“You’re saying Pete was the one who killed that nurse?” I felt a pang of guilt for even suspecting Jude.
“Yes. I think so. Akhs are born hungry. They need to feed off of both blood and psychic energy in insane amounts to survive the first few days. Which means he’ll be killing indiscriminately at first. But after that, it’s only a matter of time before he starts seeking out people from his former life.…”
“What?” I thought about Charity encountering Pete at that gas station, grateful she’d only seen him through the car window as they’d pulled away. But then I thought about Pete’s mother, Ann. Would he go home and find her once his memories came back? And where was I on Pete’s potential list of victims?
Talbot grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward his truck, which was parked behind the parish. “We’re going to have to kill Pete Bradshaw … again,” he said, sounding excited by the idea.
“Wait.”
I put my hand on top of his. He stopped pulling me toward his truck and looked down at our two hands touching.
“Come on, Grace. You and me on the demon hunt again. Just like what we trained for. Just like it was meant to be.”
I gave him a slight smile. He really was happy about the idea of our hunting together again. “How are we even going to find Pete?”
“New Akhs are predictable because of their hunger. He’ll seek out whatever place has the most psychic and sexual energy wafting off of it. He’ll be able to smell it. Somewhere like a big party. Normally, new Akhs flock to the Depot. That’s how we recruited so many of them to the Shadow Kings. But now that the Depot is no more, he’ll have to find somewhere else.” He snapped his fingers. “I know just the place.”
“Where?” I stepped closer to him.
“There’s a trance party tonight.”
“A what party?”
“Trance party. You know how Akhs can put their victims into trances by staring into their eyes? They do it to feed off a human’s psychic energy and mess with their free will.”
“Yeah.” I knew all to well. I’d almost been killed the last time it happened to me.
“Well, a trance party is kind of like a rave, except humans use Akhs to get high instead of Ecstasy.”
“You mean people go to these parties and willingly let Akhs feed off of them?”
“Pretty much. The Akhs get to feed without a hunt. The humans get high and let someone take away their free will for a night. Some people get off on that.”
“Eww.” I made a gagging face. “But aren’t people afraid the Akhs will feed too much off of them and they’ll die?”
“It happens,” Talbot said. “Especially if new Akhs are in the mix. They don’t come just to get a quick fix; they feed to kill. But I guess the danger is part of the thrill for some people. And a lot of them are just stupid kids who don’t really know what’s going on. Most don’t remember in the morning.”
“And we’ll be able to hunt down Pete there?” I gazed up into his green eyes. At the same time I reached into my jacket pocket and clicked a button on my phone.
“I’d bet my truck on it.”
“But where is the party?”
“There’s always one a week or two after Halloween in a haunted house that’s just been closed down for the season. Before they strike all the creepy sets. Rumor has it, tonight’s trance party is going to be at Frightmare Farms.”