Nita’s stomach began to flutter as things began to click together.
Her mother profited.
The people buying body parts, killing the creatures on the list.
The crazy dictators who sheltered zannies and used them as torturers.
“The black market,” Nita finally answered, the words heavy on her tongue.
Adair’s smile was sharp and thin. “Exactly.”
Nita swallowed, and her fingers clenched into fists by her sides.
“Have you ever noticed,” Adair whispered, “that every creature on the list is also profitable? Unicorn bone is used as a drug. Zannie blood is used for pain relief, and zannies themselves are popular pet torturers for dictators. Kappa organs are a powerful poison. Vampire bodies can extend your life by decades.”
Nita’s voice trembled slightly. “Lots of other creatures’ bodies have properties.”
“But other dangerous ones?” Adair shook his head. “Ghouls eat people, but they’re not on the list. Their corpses also do absolutely nothing.”
Nita shook her head, but she was already mentally listing other creatures she knew that were particularly dangerous. The ones whose bodies couldn’t earn money weren’t on the list.
None of them.
Except . . .
“Kelpies.” Nita met Adair’s eyes. “Kelpie bodies would make a lot of money on the black market. No one’s ever dissected a kelpie. They’re unknown. People would pay for that.”
Adair’s smile tightened, and his eyes were hard. “I know. Why do you think I trade in information? Cash alone would never be enough to keep my species off the list. I make my bribes in knowledge.”
Nita stared at him, and swallowed. “You’re serious.”
“I’m always serious.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Those basement jokes . . .”
“How do you know they’re jokes?” He grinned.
Nita rolled her eyes, but her mind was still whirling, trying to process all the significance of what she’d been told.
“Why?” she whispered.
“Why what?”
“Why is it like this?”
“Ahhhh.” Adair’s smile turned crafty. “That is a good question, isn’t it?”
“And you know the answer.”
“I do.” He laced his fingers together. “But I’m not willing to give it up for free.”
Nita narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”
“I want you to find out why the heir to the Tácunan fortune, the doted-upon son of Alberto Tácunan, Fabricio, is running to INHUP and selling out people who save him for petty cash.” Adair leaned forward. “And why the hell he hasn’t gone back to his father’s mansion in Argentina.”
Nita’s mouth thinned. “I’m going to kill Fabricio.”
“I’m sure.” Adair leaned back and examined his nails, which were turning sharp and black at the end, the tips of claws. Then there was a soft ripple and they were human again. “Just get me some answers first. It might be nothing.” He turned to her. “But I smell a mystery, and answers to mysteries keep me alive.”
He rose and grinned at her. “So before you eviscerate him, I want you to make him sing. If you want to know more about the list, that’s my price.”
Nita jerked her head once. “Fine. I’ll get you your answers.”
Adair clapped his hands together. “Excellent.”
Nita was rising to thank him for the information, when the door to the pawnshop smashed open.
Both of them spun to face the door, Nita already pulling the gun from her hoodie and Adair’s hand reaching for his phone.
“Don’t move! Toronto police!”
Forty
NITA FROZE. Two uniformed officers stood in the door. Neither had their guns drawn, but she could see them at their hips, opposite the tasers.
Beside her, Adair’s face was still, ruthlessly covered by his glamour, but when his gaze flicked to hers, it was enraged.
Do not bring the police to my shop.
Oops.
Adair raised his hands, palms outward, and the smile he turned on the intruders was the epitome of politeness. “Is there something I can help you with, Officers?”
The one in the lead, a tall black man, said, “Don’t worry, sir. You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s your customer we’d like to talk to. Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to come with us.”
Nita swallowed, heart jackrabbiting in her chest. She thought of all the news stories she’d seen, people reaching for phones or looking the wrong way at the police officers and ending up shot. That was in the States, she told herself. Quispe said Canada was better.
Nita clung to that, and the fact that one of the officers was black. Maybe it was better.
You can heal bullets, Nita. Let them try and shoot you.
But just because she could heal bullet wounds didn’t mean she wanted to get shot. And just because they might not shoot her didn’t mean they wouldn’t lock her away for the rest of her life if they knew her crimes.
“May I ask what I’ve done?” Nita was careful to keep her voice calm and polite.
“You’re wanted for questioning regarding an incident yesterday.”
Nita hesitated. “Oh. I am?”
“It’s been all over the news.” The officer gave her a look of mild disbelief. “A woman getting off the streetcar recognized you from the bulletin and called you in.”
Of course. Nita had been careless, forgetting her disguise. She’d been so preoccupied with Kovit leaving she hadn’t even thought about it.
“I had no idea. I don’t watch the news,” she finally said.
The officer’s smile was tight. He didn’t believe her. Nita didn’t blame him, it wasn’t a particularly great lie. “All right. But I’m still going to have to ask you to come with us.”
Nita’s mind scrambled, trying to find a way out of this, but she couldn’t come up with anything short of overpowering the police officers and running away. They’d probably shoot her in the back as she ran. Unless she killed them.
The image of the screaming INHUP agent flicked into her mind for a moment, blood running down his face like tears as Kovit hissed in pleasure.
She swallowed. She couldn’t handle more innocent deaths today.
She slipped the gun behind her back into a large wooden bowl and hoped no one saw.
“Okay,” she said, stepping forward, hands in front of her, palms out. “Lead the way.”
The officers led her out of the building, and Adair gave her a murderous look as she passed. She tried to look apologetic, but he clearly didn’t appreciate it.
The police had parked their car on the curb, and Nita was led into the back seat. She sat down on the squishy pleather seat and folded her hands in her lap. She wasn’t cuffed, which was a good thing, but she was also very clearly still a prisoner.
Fuck.
The car drove off, and Nita pulled out her cell phone.
“We’re going to have to ask you to leave that for now.” The officer in the front gave her a sympathetic smile. “Until we get this sorted.”
Nita hesitated. “I need to call my m—aunt.”