Requiem for the Dead (15 page)

"It only takes one match to start a forest fire."

"Exactly."

Hell, this just kept getting worse and worse. "Did Vale actually expect Marcus to give him the security codes to the Dane mansion?"

Astrid shook her head. "Doubtful, but he did succeed in putting Marcus in an untenable situation. If Marcus gave in, he failed both his Pride and his family. However, by resisting, he can be painted as heartless by allowing a loved one to be physically harmed."

Loved one. I should have chosen my next question with more tact, but it slipped. "It sort of outs him to the Pride, too, doesn't it?"

"It certainly verifies years of speculation. As reckless as today's kidnapping seems, Vale will absolutely benefit. Marcus will suffer the most."

"And Vale has it in for Marcus because Marcus helped capture Prentiss?"

"Yes."

I exhaled hard. "No one in this town ever does anything half-assed, do they?"

Astrid's mouth quirked. "No, they don't. Present company included."

"Does that mean you have a plan?"

"We find Vale, and we continue to deal with the goblin threat. The newest Queen targeting you is named Nessa?"

"Yeah." I'd given her a brief overview of my goblin encounter earlier. I retold it with more details, including a fun fact that had only now sunk in. "They were toying with me on the street. I had no chance against the six of them, not without better weapons. All they had to do was attack me en masse."

"Agreed."

"I want to go out hunting tonight, no mercy, like the old days."

Astrid only hesitated a few seconds before saying, "Who do you want to take?"

"Tybalt, Paul, Kyle, and Autumn for sure," I said without hesitation. Her help last month hunting down the Lupa pups had put her on the Mostly Trust list with Kyle. "And anyone else who wants to go. We used to hunt in threes, I'm thinking pairs will be more manageable. One human, one Therian."

"All right. I'll get that into the works."

"Thank you, Astrid."

At first, I hadn't known what to make of Astrid Dane. She was a small, powerful woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, with the black hair and dark eyes of a Roman goddess and the personality of a rattlesnake. But she was incredibly smart, insanely loyal, and had a good heart when it mattered most. I could see what had drawn a teenage Tybalt to her—and what probably still drew the older versions of each to the other, even if they both seemed to actively deny it.

Before I left Ops, I got a new cell phone. One of the nice things about our financial setup was a ready supply of cheap phones, as well as the ability to transfer numbers with efficiency. Made it less of a problem when we lost or broke them.

Cell phone in hand, I reluctantly gave Reilly a call. I hadn't forgiven him for the scene in the diner,, and couldn't say for sure I still trusted the man, but we needed all of our allies on this. I did take a small measure of satisfaction in his timid greeting before filling him in on the latest drama with the Felia. He promised to keep an eye out for Vale and Starr Tuck, and to report any rumblings about the Assembly.

"I want to apologize again for this morning's ambush," he said before I could end the conversation.

I glared at the corridor tiles spread out in front of me as I walked toward the sleeping quarters. "Don't ever do that to me again, Reilly."

"I won't. As I said, they contacted me before—"

"Whatever. I don't want to talk about the Frosts."

"They aren't going anywhere, Evangeline. They've called me twice today, begging me to contact you on their behalf."

"They know their daughter is kind of alive. What more do they want?"

"A relationship."

"I'm not their kid."

"Do you plan on explaining how that's possible?"

"Not a chance."

"Then you need to talk to them. Convince them that Chalice is fine, so they can go home with a clear conscience."

"I can't lie to them."

He sighed long and loud. "They're parents. Ignoring them won't make them go away."

I hated so much that he was right. "Look, I have too much on my plate to make nice with Chalice's parents, okay? Maybe after we find Vale, prevent Therian civil war, save the vampires who are dying, and stop the latest goblin Queen who wants me dead. Maybe then I can make nice with the Frosts."

"That's some To Do list."

"Welcome to my life."

"If I hear anything useful, I'll be in touch."

"Thank you."

I hung up. Reilly was a somewhat- seful, occasionally frustrating, ally. The call also reminded me of a very important fact: I was a lot less anonymous now than I used to be. Running around the city in daylight would be a new challenge. Good thing the sun was setting in a couple of hours.

I had some goblin hunting to do.

7:20 p.m.

After a long shower and a change of clothes, I went down to the infirmary and was immediately denied visitation rights with Milo.

"He needs rest, not visitors," Dr. Reid Vansis said. He was an intimidating doctor, not because of his physical appearance—which was actually kind of bland, almost meek—but because of his gruff manner and the fact that he shifted into an enormous grizzly bear. We were alone in the infirmary's outer office, and I wasn't getting any farther.

"But he's okay?" I asked.

"The boy has serious contusions on his back and ribs, and some deep bone bruising on both legs. He's being kept sedated for now, while I try to reduce the swelling. He'll be in a great deal of pain when he wakes up."

"Nothing's broken?"

"No, no broken bones, but he's still looking at a minimum of several weeks before he's fully mobile again."

"Because of his legs."

"Correct. Now if you'll excuse me?"

He didn't have to ask twice. Milo's condition could have been much worse, but he was still in bad shape, and I hated that. Hated seeing any of my friends suffer, like so many were suffering over Baylor's death. My chest seized, and more tears threatened to show themselves. I tamped down on the unwanted emotion as I sought out the one person I really wanted to talk to about all of this.

I found him at the other end of the Watchtower, past the gym, in the old department store we were renovating into a training obstacle course. A frozen escalator took up space directly ahead—one of the few internal structures that hadn't been torn down yet—and Wyatt was sitting on the bottom step. He didn't say anything when I sat next to him. He simply turned and folded me into his arms. I pressed my cheek against his shoulder and slipped my arms around his waist, absorbing his warmth, breathing in his scent. Enjoying the beat of his heart so close to mine.

We didn't say anything for a while; there was no need.

"I'm sorry we lost the vampires' cure," he said.

"So am I." I'd been so excited to present Horzt's gift to Eulan, and now it was missing, along with the ancient elf scroll. Five minutes in my possession, and I lost a Fey artifact. That had to be some kind of record. "Reilly says the Frosts are still up his butt about talking to me."

Wyatt snickered. "Serves him right."

"Yeah. Astrid's putting together some hunting teams for tonight."

"Goblins?"

"Yes, among other things."

He pulled back enough that he could look me in the eye. "Don't make this personal, Evy."

"How can I not, when Nessa's making it personal? We need to get out there and fight back before more innocent people are mutilated and murdered."

"You're right, but we need to be smart about it."

"I know, and we will. That's why you'll be with me, so I don't do something impulsively stupid."

Wyatt smiled. I loved seeing him smile, because he did it so rarely, and he was so handsome when he did. I kissed him, just a gentle press of lips. Should have known better, because he angled his head to deepen the kiss. My tongue flicked out to meet his in a quiet, intense dance that filled my mouth with the flavor of him. It had been less than twenty-four hours since our lockup in the bank vault, but it could have been months for how my body responded to his touch.

His cell phone rang, and I laughed as we pulled apart. "Your phone hates me," I said.

"Hates me, too," he said with a huff. Wyatt held up the offending object. Unknown Number. He answered it anyway. "Truman."

A voice squawked over the other end, and Wyatt's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Yes, this is Wyatt Truman. Who is this?" He mouthed the word Lupa at me.

Well, I'll be damned. The pups called.

"Hello, Peter." He listened, and I really wished he'd put the phone on speaker. "All right, I can be there in thirty minutes. I'll have one person with me, and that's not negotiable. I trust her with my life."

Road trip.

"The same goes for you boys. I'm coming in good faith, so no tricks." After he hung up, he didn't wait for me to ask. "They want to meet at Sunset Terrace."

That made sense, since Sunset Terrace is where we'd first seen the Lupa pups and where Wyatt had been infected. It was also once an apartment complex that housed the Coni and Stri Clans, before the whole thing was razed by the Triads and the Clan murdered to near-extinction. So many bad memories there.

"And I'm going with you, right?" I asked.

"Of course."

"Are we telling Astrid first?"

"Maybe after we're on the road…."

Snagging a Jeep and getting on our way took less than five minutes, and it was twilight by the time we parked next to the vacant lot that had been Sunset Terrace. Unlike yesterday, we weren't alone as we walked toward the center of the cement and asphalt lake that took up the entire block.

Three teenage boys with identical red hair stood in a cluster in almost the same spot where I'd confronted one of their brothers five weeks ago. A surge of hatred for these boys hit me with gut-wrenching force. They'd nearly killed Wyatt, and they'd willingly worked for my greatest enemy. But on the heels of that hatred was a cold splash of pity. They'd been raised by a madman and taught to do wrong. I couldn't heap all of the blame for their actions upon their own shoulders. The Fey had given the Lupa pups to Thackery, and he'd manipulated them. Thackery had made them into monsters.

The tallest of the three broke away and came a few steps forward. His clothes were filthy, his eyes sunken. He looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in a month—which was very likely, since the boys had been fending for themselves for a while. I doubted Thackery had taken the time to teach them basic life skills, like getting a job and managing money. They were relying on instinct, and instinct had pushed them to contact an older, more experienced Lupa.

"Peter?" Wyatt asked.

"Yes," Peter replied in the squeaky voice of someone who hadn't quite finished puberty.

"I'm Wyatt. This is Evy."

"I know."

"Are any of you sick or injured?"

"Not really." His wide, silver eyes shifted from me to him. "Do you have any food?"

"Not with me," Wyatt said gently, "but we can get some. When was the last time you ate?"

"A while. We eat what we can find."

Like mustard packets.
My God
. Despite my better sense, I started feeling sorry for them.

"And you live in the apartment on Cottage Place?"

Peter shrugged a bony shoulder. "Sometimes." He looked over at his brothers, who hadn't stopped surveying the lot. They were a twitchy bunch.

"What do you want besides food?" Wyatt asked.

"Help." He seemed one sharp word from bursting into tears. "I'm the oldest now. I have to protect them but I can't by myself. Because of our father… humans fear us." He gave me a nasty glare. "They want us dead."

"I don't want you dead," I said, and I meant it. "I want to know you won't bite and infect anyone else."

Peter gave Wyatt a guilty look. "We didn't know that would happen. Father told us after, and it was too late."

"I believe you," Wyatt said. "Have you or your brothers infected anyone else besides me?"

The Lupa pup shook his head so hard I thought it would snap off his skinny neck. "No, never. We've been very careful."

"Good, that's important. None of you have attacked humans, but you did participate in the kidnapping and detention of other Therians. That's a serious crime."

Peter hunched his shoulders. "Are you going to kill us?"

"Of course not. And I won't allow the Assembly of Clan Elders to kill you, either."

Oh, Wyatt, I don't know if you can keep that promise.

These boys had been complicit in so many crimes, and they'd kept Aurora and Ava captive in silver cages. The Assembly had barely granted Wyatt leniency, and that was because of his value to the Watchtower, half-Lupa or not. The three teenagers in front of me were an endangered species, sure, but the Clans had ordered them murdered once before.

Centuries ago, maybe, but did fear like that ever really die?

Wyatt must have seen something in my expression, because his own face went utterly blank—not good. "Evy, I need to ask you for a favor," he said.

"No good conversation ever started like that, Wyatt."

"I want to talk to them alone for a while, and I don't want to put you in an awkward position with Astrid."

I opened my mouth to argue, but his expression stopped me. He could be as stubborn about things as me, and he wasn't going to budge. Letting him have his way (this time) was a better move. "Fine."

"There's a coffee shop two blocks from here. I'll drop you off—"

"I can walk." The exercise would help burn off some of my temper.

"Thank you. I'll call you in an hour."

"Okay. Just be careful? Please?"

"I promise."

#

My trek to Carter Street Bakery only took a few minutes. It burned up some of my concern over leaving Wyatt behind. The pups were scared and starving, but I didn't trust them one bit. I did trust Wyatt, though—to know what he was doing, to talk to them in a way that got them on our side, and to be careful when I wasn't there to watch his back. Mostly I hated being out of the loop.

I bought a cup of coffee and a Panini sandwich to try and alleviate some of my persistent hunger, then settled at a sidewalk table to wait. Halfway through my sandwich, Tybalt called with an update.