Death Bringer

“As if that ever bothered the Fae.”

“True.” His smile was slight and looked painful. “Shall we go down to the ER?”

She nodded at the security team and shut the door behind them. It was quiet, as if the building held its breath, waiting to see who would win the nightly struggle over life and death the hospital waged. They walked back along the hallway toward the exit. She almost bumped into Vadim when he suddenly stopped in front of Brad’s old room. She frowned. Shouldn’t someone be guarding this space?

He put his hand on her arm and she cautiously opened her senses to the fractured magic around them.

“Is someone in there?”

“I don’t know.”

He pushed open the unlatched door and they both viewed the scene. Everything looked the same. The bed was still at a crazy angle, Brad’s ripped-off bandages lay on the floor and everywhere there was glass shining in the light coming through the broken window and the hallway.

She shivered. “Can’t they even board up the window? ”

Vadim didn’t answer her. His attention seemed to be riveted on the floor by the window, where the glass was...

“Shit, it’s moving around!”

His fingers tightened on her arm. Shards of glass glittered and writhed on the floor. Tiny flashes of crimson—Vadim’s blood?—joined the mass of movement and formed into characters displayed against the floor. She didn’t understand the language. From the hitch in her partner’s breath, she reckoned he did.

“Is that Fae?”

He still didn’t answer her as the glass swirled and finally dispersed into a sea of dangerous shards.

“Morosov?”

He shook his head and walked out of the room, leaving her to chase after him. She poked him in the side.

“What was that all about?”

“Just a message from Adam.”

“Saying what?”

“To back off.”

“As if we would.”

He stopped moving and looked down at her, his gaze shadowed. “Maybe we should just let him be.”

“And stand back and watch his mutilate two more people on our watch? You’re nuts if you think I’d go along with that.” She practically stamped her foot. “What’s wrong with you?”

His smile was wry. “Perhaps I’m scared.”

“You? The big bad bird?”

“You can’t win every battle, Ella. I’m living proof of that. Sometimes it’s better to let something go, and avoid causing harm to even more people you care about.”

“Everyone who works for the SBLE knows the risks of dealing with Otherworld. None of them are cowards. Do you really think that a threat from a secret sect would make them all run away?”

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

“But it’s still the truth. If we let Adam get away with this, the next monster might want to take ten lives or twenty. Do we turn away from that, as well? Eventually we’ll have nothing left to protect, and our world will be annexed. I’m not going to let that happen.” She paused to stare up at him. “Are you?”

“You’re a brave woman, Ella Walsh.”

“Humph.” She started moving again, and after a moment, he followed her down the stairs to the ER.

Brad’s body hadn’t been put in the morgue yet but was being guarded in a more private area in the ER. Ms. Phelps saw them approaching and told the security guards to let them through. She held a handkerchief to her mouth and looked to be on the verge of passing out.

“He’s in there.” She waved a helpless hand at the door. “Please forgive me if I can’t accompany you.”

Ella patted her shoulder as they went past. Even if you’d seen as many dead bodies as she had, they were never easy.

She waited until Vadim closed the door behind him and joined her beside the corpse. The smell already reminded her of a rotting apple or a compost heap. She carefully uncovered the body and stared down at Brad’s now-motionless face.

“His body’s a mess. Why isn’t his face smashed in?”

Vadim put his hand out and passed it over Brad’s skin. His magic resonated through Ella. “Because the face doesn’t belong to him.”

“Like it’s not connected or touched by his death?”

“I assume so.”

“Will someone, or something, come and take it back?”

“I don’t know. If Adam wanted it, why didn’t he just take it when he got in to see Brad?”

“Because he wanted him to die more than he wanted the face back?”

“I suspect that’s part of it.” Vadim pulled the sheet back up over what remained of Brad. “The magic feels the same to me. How about you?”

“Like Adam? Yeah, that’s what I’m getting too. At least we can assume he’s working alone.”

“Apart from his affiliation with the sect.”

“Which we haven’t confirmed.”

“Oh, he’s connected. I’m convinced of that now.” Vadim washed his hands at the sink, and she did the same. “We should be getting back to the office.”

“I’m still driving.” She dug out his car keys and steered him toward the stairs that led to the parking lot below. “You can heal yourself in the car.”

* * *

The lights were already on in the big conference room, and Ella headed there. Vadim was still complaining about her driving. She hadn’t hit anything, had she? She heard him behind her and increased her pace, nodding to Liz, who was already seated next to Feehan at the table.

“How are you feeling, Vadim?”

Liz jumped to her feet and Ella bristled as she patted and cooed over poor, poor Morosov. He was fine! He’d magicked himself all better in the car and had still had time to criticize her driving. She had the most ridiculous desire to slap Liz’s hands away and growl at her. Was that how Vadim felt when men looked at her? Was she turning into one of those women? It was incredibly uncool. She chose a seat as far away from her partner as possible, then kicked the table leg with the side of her boot until Liz finally sat back down.

Feehan nodded at Vadim. “I’ve given them the basics, but you were actually there. So can you tell everyone what happened?”

Ella waited for him to finish speaking, noting carefully what he said and what he didn’t. There was no mention of the cryptic Fae message in the broken glass, but she’d half expected that. If Feehan thought Adam threatened them all, he’d be straight over to Otherworld, demanding that all kinds of shit happen, and he’d be dead.

“You couldn’t break Delia’s trance?” Feehan asked.

“Not easily. Each Fae’s spell is unique to the individual and to his line. If Delia hasn’t recovered by tomorrow, there are other ways of freeing her.”

“More dangerous ways. The Fae don’t like it when their spells are threatened or tampered with.’” Liz turned to Vadim, her eyes as silver as her Fae-Web, and her expression not human at all. “Be wary, the human mind is very frail.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Of course, you bespelled Brad, didn’t you?”

Ella shot a glance at Liz. “What makes you think that?”

“Just an educated, Fae-Web-assisted guess.” Liz allowed herself a small satisfied smile. “The other patients were virtually impossible to sedate, and yet Brad was reported to be sleeping like a baby.”