“We may as well start at Giorgio’s house,” Janvier said. “Ash and Naasir and I can do that. Trace, can you get this to the Tower”—his nod took in the drug paraphernalia—“and have it tested?”
“I’ll have it fast-tracked.”
Leaving the vampire in the warehouse, a number of the Legion on guard over both properties, the three of them went directly to Giorgio’s tony Vampire Quarter town house. Allowed in by the guards Dmitri had left at the door, they decided to start at the top and work their way down. The town house’s décor was, as she’d noticed on her first visit, far more modern than the velvet and lace Giorgio favored on himself and his cattle.
It was also sumptuous. Three-hundred-count Egyptian cotton sheets, designer curtains, granite counters in the bathroom, and fixtures polished to perfection. Ashwini found plenty of evidence that the women were welcome in the master bedroom—not the least of which was a crumpled pair of lace panties.
Not touching the panties and the discarded seamed stockings hung over the back of a chair, Ashwini tapped the walls to check for hidden compartments. She didn’t find anything, and neither did either of the two men. Naasir shook his head when they met again in the downstairs hallway, having split up during the search of the lower half of the house. “No scent.”
“Giorgio has other properties.” She scanned the information that had come through on her phone from the combined Guild/Tower team. “Small rental homes, shares in a hotel . . .”
“The desiccated dog,” Janvier reminded her, “was found in the Quarter, so our angel may be comfortable in this area. Even if he isn’t, the Quarter is Giorgio’s milieu. I can’t see him putting up his guest anywhere that would take him too far out of his way.”
Ashwini frowned. “None of the places on this list are anywhere near the Quarter.”
The three of them headed to the closest property regardless, with Dmitri and Sara having already dispatched teams to clear the others.
• • •
Eight hours of fruitless searching later, Ashwini kicked the punching bag in the Guild Academy gym. She’d been working out her frustration on the bag since the final possible location was cleared forty-five minutes past, but wasn’t having much success in calming herself down.
Not only had an angel with freaking red in his wings disappeared into thin air, to the point that no one they’d questioned in the Quarter recalled ever seeing him, but so had Giorgio, leaving behind only his bewildered and distraught showpiece cattle. All had seemed genuinely upset when Ashwini interviewed them.
Apparently, even psychopathic bastards had their fans.
As for the vampire guards from the warehouse, they were the vicious brutes Ashwini had tagged them; Giorgio had trusted none of the three with details of his plans. Their only task was to guard that sickening torture chamber while it wasn’t in use. When it was, they played guard dogs outside the warehouse.
None had ever seen the angel’s face—at least according to the one who could speak, Giorgio’s partner had always arrived covered in a black cloak, the hood shadowing his features. The guard said they’d all assumed it was another vampire, because there was no indication of wings beneath the cloak. That, of course, should’ve been impossible. The guard had also admitted to taking advantage of a captive and said his partners had, too.
Punching the bag in renewed fury, her hands protected by boxing gloves, she swung out with a hard kick. The bag swung, exposing the lean form of the man who stood against the wall on the other side. Stilling the bag using her hands, her chest heaving, she said, “How did you get in here?” He was neither student nor instructor nor hunter. Right now, it was only the latter two in here, the students being at dinner.
“I am a teacher, cher,” he said, strolling closer.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Truth.” He held up his hands before taking hold of the bag and keeping it steady while she threw a few more punches. “I volunteered my services for your final-year students.”
“You’re playing prey?” Every student had to successfully complete a “hunt” before graduating. “Usually one of us does that.”
“Not that you are not brilliant, my darling, devious Ash, but you aren’t a vampire. We do have certain tricks.”
“You have more than most.” No vamp but Janvier had ever come close to outwitting her on a hunt. “How many have caught you so far?”
“All,” he said. “I am not here to destroy their confidence, only to make them work hard and earn the collar, and each has done that.”
At that instant, he could’ve been any hunter in the room, at once proud of the students and concerned with making sure they went out into the world with the right tools to survive. Tools Giorgio’s victims had never had. “We’ve hit a dead end, haven’t we?” She went through a rapid series of punches and kicks.
Moss green eyes shadowed, Janvier stopped the bag from spinning. “Yes, but every vampire and angel in the city has been alerted to be on the lookout. Neither Giorgio nor Cornelius will be able to show his face without being picked up. Need will draw them out.”
She knew he was right. Even if Giorgio had a store of blood, it wouldn’t last forever. And if they found Giorgio, they’d find the angel. “I hate waiting,” she said, though at this point, there was no other option. The Guild’s financial whiz was running through Giorgio’s finances with her counterpart at the Tower; if the vampire had hidden any properties under shell corporations, the two would find it. All his accounts had also been flagged to send up an alert should he attempt to access them.
Ashwini knew she wouldn’t be any good to Felicity, Lilli, and the other victims if she didn’t have her head in the right space when the information came through. Modulating her breathing with conscious effort of will, she tugged off her gloves. “I have to shower,” she said. “You’re taking me to dinner after we drop my gear off at home.”
“Then will you be my dinner?”
Skin shimmering at the reminder of how potent he was, she said, “Play your cards right and I just might.”
His wicked smile followed her into the shower, scoured some of the frustration off. Not all of it. Nothing could do that until they’d hunted down the evil behind the torture and deaths of so many hopeful young lives, but she could breathe, could think . . . could remember that she, too, had a life.