Sneering at me, Hugo retreated a few steps back toward the doors, nodding at Albert as the other vampire went by.
When they had moved, Dashiell leaned forward to place three photographs in front of me. The heads were bloodless and bloated, but I knew without being told that they were the victims from La Brea Park. “Joanna,” he said, tapping the photo of the woman. Next was the young man with the punk haircut. “Demetri. And Abraham,” he finished, pointing to the photo of the black man, whose face was ashen with blood loss. “Demetri and Joanna were a useless couple, lazy hangers-on who required your services on at least one occasion. But Abraham,” he continued, picking up the last photo, “he was integral to my financial structure. Losing him is a blow to my business.”
I groped for something to say, and finally just blurted, “I didn’t kill them.”
“No, you’re not nearly strong enough. But you certainly helped.”
“I didn’t,” I said, working to keep my voice calm.
“Then who did? Abraham wouldn’t have gone without a fight, and you’re the only null within three thousand miles. Do you have an alibi for earlier that evening?”
I bit my lip. I had been with Eli, but there was no point in telling Dashiell; he would either think I was lying or assume that the wolves were somehow connected to the murders. In Los Angeles the different factions of the Old World lived in relative peace with each other, but it was an uneasy peace built on top of centuries of fighting. As small as my own place was in the grand scheme of things, I understood what would happen if war broke out in LA.
People would die.
“No. I was home, alone.”
“And if I asked Molly, would she say the same thing?” Dashiell shot back.
Oops. Backfire. I didn’t know how to respond, so I stayed silent.
Dashiell continued. “Tell me why I should believe you, Scarlett. Tell me why another null would come all the way to Los Angeles, without alerting any of my vampires or the wolves, just to kill three of my people in a public park? It seems far more likely that you were simply paid to be there. Another one of your ‘freelance jobs.’”
I leaned forward, too. “Dashiell, with respect, that doesn’t make sense, either. Why would I bite the hand that feeds me? If this Abraham—who I’ve never heard of, by the way—is important to your finances, and your finances pay my bills, why would I help kill him? And if I had helped kill these three, why on earth would I agree to help a police officer investigate their deaths? Why would I still be in this hemisphere?”
“To turn suspicion from yourself.”
I leaned back again. All of a sudden, the fear that had been growing since the vampires cuffed Eli just...evaporated. All I felt was tired. “Look, Dashiell, you are scary. The power that you have, vampire or not, is scary to me. If I had crossed you in some way, I would have gotten the hell out of town.”
He looked at me for a long minute, considering. The minute turned into two and then three, and I had to work hard not to squirm under his stare. “Hugo,” he said finally, without taking his eyes off me, “leave us.”
“Boss, you can’t be serious—” Hugo started from the back of the room, but Dashiell silenced him with a glance.
The mountainous vampire spun and retreated from the room, and Dashiell turned back to me.
“Ultimately,” he said slowly, “I do not care whether or not it was you. I just need a responsible party. Do you understand?”
Dashiell takes care of his own. I knew what that meant now. Dashiell didn’t need the right culprit, he just needed to be able to publicly punish—kill—someone to keep the other vampires happy. And I was the obvious choice. I nodded.
“Good. So let’s say for a moment that I am willing to consider the possibility that you weren’t involved. I will give you until Friday at dawn to bring me the other null, if there really is one, and the person who did the killing. If you don’t know by then, I will assume it was you. If you run, if you so much as leave LA County, I will assume it was you.”
“You can’t possibly expect—” I protested, but he cut me off.
“Of course I can. Dawn is at six thirty-six. I’ll expect you here by six, with whoever is responsible.”
I thought about that for a moment and chose my words carefully. “If I can’t find this person...You’re asking me to show up for my own death. Why would I do that?”
“Because you and I both know that you still have people you can lose. Both here and in Esperanza. You don’t want anyone else to have to die for you, isn’t that right?”
I felt my face turn white. He knew about my brother. How was that possible? I’d been so careful...But it wasn’t the moment to figure that out. He had me, and we both knew it. I would be there at dawn, one way or the other.
He saw understanding on my face and made a dismissive motion with his hand. “Go, then. Bring me the killers, or just come yourself. It doesn’t matter much to me either way.”
My back was straight as I walked out of Dashiell’s, but it was an effort. I went to the end of the long driveway, pulled my cell phone out of my jeans pocket, and called for a cab. I was desperate to get back to Van Nuys and get that silver away from Eli, but I’d still turned down Dashiell’s offer to have Hugo drive me home. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the giant vampire, especially after I’d hit him. I also owed Cruz a call, but my hands started shaking, and I finally just shoved the phone back in my pocket. Tears were blurring my vision. I crouched down to the ground and threw up everything in my stomach. I heaved and heaved until I was empty of everything. Good thing my hair was up.