Page 51 of Shadow's End

That’s presuming your mother is allowed to have anything to do with her,I said bluntly.Right now, that’s not looking good.

When she sees your daughter, she will mellow. I promise you that.

I sniffed, unconvinced. Katie had been promising a change of heart almost since day one, and it still hadn’t happened. As her threads unwound from my wrist and drifted away, I returned my attention to the club.

To see the doors open and Maelle standing inside the foyer, just beyond the creeping reach of sunshine.

Chapter

Seven

For several minutes, neither of us moved. We simply stared at each other across the heated expanse of road tarmac. She was barely discernible from the shadows that surrounded her, but her eyes gleamed with a molten, silvery fire that boded no one any good.

I’m thinking she doesn’t want you inside that club for a reason we really don’t want to know about,Belle said.

And I’m thinking I sure as fuck don’twantto go inside that club, no matter what the reason.

Belle snorted.You really are on a roll today with this whole sensible thinking thing.

Don’t worry—I’ll be back to my usual “fools rush in” modus operandi any moment now.

As her laughter rolled down our line, I checked for cars and then crossed the road, stopping again once I reached the pavement. Though there was a good eight feet between me and those open doors, the magic protecting her building was a dark wave that made my skin jump and tingle—and not in a pleasant way.

I crossed my arms, hiding my hands and the instinctive press of inner wild magic at my fingertips. “I need to know, Maelle—were you responsible for the slaughter in that house up in Moonlight Flats?”

She smiled, revealing canines that we just a little longer than normal, which generally meant she’d just fed or she was anticipating a feed. Unhappily, instinct was suggesting that in this case, both might actually apply.

“What makes you think I had anything to do with that?” Though her tone was lightly amused, the molten gleam darkened.

It was not an amused sort of gleam.

“You mean aside from the summoning charm we found in the field next door that has the feel of your magic? Those murders have the thick taste of revenge.” I somehow kept any sign of nervousness from my voice, though given she was a vampire and my heart beat rather erratically, it was a pretty pointless exercise.

“And my, it does indeed tastesogood.”

Which was confirmation enough for me. “What sort of creature did that charm summon, Maelle?”

A smile touched ruby red lips. She’d moved closer, I realized, though I hadn’t actually seen her do so. Sunrays danced only millimeters away from her bare toes … I blinked. She wasn’t wearing boots. My gaze jumped upward. Or indeed clothes. She was naked and bloody, and there were bits of flesh and God only knew what else smeared … My stomach heaved, and I looked away, swallowing unsteadily. I hadn’t vomited earlier, and I would not do so now. Not in front of her.

This bitch really isn’t running on a sane playing field anymore, is she?Belle said.

I think it’s more that the combination of Roger’s kidnapping and his subsequent leg loss has finally torn away the thin veneer of civility. What we’re seeing is the reality rather than the sophisticated projection.

“That was an Átahsaia,” Maelle was saying, “a creature I am particularly fond of.”

“I thought you were fond of snakes?”

“I have an affinity with them, yes.” Her eyes gleamed. “But the Átahsaia? Ah, he is a grand one, a demon the likes of which is rarely seen.”

My gaze skimmed the blood covering her torso, and I couldn’t help but wonder if her “grand demon” had survived its recall. “Were the people killed Marie’s? And isn’t using such a demon overkill, given you were there with it and are more than magically capable of taking them all out?”

“I am not one to take chances, and I dare not overestimate my abilities when it comes to matters such as revenge, especially when it comes to a coven I am no longer a part of or indeed familiar with. Precautions are only sensible when you are unfamiliar with your foe’s depth of skill. Where is Roger?”

I blinked at the abrupt change of topic and tone, the almost teasing lightness replaced by a deep and dangerous flatness. “Hard to say, given the ring you gave me was yours rather than his, and it wasn’t his echo I was sensing. You led me to that place, Maelle, because you wanted me to kill your demon and unleash the tidal wave of his negative energy in the hope it would take out at least some of Marie’s people. But she was one step ahead of you.”

“I led you to that place because I truly believed he wasthere. I had no awareness that only a … portion was.” Her anger swelled, briefly burning the air. “You should not have banished my demon. The cost of that one action will be high.”

For her,andfor me. She didn’t say that but that’s exactly what she meant.

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