That gave him just over a week. Bones finished his whiskey. No time to dawdle, then.
“You’ll give me full run of the city,” he said, setting his glass down. “And you’ll stay out of my way unless directed. Do we have an accord?”
Jelani gave him a thin smile. “We do.”
2
The townhouse smelled of death, blood, urine, and random police officers, in that order. Bones grunted as he knelt next to one of the reddish-brown stains on the floor.
“With the stench from all the different coppers in here, I’m amazed you could even decipher the LaLauries’ scent.”
Jelani stayed at the top of the stairs, not venturing down to the first floor.
“They weren’t only down there. They slept in the bed up here”—Jelani pointed to a room down the hall—“and sat on the couch here”—with a stiff finger at what Bones supposed was the family room.
Bones inhaled deeply, making a mental catalog of the scents. Then he leaped up the stairs in one bound, noticing Jelani’s inadvertent flinch as he watched.
Right. No need to remind the fellow of what he couldn’t do anymore.
“The bed and the sofa, you say?” Bones asked, changing to walk with the slowness he used when around humans. The sofa faced the telly, with a view out the balcony to the left of it. Bones went over to it and inhaled again, noting the differences—and the similarities—from the smells downstairs.
“The owner of the flat. The girl. Has her body been found elsewhere?”
Jelani gave him a slight smile. “What makes you think this wasn’t the boy’s place?”
Bones shot Jelani an annoyed look. “There’s a feminine scent all over this flat. This wasn’t where the boy lived, though it’s mostly his blood on the first floor.”
“There’s a picture of the girl in her bedroom.” Jelani’s voice was neutral, as if they were discussing the weather. “She’s beautiful. I imagine she’s still alive. For now.”
Bones stared at Jelani. All his instincts told him that the ghoul was hiding something. Bones wondered if he’d known the girl. Jelani was acting as if none of this affected him, but his scent was of fear… and hatred. If he’d been emotionally attached to the flat’s owner, that would make sense.
Or he could just be frightened of what would happen if Bones was unable to kill the LaLauries by the time Marie returned. Since Marie had left him in charge, it would be considered Jelani’s failure as well.
“You’ve never told me how you know Delphine and Louis’s scent to recognize it,” Bones stated.
Something flashed across Jelani’s face before it became smooth as dark glass again.
“I was married in the eighteen sixties,” Jelani replied. “She was a slave in the St. Francisville house, which happened to be where the LaLauries fled after they left the Quarter. While I was fighting in the Union Army, Delphine and Louis tortured and ate my wife. I arrived too late to save her, but I’ll never forget their scent.”
Bones didn’t blink. “Your arms and legs?”
“Amputated after the battle of New Market Heights. They told me it was a miracle I survived at all. Majestic changed me afterward, at my request. I wanted to live long enough to one day see the LaLauries die.”
Jelani’s expression was pure defiance now, as if he expected Bones to berate him for changing into a ghoul solely for revenge.
“I was turned into a vampire against my will,” Bones replied evenly. “Brassed me off for a good long while, then I got over it. Can’t change how we ended up as we are, so why bother fretting over it? If you’re looking for judgment, look elsewhere.”
Jelani seemed surprised. “I hadn’t heard that about you,” he murmured.
Bones let out a short laugh. “Why would you? It’s not the sort of tale to be bandying about, is it?”
“Don’t you hate your sire for that?”
I did.
For years, Bones had hated Ian for turning him into a vampire. But Ian hadn’t done it to be malicious—he’d done it out of a twisted sort of gratitude. If not for Bones sharing his meager food, Ian would have died on that long voyage from London to the New South Wales penal colonies, where they first met as prisoners.
But Bones wasn’t about to share that with Jelani. No need to air those particulars to a ghoul he barely knew.
“I don’t hate him anymore,” was all Bones said.
“You have a house in the city,” Jelani noted, changing the subject. “Will you be staying there?”
Bones shrugged. “Not after tonight. You can ring my cell, if you need me. I’ll send word when it’s finished.”