Page 10

Chapter Ten

F irst thing first, I had to write up my article on the astonishing living art display, making sure to keep my artists untangled from the florists, since there were multiple artists in each, and most of those had Elven blood so their work would last much longer than a human, as they compelled the plants to life.

My father would make fun of elves who spent their time like that instead of actually working land, improving soil, growing a beautiful sustainable food forest instead of playing with flowers for the entertainment of the bored and wealthy. Those with power should use it responsibly. I, personally, didn’t feel that strongly about what other people did with their lives.

I sat at the breakfast nook, my glasses on my nose with Lynx on my lap, while Mossy ate eggs. She ate so many eggs. I stole a few from her to feed my beautiful soft kitty every few minutes. Finally, I finished my article and nodded at her. “Check it for typos, please. And why are you still here?”

“I left and came back. What’s it like to be a werewolf? Are you really dating the senator? Why don’t you eat more raw meat? What are you going to do about Loren? Why does the kitten like you?”

I nodded at my screen and she sighed and plopped down in front of it while I read over her shoulder. When she was done, I hit send and closed it.

“Have you ever heard of girl scout cookies?” I asked her.

“Girl what?”

“I have a lot of cookies in the freezer. We could put them in some cute boxes I happen to see in the pantry, and then you can sell them door to door.”

She squinted at me. “Did you lose your mind?”

I sighed heavily. “The cat. Neighbors would notice an adorable kitten, particularly kids and old cranky types who hate animals messing up their flowers. You’d ask about the cat while you sell cookies.”

She gave me a skeptical look. “You think a goblin teen would blend in that neighborhood?”

“I’d give you a glamour.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Really? You know how to do glamours?”

“I have a few short-term glamours I have leftover from my last masquerade ball that will make you a cute fairy girl.”

She wrinkled her nose. “A fairy? I hate fairies.”

“You’d rather be an angel?”

Her face got truly scowly. “Fine. I’ll be a fairy, but only if I can keep the profits from your cookies. I’ll have Mr. Senator’s driver take me so you can stay here and do research. I’ll be perfectly safe on this fool’s errand, so don’t worry that you’re taking advantage of a poor underage chump.”

It didn’t take long to tuck her in the back seat of the black car with several very large boxes of cookies and my potion bottle. “Only two droppers, or you’ll stay a fairy for a week. Maybe a month if you have any fairy blood in your veins.”

She made a face. “Like any goblin would have a fairy. Go do research. I’ll interrogate the neighborhood.”

I started with the case of the missing girl in Golden that Loren had on her computer. There were no signs of struggle, no clue other than Ridley’s interest in her. There was a distinct lack of coverage on the girls’ disappearance. No one had made a point to dig deeper.

I had better luck when I started trolling various conspiracy sites about Lynx with my own Lynx happily purring on my lap. She understood snacks like a gnome. It took time to get even the gossip straight, but eventually I found a site that listed Lynx as one of the secret societies that ran under the radar. It linked to another site on the dark webs where I had to engage my magical protection so I didn’t catch a virus that could literally dissolve my computer, or perhaps steal my soul, depending on the kind of malevolent force you were dealing with. Possessed computers were incredibly not fun.

Finally, I got through his firewall and found an actual article about Lynx, a secret society of science. I frowned at the screen. All that for an order of science? I’d expected an assassin order at the very least, but no, science. What could a science order have to do with a werewolf or missing women? Or Ridley? He certainly wasn’t a scientist. Maybe he’d been a secret scientist.

I sighed and then emailed the guy who ran the site, hoping to get some more direct information, then I went back to compiling cases of missing persons in Golden and other places, checking if each had the same MO. I made a spreadsheet with the pertinent information until I got a ping from the conspiracy guy.

Ooh, a personal message. I double checked my security and then accepted his message.

Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t.

Well, that was useful.

I flexed my fingers and typed, Why shouldn’t I? How could a science guild be dangerous?

It took a moment for his response.

Everything is dangerous if left in the darkness to fester and grow.

Written like a true conspiracist. “Although, he’s not wrong.”

I found a kitten with a Lynx constellation on the collar. I’m trying to find its owner.

I leaned back while I waited for his response.

Where did you find it?

That was personal information I shouldn’t give him, but then again, Singsong was a big place.

Singsong City.

The Lynx constellation has been spotted on the lower levels of the old train station. But if I were you, I’d forget about finding the owner and just send it to a shelter. The owner will look for it and find it there. Scientists who keep their work secret are not the sort of people you want to meet, Delphi.

I sat back with a gasp. He knew my name? The screen went dark, and I didn’t touch my computer. I put Lynx on the floor with an indignant squeak. Soon smoke came out of it and I grabbed it and threw it in the sink before it exploded into flames. An electrical, magical fire wasn’t going to go out with water, but the ceramic sink should keep it from spreading while I hunted for the baking powder. Ah, a nice large canister. I dumped it over my computer, white plumes of dust filling the air until it finally stopped burning. Then I had to open the windows and air out the kitchen, coughing because that smoke was nasty.

I wrapped my laptop in a towel and carried it outside, hoping that would help clear out the smoke. And now what? Now I went to the Union Station and tried to find that elusive Lynx marking.

Before I’d gone anywhere, an extremely dapper goblin walked towards me out of the shadowy hall, making my heart race as I stared at him. Was this somehow connected to getting my laptop blown up? I scooped up the kitten and backed away, ready to defend her with my beast.

He bowed. “Miss Delphi. I’m Henrick, Senator Silverton’s personal assistant.” He gave me a close-mouthed smile, so you could hardly tell he wasn’t human except for the greenish cast to his skin.

I put my hand on my chest, exhaling. I was still recovering from the last rumble. I didn’t really want to summon my beast tonight. Not for a while. “Oh, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m not Miss Delphi, just Delphi.”

He nodded and opened a briefcase, pulling out several tinctures that he studied with a frown. “He asked me to give you this. It’s to help you recover more quickly.” He handed me a bottle. “Three droppers, no more, no less. Take it tonight and tomorrow morning.”

I stared at him, then at the bottle of dark liquid. For some reason, I wasn’t incredibly eager to trust a strange goblin. “Where is the senator?”

“The Senator has some meetings regarding a bill he and his constituents are trying to pass. He sends his apologies.”

I frowned at him. “Not to be rude, but do you have any proof that you’re not some goblin assassin?”

He smiled with sharp teeth and pulled out his phone. “She thinks I’m a goblin assassin,” he said to the screen.

“I don’t—” I stopped abruptly as he put the phone to my face and I got to see a video of Senator Silverton behind a desk filled with papers, white shirt-sleeves rolled up, showing some pretty curlicue silver tattoos in his skin, magical runes like my father had.

He smiled slightly, but he looked tired. “Miss Era. I appreciate your caution, but I trust Henrick with my life.”

“But do you trust him with mine? I mean, just because he doesn’t want to assassinate you doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to assassinate me.”

He frowned through the screen. “You’re nervous. What happened?”

“Not much. I just lost my computer to a nasty virus while I was doing some research.”

He raised a brow. “Sounds like you found something. If you’re going to do more investigating tonight, be sure to take the elixir first. Also, take Henrick with you.”

I took a shaky breath and nodded. “Thanks. I’ll do that. It’s probably not much, just the Lynx constellation written in the basement of the Union Station, but I might as well check it out. I’ll also need to get a new computer before the stores close.”

He smiled. “It sounds as though your evening plans are complete. Don’t forget to get dinner while you’re out. Henrick is terrible company, but your charm will more than make up for it.”

I smiled at him and then Henrick took the phone away from me and put it to his ear, turning away to talk in a low voice.

I had extremely keen hearing, so I picked up a few words, “No, not injured… No sign of an intruder…” and then I stopped listening because it was rude.

Instead, I sat on a lounge chair next to the pool I loved so much with my kitten on my lap, and unscrewed the lid. When I sniffed, it smelled green and rich, with a slight tang of bitterness, so similar to the tonics my father made for us. I took one dropper, and it tasted much better than my father’s.

I missed him. He hated werewolves so much, and my mother feared werewolves so much, but if they got to see me how I was, surely they would get over their prejudice and I’d have my family back again. Or I’d lose them for good. How long could I use Silverton to hide what I was?

I leaned back in the chair, heart aching beneath the warm ball of fluff, watching the evening shadows play over everything. I needed to hurry to the store before it closed, and then quickly check out the Union Station, but I was so tired, and the evening was so peaceful.

Henrick took the bottle out of my hand before I dropped it, capped it, then drew a throw over my shoulder. “Cross will tuck you in once he gets home. Rest well, Miss Delphi.”

I let my eyes drift closed, only vaguely bothered by the fact that I was resting instead of going shopping and checking out the station. I could take care of it tomorrow. There was no hurry. Not for anything.

I came awake in the middle of the night when I heard a crash of shattering glass. Lynx meowed adorably while I blinked into the darkness, the moon shining on the silver water, the tree branches rustling around the edges of the yard. Where was I? By the pool. Why was I sleeping outside? The elixir. Henrick had drugged me. Why would he drug me? Why wouldn’t a goblin randomly drug someone? No, it was an elven potion. Silverton had drugged me. I sat up, but I was still shaking off the lethargy. That potion was strong, and I’d only had a third the recommended dose. He’d wanted to knock me out for a long time. I held Lynx carefully while I stood. My whole body felt so much better. Fine, Silverton was right that I needed more rest, and it was sweet of him to want me to feel better, but at the same time, you didn’t just drug people.

Another sound came from the house. Was it Silverton? The windows were dark, but who else would it be? I crept quickly and quietly towards the house and then, when I reached the kitchen door, slipped inside, blinking in the shadows, trying to pick out what it had been. A dark shadow draped over the island, pale silver elf skin glittering in the moonlight in the middle of that gleaming dark hair and the scent of fresh blood.

I turned on the light and saw Silverton on the counter, his bare back raw and bleeding. I dropped Lynx and ran across the room. There was a medic bag with some bottles and needles spilled on the counter and floor in a pile of broken glass.

He was holding a syringe in an awkward position, like he’d been trying to inject himself over his shoulder before he passed out. There was so much blood, and the jagged wounds in his back took me right back to Ridley’s death photos. Silverton had found the monster, but how, and why, and…

I stopped when I saw the black mask and hood on the white counter. I knew the patterns of eye screens, as well as mouth and nose. That was the mask of the monster who had forced me to turn, had tortured me for two months, keeping me alive when I begged every day for him to end it.

Silverton couldn’t be that psychopath. I picked up the mask with trembling fingers and felt the dampness from his blood. The monster that I hated more than anyone else in the world was lying here, unconscious, at my mercy. He hadn’t given me a drop of mercy, no matter how I begged.

I picked up a scalpel and with my heart beating in my throat, I pressed it into his skin, releasing a flow of dark red elixir that made my beast rumble. I pressed harder until I hit something metallic. Were his bones made of metal? No. There was shrapnel or something else in him.

I bit my lip so hard that I tasted blood before I pressed into him with more focus, pulling back the skin to reveal a bar that had skewered him from the front and was coming out of his back. I stared at it for a beat and a half before I exhaled and grabbed him around the chest, lifting up and pushing down on the end of the bar until it came out of the underside of his shoulder, falling to the floor with a clatter.

He was in such bad shape. He might actually die. Except he didn’t get to die if I didn’t get to die. He didn’t get to escape before I finally faced the monster and demanded to know why he did that to me.

I stabbed him hard with his syringe. The bleeding stopped almost instantly, then I cleaned out the wounds, the vicious claw and teeth marks as well as the puncture wounds. It had gotten him by the jaws. It was a miracle Silverton had made it home. No, not a miracle. He really belonged to one of those secret orders, only nothing so innocent as a science guild.

When I finished his back, I rolled him over and found his eyes open, watching me with those violet orbs, curious, clear, no pain or concern in them as he calculated a myriad of things like quicksilver.

I pulled back, crossing my arms.

“You’re getting blood on your clothing,” he said in a frustratingly delicious voice.

I was shaking with anger, with rage, with absolute fury. “You! How could you do that to me?”

He glanced over at the mask and then slowly pushed up on his elbows, so his brawny muscles pulled where it wasn’t torn from the beast’s claws. He was so beautiful. How dare he be beautiful, even like this?

“I could because of who I am. How could you heal me when I hurt you? Because that is who you are.”

I scowled at him and picked up the scalpel. “You took pleasure in my pain.”

“No. But I couldn’t let you die, like you can’t kill me.”

“We’re not the same!”

“No. We’re not. I would have killed you if I hated you as much as you despise me.”

I glared at him and edged away. “You deserve a slow, painful, agonizing death.”

He nodded calmly. “Indeed. But since you’re unwilling to give it to me, could you finish what you started? I’m about to collapse again.” He did, sinking back to the counter with his eyes closed, dark lashes against the pale skin of his face. His skin was waxy, much too pale from the loss of blood.

I sputtered, but he was right. I wasn’t going to kill him, so I might as well do what I could to treat him like he’d done to me in the van. We weren’t even, no matter how many times he put splints on me, or gave me healing tinctures, or drugged me. I glared at him, but he was either unconscious or had given up caring.

I cleaned and bandaged him until he was swathed in white, and then I shifted just enough that I had the strength to pick him up and carry him to the couch. As I laid him down, he opened his eyes to stare into mine, the beauty in those eyes making me snarl. There was no sign of guilt or remorse.

“You’re a psychopath,” I snapped.

“No. I’m only someone who will do whatever is necessary. I think that’s worse, don’t you?”

I gritted my teeth, wanting to cry, to scream, to yank out his pretty eyeballs and throw them back in his face.

I spat, “Yes. Whatever you are is the worst that there could ever be. I hate you so much!” I pulled a soft blanket over his bandaged body.

He smiled, a ghost smile on his pale lips. “I deserve to be hated with far more diligence than you seem capable of giving. Thank you.”

I snarled at him. “Don’t thank me. I’m not doing this for you. I’m not a person who lets people bleed out in front of me, no matter who they are.”

“I know. It’s ridiculous to thank you for being who you are, but I can’t help it. Thank you for being who you are.” He closed his eyes while I fumed, clenching and unclenching my fists.

“Silverton, or whatever your name is, the creature who did this to you, is it involved with Lynx?”

“Mm,” he replied without opening his eyes. “I believe so, but my investigation was interrupted by the beast. I have people following him, but of course, he’ll disappear. He always does. I think it’s the person who infected you as well.”

“You didn’t go alone?”

“No, I took Henrick.”

“After you had him drug me.”

“Mm. You aren’t limping anymore.”

I bared my teeth at him and then spun around and left before I decapitated him with something very dull. He was so infuriating. He hadn’t even apologized, but what did I expect from the biggest monster in the world?