Page 28 of Death Deals

“What are you going to do with him?” I asked Andre, afraid of the answer.

“We need to find out where Queen Imani is hiding. She will be heavily guarded, so we need to have a way to go from the inside,” he replied.

“You were hoping to extract information from him,” I said. “Well, he doesn’t know anything. I’m sure he doesn’t. He’s a new recruit. Just meant to sell dope on the street corners.”

“It looks like he’s selling more than marijuana to me,” Hector replied, lip curling up in disgust. “But if she’s right, and he’s worth nothing to us, we need to dispose of him.”

Panic surged. “No! You can’t. Andre—”

“He may know some kind of useful information,” Andre said, his expression as stoic as ever. “We should wait until he wakes or until the withdraw takes hold and ask him again.”

Annoyance pinched the old vampire’s brows. “And what if it’s a waste of time? My men can go out and pluck another scrub from the streets before this one’s eyes open again.”

“We don’t want to cause any suspicion or hint that we are here. It’ll jeopardize us,” he replied.

“Humans go missing all the time. Especially drug addicts.”

So, Ricky had been using the drugs he’d been selling, and from the looks of his sweat-slick skin, it wasn’t just dope he was selling and using. He’d gotten into harder things.

My stomach clenched painfully. If I’d been alive, maybe I could have said something—done something—to convince him to get out. But I knew better than anyone else that death wasn’t something you could control. Even as a reaper, I couldn’t control it. As an angel, it wasn’t much different.

Another thought struck me then. If Andre’s vamps had picked up Ricky off the street, then that meant I’d lived around here somewhere. In Michigan.

“Where did you find him?” I directed my question to the silent vampires behind Ricky’s chair. “Where was he?”

The oldest looking DeMonte vamp glanced at Andre, who nodded, telling him to answer me.

“Laurel Heights,” he said.

The Heights. The part of the city where I lived and died. Where my sister was—what had become of her? And Ed… Remembering him and what he’d done to me made nausea roll.

My skin itched as the information sank in. No wonder I hadn’t been sent here on reaper assignments. Azrael hadn’t wanted me to make the connection myself.

I was so close to my life. Closer than I’d ever been before. The only thing blocking me now was a wall of vampires. And Ricky. I couldn’t just leave him here. He’d done all he could to protect me in life. It was my turn to return the favor.

“You needThe Angel,” I said, his name springing up in my mind like a jack-in-a-box. “He’ll know where the queen is.”

Every eye turned to me.

“CorneliusThe AngelJackson,” I clarified, remembering how Ricky had explained him to me in the memory. “He’s at the top. Controls all of the dealings in the area. If anyone knows where Imani is, he does.”

Hector’s narrowed gaze roamed over me. “How do you know all this?”

I needed to learn about timing. Definitely could have waited until Andre and I were alone to reveal that one.

“I may not have been in the Knights, but they had a reputation in the Heights where we grew up. So didThe Angel. I’m positive he’s the one you need.” As I said it, images of the huge black man in a white suit sitting in the strip club resurfaced from my memory. Hadn’t he said he was a regular there? “And lucky for you, I know just where to find him.”

I pressed a cold rag against Ricky’s forehead and he moaned. Even though his eyes were closed, they danced behind his lids, as if he was having a vivid nightmare he couldn’t wake from. Not sure what else to do, I whispered to him as I continued to control his raging fever.

After some more pleading—something I wasn’t proud of—I’d been able to convince the vamps to bring Ricky up to a hotel room. Since Hector had some pull in The Grand, we were able to get a vacant one rather quickly. A more modest size with a king bed and not all the frill and extravagance Andre’s had.

I don’t know how long I’d been here, at Ricky’s side on the bed, but I’d stay as long as it took for him to wake up.

The sound of the door opening made me tense. Maybe it was our blood link, but I didn’t even need to turn to know who it was entering the room.

“I’m not leaving him,” I said through a clenched jaw. “Charade be damned.”

“I know,” Andre sighed from behind me.

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