September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)

“I killed Veryl here,” I said, leading the way down the long hall of individual offices. “I also caught Lilah and Falon screwing here.” And almost did some screwing of my own, I thought but didn’t dare speak it.

“Sounds like there was never a boring moment.”

I chuckled. “Have you seen my life?”

I walked down the hall, shoving office doors open. I paused in the doorway to the one that had been mine. My cheeks grew hot at the memory of Kale’s bite. That had been a hell of a night. Only Jez’s impeccable timing had kept us from doing something we could never undo. But that had happened anyway, in its own time.

We continued on to the end of the hall. The door to Veryl’s office was closed. Anxiety twisted my stomach. Veryl’s office was a place of many memories, most of them not so good. I grabbed the doorknob and pushed. It was stuck. The sound of splintering wood was loud in the stillness. Backing up a few steps, I braced myself and kicked the door, aiming for the spot beside the doorknob. The door flew open with a screech.

Even before I flicked the light on I saw the disarray inside. The overhead light illuminated the mess. I stared at what was left of his office, aghast. Someone had totally ransacked the place.

“Oh, fuck me,” I murmured, taking in everything from the trashed remains of the old antique desk to the holes gouged out of the walls. Papers and computer parts littered the floor.

“Looks like someone beat us to it.” Willow pushed past me and knelt to examine some of the paperwork strewn about. “Doesn’t look like anything of great value here. Seems to be pretty basic case write-ups. Rogue vampire reports, that kind of thing. I assume he had something else worth finding judging by the looks of this place.”

I took tentative steps, picking my way through the debris. I was too late. It had taken me this long to remember the clue Lilah had given me, and it didn’t even matter. Someone else had gotten to it first.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Picking up a board from a desk drawer, I hurled it at the wall in anger. And noticed something taped to the underside of it.

I rushed to retrieve it, finding a yellow sticky note with a carefully scrawled message that read: Nice try, bitch. Did you think I would be that obvious?

“Look.” I handed the note to Willow. “I think Veryl wrote this. It must have been to Lilah. He knew she would come here looking.” I swallowed hard, my mind racing. “I think he knew where the scroll was.”

The sound of my heart pounded in my ears, and I wondered again if killing him had been a mistake. My own personal feelings toward the knowledgeable vampire had been manipulated. And I’d let it happen.

“If there was anything here worth finding, it’s gone now.” Willow rose from where he’d been sifting through spilled file folders. “Whoever did this must not have found much either. Or we would likely know by now.”

“You think so?” I scanned the mess again, hoping something would jump out at me. Even the smallest clue might help.

“It seems likely. Of course, there’s no way of saying for sure.”

“So we’ve hit another dead end. I’m starting to think we should get used to that.” I kicked the shattered computer mouse. A thought occurred to me, something I knew I shouldn’t even give voice to. “Willow, is it possible to speak to the dead? A dead vampire, to be specific.”

Alarm flashed across his face, and he shook his head vigorously. “Don’t go there, Alexa. I won’t let you. I can’t. It’s not safe.”

“So it can be done.”

“I didn’t say that. You have no idea how dangerous what you’re asking is. I’m sorry, but that is not the way to handle this. I can’t let you try something that deadly.”

His expression was pained, as if it hurt him to have to play the guardian card. If any of my men had told me no, I would have contested it immediately. It was in my nature. However, I knew Willow’s protests came from a place of wisdom and experience that I could only imagine. Though that did little to change my mind.

“Look, Willow, I respect you more than I’ve ever respected anyone in my life. But we have to try anything and everything we can to beat Shya to this. If I could just contact Veryl, maybe he would tell me something we can use, maybe—”

“No!” Willow’s voice echoed in the small room. It was commanding and startling, causing me to jump. “Don’t you think Shya has probably already tried that? Talking to the dead is his territory, trust me. Not mine and certainly not yours. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”

“Ok, ok,” I squeaked out, timid and uneasy with his outburst. “I get it. Talking to the dead is very bad.”

“It’s worse than that. It’s a violation of natural laws. It comes at a price.”

“What kind of price?” I just had to know, even if that made me annoying.