I glanced at Allcot. “Anything else?”
Allcot took two steps, standing only inches from the other vampire. His eyes blazed with pure hatred. “If I ever catch you near Pandora again, you’ll wish I’d let Kilsen here stick that cursed dagger down your throat. Understand?”
“Yeah, man. I get it. But Allcot, about that money—”
“Shut him up,” Allcot ordered as he turned and headed back by the smoldering house.
“You’re really fucking stupid,” I said.
The vampire didn’t say a word. He just hung his head, dejected.
“I do have two more questions before I take this knife out of your back.”
“I don’t know anything else,” he said defiantly.
“I doubt that. First, what is Pandora wearing now that they stripped her of her gala outfit?”
His head popped up and he glanced back at me, incredulous. “That’s what you want to know?”
“Yes. Is she dressed, or did you bastards make her run around in her lace underwear?”
His eyes glazed over as he took in my words, but he shook his head. “She was wearing an oversized T-shirt. No shoes.”
I shook my head, annoyed. At least she wasn’t naked. “Do you know or have you ever heard of anyone by the name of Blazer or Seth?”
“Blazer? Yeah, I know a Blazer. Cool guy. Good with computers.”
“You’ve seen Blazer?” I asked, my voice rising in excitement. “When? Where?”
“Whoa. Clam down, witch. It’s been a few years. He helped Carter hack into some corporation’s system. Then he disappeared. Too bad, ’cause I could use some of his help right about now. Just a little transfer of money and I’d be in the clear.”
“Two years ago? You’re completely sure about that?” How was that possible? My brother had been missing for eight.
“Positive.”
“If you’re lying, I’ll end you.”
“I’m not lying! Jesus, lady. What do you want with him anyway?”
“Never mind.” I wasn’t going to trust my secrets to the enemy, and he’d already indicated Seth had disappeared. There was nothing left to discuss. I dropped the cursed dagger from his neck, yanked the blade out of his back, and shoved him forward with a knee. “Go on. Get out of here before Allcot changes his mind.”
The vampire swore as he stumbled, but when he found his balance, he pressed his hand to the marks on his neck and eyed me. “If you find him, tell him I have work for him.”
“Huh?” I asked, distracted, running through all the places Seth might stay when he was in the city. A safe house made the most sense. But why wouldn’t he contact me? Had he been deep undercover at the Void all this time? Was that why they’d pretended he’d gone missing? If so, they’d even gone through the trouble to doctor his Void records. I gritted my teeth in frustration, knowing for certain that anything was possible. If there was any truth at all to the vampire’s claim, as soon as Willow and Tal were safe, I’d make it my sole mission to find him.
“Christ, Kilsen,” Allcot said from out of nowhere. “You looking to get yourself killed?”
I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. “What?”
“You’re just standing there, staring off at nothing. If you hadn’t done such a good job scaring the shit out of that jackass Dante, he could’ve taken you without even breaking a sweat. What are you doing?”
“Thinking,” I said, realizing Dante had fled while I was lost in thought. “Need to plan our next move.”
“I’m already on it. Time to take a trip to English Turn.”
15
Dax sat, drumming his fingers on his leg as he impatiently waited outside Bandu’s private office. The leader of the pack had been holed up on the phone for over an hour, and Dax had just about lost patience. He stood and started to pace, his inner wolf antsy.
“You should go for a run, man.”
Dax jerked his head up and nodded to Leo. The young shifter had just appeared from the adjoining kitchen and was leaning against the doorframe. He had an apple in one hand and a hunk of jerky in the other.
“Maybe later,” Dax said. “How was the rest of the search? Any leads?”
Leo shook his head. “Nope. It’s strange too. I don’t think we’ve ever been out canvassing before when we didn’t run into some bullshit revolving around the vampires. Even in the daylight, there’s always chatter about the night before or a daywalker causing trouble. It’s like we’re in the eye of the storm.”
“Or the calm before the storm,” Dax said, his fingers itching to text Phoebe. He hated the way they’d left things back at the safe house. He wanted to discuss his sudden promotion within the pack, wanted to ask her about the notebook and Seth Kilsen. It hadn’t escaped his notice that the man shared her last name. What was he to her? A brother? Cousin? Husband?
He shook his head. No. Not husband. She would’ve told him, right?
“Dude, relax. You look like you’re going to come right out of your skin.” The young shifter gave Dax a lopsided grin. “What is it? Woman problems?”
Dax stretched his neck but didn’t answer.
Leo laughed. “It is woman problems. Well, in that case, a run is definitely in order. Your head will be clearer after you blow off some steam.”
“I can’t. I need to talk to Bandu.” He needed to find out what the leader knew about Carter Voelkel and Asier. As far as Dax was concerned, the redheaded vampire was at the center of the abductions. If he could find him, he’d have a lead.
Leo brushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes and frowned. “Is that what you’re doing in here?”
Dax nodded. “It’s important. So thanks, but—”
“Dax, Bandu left twenty minutes ago. He said you were in charge until he gets back.”
“You’re kidding me.” Dax turned abruptly and knocked on Bandu’s office door. When no one answered, he cracked the door open and peeked in. Sure enough, the office was empty. He strode in and glanced around. “What the fuck? I was sitting here the entire time waiting for him.”
Leo, who’d followed him into the office, shrugged. “Maybe he was just messing with you?”
Or maybe he didn’t want Dax to know he’d left. An uneasy feeling coiled in Dax’s gut. Something wasn’t right. Ever since Bandu had made Dax his second, he’d been holed up and unavailable, almost as if he was avoiding his new beta.
Dax walked over to the desk, scanned the stack of paperwork separated into three piles. More victims. At least these weren’t dead. But they did all have something in common—each one was an allegation against the Cryrique for feeding on humans without consent. Another sheet of paper sat off to the side. Dax picked it up and felt a wave of relief wash over him when he realized it was a formal complaint to be lodged with the city against Allcot and his vampires. Dax had been worried that since the shifters had appointed themselves protectors of the city that they’d start to take matters into their own hands. The complaint proved Bandu was still following protocol.
“This looks promising,” Dax said.
“What does?” Leo asked, moving to look over Dax’s shoulder.
“Oh, that.” He made a disgusted face. “The city won’t do anything. Bandu just files those to prove a point. No one ever takes action.”
Dax frowned. “They don’t? You sure? They’re supposed to forward them to the Arcane.”
Leo shook his head. “Nope. They only forward the worst ones. These? The victims usually see a healer and then can barely remember what happened. And because they don’t make waves, the city ignores them, pretends the problem isn’t that bad. Bandu says it’s because the city wants to keep the Cryrique happy. Likes the millions in tax revenue they generate every year.”