“A sect? Like a cult or something?”
“I suppose that is as good a word as any. They...collect trophies.”
“Like a serial killer.”
“Yes, but this is for their amusement. They make bets with each other to see who can collect something that is hard to find like, say, a mermaid’s tail or a unicorn’s horn.”
“Both of which don’t exist, right?”
“They did before the Otherworld sect started hunting them.” His smile was wry. “They don’t care about the consequences of their actions. It’s all about the hunt and the winning.”
“And you think Adam is involved with them?”
“The magic he left behind held a certain signature I recognized.” He met her gaze. “I’ve come across it before in Otherworld.”
“When you were doing what?”
“Fulfilling tasks for the queen.”
“Oh, damn. Why didn’t you share this with Feehan and the rest of the team?”
He looked away. “Because I’m worried that if I bring this up, Feehan will immediately go to Otherworld and make this all aboveboard and public. If he does that, he and the rest of us will probably be killed fairly swiftly. The membership of the sect holds considerable power.”
“Then why did you tell me?”
His eyebrows rose. “Because you’re my mate.”
Sometimes his honesty confounded her. Now she was the one to look away. “So, what can we do?”
“If we track down Adam and execute him ourselves, he will simply be out of the game. No one will care.”
“That makes sense, but what kind of game is he playing? And if we kill him, won’t someone else take his place?”
“The members don’t compete directly against each other. It’s more about how an individual chooses to interpret a challenge. His choice of prey, the way he kills and the way he displays his trophies count toward the eventual winner’s score.”
“That’s macabre.”
“That’s Otherworld.”
“So you’re saying that a challenge could be, to find an interesting use for a human, and our guy could’ve interpreted it to mean let’s steal their faces and make them into, I dunno, carnival masks?”
“Exactly.”
“Gross.” Ella shivered. “So how can we nail him?”
“The number three is a very powerful symbol to this sect. Did you notice Sam saying that there were three reports of similar deaths earlier in the year?”
“So you reckon Adam will be trying to add two more to his current collection?”
“I would assume that’s his goal.”
“But we still have no idea how to find him.”
He sat back. “We’ll find him. I know his scent now.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’m trained to hunt prey.” He smiled at her and his eyes glinted black. “I’m certain he’ll return, especially if he knows I’m seeking him.”
“Because we leave a trace of our magic at every scene, and if he goes back to check on Brad...”
“He’ll find a trace of me.”
“Will he want you?”
He rose to his feet. “Everyone wants me, Ms. Walsh.”
Ella made a rude noise and grabbed her backpack. “Then maybe we’d better head back to the hospital right away.”
San Francisco General was its usual chaotic self, but Vadim had learned to ignore it. Since hooking up with his mate, he was finding it harder to deal with his emotions and the impact of other human minds. He wasn’t surprised that most unsupported empaths went mad at the age of twenty-seven. His shields were constantly buckling under the pressure of the onslaught of feelings. Since joining minds with Ella, he’d come to respect her abilities quite considerably.
He was also glad she led the way through the maze of identical hallways to Brad’s ward without faltering. Delia, the nurse who’d offered him her services as a guide to the city, was sitting outside the door, looking rather important. Flanking her was an enormously tall guy wearing dark shades and a suit cut to fit a bulky shoulder holster. He scanned the hallways like a pro and immediately tensed as Vadim and Ella approached the door.
He held up his hand.
“This room is secured. Please step back and then state your business.”
Ella held up her badge. “We’re from the SBLE. We’re here to see Mr. Dailey.”
“I have no instructions to admit anyone except approved medical staff and Mr. Dailey’s immediate family.”
Before Ella could get up in the man’s face, Vadim stepped in front of her and smiled pleasantly. “I think you’ll find that you are mistaken and that both Ms. Walsh and I are on that list. Please feel free to confirm that information with Ms. Phelps, the administrator dealing with this case.”
“Morosov, get out of the way. I can get in his head. I can make him let us in.”
“That’s our next step. Let’s try and do it the official way first.”
Sometimes he agreed with her that it would be easier to blast his way through the obstacle, but since leaving Otherworld, he’d been attempting to cultivate more reasonable habits.
“Why?”
He smiled again at Delia. “Hi, how are you, today? How’s Brad doing?”
After a swift glance at the security agent who appeared to be whispering into his mike, Delia turned to Vadim.
“Brad’s grandfather is in there with him, but he’s still sedated and unable to respond to them.”
“Poor guy.” Vadim shook his head. “Perhaps we’d better not disturb him, then.” He turned to Ella, who wasn’t looking very pleased. “Shall we go and find Ms. Phelps and get her up to speed?”
“I’d rather see Brad.”
He took hold of her elbow and propelled her along the corridor. “We’ll do that in a moment. Do you particularly want to go in there and face his grandfather? We can’t answer a single damn question for them yet.” She went to speak, and he kept talking. “It’s not likely that Adam will get in there either, with Delia and that thug on the door.”
“I suppose you’re right. Maybe we should come back later.”
“Let’s do that. We can ask Ms. Phelps to call us when the ex-senator leaves.”
She grimaced. “Okay, but I just have a bad feeling about this.”
So did he, but he didn’t want her to know that. “How about we catch an early dinner at my hotel and return this evening?”
“I suppose that would work. Look, there’s Ms. Phelps.” She walked over to the nurse’s station. “Hey, we just got barred from Brad Dailey’s room by some secret-service guy.”
“You did?” Ms. Phelps took them back into her office and shut the door. She patted ineffectively at her blond bun. “I’m not surprised. That man was demanding I show him full security checks for every single member of staff and patient on this ward! If the ex-senator wants his grandson to have more privacy, he’ll have to pay for a private room on a secure corridor.” She lowered her voice a fraction. “It’s not as if Brad is a VIP.”
“How long is he staying?”
“The former senator is leaving in about two hours. He’ll hopefully be taking his security detail with him. Brad’s parents are due in tonight at around eleven. They are flying in from Florida. They were on their yacht.”
“Nice.” Ella said. “So will you call us just before the senator leaves? We need to talk to Brad.”
“He hasn’t been very responsive today at all.” Ms. Phelps shook her head. “His doctor fears he might be going into a coma of some kind, his body signs are so minimal.”
“Well, thanks for the heads-up. We’ll do our best to get him to talk to us, but we’ll understand if he can’t.”