Corruption Read online

  A familiar address.

  “Blood and bone,” I murmured. I coughed to clear my dry throat.

  “They’re still at Marilyn’s, aren’t they?” Peasblossom asked.

  I nodded and put the address into my phone’s GPS app. My phone beeped again. Another text from Silence. “That’s odd,” I murmured. I read the text and frowned. “Silence says the kelpie’s record was tagged. Someone received a notice when he accessed the file.”

  “That’s the sidhe for you,” Lorelei agreed. “Layers upon layers. Love their intrigue.”

  I stared at the screen, re-reading the text to be sure. “But the sidhe don’t bother with electronic surveillance. They’re still old school when it comes to gathering information.”

  “Sex and torture,” Lorelei said, a wistful tone in her voice.

  I gave her a withering look, but nodded. “Well, yes.”

  “Does the trigger concern you?” Lorelei asked.

  “I’m not sure.” I tapped out a text to Silence, asking him to trace whether the person who’d tagged the kelpie’s file had tagged any other files.

  “If the kelpies are holding Andy on Marilyn’s property, then how do you plan to get there without breaking in?” Lorelei asked.

  “They’re holding Andy against his will. If she won’t let me in to talk to them, I’m going to call the Vanguard.”

  “You have no proof. Paul is dead, and he’s the only one who could swear the kelpie had anything to do with Andy’s disappearance.”

  “She doesn’t know that.”

  My phone beeped again. My stomach sank. “Oh, bugger…”

  “What?” Peasblossom demanded. She flew up to land on my shoulder and read my phone. “Oh, bugger.”

  “What?” Lorelei demanded.

  “Whoever tagged the kelpie’s file tagged over fifteen other people too. Humans and Other.”

  “So?”

  I swallowed hard. “So, they’re all tied to cases I’ve worked.”

  Lorelei glanced at me, then back at the road. “Is that bad?”

  Peasblossom met my eye, and together we looked at the phone. “Depends on who tagged them. And why.”

  Chapter 15

  “This is your life, these are your choices.”

  Peasblossom’s breath tickled my ear as she whispered into my ear canal. Years of practice kept me from rolling my shoulder up and crushing her.

  “You are in a car with a demon,” Peasblossom continued. “You’re going to the home of a leannan sidhe who hates you, to meet with kelpies who hate you, escorted by another leannan sidhe who owns you because of the trouble you got into the last time you came here.”

  I shrugged off her true but unhelpful observations. Up ahead, Marilyn’s house loomed against the backdrop of a darkening early evening sky. The house didn’t look like the home of a member of the Seelie Court. The towering white stone building had the smack of money about it, but nothing about it screamed Other. And it wasn’t as isolated as the sidhe usually preferred. But then, Marilyn had dedicated herself to seeing her people return to their former glory, and for that, she’d decided she needed to face the human world head on. That meant having neighbors.

  “He’s been with them for hours.” As we got closer to the house, I craned my neck, trying to see behind it, to the shore of Lake Erie where a houseboat floated at the end of Marilyn’s long, private pier. Even with the windows up, I could smell the lake. That unique scent that combined the “sea air” that only rich people could afford, and the wild cold that promised an equal chance of watery death regardless of wealth. Or maybe that was my imagination. “What do you think they’ve done to him?”

  “Nothing,” Peasblossom insisted. “After what he did to them, pulling their contract out from under them, they’ll want more than a quick revenge. If you ask me, they’re treating him nice as you please so they can get him to indebt himself to them. He took a slave, so they’ll want a slave in return. All the better if it’s him.”

  “I hope he’s been listening to me more than I think he has.” I worried my bottom lip with my teeth. “Don’t accept gifts, don’t—”

  “Don’t give your word, don’t ask them for favors,” Peasblossom continued. “You know he’s got it all written in his notebook.” She flopped down to sit on my shoulder, kicking her feet as she stared out the windshield. “Do you feel at all odd about putting yourself in danger for a human who not more than a month ago claimed to have an ‘us versus them’ view of his fight for justice—with you and me on the ‘them’ side?”

  I shoved those thoughts away. “I’m not saying he didn’t hurt my feelings. He did, and I know he hurt yours. But he’s still my partner, and I’m not leaving him with the kelpies.”

  Peasblossom relaxed into the slope of my neck, drumming her fingers on my skin. “I’m not suggesting you leave him. I’m saying perhaps we should assemble a team that’s more trustworthy than the one you’re planning.”

  “I can hear you, you know,” Lorelei said dryly.

  “No one cares,” Peasblossom said. “You forced us to bring you. If you want trust, then you’ve gone about it the wrong way, haven’t you?” She sniffed. “Shooting people, messing about on a bed with someone who’s put my witch up for auction—on Ebay no less! Disgraceful.”

  “Still hung up on that, are you?” Lorelei sighed. “I had hoped that despite your reluctance to accept my help, you would end up being grateful.”

  “Live and learn,” Peasblossom said.

  Before I could interject anything into the conversation, Lorelei pulled up to the gate at the end of Marilyn’s driveway. A small building big enough for a single guard sat next to the gravel path, and a human male in his fifties squinted at us through the glass. He pushed a pair of spectacles up his nose, then stiffened. I glared at Lorelei, and she gave me a set of wide, innocent eyes.

  “What did you do?” I demanded.

  The human guard was on the phone now, calling up to the house, no doubt.

  “Bugger,” I muttered.

  We pulled to a stop beside the guardhouse, and I noticed a motorcycle parked under a tree on the other side of the driveway. I recognized the bike.

  As if thinking of him had conjured the man himself, Flint Valencia stepped from behind the guard house. He moved with grace and power, a combination of a model strutting down a runway and a jewel thief creeping toward a priceless treasure. A long-sleeved black shirt hugged his muscular shoulders and made his eyes seem even darker. He’d shaved since the last time I saw him, the strong line of his jaw no longer hidden by a neatly trimmed beard. As always, his eyes had a lazy slant to them, as if he’d just gotten out of bed—or was planning on taking someone to bed soon.

  I didn’t realize I’d stopped breathing until Lorelei poked me in the arm.

  “We’ve stopped,” she said, her voice thick with amusement. She stared at Flint. “No wonder you were so upset about the Ebay auction.”

  I flushed with a burning combination of anger and embarrassment. “I’m upset about the Ebay auction because I’m not a lamp to be sold. And I’m angry that someone I spent the entire day protecting would fornicate with my kidnapper instead of helping me.”

  “Learn to forgive, or this partnership is doomed to fail,” Lorelei said under her breath.

  I rolled down my window as Flint approached.

  “I’ve spoken to Marilyn,” Flint said. “She’s agreed to let us pass over her property to get to the lake so we can speak with her guests.” He glanced back at the guard. “It’s all right, Marshall. These are the guests Marilyn is expecting.”

  The ghost of a frown haunted the corners of the guard’s mouth, like a butler who suspects one of his master’s guests has designs on the good silver.

  “How did you manage that?” I asked Flint.

  He arched an eyebrow. “I was able to convince her with nothing more than the gods-honest truth.”

  “Which would be?” Lorelei prompted.

  “That you’re a pain in th
e neck who brings nothing but trouble, and it would be much easier to let you and your cloud of chaos pass her by and rain down on the kelpies. It didn’t take her long to come round to the idea that if you were keen to speak with her equine guests, anything that delayed that conversation would only lead to unnecessary hassle and irritation for her and hers.”

  He didn’t look at Lorelei again, but I got the impression he’d mentioned her to Marilyn. If he had, then I understood why she’d given her permission so quickly. Few people wanted to dally with an ancient demon.

  “She has specified that none of us are to come into her house,” he added.

  “That’s fine with me,” I agreed. “I—”

  Something caught my peripheral vision, and I stopped. Thick bushes lined the left side of Marilyn’s driveway, all of them taller than myself. Something crept out of the foliage, slinking out of the shadows to circle the guardhouse. Marshall jumped a foot in the air, gaping at the large black cat.

  “Wh-What is that?” His hands groped for the phone to the main house.

  Flint followed the alarmed guard’s gaze. It wasn’t until he shifted out of my line of vision I realized the black cat wasn’t alone.

  “Oh dear.”

  Majesty leapt at the black cat’s legs, attacking them as the large feline prowled closer to the SUV. His black-striped grey fur stuck out at wild angles, making him appear every inch the ferocious puffball. When the black cat stopped walking, Majesty rolled to sit between its legs, staring up at me expectantly.

  “Dare I hope you’ve gained control over the kitten’s…gifts?” Flint asked. His tone told me he already knew the answer.

  “Not as such.” I cleared my throat. “There was an incident this morning with a rhinoceros.”

  Flint nodded. “A rhinoceros. Excellent. And the black cat? Have you deduced its nature?”

  “I don’t know what it is. But it was at Andy’s this morning too.”

  “With the rhinoceros?”

  “No, it arrived after the rhinoceros left.”

  “I see.” He flexed his hands a few times. “And have you determined if it is…on your side?”

  “Seems to be.”

  “Wait a minute,” Lorelei interrupted. “What’s this about a rhinoceros?” She pointed at the cat. “You’re telling me that beastie summoned a rhinoceros?”

  “Yes. It’s a long story, and we don’t have time to get into it right now. We need all the help we can get, so let’s be grateful, shall we?” I turned to the black cat. “I need—”

  “Do not ask the cat for help,” Flint snapped. “You don’t even know what it is, do not put yourself in its debt.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know how you’re still alive. Really, I don’t.”

  “I’m still alive because I don’t make a habit of being in the company of people who take a simple request for aid as a social contract that grants them rights over my soul,” I muttered. “And in case you’ve missed the case that went before the Vanguard last year, just because one culture views a request for help as half of a service contract, doesn’t mean that someone who asks for help and receives it must fulfill some unspoken, unwritten contract.”

  “That case determined that saying ‘thank you’ doesn’t constitute acknowledgment of a debt,” Flint said calmly. “And it is still being appealed.”

  I rolled my eyes and addressed the cat. “My friend is in danger. An FBI agent, a man of human law. He’s being held by kelpies, and I want to get him back safe and sound.” I paused. “If you’re…bored, I won’t stop you from participating in his rescue.”

  The cat stared at me. Unblinking.

  Majesty meowed. The grass around us in a two-hundred foot circle shot up like a bad lawn fertilizer commercial to ten times its usual height.

  Flint looked down at the grass that now brushed his thighs. “Perfect.”

  Inside the guardhouse, the human on duty slowly raised the phone that would call the main house. Flint pointed a finger at him. “Don’t. It will go away soon enough. It’s just grass.”

  The human hesitated, then put the phone down.

  Flint braced his hands on his hips. “Shade, I will not die for you, slave or not. Have you brought any allies who will be more…reliable?”

  “Well, this is Lorelei,” I said with false optimism.

  Flint glanced inside the SUV. Lorelei gave him a smile that said she was picturing him naked and invited him to respond in kind. “And you are…?” Flint asked.

  “A demon,” Lorelei said sweetly. “Dybbuk.”

  “Half-blood?” Flint asked.

  Her smiled widened. “Pure.”

  “Well, that’s not true,” Peasblossom argued. “You’re demon-bound. I don’t know if that makes you half-blood, but it definitely means you’re not pure.”

  The smile vanished from Lorelei’s mouth. “Watch your tongue, or I will tear it out.”

  “You’d need tweezers,” Peasblossom taunted. “And you don’t have any.”

  I rubbed my temples. “Can we please go get Andy now? We’re wasting time.”

  “Preparation is not wasted time.” Flint looked at Lorelei. “Who are you bound to?”

  Lorelei slumped in her seat. “A paladin. A weak, unconscious, whiny paladin.”

  Flint’s eyebrows rose. “Young?”

  “No. We bonded a thousand years ago.”

  Something passed behind Flint’s hazel eyes, and he thumped a hand on the SUV. “Get out of the car.”

  Lorelei stiffened. “Why?”

  “I won’t hurt you, just get out of the car.”

  “I’m not worried you’ll hurt me,” Lorelei scoffed. She flung open the car door with unnecessary force. “Bound or not, there’s nothing you could do to hurt me.”

  Flint didn’t argue with her as she circled the car, wading through the ridiculously tall grass like a tourist on safari. “I need to speak with your other half.”

  Lorelei sneered. “She’s indisposed. Poisoned. The witch injected me with the antidote on the drive here, but there’s no way to tell if it’s working.”

  Fractured golden light spread from Flint’s pupils until his eyes glittered like tiger’s eye stones. He brushed a few strands of Lorelei’s hair behind her ear.

  “If you want to seduce me, that’s fine, but perhaps it should wait?” Lorelei jerked a thumb at me. “The witch is getting antsy, and she’s annoying when she wants something.”

  “Quiet,” Flint said. “I’m feeling for your other half.”

  Lorelei looked at me, a question on her face.

  “He’s leannan sidhe,” I explained. “They feed off emotions, and it makes them sensitive. He’s trying to feel Laurie.”

  “She’s too weak.” Lorelei smacked Flint’s hand away.

  Flint narrowed his eyes. “Let me speak to her.”

  “I can’t,” Lorelei insisted. “I told you, she’s too weak.”

  “Too weak to rise herself, but not too weak for you to push her,” Flint responded. “I think I can help her, at least enough for her to participate. It is a unique advantage in battle to have another psyche within yourself to take over if you’re injured. If you allow me to help Laurie, then she can fight, and you can be there in case she falls. Never underestimate the value of a second chance.”

  “I am the strong one, I should fight.” Lorelei’s tone held a healthy dose of disdain, making it clear that she didn’t feel such an obvious point should need to be spelled out.

  “You are the strong one, and that is why you should be the second row.” Flint didn’t touch her again. “If you let her rise, then I can bolster her. I cannot affect her while she is buried. If she is as weak as you say, then she is not backup—she is incapacitated. Let her rise and I will help.”

  He didn’t say it, but I suspected that wasn’t the only reason he wasn’t willing to buffer Lorelei. I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t boost the power of an ancient demon either—demon-bound or not.

  Lorelei huffed out a breath. �
��Fine. Talk to her. See for yourself how useless she’ll be.”

  Flint gestured for her to get on with it. Lorelei crossed her arms, for once not using the gesture to push her breasts up. She closed her eyes.

  A minute dragged by. A wrinkle appeared between Lorelei’s brows. Flint touched her shoulders, squeezing them, drawing her closer.

  “That’s it,” he whispered. “Come to me.”

  The furrow deepened, and Lorelei’s head tilted to the side. Her fingers closed into fists, and she forced her arms to her sides.

  The air grew thicker, harder to breathe. I inched closer to Lorelei, staring, waiting for some sign Flint was succeeding. When her eyes flew open, I gasped and fell back a step.

  “What is…going on?”

  The Italian accent made me straighten. “Laurie?”

  The paladin blinked and swayed on her feet. Flint didn’t let go of her shoulders, and as she gained her bearings, he studied her face. I wasn’t sure what he was searching for, but I had the urge to warn him it wasn’t a good idea to stand that close to someone who wasn’t feeling well. Unless he didn’t mind someone getting sick all over him.

  “I don’t feel well,” Laurie mumbled.

  I stepped closer and to the side so she could see me around Flint. Excitement pushed back some of my anxiety, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of the paladin’s voice. “Laurie, you’re all r—”

  “Not now,” Flint interrupted. “Let me concentrate.”

  I snapped my mouth shut, stifling the urge to say something rude. Energy built in the air around us, and there was something familiar about the magic. A memory from my last encounter on this property battered at my consciousness. Flint was inspiring her, using the same push of magic he’d used on me the last time we were here to help me cast a spell normally beyond my ability. I studied Laurie, waiting to see if Flint’s gift was as effective with her as it had been with me.

  The paladin drew a sharp breath. “Oh, my.”

  “How do you feel?” Flint lowered his hands and stepped away, studying Laurie as he did.

  “Better.” She took another deep breath, then rolled her shoulders. “Much better.” Irritation tugged the corners of her mouth down as she took in her red camisole and lack of a blouse. But instead of getting upset, she grabbed the neckline of the camisole and tugged it up to cover as much of her chest as possible. She met my eyes, and there was strength in her gaze I’d never seen before. “Tell me what’s happened.”