Chills rippled through me and my skin rose in goose flesh. No one was eating apart from the dog and Cowboy.
“When the bill was passed, it was unanimous. Abnormals had been acknowledged in the past but were not openly accepted. We had our place in certain parts of every town. We were outsiders, but there was no real issue. A certain flavor of hatred and fear that most normals barely held contained.”
The boys nodded. I didn’t move.
“The bill stated that abnormals were hiding in plain sight and were manipulating the government. Senators Rylee, Alexander, and Ashspur were all immediately outed as abnormals and taken.”
Well, shit. That explained that side of things.
“Taken where? They weren’t in our facility,” I said.
Carlos shook his head. “I don’t know. Rosita was looking for them when she went missing. When they took her.”
He handed me a picture of his daughter. Dark-haired with deeply intense amber eyes, she was younger than me by a few years and would stand out in any crowd with her natural beauty and the curves she’d inherited from her mother. She hadn’t been in our facility, but I already knew that. I held the picture. “Go on.”
Carlos spread his hands on the table. “After that, abnormals were scooped up left and right. The majority of humans didn’t even seem to understand what was happening or why. The bill was vague at best, but it gave the government the right to remove abnormals from society.”
“With no reason?”
He nodded. “Zero reason. Specially trained and equipped squads were sent out at night, and they used the airborne mist to knock out entire apartment buildings so they could scoop up the abnormals. I saw it happen once, so it is not a rumor.”
His story rang of truth, but there was something missing. “Someone has to be heading this up. Who is it? Which senator?”
“As far as we can tell, no one. The bill was put forward and was passed, but when we tried to find out who had done it, there was no senator behind it. It just showed up and they passed it. The facility you were in was the only one I knew about at the time. Which is why I got the job at the hospital. I hoped they would bring an injured abnormal in for treatment. Rio agreed it was a good plan. I never expected to find three escapees. And certainly not you, Nix.”
His wife put her hand to her mouth. “The Phoenix?”
I nodded.
Dinah laughed. “She had her wings clipped. Shocking, isn’t it?”
“Shut it, Dinah.” I slapped a hand over her.
Anita put her hand to her chest. “I knew Zee. He trained me.”
That stuck a sharp stab right through my heart. “He died protecting me,” I said softly. “He used too much ability and lost his mind.” That was the nice way of putting it, but I wasn’t going to give her the details of his death. Not here, not now.
She closed her eyes and a tear slid from one. Either she was an extraordinary actress, or she was truly hurt by that news.
Call me cruel, but part of me wondered if it was an act. I’d been duped by tears a few times, so I didn’t like to give too much weight to them and the emotions they evoked.
“And now?”
“The squads still make regular hits on different buildings, but they’re taking in fewer prisoners each time. The abnormals left on the streets are savvy and avoiding them easier and easier. But they are still being taken,” Carlos said. “How many new abnormals do you get?”
“They just fill in the blanks when one dies.” I tapped one finger on the table. “There was no one new in our neck of the woods other than Cowboy here.” I tipped my head toward the kid.
“You sure he’s not a plant?” Anita asked.
I snorted. “Because they knew we were going to break out? That I’d have a soft spot for the kid? No, they were in our heads but not in mine like that.”
Now it was my turn to fill them in, and I did as quickly as I could. The fingers in our minds, the blank looks, the guards, and Eligor.
“I know that name,” Anita said. She turned and grabbed a book, the name scrawled out on it popping out to me. Demonology.
I nodded. “Me too. I believe . . . it’s the name of a demon. I’m sure of it—I studied them after my last run-in. Demons doing this makes sense, but they still must have someone driving them. The other names he mentioned I’m not as sure of. But Eligor, I am.” I could already see the players lining up. “If I were to guess right now and lay money on it, I would say that someone has called in a big player, a powerful demon who has his own underlings, and the demon is eliminating anyone who could stand in his way. Once the abnormals are locked up, who can stop the demons? A human priest? Doubtful. All the good priests were abnormals hiding in plain sight.”
“This is why you need to go see Rio. He has connections to the few others still in play. A Hider is helping him. She’s young but strong.”
My only plan was to go to New York to find intel on Killian. I was going after my son, not some demon on a vendetta.
A wash of fatigue hit me hard and I closed my eyes, breathing through it. Anita noticed first. “They are exhausted, Carlos. Come, I will show you where you can sleep. Carlos and I will hide this place for the night so you can all sleep in peace. But you must go in the morning.”
Peter followed her as if he were a well-trained pup. A Magelore sleeping peacefully in the same house as me, under the protection of a couple of Hiders. I wouldn’t
