“It’s okay,” I managed, and fled.
I tried not to look like someone who was expecting rogue police officers to descend in force with handcuffs and truncheons. I tried not to feel like it was St. Louis all over again. I made it to Glynda’s Ford Focus and opened the driver’s side door with shaking hands, sliding inside and slamming it behind me before clicking the locks shut.
Heart still galloping, I started the engine, adjusting the seat and mirrors just in case I had to move fast. In between checking every few seconds for approaching red and blue lights, I pulled Rans’ phone out and unlocked it, scrolling through the contact list. A.C. was there, as was Guthrie, under his own name. Further down was an entry called ‘Tink.’ Albigard, I was willing to bet.
I checked my surroundings again, while also keeping an eye on the time.
It occurred to me that I should add these numbers to my burner phones, in case I ever needed them and didn’t have access to his. I was still carrying one of the cell phones I’d bought in St. Louis; the other was packed in my luggage in the trunk. Pulling it out of my pocket, I tapped in the three contacts I thought I’d recognized, plus Rans’ number.
Seven minutes had passed since I started the car. There was still no sign of any police arriving... and now a familiar figure was approaching along the sidewalk. I breathed a sigh of relief. Rans looked like he was out for a casual stroll—completely unconcerned. I unlocked the doors as he approached, and he eased himself into the passenger seat.
“Deep breath, luv,” he said. “I’m ninety-nine percent certain that my attempt at damage control was successful. Well... ninety percent.” He paused. “Definitely more than eighty-five percent. Anyway, I’m sorry about all that. I should’ve considered that the Fae might be utilizing the homeless and mentally ill as watchdogs in the city.”
I handed him his phone, and he pocketed it.
“Tell me exactly what happened back there,” I said, striving to keep my tone calm.
Rans scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Fae can influence humans, as you’ve already seen with the police both here and in St. Louis,” he said.
“I know,” I replied, thinking of the behavior of Daisy and the other board members at MMHA. “Caspian got his claws into some of my coworkers back home.”
He nodded. “I’m not surprised. Chances are, they’ll have returned to normal now that he’s not breathing down their necks—though it’s possible he will have kept someone under his thrall to let him know on the off chance you decide to go back there.”
I thought of Vonnie... of Daisy. A shiver chased its way up my spine.
“It takes a lot of energy to hold onto a healthy human mind for an extended period,” he continued. “But it’s easier to implant a compulsion into someone with a mental illness. At a guess, our friend back there suffers from schizophrenia. These days, I imagine the voices are telling her to attack anyone who feels like a demon. No doubt her Fae handler implanted a sensitivity to demon animus in her mind, as well.”
Now I felt sick. “And are the voices also telling her to report back to the Fae if she finds any demons?”
“I expect so,” Rans said. “Which is why I attempted to influence her to forget what she’d just seen.”
“That’s what you meant by damage control?”
“Yes.”
“Damage control that you’re eighty-five percent certain was successful?” I prodded.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Well, eighty percent, anyway. Overcoming Fae influence is tricky. I’m fairly certain it worked, though.”
I swallowed a sigh. “Is it safe to go back to the house?”
“We’ll drive around for an hour or two. Make sure no one’s tailing us. If they aren’t, there’s no reason not to return.” He stretched in his seat, vertebrae popping audibly as he continued. “After all, our house sitting contract isn’t up until tomorrow. Hate to shirk on the job.”
I checked traffic in the mirror and eased out of the parking spot. “All right. Driving around randomly for an hour it is, then,” I said. “Let me know if anyone’s following us, so I’ll know when to panic.”
“Oh, I will,” he said, with a tone of relish that I didn’t really appreciate. “How are your high-speed driving skills? I haven’t been in a good car chase since—”
“Three days ago?” I finished, thinking back to that horrible night in St. Louis.
Rans made a dismissive noise. “Pfft. That was a motorcycle chase, not a car chase. And it hardly qualified as a good one. With that silver knife sticking out of my shoulder, I barely enjoyed it all.”
“You are certifiably insane,” I said, carefully obeying all relevant traffic laws as I turned left onto a random street.
He let out a soft snort and didn’t try to deny it. The silence stretched as I drove through the unfamiliar city with no destination in mind. As I thought over everything I’d learned, another question occurred.
“It must have been pretty difficult for Caspian and Albigard to influence all those cops,” I said, remembering the police swarming the bus station, not to mention the ones waiting for us at O’Hare yesterday.
“Indeed so,” Rans agreed. “Though I’ve suspected for a long time that the Fae single out members of law enforcement who are... shall we say, on the less stable side. PTSD, anxiety, addiction problems, borderline personality disorder—those types of things would make them more vulnerable to Fae influence. But even so, it was a startling display of blunt force on both occasions.”
“Should I be flattered?” I grumbled. “Because I don’t feel flattered.”
“Let’s just say, you seem to be a very popular individual among the inhuman crowd.”
I shot him a brief glance before returning my attention to traffic.
“Including you,” I said flatly. “Although I still don’t claim to understand why.”
It would be way too easy to fall into the fairytale princess narrative with this man. This vampire. He’d ridden to my rescue, saving
