Chapter 44
Cyrus stood in the centre of the room, his gaze sweeping the photographs on the wall. The red pins in the map obliterated any street names. Another thirty murders last night. Soon the wall was going to be one big red blot.
No one in the room was talking. The girl Selena was slunk in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She’d been crying all night over RJ.
Ash and Vero were leaning against the other wall, Ash with his arm around Vero. The two of them looked exhausted.
Victor on the other hand looked like he hadn’t given RJ a second thought. He appeared well slept and was wearing a cleanly pressed suit and shiny cravat thing around his neck. For a moment Cyrus considered grabbing it and twisting it garrotte style. But he didn’t. He just processed for a little longer what Victor had just said to him.
‘My mum?’ he finally asked. ‘You want my mum to join us?’
‘She’s a Hunter.’ Victor answered, the ripple of a shrug visible beneath his suit.
Cyrus frowned at him. ‘Can she fight? I mean, isn’t she too old?’
Truth be told, it was less about the age factor and more about the mum factor. Even though he was still hazy on the filial bond stuff, she was his mother and what kind of son let his mother fight his battles for him?
‘She was pretty good in the fight at the Bradbury.’ This from Ash.
‘I don’t know,’ Cyrus said, shaking his head. ‘I don’t think we should involve her.’
‘There are six of us now. Jamieson’s out.’
‘I want in.’
He started in surprise. Selena had lifted her head from her knees.
‘I want in,’ she said again.
‘I don’t think so,’ Cyrus told her.
She stood up, shakily, using the wall for support.
‘I ran, I know. But not next time. Next time I’m going to show those things just how we fight in my world.’
He recognised the emotion, the shaky defiance in her voice. This was about regaining face, about proving herself. As if this was some gang and she’d failed the initiation test and was begging for a retry.
‘No,’ Cyrus repeated, even more firmly. ‘I’m not going to be responsible for another untrained Hunter dying.’
‘I’m not asking you to be. And I’m not asking you for permission either.’
Cyrus took a deep breath, meeting her dark eyes for a full ten seconds before looking away with an exasperated sigh.
‘There’s seven of them left, not to mention the Mixen and Scorpio on the streets,’ Ash interrupted. ‘And we forfeited the surprise element. So they’re expecting us.
‘What about all the Thirsters they’ve turned?’ Vero asked, looking between Cyrus and Victor.
‘They can’t go out in daylight. So we attack in daytime,’ Cyrus said.
‘Isn’t it going to be suspicious having a fight with seven supernatural bloodsucking monsters in broad daylight?’
‘Have you seen the papers? I don’t think this would even make the front page any more. But, if you’re worried, we can always rig up a camera and some lights and pretend we’re filming a Twilight remake.’
‘The police are crawling all over the area as well,’ Victor said, crossing to the map strewn with red pins.
‘Aren’t they too busy with all the other homicides they’re having to deal with?’
Everyone fell quiet for a moment, as they all contemplated which of the red pins that Victor had stuck in the wall represented RJ.
Selena was the first to break the silence. ‘What about that great big patch of bling in the garden. What was it?’
Victor turned to her quickly, his eyes narrowing. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Nothing,’ Cyrus interrupted quickly, clearing his throat. ‘Must have been a sword, catching the light.’
‘No,’ Selena said, insistent now. ‘There was a great big wall of light. I saw it, I’m not blind. I saw a wolf too. Are you going to tell me I hallucinated that as well? You were there – all of you!’ She pointed at Cyrus. ‘You must have seen it.’
‘The wolf was Jamieson.’
‘The way through. It sounds like you’re describing the way through.’
Damn it. Cyrus spun towards Victor.
‘It’s open,’ Victor said. ‘That must be what they’re guarding.’ He shook his head in amazement, then his eyes flashed to Cyrus. ‘Did you see it?’
Cyrus was aware of Vero and Ash eyeballing him as well.
He shook his head, held the guy’s bad-cop stare. ‘Nope.’
Victor didn’t buy it. ‘Where’s Evie?’ he demanded.
‘She didn’t see it either.’ He moved to block the doorway.
‘So you did see something?’ Victor smiled victoriously.
Cyrus cursed himself. ‘She’s not the White Light. If that’s what you’re thinking.’
Victor’s eyebrows shot up. ‘How are you so sure? If it’s still open that certainly explains a few things. Like you being alive.’
‘I know she’s not it,’ Cyrus growled, feeling anger swirling electric in his bloodstream. ‘And you can either take my word on it and back the hell off or we can go outside right now and I can kick your ass until you back off.’
He could practically feel Victor’s eyes drilling through his skull and right into his frontal lobe, digging for information. He kept his face blank – trying not to think about what his mum had said about the White Light being his and Evie’s child.
‘They’re looking for her still.’ Victor exhaled, his eyes taking on a maniacal gleam, as if little fires had been lit all along his optical nerves.
‘Let me be clear,’ Cyrus said, stepping right up into Victor’s face. ‘She’s not it. And if you get any idea into that psychotic Hannibal Lecter head of yours of trying something, say something that involves kidnapping Evie again and dragging her off like some lamb to be slaughtered, I will kill you myself.’ He lowered his voice. ‘And I will make what Flic and Evie have planned for you look like a teddy bear’s picnic. Do you hear me?’
Victor made no sign of having heard him.
‘We need to destroy these things,’ Cyrus said, turning away from Victor, ‘before they can do any more damage.’ And before they find Evie. Even if the prophecy was right, he didn’t want to unnecessarily tempt fate.
‘How are we going to destroy them?’ Selena asked. ‘They’re invincible.’
Her defiance seemed to have vanished. She was collapsed on the floor again, leaning up against the wall.
‘No. They’re not invincible. They can die. We got four of them already.’ He twisted to Ash and Vero: ‘Thanks to you guys.’
They stared at him blankly. ‘It wasn’t us. We weren’t even there.’
‘What?’
‘You told us to create a diversion, then get the hell out, so we did.’ Ash pulled a sorry face.
‘But Flic and I only killed one. Someone else took out the other two in the garden. I turned around and they were on fire.’ Cyrus cast around the room, looking for an explanation, but Ash and Vero were just shaking their heads at him, looking just as confused as he was.
Victor frowned. ‘What are you saying?’
‘They spontaneously combusted?’ Vero suggested.
Cyrus shook his head, ‘No. I saw one of you – I saw someone – fighting them …’ He paused, trying to recall what exactly he’d seen but he couldn’t seem to dredge the image from his memory.
Story of his life.