“We know people were killed,” Rico said. “We’ll find a way to make that right. I’m waiting for a call that should help us get ahead of the next ones that are being set up.”
Tristan placed her hand on the door behind her. She leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper like a conspiracy nut who’d gotten a glimpse of an unmarked van with a satellite dish parked outside. “Those people that were killed weren’t just people. They weren’t Nymar either.”
“I know that,” Paige said.
“They were cops.”
The silence that filled the room was thick enough to block out the music, screaming customers, and the rattle of pipes all around them.
Cole’s head snapped up, which made him want to drop it right back down again. The incision in his side was closed, but there was still plenty of pain to remind him it had been there. His strength was returning at a steady pace, which allowed him to croak, “How do you know they were cops?”
“It’s all over the news,” Tristan told him. “They’re saying three police officers were killed when you stormed into a bar on Rush Street and murdered everyone inside before setting it on fire! Is that true?”
The Skinners looked back and forth at each other, as if trying to draw enough strength from one another to deny the claim. Unfortunately, their silence did nothing to help their cause.
Paige’s phone rang, causing everyone to jump. She answered it, headed for the door and left the utility room so she could stand in the access hall for some privacy. Ironically, her voice echoed more there than in the room she’d left.
“You killed those people, didn’t you?” Tristan asked.
Rico stood up and crossed his arms imposingly. “We kill a lot of people, darlin’. Every one of them Nymar used to be a person. Every Half Breed runnin’ around out there used to be a person.”
“I’m not asking about them and you damn well know it. Dryads have been worshipped for centuries. The only thing we worship is life. That’s why we tried to steer clear of you hunters for so long. Skinners, Amriany, even the outlaws from both sides are all killers. I thought I could trust Paige, Cole, and anyone they would vouch for. This changes everything.”
“I know,” Rico sighed. “We got set up. The bitch who did it mentioned cops being planted there, but that could have been a line of bullshit meant to shake us up. We don’t even know what the fuck any cops were doing in a Blood Parlor. If they were on a Nymar payroll, then that makes them just as bad as the bloodsuckers.”
“They weren’t,” Daniels said from where he sat on an upside down bucket. Holding Cole’s phone in both hands, he shook his head while tapping the touch screen with frenetic thumbs. “I’ve just checked through the first few stories to pop up on a search, and they all say the same thing: undercover police officers slain in the line of duty.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“And that’s not all. I tried looking up other recent reports of dead undercover officers and got stories from Philadelphia, Toronto, New Orleans, and plenty of other cities big and small. It’s so widespread, there’s been speculation of terrorist involvement.”
“Holy shit,” Rico grunted as he pressed his hands against his forehead and ran them all the way to the top of his scalp. “Holy mother-lovin’ shit. That means the Feds will get involved. Was there anything else about those other attacks?”
After a bit of backtracking, Daniels found a report from one of the national news agencies and skimmed down to the body of the story. “Looks like there were fires in a few massage parlors, some shoot-outs at private nightclubs, botched raids at some escort agencies …”
“All the sort of shit Nymar have their fingers into. Give that phone to Cole. Let him see what else he can find.”
Cole was conscious, but not happy about it. A thick layer of sweat glistened on his pasty face. Each exhalation caused his shoulders to sag and his chest to deflate. Every move he made brought another stabbing pain. Although his insides seemed to be working well enough, they had all been pushed around by a parasitic slug. That just wasn’t easy to bounce back from.
“You want to take a look, Cole?” Daniels asked.
Still weak, but grateful for something to take his mind off what had happened inside his chest, Cole nodded and accepted the phone from Daniels. Tapping the screen and sifting through the familiar Web pages was a comfortable bit of normalcy no matter how bad the results on those pages might have been.
“Kansas City was hit again,” Paige said as she stormed in from the hall.
Tristan stepped aside but watched the Skinners with the closest thing to an angry glare as her perfectly sculpted features could manage.
“More cops killed?” Rico asked grudgingly.
“Cops, civilians, construction workers, firefighters, you name it. Twenty-nine in all.”
“Jesus Christ. Tell me those bloodsuckers didn’t lure any of us there to do that.”
“I don’t think the Nymar had anything to do with this. If they did, we’re completely screwed.”
“What are you talking about?”
When Cole looked up at her, Paige seemed almost as drained as he felt.
She held her phone out and said, “That was MEG who just called. After Liam’s siege on Kansas City, all the little paranormal watchdog groups and damn near anyone else has been scouring that place. Kayla’s Mongrel pack have been staying underground, but—”
“Just spill it, Paige,” Cole said. “We don’t have a lot of time here.”
“A pack of Full Bloods tore through KC.”
“Apack?” Rico asked. “As in, more than one?”
“That’s what MEG said.”
“Sure it wasn’t just one and some Half Breeds again?”
“There are pictures,” Paige replied. “Lots of pictures. They’re spreading.”
Cole sighed. “Where were they headed when they left?” When no answer was forthcoming, he asked, “They’re still there?”
She shook her head. “One of them got away. Looks like it was Liam. He was missing an eye. There were two others. MEG put together the reports and sent them all to me, but I got the play-by-play. Kayla’s pack herded them away from the city, led the Full Bloods out past the airport, tripped them up and tore them apart. The cops are sifting through it now.”
“Cops? As in the KC cops?” Cole asked as he suddenly found enough energy to get to his feet. “What about Officer Stanze?”
“I talked to him. It was only for a second, but he told me it’s over and the emergency crews are cleaning up. After Liam’s first siege, Stanze’s been getting preferred treatment on all the freaky cases. He saw the bodies. Here,” Paige said as she held her phone out so Cole and Rico could see the screen. “See for yourself.”
Rico took the phone first, examined the screen and scowled. After holding it up close enough for the illumination to reflect off the rough features of his face, he raised his eyebrows and nodded approvingly. “I’ll be damned.” Tossing the phone to Cole, he added, “The Mongrels have been giving the Full Bloods hell for centuries, and supposedly took down one or two here and there, but this is the first time I actually seen it with my own eyes.”
The picture on the screen was tough for Cole to make out at first. After letting his tired eyes adjust to the seemingly random carnage, he eventually pieced together the carcass lying on a dirty street or sidewalk. Its skin and musculature were obviously not that of a Half Breed. The teeth were much larger and had even ripped through the thing’s face in much the same way as Mr. Burkis’s fangs shredded his when he was in full upright form. A man stood close enough to the body to provide a sense of scale. While Half Breeds were generally as large as when they’d been human, this creature was even bigger. It could have simply been a larger human, but he didn’t think so. He’d killed enough Half Breeds to recognize them when they were sleeping, running, in the shadows, or in pieces. Whatever was in the picture was no Half Breed.