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I TAPPED MY FINGER against my glass and pondered whether to refill it again. Only by careful control had I managed not to get drunk, though I’d been imbibing steadily since I’d left the bar yesterday morning. I was a little bit surprised by it, but the Hotel had led me right to Red’s room and let me enter it even though she wasn’t here.
I made myself right at home.
The place was almost totally dark, and I found I liked it that way. I was slouched in a chair in the far corner of the room, my legs out in front of me. My mood was black, and I wanted to cling to that, to let it feed into me so that I wouldn’t falter when I saw her. Now that I knew what she’d done, I had no intention of letting her get away with it.
Selena had tried to calm me after I read the letter, and I hadn’t been exactly nice to her when I’d stomped out of the bar. Still, I wasn’t here to make friends. I’d come for one purpose and one purpose only. Somehow I’d let myself get distracted by Red, but that was a huge mistake I intended to remedy. She might be an incredibly good lay, but she was a murderess, and it was my job to take her in.
I stared at the wall in front of me, not really seeing it but letting my gaze blur a little. I was tired. I was buzzed. I was so pissed that I hoped I wouldn’t accidentally kill Red when she walked through the door.
And as if I’d willed it, she did. I sat up slowly, bringing my knees toward me and resting my palms against them. She flipped the switch, and I flinched as the bright light flooded the room. When she turned and saw me, she gasped, eyes wide before a smile lit her face.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” She reached down to pull off her boots one by one. “Which is kind of weird since we just saw each other less than twenty-four hours ago, but I did kinda miss you, angel.”
Without speaking, I stood and advanced towards the middle of the room. She wasn’t watching me; instead she was removing her bustier and tossing it to the floor beside the dresser. I noticed a tear in her shirt and evidence of blood.
“You can’t believe how good it feels to get out of that thing. It’s great when one is going for the kick-ass look, but sometimes a girl just needs to decompress after a fight like I had.” Her hands grabbed her shirt in two fists, pulling the tucked material out of her skin-tight pants, then those fingers splayed wide and traced the line of her waist up to her tits. The look she tossed me dripped with sex.
“Like you did after your last kill? After Tabari and Alexia?”
The expression on her face crumbled and she blanched. “Vicente, I don’t know ...”
“Don’t play innocent.” My words were quiet but deadly. “You had to know she was an Enforcer. Or did that even matter? Was your mark so important that anyone who got in the way was fair game?”
She stiffened, drawing her shoulders back as her face turned stoic. “You’ve made up your mind. Nothing I say will change things.”
I huffed a breath through my nostrils in a humorless chuckle. “You’re right. Nothing will change what I have to do.”
Her lip trembled, but I was dubious that she might truly be afraid. No, I saw her now for her true self: a cunning fox with the ability to manipulate anyone and anything to suit her own gains. I didn’t intend to give her too much time to think. I released my Net and tossed it over the top of her.
The Net was a magical device available to all Enforcers and a few Neutralizers. Once deployed, it sealed the magic of its captor so that escape would be impossible. Red had the sense to look shocked as she put out her hands against the knots of glowing twine surrounding her.
“Vicente,” she cried, eyes glistening. “Vicente, what are you doing?”
“I’m an Enforcer. I bring in MAUCs who commit crimes. Those who commit the worst sort of crimes. I think murder qualifies.”
“I’m a servant to the gods, Vicente. I answer only to them. You have no authority over me.”
I narrowed my eyes stepping close enough to touch her. “But I do have the authority, Bennu.” I snapped my finger and a slip of paper appeared in my palm, the edges emitting a yellow radiance. “This is a warrant to deliver you to the Conclave. You will be made to answer for what you did to Alexia.”
“Please, Vicente.” She poked her hand through, reaching for me, but I drew back, avoiding her touch. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, like a child in desperation. “Vicente, I beg of you. You know what they’ll do to me. I can’t. I can’t die in there. Please, please, Vicente. Don’t you know what will happen?”
Tears were streaming down her face, and though her cheeks were flushed, her complexion was ghostly white. I watched her swallow, then gag a few times, but she managed not to get physically ill. I gritted my teeth to strengthen my resolve as I grabbed her arm and led her from the room and down the hallway.
To my surprise, she didn’t fight me, just kept her head high, eyes in front of her as she walked. I was grateful for the small victory, because I hadn’t been entirely sure how to get her out of the Hotel if she’d fought me. Once we were outside the doors, we were met by five muscle men, each looking identical with mops of spiky black hair. I stepped away and allowed them to surround Red, then watched as they all disappeared.
My soul felt hollow and my stomach sick. I thought for a moment I might vomit. I swallowed and closed my eyes. When I found myself in control again, I opened them, then used my magic to orb away in a cloud of purple smoke.