Annie jerked hard against me and I let her go, digging my nails into her hand, forcing her to release the gun. Heat raked down the sides of my face, and I realized she’d scratched me while we were wrestling for the weapon, her nails going for my eyes.
Her breath came in big gasps. “You killed my father too?”
My jaw ticked and I wrinkled my nose, because damn, that was not a great question for me to answer right then. “Yeah, same problem as your brother. He started it. And to be fair, he kinda killed me too.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Now you are mocking me? When I grieve for them?”
Only she didn’t look all that grief-stricken. Not really.
I shook my head, my chest heaving, and said, “You didn’t even like them, did you?”
“That’s not the point.” She threw her hands into the air. “I’m going to finish what they started. You have to defend your family.”
I leaned back against the counter. “No, actually you don’t. Just because they’re family doesn’t mean they aren’t also crazy and dangerous.” I took the clip out of the gun and pulled the slide back a few times to make sure it was empty. “Even crazy people have family, Annie.”
We didn’t get any further than that.
The back door of the shop burst open, revealing Corb, gun already pointed at Annie. As if he’d known she would be the problem, and not some intruder. Bridgette stayed in the shadows, I could see just a glimmer of her eyes.
The front door rattled, glass burst in around us, and a squad of men dressed in black suits rushed in. Judging by the beeline they made for Annie, they weren’t surprised she’d turned murderous either. She didn’t fight them as they caught her by the wrists, cuffed her, gagged her, and dragged her out the way they’d come in, all in under thirty seconds. I noticed they didn’t actually say what they were arresting her for and thought about asking, but then realized I had enough problems of my own. I didn’t need to add Annie’s problems to the list.
I tucked her gun into the back waistband of my pants, but nope, it tried to slide down my pant leg.
I yanked it out quickly, before I could lose it entirely. It distracted me, somewhat, from the tingle down my spine that said I needed to ask Corb if this was his latest job.
The crunch of glass turned me around. Roderick strode in, cravat in place. His blond hair was as immaculately swept back as the other times I’d seen him. His eyes slid over to me, and he arched a perfect brow, damn him, as if he hadn’t seen me just hours before.
“Breena, why am I not surprised to see you here?”
“You know me, always where the fun happens,” I drawled.
Roderick looked at Corb. “You did a good job of flushing her out. Annie never did like having a more powerful woman on her turf.”
I flinched as if I’d been hit between the shoulder blades. What had Corb said down in Death Row?
“Why don’t you go see Annie, see if you can get any information out of her?”
Damn it, he’d fooled me again. Even if he had put some sort of protection spell on me.
“Roderick”—I kept my back to Corb deliberately—“does Corb work for the Supernatural Council Enforcers?”
Roderick dipped his head. “He’s one of our best investigators. Top of his class, which is even more of an accomplishment given his lineage. Not many people could pull off double duty between us and the Hollows Group, but he makes it look easy.”
I nodded as if that, of course, made sense, but all I could think was that I’d been stupid enough to think I meant something to him. Again.
Jaysus lawdy, when was I going to learn?
I made my way across to the small table that had somehow stayed upright during the fight, scooping up my cards and the rest of the tarot deck, plus the three hundred dollars I’d slapped on the cash desk. Small payment for almost getting killed, and for helping Roderick and the council apprehend someone they’d apparently had their eyes on.
Hell, my curiosity got the better of me. “What did she do?”
Roderick tucked his hands into his coat pockets. “Nothing that needs to concern you. But her attacking you was enough of a final nail in her coffin to make the arrest.”
I nodded and turned away from him.
The reality of my situation was suddenly in front of me again, weighing on me so heavily that my chest felt as though it were being crushed. Corb and Sarge’s support had felt like a lifeline, but I couldn’t rely on them. Not really. And I certainly couldn’t expect them to keep me alive. There was a real chance that I’d die in Goblin Town tonight, and I had to be realistic about that.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire, hanging from a telephone wire . . .” I whispered to myself, knowing that Sarge at least would hear me. Turning back to Rod, I asked, “If I don’t make it past midnight, would you mind seeing about the blood-born demon in the Sorrel-Weed house? The papers that show who killed my gran are in the second-floor desk, third room on the right. Maybe you could look into that.”
Roderick blinked a few times. “And why wouldn’t you make it past midnight?”
“Going to war,” I said, then thumbed at Corb. “Mr. Trustworthy here is supposed to be my backup. So you can understand why I might be concerned that I’m walking into a trap. Or, worse yet, being used as bait again.” Here’s the thing, I’d gotten rolling, and now I couldn’t stop. “I mean, GAWD forbid I should be told the truth about anything. GAWD forbid my woman-sized pea brain could handle what’s really going on. Lawdy, save my lily-white ass from having to take care of myself!” Yeah, I might have been shouting at that point.
Movement to my left, the sway of a body and long dark hair soothed me a little. “Robert’s the only person left I can rely on. A skeleton, for duck’s sake!”
Robert swayed a little faster. “Friend.”
I blew out a slow breath, forcing myself to face Corb. At least he had the balls to meet my gaze.
“It wasn’t like that, Bree,” he said. “I didn’t think she would attack you. I was weeks away from breaking this case with Annie. I didn’t think she’d confess that she was going to continue their work to you. I meant only to get your cards read, to help you tonight. I put that extra layer of protection on you, just in case.” His eyes pleaded with me to believe him. Maybe he believed himself even.
Sarge, who’d joined him, made the slightest of faces. Like he didn’t believe Corb any more than I did.
Who could I trust? Who should I take with me to save my friends?
Because the clock was ticking, and if I chose wrong, we were all as good as dead and buried six feet under.
22
I stood in front of the fountain in Forsyth Park, the portal that led to the land of Faerie, and hopefully to Crash. Robert swayed behind me, and Skeletor pawed the water at our feet. I patted the horse’s neck. Bridgette rode in front of me, quiet as a mouse. Sarge, who’d ridden over on his motorcycle, stood to my right.
“What about the time difference?” Sarge reminded me. “We won’t know just how long you are in there; you could miss the midnight deadline completely.”
I gave him a tight nod and grimaced. “I’m throwing all my cards in with Crash right now. He’s here; if I can get to him in time, then he can help me get the others out. I don’t see any other way, do you?”