Her phone rang-Assistant Sheriff Hank Santos.
“McPherson,” she answered.
“That bastard Truxel,” he said, his voice low. “He just let Elizabeth Ellis out of jail.”
Elizabeth Ellis was Lily’s mother, and had been a willing participant in a violent ritual that nearly cost Lily her life. The D.A. had been a thorn in her side from the beginning of this mess, which started with Rafe’s coma following the murder-suicide at the mission. “What?”
“He dropped all charges against her.”
“He can’t do that! Lily’s pressing charges.”
“He said she wasn’t a credible witness.”
“But my statement-”
“Hearsay.”
There was no use drilling Hank. There was nothing he could do about the situation, and nothing Skye could do from L.A.
But a free Elizabeth Ellis put Lily at risk. “Take Lily to my house. I’ll be back tonight and take responsibility for her protection.”
“Do you really think that Mrs. Ellis is going to hurt her own daughter?”
Skye didn’t know-but Rafe had been adamant that Lily was still in danger. “I can’t risk it. I’ll keep her this weekend, and hopefully by Monday Anthony will be back from Italy and we’ll come up with a better solution. Keep a close eye on her.”
“I will.”
Rod shook his head, stunned. “That idiot Truxel let Ellis out of jail?” he asked when Skye hung up.
“We have to go back. I can’t believe this!” That the D.A. didn’t take the sworn statement of the sheriff as cause enough was a huge problem. The press was going to have a field day. And how could she protect Lily, Anthony, and her staff? Everything was spiraling out of control.
“Where did Cooper and Moira go?”
“To that nightclub, Velocity.”
Skye didn’t want to leave them in Los Angeles, but she didn’t see how she had a choice. She felt torn and hopeless. “I hope Rafe and Moira find something at the club; otherwise we’re at a dead end, and I need to get back to Santa Louisa right away.”
TEN
The past is never dead. It’s not even past.
Velocity spanned half a block, from the corner to a narrow alley wide enough for one car. Opaque black glass, embedded with blue and green neon lighting that flowed in a minimalist version of ocean waves framed the exterior on two sides. It had the simple, understated elegance only achieved with a lot of money.
“You’re quiet,” Rafe said.
Moira didn’t address his unspoken question. She’d pushed their argument in the garage aside; she had to focus on her other senses, not the feelings between her and Rafe.
“I’ll bet they charge twenty bucks a drink,” Moira muttered. “And they probably don’t have Guinness on tap.”
“It doesn’t look open.”
Moira pulled out her phone and looked Velocity up. “Friday night, open from five until two. It’s only three. I don’t really want to hang around for the next couple hours.”
A woman walked out of the building, an oversized tote over her shoulder. She wore impossibly tall heels, but when she reached the corner, she slipped them off and put on Vans.
“So we know people are inside,” Rafe said.
“I can pretend I’m interviewing for a job.”
“I doubt they interview right before opening.”
“I can pretend I’m a health inspector.”
He just stared at her and shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about this. The demon can go anywhere it wants, right?”
“Pretty much, though they’re probably looking for easy marks.”
“So why
She thought about it. “You’re right, you’d think the demon would want to spread its warm fuzzies. Why stay in one club? There’re probably a hundred of these places that appeal to the raging-hormone crowd.” Moira straightened. “Maybe-” She hesitated.
“What?”
“As far as we know, no one in Fiona’s coven was affected by the demons. Yet we know they were in contact with Envy’s victims.”
Rafe nodded. “The demons could be connected to them in some way. Following them around.”
“If Fiona figures this out, she’ll have a way to bring the Seven back together by reuniting her coven.”
“Not if we trap them first.”
She glanced over at the nightclub. “Maybe Fiona
“Moira-”
“I’m not planning anything stupid, Rafe. I just want to be prepared.” She switched subjects, because Rafe seemed to understand too much about what she was thinking. She didn’t want to lie to him about what she had planned when she found her mother. “Let’s check out the alley. Maybe I’ll sense a spell at work. Maybe that frat boy had a curse on him.”
“You think you can sense the magic even after two days?”
“Possibly. After being so close to Envy, I think I can pick up on residual energy, over and beyond the foul stench the demons leave behind.”
“Their scent doesn’t last long.”
“Probably not two days.”
They walked past the building toward the alleyway that ran parallel and several blocks south of Wilshire Boulevard. Moira relaxed, focused on the energy in the area. But Rafe’s close presence distracted her. She felt his emotions, and they were all directed toward her, even as he looked down the alley and assessed the area. His feelings were clogging her senses.
“Rafe, I need to go down there alone. You’re messing with my head.”
“Are you sure?”
She smiled, widely, hoping to alleviate Rafe’s worries. No luck, he still looked concerned.
“I’ll be right here.”
Moira walked slowly down the alley. It went all the way through to the street on the other side, but was narrow and didn’t look as if it was used for much of anything but servicing four dumpsters. A few unmarked doors on both sides of the alley suggested emergency or employee entrances.
Craig Monroe had been found with his pants around his ankles, with no outward sign of homicide. Had there been no demon’s mark on the college kid’s back, Moira wouldn’t even be here. It would have been a human crime, not a supernatural murder.
What drew the demon to Velocity? What made it stay? Why had it not spread the deadly rages of unrestrained lust far and wide? Perhaps it wasn’t as easy as simple contact. Moira realized there were far more complexities to these demons than any of them understood. What needed to happen before the demons affected someone? It had been more than two weeks since the Seven Deadly Sins had been released. Had the demon Lust been in Los Angeles since the beginning, or arrived more recently? Envy had managed to destroy many lives and
