His skin reddened and blistered and he screamed.
Xander grabbed me again. “Joey.”
I wheeled on him. “Not a good time, Xander.” My face twisted into a grimace. “He knows about Callie and Mel. So, just back away.”
Without question or comment, he stepped away from me. We had served three tours together, and he knew when I had fallen beyond reason. For me to stop at that point, he would have had to fight me.
Turning back to the vampire, I held the cup near my waist, finger in the water the entire time, keeping it nice and steamy. “Let’s start from the beginning,” I said. “What’s the symbol on the ring stand for?”
Vampires, in their human form, felt pain as much as anyone else. By the way this one looked at me—no smile, wide eyes, trembling lips, and half his face bubbled with burns—I figured he had had about enough of the water. “It’s her sign,” he said. “That’s all I know. I swear.”
“Who is ‘her?’” I asked.
His eyes were glued to the red cup, shedding a little warm water of their own. “The Mother. We only know her as that. I swear.”
I held the cup to his lips and tipped it slightly—not enough for the water to spill, but enough for him to feel the steam pouring off the surface. “And that’s who stole my daughter? This Mother?”
He held his face as still as stone, not wanting to accidentally bump the cup and spill water on himself. “No… she had her Cursed take Melanie.”
That was it. The Mother was a Nephil and she controlled the Ravens. But who was she? I brought the cup closer to him, letting him sweat. “Where do I find her? This Mother?”
The vampire gasped. “I don’t know. I’ve only ever seen her in shadows… like earlier. In the garage.”
“That was her?” I asked, pulling the cup away from his mouth. Maybe torture worked a little better than I had given it credit for earlier. I’d have to revisit the subject sometime.
The vampire nodded his confirmation.
“Does she control you and your actions and all of the others when you’re all Ravens?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
I glanced back at Xander. He didn’t show surprise, but I knew his heart rate had spiked as much as mine. Now that I had accessed my magic again, I sensed the world through an enhanced perception. I heard Xander’s pulse quicken with the information.
I rolled my shoulders and cleared my throat. “Who else can I talk to? Someone who knows more about this Mother, and where I can find her.”
The vampire closed his eyes. “Maybe the Priestess.”
“Who?”
“Elizabeth,” he explained. “I don’t know where she lives or what she looks like, but I hear she finds most of… of her victims at the Snake Head Lounge. Goes home with them around closing time. That’s all I know. That’s it.”
I bit my lip and faced Xander. He scowled at me, eyes narrowed. I didn’t believe the vampire was lying, nor did I believe he knew anything more. We had driven that road to a dead end and now we needed to explore another path.
“I have one more question,” I said, returning my attention to the vampire. “This Mother lady, she’s connected to both Callie and Mel?”
The vampire nodded. “Yes.”
“Why? Because of me? Because of who I was and what I did?”
“I… don’t know. But I was there with Callie. I saw her… saw her taken.” Did he choose his words carefully to not remind me she had been murdered?
“And you were also a part of tonight, a part of Mel’s disappearance.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
For a moment, I pondered the information he had provided. Without taking my eyes from the vampire, I said, “Xander, I’m going home to get my weapons.”
“You’re sure?” Xander asked. His lips twitched upward as he struggled not to smile.
“I suspect I’ll have some company waiting for me at the house. Some more of his kind.” I nodded at the vampire. “Once they’re gone, though, I’ll get showered and ready to hit the club. It’s barely past ten, now. Night’s still young. You care to accompany me?”
“You’re inviting me out?” he asked.
“I mean, it’s been five years since I’ve seen you and all. It’s going to be fun. I’d hate for you to miss out on a good time.”
He stepped toward me and patted me on the back. “Pregame at your house?”
“Like old times.” I motioned to make my exit. “Oh, wait.” Turning to face the vampire and the M.I.S. agents, I said, “Sorry, ladies, but we’re going against protocol on this one. No chance for this vampire to find Jesus and turn his life around.”
I threw the steaming red cup at the vampire, creating a quick distraction, then I reached for Xander’s hip and drew one of his celestial sidearms—the one he’d used to kill the Ravens back in the garage.
Before anyone had a chance to protest, I popped the champagne and started the party off right.
6
I drove our car—the one I had hijacked from the garage—to my house, and Xander rode shotgun. My windshield wipers smeared the pouring rain and the oncoming light across my field of vision, blurring the roads. I squinted into the night, pressing hard on the gas pedal.
Mel had lived with Derek and Marie in a suburban house on the outskirts of a small town south of Sacramento. I lived about five miles away, in the country. There was less motor traffic to worry about, but more cattle traffic to be wary of. Cows often escaped from the shoddy fences used by the neighboring farms.
