I called Justin from the kitchen table of our AirBnB, explaining the situation to him. He was not on board with me leaving hiding to try and grab Michael, but I didn’t really leave it up to debate. Assuring him I’d nab Michael and the blood tally and go right back into hiding so he could finish getting his taskforce together, I hung up and dialed Jacques Williams.
“Have you changed your mind?” he answered.
I looked across the table at Olivia. “What assurances can you give me that you’re not going to kill either me or Olivia once you have the books?”
Jacques scoffed. “Assurances? I already told you that you had to die.”
“Yeah, I remember.” I kept my lid on my irritation. I needed to act the part of someone coming apart at the seams—not someone preparing a trap. “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme? I’m a professional who keeps secrets for dozens of clients. I have Death in my Rolodex. I can keep your goddamned secret too.”
Jacques seemed to chew on this. “And the witch?”
I met Olivia’s eyes. “She’s agreed to whatever sort of magical compulsion against speaking up you’d like her to undertake. This isn’t the Dark Ages. We can fix this whole thing pretty easily.”
“We can only fix it if you bring me that blood tally,” Jacques pointed out. “And even then … you killed three of my underlings, betrayed our cause, and snooped where you weren’t welcome.”
“You hired me for a job and then expected me to do another,” I responded quickly. “Don’t try to pretend that I’m some kind of rogue lunatic. I never agreed to get that blood tally for you in the first place, and I’m still going to have to deal with a very unhappy client even if I can repair this little schism we have between us.”
“You mean Boris? As I told you before, once I have his blood tally, Boris will not be a problem.”
“Forgive me if I’m not knee-deep in trust after you had me followed and threatened to kill me.” I paused, taking a deep breath. “Look, I’ve been hiding in a shitty motel for three nights. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life like this, and I think Olivia is ready to kill me. If I can get you the blood tally, can we pretend none of this ever happened?”
“I will … consider it.”
“That’s all you can do for me?”
Jacques snorted. “You’re too clever for your own good, Alek. But I’m glad to hear that you’re not as altruistic as your recent outburst would lead me to believe. All right. We have a deal. I want the blood tally by tomorrow night, though.”
Sunday. That was not much time. If Michael slipped away and hid himself from Olivia’s scrying before I could get to him, I would be up shit creek. It also didn’t give time for Justin to get his taskforce together. “I’ve been off Michael’s trail for days. There’s no way I’m going to find him in thirty-six hours. I need a week.”
“I’ll give you until Tuesday. That’s the end of my patience, Alek. If you don’t deliver by then, our deal is off. In the meantime, I’ll tell my underlings to stop looking for you.”
“That’s awfully kind. Okay. Tuesday night.”
“Tuesday morning.”
“Fine. Damn it. Okay. Tuesday morning. I’ll call you back when I get my hands on the blood tally.” I hung up, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I really hoped I was right about everything, from Michael’s location to the fact that Lord Ruthven would back down as soon as OtherOps became involved.
He’s super lying about all that, by the way, Maggie said. He still plans on killing you and Olivia. There was something else going on—an undertone to the conversation—but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
I grinned at Olivia. “Okay, everything is set up. We’ve got a free pass from Lord Ruthven if we deliver the blood tally. Unfortunately for him, OtherOps will get to it first. That’ll make us too hot for him to touch, and he’ll slink back to whereverthefuck.”
“Seems like a good plan.” Olivia chewed on her bottom lip. “I’ve been making cantrips, though. Little one-off spells I can use to fuck up vampires. You know, just in case.”
“Hopefully you won’t need them, but …” I removed the Glock from my endless wallet, checked to make sure it was loaded with silver bullets, then put it in an underarm holster. “I like the way you think.” We made sure our preparations were done and headed out to the truck. Eddie would have none of us leaving him alone and was on the passenger seat the moment Olivia opened the door. I tried to argue, gave up, and began to drive.
Once we were on the highway, Olivia chanted something beneath her breath, rubbing her palms together and then slowly drawing them apart. She peered at the space between them as if she was looking at the screen of a laptop. “He’s still there,” she reported. “I’m going to guess he hasn’t showered since you chased him out of that thrall halfway house the other day. His tincture has worn off and he hasn’t reapplied it yet.”
“Does that mean that Boris can also find him?”
Olivia grimaced. “That’s a possibility.” I pressed a little harder on the gas pedal. She continued, “He’s made himself a little camp under the bridge. He still has the blood tally. He’s …” Her voice changed. “He’s scared. Terrified, more like. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday.”
“Now that I know exactly what he has, I don’t blame him for being terrified.”
Olivia stared at that space between her hands for several minutes, then seemed to shake herself out of some kind of reverie. “Poor kid.”
After all this—finally—I agreed. I’d seen enough about thralldom and the world of vampires the last week to have some empathy. Maggie had been right all along. Thralls, or at least the majority of them, weren’t megalomaniacs out looking for immortality. They were young, dumb kids who wanted to feel like they belonged. It made the entire situation, and my involvement in it, even worse.
As I considered this, I could feel Maggie shifting around inside my head. She’s pretty handy. Too damned curious, but very handy.
You cooled off on her yet? I asked.
A little. I don’t like people asking questions that might tell them where I am. But I still think you should ask her out when this whole thing is done. She’s clearly DTF.
I glanced sidelong at Olivia. I might just do that. If we’re still alive. And she’ll still speak to me. I cast the entire thing out of my mind. There was chemistry there—even I wasn’t so dumb as to miss that—but I had no idea what the next couple of days had in store for us. It seemed stupid to look further than that. Things could still go very badly.
We took I-77 up into Cleveland, then hopped I-90, getting off at the McKinley Street exit and heading north along the Rocky River. It was a nice area, a pretty suburb with parks and houses built all the way down to the river, within sight of boat docks for people who liked to head out onto the lake. I found some street parking a few blocks south of the bridge, hidden from view by some trees. I checked my Glock once more, then made sure I had my handcuffs on me.
“He’s up in the girders, where the bridge meets the ground on the west side,” Olivia reported. “He’s got a little nook that he’s sleeping in. This is a pretty nice neighborhood. I bet the moment someone spots him, he’ll get kicked out.”
“Well, as soon as we get our hands on him, I’m taking him to a safe house,” I told her, getting out of the car. I had a moment of disquiet as I looked back the way we’d come, though I couldn’t quite tell why. Everything good? I asked Maggie.
I don’t sense us being followed, if that’s what you’re asking. Get me a little closer and I’ll be able to pinpoint Michael.
Will do. “Okay,” I told Olivia, “You and Eddie hold down the fort. I’m going to go around and come at his camp from the north side. If he runs, I want him to run toward the truck. You can just get out and look threatening, and it’ll probably throw him off enough that I can catch up. Careful, though. He’s a natural sprinter.”
Olivia cocked her head. “I’m a foot shorter than you and a hundred pounds lighter. How am I supposed to look threatening?”
“Wave your hands in the air and shout?”
“That works on wild animals, not people.”
“It might.” I waved goodbye and set out on foot, giving the base of the bridge a wide berth and heading several blocks west to cross the four-lane highway that went over the bridge.]
I was coming around the other side when Maggie said, I’ve got him. Or at least, I’ve got his sleeping space. I don’t see him there, though.
I’m going to be really pissed if we somehow fucked this up.
Just keep going.
I followed her instructions, coming in slow, trying to act casual so none of the neighbors made a fuss about the bearded, tattooed, flack-vest-wearing stranger wandering up their street. Maggie said nothing, so I approached the spot she’d indicated up under the bridge. It was tough to see from a distance, but once I was up under there, I could see a bit of graffiti and a sleeping bag tucked out of sight from the street. The place was abandoned, but my heart began to race. There, sitting all the way at the back of the hidey-hole and half covered by the sleeping bag, was a blocky shape.
“Bingo,” I breathed. I climbed up inside, snatching the shape. It was a heavy package, tied together by a thick cord, a trash-bag wrapped around the whole thing. I tore the bag away to reveal one large tome, looking more like a family Bible than a book of contracts and records.
You’ve got the blood tally, Maggie confirmed. You know …you don’t even need Michael any more.
I need to hand him to Boris still, I said, though I hesitated at even that. If Jacques was planning on killing Boris, he wouldn’t hesitate to murder the thralls as well. Letting Michael bolt might just save his life. But to wrap all this up in a pretty bow, I needed to take Michael in and finish the job.
Found him, Maggie suddenly said. I think he was taking a shit down by the river. He’s … damn, he’s coming this way.
I hesitated, torn between doing my job and letting the poor kid go. I climbed out of his hidey-hole and scooted down the hillside back to the street. I had just turned to head toward my truck when I heard someone shout.
“Hey, that isn’t yours!”
I whirled toward the river. He was taller than I’d expected, unshaven and hair matted, but I recognized Michael from the photos I had of him. I took a deep breath. “Michael Pavlovich!”
He was striding toward me purposefully when I called his name. He froze, seemed to give me a good, hard look, and his eyes widened. He took off running before I could say another word. Holding the blood tally underneath one arm, I began to follow. I’d made my decision, it seemed. “We need to talk!” I yelled after him. “I’ve got to warn you about … damn it, slow down!”
Michael leapt into the bushes, heading for the next street over. I followed him, losing sight of him for a moment, listening as Maggie snapped directions in my ear. I leapt a fallen tree, went down into a ditch and up the other side, then vaulted a guardrail. I got my eyes back on Michael the moment he came parallel to my truck. The driver’s door suddenly swung open, hitting him with enough force that he bounced off it, hit the ground, and began to roll through the middle of the street. Olivia stepped out as I reached Michael. I tossed the blood tally toward my truck and did my very best football tackle as Michael tried to get back on his feet. I was not letting him get away again.
Michael tried to fight me off, but it was almost sad. He slapped and kicked, but a fighter he was not. I flipped him onto his stomach and knelt on the spot between his shoulders. “Hold on,” I told him. “Just hold on, damn it. If you’ll calm down for just one second …”
“I’m not going back to him!” Michael wailed. “I can’t do it. Not now. I’m not going back. The blood tally!”
“I damn well know what it is, and I’m not giving it back to him.” That got his attention. He fell still long enough that I could handcuff him and drag him around behind my truck so anyone passing casually wouldn’t see us. “Look at me,” I told him. “Look! I’m not going to hand you over. I’ve got plans to keep the blood tally from going back to Boris, but I need you to disappear.”
Michael flinched away from me, but he kept his gaze locked on mine, only shifting it long enough to glance toward Olivia. “What do you mean?”
“I mean …” I was cut off by a warning prick of pain on my ring finger. Mags?
You have company, she snapped. It’s coming in hot from the south.
Almost as soon as the warning was out of her mouth, I saw a big black Suburban take a turn going much too fast down the road. It barreled toward us, then slammed on its breaks to come skidding up next to my truck. There were only two occupants, and they emerged before the Suburban had come to a complete stop. One of them was a tall, muscular black man wearing sunglasses. I would have bet anything he was a vampire, though I couldn’t see his eyes. The other was Jacques. The dhampir was dressed in his tailored suit, wearing sunglasses and holding a sheathed rapier much like the one Adrian had.
Goddamned vampires and their swords.
“Olivia,” I hissed. “Get back in the truck and get the hell out of here.” I tossed her the keys and didn’t bother to hide my surprise as I turned back toward Jacques. “How the fuck did you find me this time?”
Jacques grinned. He grinned at me, at Olivia, at Michael, and most especially at the blood tally lying next to my back tire. “It took us a while, but we got a contact at the phone company to pinpoint your location just after you and I talked an hour ago. Well done, Agent Fitz.” He walked around my truck and down onto the grass to stand next to me. I backed up a couple of paces, jerking my head at Olivia. “Don’t go anywhere, witch,” Jacques said. The tone was amicable, but there was a warning there that stopped Olivia in her tracks. Jacques nodded at the tome. “Is that Boris Novak’s blood tally?” he asked Michael.
Michael trembled noticeably. “Who are you?” he asked.
Jacques drew his sword in one smooth motion, pressing the point against Michael’s cheek before I could react. “I asked you a question.”
“Ye … yes. It’s his bl … blood tally,” Michael managed.
“Good. Then we don’t need you anymore.” Jacques adjusted his aim slightly and leaned. His sword slid into Michael’s shoulder. Michael let out a horrible rasp and stiffened. I took two steps forward, reaching for Jacques, but he had already pulled his sword out and pointed it at me. I had to slam on the brakes to avoid the blade, tripping over my own feet as I stumbled backward and landed on the ground.
Michael’s body slumped to one side. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. After all this work and headache, he was dead just like that. That death rasp played out in my ears again and again in the course of a few seconds, and I raised my eyes toward Jacques.
“Now,” Jacques said. “Your part of the deal. Hand me the blood tally, please.”
I looked over to see that I’d fallen just within reach of the tome. I felt a great pain shoot across my left eye and, without so much as a thought, felt my tusks rip out of my lower gums and emerge their full length, the tips hovering in my vision. Maggie.
With pleasure.
I reached out with my right hand and slapped the blood tally. Molten heat shot from Maggie’s ring, wrapped around the tome, and consumed it in a way that only sorcery can do. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jacques leap forward, a scream on his lips. His sword flashed almost faster than my eye could follow. I tried to roll to one side, but it hit the edge of my flack vest just below my shoulder. It snagged, pushed, and I could feel a sharp pain as the blade punched an inch into my chest. Grendel’s claw flared on the back of my right hand and I jerked my left hand upward, slicing neatly through the blade.
Jacques stumbled as his sudden weight threw him off balance. His companion was almost as quick as he was, leaping past us both and snatching the burning blood tally out of my hand. He juggled it, swearing, and dropped it as the cuffs of his suit jacket went up in flames. I balled my right hand into a fist, my tattoo of Mjolnir flaring to life, and took a swing at Jacques. It was a clumsy blow, thrown while lying down, and Jacques was able to leap out of the way.
I rolled to my feet, watching Jacques warily. The mist had descended over my eyes and I snapped my teeth at him, the troll berserker in me wanting nothing more than to tear his face off. I could see Olivia fumbling, rolling her hands around each other in an arcane gesture and then throwing them toward the second vampire just as he got the flames out on his sleeves. The powerful odor of garlic filled the air and something wet slapped into the vampire’s face, knocking him off his feet. He went down screaming, clawing at his face.
I growled at Jacques. The dhampir looked at his broken sword and then discarded it haughtily. He stripped off his suit jacket. “You’re a fool, Alek. A fool at every turn. You should have done your job and gone on with your pathetic life.”
“Go to hell,” I spat. I was ready for a fight. Yearning for it. But I needed an answer first. “What did you use to blackmail Ada?” I lifted both fists, my tattoos glowing.
Jacques laughed and began to roll up his sleeves. “I told her that I had a copy of your birth certificate and the contract from when she sold you. If she didn’t do the job, I was going to hand them over to you.”
That bit of information was like a punch in the gut. I blinked back at Jacques, some of the fight gone out of me. “Do you?”
Jacques glanced at the still-burning blood tally. He scoffed. “Of course I don’t. But she didn’t know that.” He raised both fists. “If it’s a fight you want, troll, it is a fight you will get. I’ll be sure to leave enough of the two of you alive to feed to my master. You won’t …”
I drew my Glock and put six silver bullets into his chest. A shocked expression crossed his face as he twitched backward with each impact, then fell over backward into the weeds.
I lowered my weapon, summoning enough peace of mind to check and see whether Olivia was okay. She seemed fine, if shaken. The vampire she’d hit with what appeared to be a glob of pure, magical garlic was now sobbing as he clawed at his own face. I touched one of my tusks, then put a hand to the spot where Jacques’s sword had punched through my vest. I was bleeding quite badly. “Take Eddie back to the AirBnB,” I told Olivia weakly.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I waved off the question. “Make yourself scarce, and quick. Someone will call the cops soon.” I took out my phone. “And if they haven’t yet, I’m going to.” I waited for her to take off in my truck before I dialed a number. “Hey, Justin,” I said, sitting down next to Jacques’s body. “I’ve had quite the day.”