Page 44 of Blood Magic

Chapter Seventeen

Halfway back to the office I realized I’d forgotten to ask Bastien if he knew what had happened to Brenda Ferguson. I hoped she was still alive, but if she wasn’t, maybe he could at least tell me where to find her body. Her husband and mother needed to know.

So I texted him, even though the mere thought of sending a text to a vampire made me angry all over again.

Brenda Ferguson. Do you know if she’s still alive?

He texted back quickly. I do not know her, but I will find out.

I didn’t bother sending a thanks. Asshole owed me. Also, I blamed him for showing me that underground club and what it held. I had been naïve. Or maybe I’d just refused to consider something I knew had to be true.

“This has been fun,” Remy said, “but I believe I’ll take it from here. I don’t investigate. I find killer vampires, and I kill them. I’m going to start with that Bastien freak.”

I figured he was lying. He had a reputation he wanted to uphold in the supernatural community—he had to keep the monsters scared, after all—but if he really went after any nonhuman he came across, Bastien would already be dead. And there wasn’t a bouncer alive who could have kept Remy out of Scarlett’s.

I did believe he’d go to Alexandria and attempt to find the vampires who’d killed his sister. But I didn’t want them dead—not yet. I needed to get to the bottom of the mind-control. Could only certain vampires do it? Was it a technology they’d created? Who were the ones involved? And most importantly, could I destroy it?

I believed Axton was keeping it to himself as much as possible. He wanted to be the one in power, and he did not want to share that with any other vampire. That was my hope, anyway. The fewer who understood how to use such a power, the better.

“Don’t be hunting and killing just yet,” I told Remy. “I need to know who created this mind-control shit first. They are the ones who need to be wiped out.”

He didn’t reply.

And before we could drop him at his car, the detective called. I answered immediately, my heart beginning to thump. I thought I’d probably always associate Rick Moreno’s phone calls with the demon who wanted to own me.

I was right to.

“Kait,” he said, his voice strained and a little too loud, probably because of all the screams, shouts, and gunshots in the background, “the demon is at the station. Get here as fast as you can. He’s going from one person to the other, and—” There was a loud crack, and I figured he’d dropped his phone. He was back in seconds. “Get here fast, Kait. I don’t know what you can do, or if you can do anything…”

“Hold on, Rick. I’m five minutes away.” I ended the call and gave Joe the location. “Kick it, Joe. There’s a demon I need to kill. Remy, you want dropped here?”

“Fuck that. I want some demon action.”

“You may soon regret that decision. He’s a real son of a bitch.”

“So am I, Kait.”

That was the truth. “Tonight,” I said grimly, “I’m going to end this fucker once and for all.” The tour of Scarlett’s had shored up some bad energy inside me, and there was no better way to work it off than on the demon.

The familiar joy for a fight began to grow inside me, and by the time we reached the police station, I was vibrating with eagerness. Remy took note. I opened the back of my car and began to load up on items, buckling on belts and sheaths, filling pockets and loops with holy water, spirit traps, and charms, shaking with impatience.

When I looked up from my stash, both Remy and Joe were watching me—Joe with a carefully blank face, and Remy with more of a cold curiosity. He didn’t quite believe that I was a hunter, or that I could walk into the building and fight and kill a demon boss, but he saw by the look in my eyes that I was…

“A stone-cold killer,” he said. “Who’d have thought?”

I paused as I slipped an extra blade into an empty sheath, and looked at him, a little surprised.

“Like recognizes like,” he murmured, and there was the barest hint of admiration in his voice.

Rick jogged to the car to meet us—unfortunately the area was already crowded with police, reporters, and bystanders who’d apparently heard that something crazy was going on at the station.

“Tell me,” I said.

He gave both Joe and Remy a quick once over, missing nothing with his experienced cop’s stare. “He came in an hour ago, but he was quiet and slippery. I didn’t know what was happening or I’d have called you sooner. He’s tearing through the place, shooting, killing…” He ran his hand over his face. I’d never seen him so rattled and honestly, it scared me a little. “These are my friends, Kait.”

I handed him a chain from which dangled a rather large, ugly piece of metal.

“What is it?” he asked.