever” would be “a few weeks” if she decided to Fall. How could she make that choice now, though?

Under the table, a strong hand slipped over her knee, gently squeezed. She met Michael’s warm gaze. She wanted to lay her hand over his. Wanted to let him make this sick knot in her chest go away.

I am yours, Andromeda.

But she shouldn’t want him. She pushed her chair back. “Excuse me. I’m sorry. I just need a little air.”

*   *   *

Michael didn’t come out, as she expected. Joe did, sliding the balcony door closed behind him. He rolled his sleeves back over his forearms, joined her in leaning elbows on the rail and staring at the brick wall of the next building over. The sun was low, shadows already filling the alley below.

He glanced at her cigarette—still unlit, so that her mom wouldn’t smell it. But she’d needed something to do with her hands, or she’d probably have ended up picking the blooms off all of her mother’s potted begonias. She could have used one of her dad’s little ropes now. Instead, the knots were in her stomach, her throat.

Joe sighed. “Michael told her you’re upset about Colin and Savi.”

“I know.” The advantages of superhearing. She’d already thanked him for covering for her. “And I am.”

“Dammit, Andy. That’s not why you’re out here.”

And there was his anger again. God, this hurt in her chest wouldn’t go away. “So tell me why I’m out here.”

“Feeling sorry for yourself. Because you’ve got someone else to think of now when you’re making your decision to Fall. Because she won’t go through with becoming a vampire, Andy. You didn’t see how hard it was for her to decide, just knowing that she wouldn’t grow older as Jason did—but him going first was something she’d accepted might happen a long time ago. Now she might have to watch you die, too? You know she won’t.” His jaw clenched, and he exhaled heavily through his nose. “And I never took you for a quitter.”

The brick wall was nothing but a blur now. “Because I’m not.”

“Yeah? It got tough, and you’re taking off.”

“It got tough?” A hoarse laugh broke from her. “It
got
tough? When has it not been? When my dad was killed? When Jason had his accident? When Mom and I were digging quarters out of the couch cushions so I could bus it to the job? I never bailed. I
never
fucking walked away. And I’m not walking away now, either. I’m here if she needs me. But if you’re talking about being a Guardian, that’s not quitting. That’s me looking at what I got and saying that I deserve better. I deserve better than having my brain raped. I deserve better than expecting people to watch my back and then getting a spear stabbed through my chest. And I never expected you to be here now, doing the same fucking thing by laying my mom’s life on me. I sure as hell don’t deserve it from—” God, she couldn’t do this. Couldn’t even breathe. “I don’t deserve it from you. Of all people, Joe. You. I took bullets for you, and you tell me I’m a quitter.”