Shattered Circle

killed how many times since she got involved with you and that vampire?”

Johnny’s chin dropped shamefully.

“Right now she’s stuck in a meditation downstairs. You”—she poked him in the chest—“were here. I bet she saw Menessos tonight, too. He resides an hour away.” She shuffled a step forward. Johnny eased a step back. “He is accustomed to the night, and more than normal stress.” She gained another few inches on him, and Johnny retreated again. “He can use magic. He could probably have fixed this . . . but you called me. I had to get my ass out of bed in the middle of the night and come home to fix this.”

Johnny could say nothing. She was right.

Demeter put her hands on her hips. “Hate him if you have to, Johnny. Hate him because he wants her and you feel threatened by that. But trust him, damn it. You three have to trust each other if any of you hope to survive this.”

She brushed past him and headed down the steps.

Johnny followed. “Hey, I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

“You didn’t.” On the second floor, she walked into Red’s bedroom and lifted a tray off the bed. Demeter had obviously gathered some spell supplies from Red’s stock. She must have come up to the attic after listening to him play awhile.

He followed her into the bedroom. “But—”

Demeter turned with the tray in her hands. “I’m not angry with you for calling me or bringing me here. Am I tired? Yes. Cranky? Hell, yes. I want to be here, but you didn’t think about who else was at your disposal. Or did you? Did you decide you didn’t want him to come to the rescue?”

Johnny admitted, “I didn’t even consider him.”

Demeter pushed the tray at him. “You carry this. You’re steadier than I am.”

“Your knees okay? You want me to go first so you can hold my arm?”

“I’m fine,” she grumbled and descended the main stairs, gripping the handrail tight. Near the bottom, where the rail was broken, she paused and moved closer to the wall and let her hand slide along it to steady herself.

When she reached the bottom she stepped around the hole in the floor and looked back up at him. “C’mon.” She waved. “You better help Mountain get this mess cleaned up before the others get here.”

“If they’re coming from Cleveland we have an hour.”

She snorted again. “You can put the pedal to the metal in that race car of yours all you want, young man, but a broomstick will beat you every time.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Goliath directed Vinny and two other guards to remain in the accounting office with Talto, who, despite being alarmingly weakened by Menessos’s feeding, had been securely bound to a heavy steel-framed office chair. He’d even insisted the wheels be removed from the chair.

As they descended to the ground level Goliath ordered three guards to rush to the front and check for signs of Ailo’s leaving. “If none are found, take positions to contain her. Use the utmost care to see that the child is not harmed,” he added. The last three guards were to continue with him and Menessos to the suite of the Erus Veneficus.

He studied Menessos as they ran through the haven. His former master had wiped his face on his sleeve, but smears of Talto’s blood still tainted his features. He’d gifted the child and relinquished their bond in one night. Either of those feats singularly would have been all any other vampire could hope to accomplish in one night; having achieved both was astounding.

And now this.

Having fed from two Beholders as well as having taken a risky amount of blood from Talto had done much to restore Menessos—but that recuperation was merely physical. By tapping into the ley line, one could empower their magical self like using a highly caffeinated energy drink to fuel the physical body. The line provided a rapid burst, not something that was sustainable as “normal.” As with the perks of the beverage, the energy borrowed from the ley line was expended at a faster rate, and in the end, the ley lines tended to take more than they gave, depleting something intangible, exhausting the spirit as well as the body.

Goliath hoped that what Menessos had consumed would prove to be enough to get him through this night. If Ailo was gone, his former master was going to have to work magic again, and utilize that bond created between him and the sisters to find her or bring her back.

Making it worse was the fact that there was little time left before the dawn.

They crossed the house of the theater, seeing several chairs toppled and a table overturned. She’s looking for a weapon, he thought. The metal furniture would require more time than she had to tear it apart.

They arrived in the backstage area where Vinny had earlier sat on duty. The door to the Erus Veneficus’s suite was open. Smoke was pouring out of it. Something was burning inside; golden light flickered within.

Menessos rushed up the steps. Goliath was on his heels.

As they charged across the room, it seemed everything was in flames. The room was destroyed anyway, furniture overturned and broken. Glass and scraps of fabric dotted the floor. The couch was in flames, as were the countertop and stools to the right, the curtains in the back. The stink of all that was burning filled his nostrils, but under it all, he smelled blood.

Beside him, Menessos slowed. A glance revealed Risque lying behind the couch. Knowing Menessos would handle it, Goliath pressed on to the back, where Beverley had been sleeping.

The flames had not reached the bed. He threw back the covers and found it empty. He dropped to his knees to check beneath it. He scrambled up and threw back the closet door. He spun to the bathroom and nearly ripped the door from its hinges as he opened it. Not finding her, he rushed back to Menessos.

“She’s not here.”

The guards ran through the main door, each with a fire extinguisher in hand. They had the flames out in seconds.

“I’ll tend to Risque,” Menessos said. “You get Ailo.” He called to one of the guards, “Get a doctor in here!” The guard nodded, clanging and clomping down the metal stairs.

Goliath didn’t leave. Instead, he grabbed a torn throw pillow, ripped off the rest of the top, and applied pressure to Risque’s side with it.

Menessos cradled her head in his hand and stared into the half-demon’s face. “I should have had her slay them. Not bind them to me.” His gaze strayed to one of the barstools near the kitchen, to the splintered and jagged edge of the wooden leg that had broken off. “I cannot slay Ailo now that she is bound to me.”

“Hindsight,” Goliath said. “But you can use that binding to find Ailo or track her, can’t you?”

Menessos nodded.

“You find Ailo and let me tend Risque,” Goliath said. “By the time I get her to the infirmary, you’ll have the information, and then we will go collect Beverley . . . and do what needs to be done.” He was no longer bound to Menessos; he could easily slay Ailo.

Menessos rose to his feet.

•  •  •

Liyliy had known by the exterior of the dingy little hotel that their driver had secured for them—a drab, blue- gray siding above brickwork—that she was not going to be staying in opulent accommodations for the day. She’d glared at Giovanni before entering. He’d said, “They will not search for us here.”

Now as she stood staring out the window at a world that was yet sleeping, she tried to think on the news she’d been given this night, but the last few hours before dawn seemed to pass so swiftly. The Death that awaited weighed on her like lead.

“Adam will keep us out of the light and make sure no one enters,” Giovanni assured her.

She glanced away from the window to their driver. Adam. She hadn’t known his name before. He was an older man, plain, trying to dress younger than his years in a solid-colored sweatshirt and