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ALEC
I needed to escape that building. A blood rage so great descended on me, and I feared losing self-control. Sommers had much to answer for. But those two young humans weren’t guiltless either.
Barely able to keep my fangs sheathed, I tightened my mouth and ran into the city. To its rotten underbelly: King’s Cross. Where the homeless and desperate shivered in dark alleys that were filled with the stench of urine: where gangs roamed the streets in search of victims. Where mobsters, the gangsters, the criminals plied their soul-sucking trade in illicit drugs and prostitutes behind the facade of popular nightclubs. Dregs of humanity who thrived on the misery they inflicted on others.
They would not be missed.
My bloodlust grew.
A deep rhythmic thud boomed from the loudspeakers of one nightclub, its pink and yellow neon lights enticing passersby to enter.
‘Oops, sorry maaaate.’ Speech slurred and breath smelling of a mix of alcohol and vomit, one young human bumped into me. Eyes so bloodshot he could barely see, he and his group laughed and staggered past me, dodging traffic to get to the other side of the street. One of them pointed to a garishly lit club.
I lifted the back collar of my jacket and followed them in.
The blare of the lights, music and loud conversation assaulted my senses until I tuned most of it out and followed my nose. Unbidden, my fangs slipped low in my mouth at the intoxicating mix of scents from the sweat of gyrating bodies, alcohol and heated blood that hung in the air like a pheromone-laden mist.
It didn’t help that I hadn’t fed in more than forty-eight hours. Having lived on Ingenii blood for nigh on fifty years, ordinary human blood barely satisfied. But it would have to do as my Ingenii blood vials were running dangerously low.
I stalked the room, my nostrils dilating, searching for a particular scent, one that reeked of adrenaline fuelled by anger, aggression and evil intentions.
‘Hello, gorgeous!’ Voice low and filled with seduction—and wearing enough perfume to knock out a bull—the female who sidled up to me smiled and linked her arm through mine.
‘Sorry, not shopping.’ Not ever.
I unhooked her arm and wove through the crowded tables. I scanned the room, inhaling deeply. Among the intermingled scents, one stood out. It was unmistakable. At the far end of the room, clos to the corridor leading to the toilets, stood my quarry. He leant heavily against one of the high cocktail tables, breathing heavily, eyes fixated on a laughing group of young women seated nearby.
When one of them rose and headed for the corridor, he followed.
So did I.
He corned her outside the ladies restroom. Hand over her mouth, he slurred, ‘I been watchin’ you. Regular little cock-tease, aren’t you?’
And that was the last thing he said. I tore him off her.
‘Miss, next time, don’t go to the restroom alone. Take a friend with you.’
Eyes wide, she swallowed hard, she nodded. A trembling ‘Thank you,’ left her lips as she ran back to her table.
The man swore and struggled in my grip, so I allowed him a glimpse of my inner beast. And damn me if I didn’t enjoy it. Surprise, anger and terror washed off him in waves, which only fuelled my hunger.
With my hand around his throat, I dragged him through the exit, down the fire-escape stairs and into the dark alley below. Crouched low behind a dumpster, I forced his booze-filled gaze to lock onto mine.
‘You will never hurt anyone again. When I’m done, you will go to the police and confess every crime you’ve committed.’ I had no doubt what he was guilty of. It reeked from him like a foul stench.
I ignored the smell and turned his head to the side, exposing his throat. Beneath the skin, his pulse throbbed invitingly, the blood calling to me with its heady scent of terror-driven adrenaline. I bit down, hard. No vampire-numbing saliva for this piece of scum.
His struggles grew less the more I drank, deeper and deeper draughts, until he laid still in my arms. He wasn’t dead. I’d left enough blood for him to survive, but he’d have a killer headache when he woke.
I dumped his unconscious body on the ground, covered it with part of a tarpaulin dangling from the dumpster, and left the alley. Filled with renewed energy, I ran through the back-city streets all the way to my penthouse. To anyone along the way, I would simply have been a slight blur at the edge of their gaze as I sped past.
By the time I reached my apartment building, had walked through reception and turned my key into my private elevator, some of my rage had dissipated. I could think more clearly on what to do about Sommers.
As my elevator approached my penthouse suite, I sensed Marcus and Sam within. They must’ve had a successful hunt. Marcus stood facing the window, one hand behind his back, the other holding a bottle of freshly warmed blood.
‘How’d it go?’ I shucked my coat and dropped it on the sofa as I headed for the drinks cabinet. I had a full bottle of brandy in there, somewhere.
‘Easy trail to follow.’ The microwave pinged. Sam reached in to remove his own sustenance. ‘Two youths, neither Pazu. They’re confessing to the police right now.’ He saluted with bottle in hand and brought it to his lips.
I loved mesmerisation, especially in situations like this. I was sure Delaney would be getting a call soon enough that they had two more culprits in custody.
Sam angled his head in my direction, sniffed and grinned. ‘You’ve been hunting.’
‘Had to. I know who’s behind it all. Matt Sommers. I think he may be Pazu.’ I found the brandy and poured myself a glass.
Sam stared at me as if I’d just become human.
Marcus spun around. ‘You saw him? Saw the mark?’
‘No, but it fits.’ I told them my suspicions—the similarity between the surnames Sommerset and Sommers—and gave a brief report on what went down at the police station. ‘The older boy had the mark. Has to be a Davidoff if Sommers is a Sommerset. But it was the younger one who picked out Sommers in a photograph. Sommers was the one who told them about The Residence and to go burn it down. Delaney issued a warrant for his arrest.’ I downed two shots in quick succession.
‘My estimation of Detective Delaney is somewhat improved.’ Marcus’s dry comment almost had me smiling.
Must be the brandy.
‘There’s something else,’ I added. ‘Madame Gilbert rang Laura. Sommers showed up there with a warrant to question us about Jean-Philippe.’
Sam sank onto the sofa and knocked back the rest of his bottle. ‘He’s becoming a right royal pain in the arse.’
He didn’t need to say it, and there was no accusation in his voice, but I felt it just the same: I should’ve killed Sommers when I had the chance.
I downed another shot.
‘You’re blaming yourself. Don’t do that.’ Marcus grabbed one of the chess-set stools and sat down, his back against the window.
‘This could have been avoided.’
‘My boy, you did what you believed was right. You showed him mercy. That he was unworthy of it is not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. Had you known he was Pazu, you would’ve acted differently, and Laura would’ve understood ... in time.’
‘I should’ve seen it sooner.’
‘Deus! That’s so easy to say in hindsight. You’d never met a Pazu, had no experience with them. How were you to know? Even the most experienced of us who’ve fought them through the ages can be fooled. They’re very adept at hiding.’ He drank the last drops of blood in his bottle, placed it on the floor next to him, then moved a piece on the chessboard.
‘That, and they can’t let their target get away either. They study them, follow their movements, even ingratiate themselves with their kill before they strike. And once they do, they enter some kind of killing frenzy. They can’t seem to stop.’ Sam sat forward and twirled the empty bottle in his hands. ‘You know, you’re right, Alec. It should’ve clicked sooner.’ He waved the bottle at me. ‘Not you. I mean me. Actually, me and Jake. Come to think of it, Jake did notice. He hated the way Sommers kept tabs on Laura.’ He huffed. ‘It was right there, and we didn’t see it. Ugh!’ He knocked the bottle lightly against his head.
‘There’s still time to rectify it.’ Marcus moved another piece on the chessboard.
Sam shifted further forward till he sat on the edge of the sofa. He blew a lock of his light-brown hair off his brow. ‘If he’s still in France, we can send a few of our men—’
‘No. I believe Alec would like the pleasure.’ Marcus gave me a half-smile, and, for a split second, I saw a glimpse of Luc in those features, before he returned his attention to the chessboard.
I swallowed down the knot in my throat. Damn, I still missed the old fox. He would’ve approved of his father’s suggestion.
I shot Marcus a feral grin. ‘He’s mine, all right. Doubt he’s still in France, though. He would’ve returned by now.’
I sank into the other end of the sofa from Sam and threw back another shot of brandy. Madame Gilbert’s unease with Sommers’s lack of surprise haunted me. ‘Another thing. According to Madame Gilbert, Sommers sounded like he wasn’t expecting to find us there.’
‘When did she say that?’ Sam placed the empty bottle on the side table and angled around to face me.
‘When Sommers showed up at D’Antonville with a warrant to question us about Jean-Philippe. You were out hunting at the time.’
‘All right, okay. Crazy Pazu! They don’t know when to quit.’
‘Especially this one.’ Still, there was something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. ‘What I want to know is: why did he bother travelling all that way? And if he did know we weren’t going to be there, how did he find out? We only made the decision at the last moment.’ Brandy in one hand and crystal glass in the other, I stopped mid-pour, hit by a particularly troubling thought prompted by what Sam had said earlier. I put the bottle down. Pazu tracked their victim. Was Laura Sommers’s prey? Is that why he’d been dating her? Had she been his intended victim? Had he been stalking her? There was no way he could have possibly known about our move to Scotland otherwise. He’d have to be tracking us. But how?
My stomach bottomed out as question after question crowded my mind, and, like the pieces of a puzzle, a horrifying image came together.
‘He’s tracking her. I’m convinced of it. Through her phone, I’ll bet.’ I shot to my feet. The serpent ring flared to life as I pictured Laura’s face in my mind and called her name.
Her sweet voice answered.
Darling, get your phone. I have a feeling Sommers may have added a tracking device ... some sort of spyware on there. I sent her a mental picture of her app page and what to look for.
What?!! No way. He couldn’t have. Why would he do that? Her distress was palpable.
Because he’s a Pazu, and that’s what they do. I hadn’t meant for that to rhyme.
I married a poet, and I didn’t know it! She always knew how to make me smile.
‘You, um....’ Sam tapped his temple.
‘Yeah, it’s quite handy.’
‘You think her phone’s been jailbroken? Ask her if it’s been running hot all the time or taking too long to switch off. Does the battery run down much faster than normal, or does the screen light up for nothing?’ Sam said. ‘Tell her to check her apps for any she doesn’t recognise. Things like....’ He named a few.
‘Whoa, slow down a bit, Sam. I’ll try and relay as much of that as I can. Laura, here’s what you have to do.... Sam walked us through it, and roughly ten minutes later, she’d found the spyware. ‘Son of a bitch!’
Laura was silent at first before she let loose a string of cuss words I never thought she knew. I would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so serious. How could he do this to me? Isn’t it illegal? He’s a cop for Pete’s sakes! Of all the rotten, despicable...!
I agree on all those counts, darling. I glanced at Sam. Now let’s get rid of it. How do we get rid of it?’ I asked Sam.
‘Tell her to check her upgrades and download the latest one. That should reverse the intrusion. But to be really sure, tell her to reset her phone back to factory settings. I know it’s a hassle to reinstall everything, but at least her phone’ll be safe to use again.’
I relayed it all back to her.
She sighed. Doing it.... To think, I’d trusted him. What a fool I was! I couldn’t mistake the hurt in her voice.
No, you weren’t. You’re no fool, Laura. He’s a cunning bastard who took advantage of your goodness. He fooled us all, and now it’s time to end it.
What do you mean, end it?
‘Has she done it?’ Sam asked.
I gave him a thumbs up.
Delaney’s got an arrest warrant out for him for his part in the fire and deaths of our people.
Only a slight hesitation, then, Good!
‘It’s so weird seeing you staring off into space like that. If I didn’t know you were mind talking, I’d think you were having a seizure.’ Sam waved his hand in front of my face, then chuckled as I slapped it away. ‘Saw Luc use it a few times, and he had that same faraway look. But unlike you, his lips moved, so I knew he was using the ring.’
‘Well, now you know.’
Now I know what? Laura asked.
No, sorry, darling. That was meant for Sam. Seems my lips don’t move when we mind talk. He was worried I may be having a seizure!
Her sweet laughter flowed through my mind, and the image of us intertwined in the most intimate of ways had me longing to end this business and be with her once again.
Hurry back. Miss you like crazy.
Miss you too. The serpent ring’s eyes flared a moment, then died down, and Laura’s beautiful face faded from my mind. It was an effort to let her go. Deep breath. I refocused. ‘Laura’s glad about Sommers’s arrest warrant.’
Marcus turned his attention from his chess game and gave me a told-you-so smile, then moved another piece on the board. ‘If this Sommers is a Sommerset, then he has the Pazu sword.’
Luc had told me that only one Pazu sword had been destroyed here: the Davidoff’s. The other family had changed their name and gone into hiding. Who knew where they’d hidden the sword? Did Sommers know of it, or even where it was hidden? There was only one way to find out.
I glanced out the window. We still had around four hours of darkness before dawn. With Sommers’s scent still fresh in my nostrils, it wouldn’t be hard to locate his residence. The police were probably already on their way to arrest him. If the sword was there, we’d sense its presence at once. But what if it wasn’t?
‘There’s no guarantee he’s got it. It could be hidden anywhere.’
‘No Pazu is ever far from their wretched sword. It protects them. Protects their families,’ Sam said.
‘Check.’ Marcus moved another piece on the board.
From what I knew, none of our kind could come near, let alone touch, a Pazu sword. Within their houses, it acted like a protective guard, keeping us out. ‘So if Sommers’s great-grandfather wanted to protect his family, it’d be with the family rather than the individual.’ It clicked. ‘It must be at his mother’s house.’ I knew where it was. Laura had been there once or twice.
Marcus moved another piece on the chessboard. ‘Checkmate.’
Could it be that easy? But it posed another problem. ‘If the sword is there, we’ll need Richard’s help to get it out and destroy it. We can’t touch the thing.’
‘Get him to meet us there.’ Marcus laid the king down at the foot of his queen and stood. ‘We don’t have much time. I do not want to see an armed Pazu.’
‘Neither do I, but we just might if Sommers is there. What then?’ I had no intention of going there unprepared. ‘Do we have a plan?’
‘Only this.’ Marcus retrieved a silver dagger from inside his boot. ‘I keep it dipped in a tiny vial of pure opium in the sheath. In the past it’s been the only thing to have any effect on a Pazu. It knocks them out for a few minutes.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Hopefully, we wouldn’t have to resort to it.
Both Sam and I knew Sommers’s scent, so it didn’t take us long to pick it up and track him to his apartment building. He wasn’t there. Nor was the sword. Not unexpected, but it was better to be sure. He’d been there recently as his scent was fresh. We were then able to follow it to his family home in Glebe, in the inner west of the city.
At that time of the night, the suburban streets were empty. Shops were closed, apart from the Seven Eleven, whose sleepy cashier yawned behind the counter as we sped past. We rounded a corner, and Sommers’s scent strengthened. This was the street. Only one house still had its lights on, and he was inside.
We approached. The presence of the Pazu sword was unmistakable. The closer I stepped toward the front gate, the weaker I became, until I could barely stand.
On either side of me, Marcus and Sam were also struggling to remain upright. They dragged their feet just to reach the front fence. From there, we could go no further.
‘He was a damned Pazu all the time!’ I said between clenched teeth and dropped to my knees.
The porch light flicked on, the door opened and Sommers stood there, a gleaming sword gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes had always been light, but now they appeared almost deathly pale as if life had receded from them.
‘He’s gone full on Pazu,’ Sam uttered as he sank to his haunches beside me.
Only Marcus remained upright.
He threw his dagger. It embedded in Sommers’s right shoulder. Sommers staggered back but recovered, pulled the dagger out and dropped it to the ground. His expression remained unchanged, as if he was impervious to the pain. He hadn’t even bled. The wound instantly sealed.
‘Is that normal?’
Marcus nodded. ‘Only the strongest Pazu feel no pain and heal like us. It’s the sword. It bonds with them. The Matthew Sommers you knew is no longer there.’
Sommers lifted the sword high and came down the stairs toward us.
‘How long before the opiate works?’
‘Deus! It should have by now.’
Wonderful. So much for our plan.
Sam groaned and doubled over yet he still managed to whip out his own dagger and throw it. It never reached its mark. Sommers deflected it with the flat of the sword and it landed somewhere in the neighbour’s bushes.
That blasted sword put us at his mercy. We couldn’t touch it, let alone take it away from him. We were weak: he was strong, and he had the vampire-killing sword.
We were in trouble.
A cold wave spread from my toes up to my head. It turned the blood in my veins to ice. I could die this night, and Laura and our babe would be left alone to face this monster. The chill deepened and settled in my stomach.
We needed help: human help.
I glanced up at the dark houses around us. Time to wake up, people.
‘Sommers, put the weapon down,’ I shouted at the top of my voice as I slowly crept back to create more of a distance between us. The further away from the sword, the stronger I felt.
Sommers was now on the bottom step, eyes glazed, both hands gripping the deadly Pazu weapon. ‘I was coming to look for you, and here you are. Count the seconds, Munro.’
He jumped the fence and swung the sword straight at my head.
I ducked as the blade sliced close to my scalp. It thudded into the tree behind me.
Alec! Laura’s voice screamed in my mind. The serpent’s eyes are black! You’re in danger. I know it.
Sommers has the Pazu sword. He’s trying to kill us.
Weak as he was, Marcus tackled him, grunting as they hit the ground and rolled. Sam and I yelled out and tried to help, but weakness forced me to my knees.
One or two houses lit up. Not enough.
What can I do? What can I do? her panicked voice screamed.
‘Unnatural bastards! Kill the lot of you.’ Sommers stood over us. He brought the sword toward Marcus’s head.
My limbs trembling with weakness, and the sweat pouring off me, I rose and kicked Sommers’s legs out from beneath him. Then I collapsed. He went down, missing Marcus’s head by millimetres.
Pray! I completely opened my mind, so Laura could see through my eyes. I heard her sharp intake of breath.
Doors were opening. Voices around us.
‘Look ... look what that guy’s got. Is that a ... sword?’ one said, as he leaned over his fence to get a better view.
‘Someone call the police.’
It was echoed around, and soon more than half the street, some in dressing gowns and various states of dress, congregated near the Sommers’s house. Many were filming the scene on their phones.
Thank you!
Sommers sprang to his feet. He gazed around at the gathering crowd, and smiled. ‘Nothing like an audience to get the juices going.’ He lifted his hands, sword gripped tightly in one. ‘Who wants to see a vampire die?’
‘You’re crazy, man,’ someone called out.
Sommers’s smile widened. He brandished the wretched blade and brought it down, stopping it a hair’s breadth from my neck.
Laura screamed.
‘I want to enjoy every minute of this.’ He brought his face down to mine. ‘You’re not going to die quick. I want to see the fear, the terror in your eyes as I take you apart, piece by piece.’
Beads of sweat trickled into my eyes and my body trembled from weakness as Sommers laid the flat blade of the sword against my cheek.
‘Don’t you touch him!’ Laura screamed.
I couldn’t move. My thoughts were with Laura and our babe, who I would probably never see. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes awaiting his blow.
Stay alive! Stay alive and come back to me.
Laura.
‘Nah, I’m keeping you for last. You’re my dessert. Your fanghead friends can go first.’
‘Aarghh!’ He kicked me hard then strode to where Marcus knelt, his head bowed low to the ground.
Alec! I love you! Please ... try to move, crawl away. Anything. Stay alive!
Just to see her face again, to hold her in my arms.... I grit my teeth, dug my nails into the ground and clawed my way along the grass, away from Sommers.
Sirens!
Yes! The police are coming. The relief in Laura’s voice reflected my own. But they weren’t here yet.
‘Ready to meet your maker?’ Sommers stood poised above Marcus, sword held high.
No! Grandfather!
I held my breath, anger coursing through me at my utter helplessness.
People screamed. Some threw rocks and stones at him. Many met their mark but he appeared impervious, the rocks bouncing off him without leaving a mark.
More sirens. Flashing lights. Uniformed police spilled from cars and paddy wagons, tasers and guns aimed. They surrounded Sommers as he stood over Marcus, shouting at him to drop the weapon. From their talk, they were reluctant to take down one of their own.
‘C’mon DI, put the thing down. Everything’s going to be okay. Just drop it.’
He didn’t.
Ignoring them, his gaze flew to me. ‘Looks like you’ll be first after all.’ He kicked Marcus aside, strode over to me and planted his foot on my chest. The tip of the sword was aimed directly over my throat.
No! Leave him alone!
‘Put the weapon down! Now!’ police voices yelled.
‘Just ... shoot him!’ I croaked out. Drained of nearly all strength, I relied on the police to do their job and hoped Sommers didn’t plunge his sword into me before they did.
His features twisted in a semblance of a smile. ‘I want to savour this moment.’
‘Nooooo! Matt! Don’t do it! Please, please, please ...’
‘Take all ... the time ... you need.’ I turned my head toward the police. ‘Shoot ... him!’
‘Taser! Taser! Taser!’ Police fired and Sommers cried out, his body contorting and jerking with electrical shocks.
The sword dropped from Sommers’s hand, nicking my throat as it fell to stick in the grass. My neck stung. That was close. Any nearer to the middle of my throat, and I would’ve been skewered. Within an instant, the wound began to heal.
Two police grabbed me and dragged me to safety as others pinned Sommers to the ground. ‘You hurt, mate?’ one asked me.
‘I’m fine. He missed.’ Her voice echoing in my mind, Laura cried with relief. I sent to her, ‘I’m all right, darling. It’s all right.’
‘Not from what I saw.’ The cop’s gaze focused on my neck and down the length of the cut on my coat, brows drawing together when he saw no corresponding injuries.
‘Good leather.’ Far enough away from the Pazu blade, some of my strength returned, and I was able to stand and watch the evolving scene.
Marcus and Sam joined me. ‘Deus! Glad to see you alive, my boy.’ Marcus thumped me on the back.
‘That makes two of us.’
Little did the police know they were doing our job for us. Soon Sommers would be arrested, and that damn sword confiscated. With any luck, I’d arrange for Richard to obtain it for us sometime later so it could be destroyed. I couldn’t have planned it better.
A smile stole across my face.
Amidst all the shouting, and being pinned to the ground, Sommers turned his head toward me.
‘You fucking fanghead!’ He threw off the men holding him down like they were made of paper and shot to his feet. He grabbed the sword. Holding it high, he came straight for me.
Oh! Laura sucked in a breath.
‘Drop it! Drop it or I’ll shoot!’
‘Taser him again!’
Three tasers hit their target. He should’ve been completely incapacitated. There was enough power in those Tasers to floor an elephant, yet he still managed to stagger to his feet before finally collapsing.
It was unnerving to see a Pazu in all its strength.
Another police car swerved to a stop near us. The door swung open, and Delaney charged out. He squatted next to Sommers, who lay writhing on the ground. ‘Matt! Look at me.’
‘Kill the ... fangheads!’ Sommers stopped twitching. He studied Delaney a moment, then tried to rise.
More police closed in, Tasers at the ready, some with guns.
‘Stay where you are, Matt. Don’t move.’ Delaney placed a hand on his shoulder and kept him on the ground while he fished out handcuffs. ‘You have to come with me. We have the youths who burnt down the Lebrettan place. They confessed everything. We know you’re involved. I’m sorry to do this, but’ —he took on an official tone— ‘Matthew Sommers, you’re under arrest for complicity in arson with intent to murder.’
Sommers snarled, pushed him aside and sprang to his feet, sword in hand. ‘I thought you were on my side. You understood. They’re vampires ... fangheads. They’re not human!’
Delaney paled and took a step back. ‘Put the weapon down, Matt.’
‘If you don’t get out of my way, I’ll have to kill you too.’ He pointed the sword at Delaney’s chest.
Shots rang out. Sommers fell to the ground, his body riddled with bullets. Not even a Pazu could survive that. Yet, in spite of our enmity, I automatically surged forward to give what medical aid I could. But the power of the sword held me back.
His heartbeat stuttered then fell silent, and I sensed the withdrawal of his essence.
Sommers was dead.
Laura’s breath hitched. Since we were still psychically connected, the same tremor of shock that ran through her hit me. I hadn’t expected this.
Oh Matt! She cried.
I’m sorry you had to see that. I did not wish that for him. I had more like several years in jail for him in mind or a complete mind wipe with no chance of reversal.
Neither did I. I ... feel sick.... Her presence retreated from my mind.
After the initial shock passed, I couldn’t but thank whatever providence arranged it this way. His death did not come at my hands. I could look Laura in the eye with a clear conscience.
The police seized the Pazu sword and bagged it. Marcus, Sam and I stood at a distance and watched as the ambulance arrived and took Sommers’s body away. I told them to head back to Bondi, to let Amanda and our Brethren know the danger was over.
Delaney came to me. For a few moments neither of us spoke.
‘Off the record,’ he began, voice strained with emotion. ‘Tell me how this started.’
I did.
When I ended, he turned to me with red-rimmed eyes. ‘I don’t hold you responsible for what happened. The Matt Sommers I knew was not the same man I saw tonight. He was ready to kill me, and he nearly killed you.’
What could I say? I simply nodded.
‘I’ve seen the work you do in the hospital, the lives you’ve saved and the glowing testimonials. You strike me as a good man, considering what you are. But I’ve arrested many killers who came across as good men.’
So why should I be any different? He didn’t have to say the words. The implication was there all the same. At least he was being candid.
‘John Philip Reynold. Portrait artist. Painting of his is hanging in a gallery in Double Bay. It’s of Laura. The artist seems to be missing. Tell me what you know about it.’
My stomach took a deep dive. Damn Jean-Philippe! ‘I believe you know the answer to that already.’
‘I’d prefer to hear it from you.’
Two choices faced me: either mesmerise him or tell him the truth and hope for the best. If I resorted to the former, then it wouldn’t be too hard to destroy the evidence by breaking into the gallery, stealing the portrait and wiping the minds of the staff.
It was a definite option.
But I thought I’d try the second option first. Delaney had been fair with me all this time. The least I could do was return the favour. I told him my side of the story.
Delaney listened, nodded once or twice, sharp but desperately sad eyes locked on mine. ‘I see,’ he finally said. ‘I’m dropping the inquiry against you. Go away, Dr Munro. Don’t let our paths cross again.’
Two nights later, and we were back on the jet, flying out to Scotland. The Brethren had been placated knowing the Pazu killers had been caught and would be spending a long time in jail. They weren’t demanding a new princeps, which was the main thing.
Before we left, I’d arranged for the Pazu sword to mysteriously disappear from the police evidence room in a few months’ time—after everything had died down. Amanda and Richard would see to its destruction. As far as I was concerned, the Pazu threat was over.
I sat back and closed my eyes, letting my thoughts wander to Drunvela ... to Laura.
Peace for now ... I hoped.
