Page 39 of Deadly Deception
Tompkins barked an unhappy laugh. “I can tell you one thing, it wasn’t the police. Not the human police.”
“Fairy?” Henson understandably asked.
“I think eventually they would have, but the vamps didn’t give them a chance.”
“Vampires?” Henson sounded as incredulous as I felt. “Why would they care?”
Tompkins smirked. “Vanja got a little too full of himself. It eventually happens to all narcissists. They start to believe their own hype, their own immortality. In this case, Vanja truly wanted that elusive dream. He went to the Midwestern Vampire Queen and demanded she turn him. Turns out, vampire queens don’t really appreciate taking orders, especially from lowly humans. The way I heard it, Queen Millicent agreed she’d do it. She staged a huge party, invited all of Vanja’sfriendstoo. But when the time came to do the deed… Well, let’s just say that Queen Millicent changed her mind after she ripped Vanja’s neck apart. From what I understand, her nestmates feasted well that night. It’s rumored Vanja left a fortune hidden somewhere in Chicago or the surrounding area. After all, Vanja didn’t go there that night expecting to die. People have been looking for it for years. If it’s out there, no one’s found it yet.”
“Fucking hell,” Henson cursed, and I found I couldn’t disagree with the sentiment. No wonder Tompkins looked like he could vomit any minute. Hell, right about now, I could relate.
“Okay. That’s really disturbing,” I finally managed a few words. “It sounds like Vanja should really be dead.”
“Absolutely,” Tompkins agreed.
“So, whoever this is can’t be the Vanja of old,” Henson said.
Tompkins shook his head. “I wouldn’t think so. But why anyone would want to claim that name is beyond me.”
“Fear,” I answered, drawing Tompkins and Henson’s gazes. “You heard it in the souls Boone brought back. The name itself evokes an immediate sense of dread.”
Henson scrubbed his palms over his face, inhaling deeply. “It’s deviously clever.”
“Dangerous too,” Tompkins said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Queen Millicent,” Tompkins answered. “She’s still in charge, and I can’t believe she’ll be happy if she catches wind of some imposter claiming to be someone she personally dispatched over thirty years ago. Vampires are a proud lot. Whoever is masquerading as Vanja is playing with fire.”
“It could even be more than one person,” Henson mused, and we all sat for a few quiet moments while we digested that. Shaking off his thoughts, Henson said, “Regardless, if it’s one person at the top or a group, what they tried today was risky, and done in broad daylight.” Henson shook his head. “That’s a ballsy move right there.”
I didn’t disagree. “It was ballsy and would have been surprisingly effective if it hadn’t been for Warlock Holland’s charm and Boone’s quick reflexes.”
Henson hung his head. “We really need Necromancer Boone to bring the others back. Today wasn’t meant as a warning. It was meant as an execution. Will Necromancer Boone still be willing to help?”
My grin was genuine. “Oh, he’ll help. Boone doesn’t shrink from a fight, especially one that’s been taken to and targeted to him. Whoever attacked us today royally fucked up. Boone survived. Boone’s got a moral core that is unshakable. He would have gone after these assholes even if we hadn’t been attacked, but now they’ve gone and made it personal. You heard him. They tried to kill Boone, but more importantly, they could have killed me too. If you wanted to scare Boone off a case, these idiots went about it in the worst way possible. They didn’t scare Boone off. If anything, they made him more determined to bring them down.”
Chapter
Thirteen
Erasmus
“He’s been like that for a few hours,” Sara said. “I got Navarre to eat a couple bites of oatmeal and drink some water earlier, but that’s been it. I brought some fruit too, but so far he hasn’t touched it.” Sara sounded as sad as Navarre looked, not that I could see much of him with his back to us.
Navarre lay on an uncomfortable-looking mattress that hung from a steel bedframe attached to the wall. The sheriff’s department didn’t have a special bedroom for non-criminals, so he’d been kept in one of the jail cells. He was currently lying on his side in a fetal position. He didn’t so much as twitch when Sara unlocked his cell and we walked inside.
“Do you want me to stay?” Sara asked.
“No. I’d like some time alone with him if that’s okay.”
“Sure. I’ll be down the hall if you need me. No one should be able to get in without me knowing, so you should have some privacy. I’ll leave the two of you alone.”
I stood there, listening to Sara’s quieting footfalls as she moved farther down the hall. “Navarre,” I said cautiously while inching my way closer to the bed. “Can you hear me? Are youawake?” I might be disturbing his sleep, but I got the feeling Navarre wasn’t peacefully at rest. His shoulders were too tense.
My inquiry was met with silence. Running my fingers through my hair, I realized how disheveled I probably looked. Tugging at my hair was an anxiety-induced habit and right now, my anxiety ran high. Anger would come later. Right now, the brush with death was too near to easily dismiss. I should have stayed in the office with Franklin, but I just couldn’t. I needed to get up and move. I needed todosomething, even if that something was as fruitless as this endeavor might be.
Projecting my worries onto someone else was also a self-preservation habit. Navarre was my nearest outlet, and my mind had instantly filled with the need to see him.
