The Taste Of Night

me, he’d already have done it, and I wouldn’t be able to scent him at all.

“I can see you’re willing to sacrifice your life for the cause of the Light,” he finally said, his voice deceptively reasonable. “And you can see I’m not willing to let you do that.”

“So we’ve reached a stalemate. Again.”

“Not necessarily,” he said, and gestured Joaquin over to his side like he was a dog expected to heel. Joaquin didn’t look happy rounding out our sordid little triangle, though he put on a brave face when he caught me watching.

“Sure you don’t want to join the Shadows, Joanna?” he said, and I frowned, momentarily distracted by his use of my real name. An automatic response? Or hadn’t he told the Tulpa of my identity yet either?

“Why?” I asked him coldly. “You want to kiss and make up?”

He managed a leer. “You guessed part of it anyway.”

I feigned a yawn and looked back at the Tulpa. He leaned over and pushed the vial of serum my way. That perked me right up, and I looked up to find his gaze, dark again, boring into mine. “Go on. It’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? Want to save the world, daughter? Risk your own life to get back in good with your pathetic troop? Give a second chance to thousands of unworthy souls?”

“Innocents,” I corrected, which earned me a rueful smile. My fingers itched as I looked at the vial.

“Sure,” he scoffed. “The vermin filling my casino with their death breath are so innocent. The street hookers and the pedophiles, and your fellow partyers at the swingers’ ball, they’re all innocent.”

I jerked my head. “They deserve a chance. They deserve a choice.”

“Hm,” he said, his voice filled with false remorse. “And all they have is you.”

Joaquin’s gaze met mine. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“And you,” the Tulpa said to him, catching the movement. “I don’t think even I’ll live to see the day when you act out of concern or loyalty for someone other than yourself. You have all the depth of a wading pool. All the devotion of a rabid cat.”

“Sir?” Joaquin frowned, swallowing hard. The Tulpa ignored him, turning back to me.

“Unfortunately,” he said breezily, “you’re one of mine, and she’s not. Then again, she’s my only blood, and you’re not. Some would say her stubbornness is an inherited trait-hard to dispute-but just in case that stubbornness comes from her fucking mother’s side and not mine, I’m going to give both of you a chance.”

His teeth gleamed again in the sole spotlight. “It should end the way it began, don’t you think? The two of you, out in the desert night.” He held the cylindrical vial aloft. “The future of the valley lies in this little bottle. If Joaquin wins, he’ll be credited with the destruction of Las Vegas and its inhabitants. He’ll go down in the manuals as one of the greatest villains of all time.”

My eyes flicked to Joaquin and I could tell immediately the idea appealed to him. He’d do anything to star in the manuals he so eagerly devoured. “I get to kill her too, right?”

“Oh yes.”

I smirked. “Thanks, Pop.”

His attention stayed trained on Joaquin. “Daughter or not-Kairos or not-if she can be killed by the likes of you, I don’t want her.”

I didn’t know who was supposed to be more insulted by that, Joaquin or me. I cleared my throat. “And if I win?”

Carelessly he pointed the vial my way, like nothing precious lay between his fingertips. “You’ll earn the antidote, save all the living, supernatural or not, and we’re back to where we started. Balanced and even, each side fighting for dominance while we wait for the third sign of the Zodiac to be revealed.”

Joaquin cracked his knuckles. “So, combat, then? Mano a mano?”

I shook my head slowly, eyes narrowed on the Tulpa. “That’s not it, is it?”

Joaquin snorted. “Afraid?”

I snorted back. “Hey, asswipe. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not the one making the rules.” I turned back to the Tulpa. “Hand combat is too simple, too fast, too…pedestrian for dear old Dad’s taste. Right?”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t call me old, but other than that…” He shrugged and began flipping the precious vial through his fingers again, bloodred and crystal flashing between the tanned skin.

Joaquin turned to stare at him. “So what then?”

“A race,” he answered shortly, voice emptied of all emotion, like he had nothing invested in the outcome. “A flight among the streets you two have canvassed more thoroughly than any other agents. You’re looking for this.”

He withdrew another vial from his pocket, uncapped it, and waited while Joaquin and I inhaled, each fighting to make out the scent inside first. I closed my eyes, despite the immediate dangers in the room, and focused on ferreting out the olfactory thread leaking from that bottle, separating it from the others, drawing it through my pores. Almonds, chalk, soured milk, and starch. My eyes flipped open. “Ian.”

If it was possible, Joaquin looked even more surprised than I. “But he’s-”

“He’s what, Joaquin?” the Tulpa said sharply. “Locked away? Fettered in your secret hideaway, safe from all prying eyes?”

Joaquin swallowed hard. A taut undercurrent shimmered in the air, friction between the two men, an unspoken animosity that I’d have been able to capitalize on if I’d known about it sooner. Still, it might not be too late. Shit, it might be just the thing that was giving me this chance now. I shifted, leaning on my left leg, hoping I looked like I was simply altering my stance, though inching closer to Joaquin in the process.

“So when do we start?” I asked, shifting again.

“Now.”

“Now?” Joaquin repeated, still numbed by the Tulpa’s hostility.

“Now,” I said, and my left arm ratcheted down as my right leg whipped out, a perfectly timed sidekick containing all the momentum I could muster from a motionless position. I caught Joaquin in the side of the head and he crumpled, out before he’d even hit the floor.

The Tulpa laughed. “I assume that was for the afraid remark.”

“Among other things,” I said dryly.

My hand shifted to my conduit, but the Tulpa shook his head, making a tsking sound. “Not until you’re out of the building. Until then, I suggest you use your lead wisely. He won’t be out for long.”

I didn’t have to be told twice. I ran, taking the stairs two at a time. He was right, I thought, bursting through the stairwell door. I’d use my lead to find Ian, secure the vial, and save the known world. Murdering Joaquin could wait a little longer.

32

The Tulpa let me have my head start, but he didn’t make it easy on me. I exploded into the casino and shot for the front entrance as quickly as my legs would take me. It wasn’t as precarious a trip as it would’ve been had the casino been packed, but I still had to dodge geriatric gamblers and jaded cocktail waitresses while careening past slot banks, all of which nearly slowed me down to a mortal’s pace. A woman running helter-skelter through a casino would’ve caught attention in any case, but I’d had the feeling of being watched from the moment I stepped back on the tacky carpeting, and my guess was that the Tulpa’s telepathic skills extended to mortals. Two Valhalla guards- not Shadows, just guards-were waiting for me as I whipped through the lobby, and another pair stood at the ready, guarding the front exit.

I dodged the first, ignoring their yells as they fell in behind me, and if I’d been darting down the fifty-yard line, I’d have been home free. The second pair were more of a worry.

They expected me to dodge, or alter my direction. Instead I ducked, barreling directly into the first man’s legs, flipping him over the top of me with the force of my momentum. Releasing him, I palmed the ground and swept the second guard’s legs out from under him as he came at me. Then I gained my feet and burst through the front doors, rounding a corner to press myself against the outside wall, and tried to look casual. The dozen or so people waiting in the taxi queue stared.