“O formosa, te volo gustare.”
I looked at her. “Do you know what he said?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t even know what language that was.”
“It was Latin.” Holden came through the door. “And you don’t want to know what he said.”
“Oh, you brought your corpse,” Mayhew sneered. “Did he bring the girl with him?”
“You’re never getting Lucy,” Holden said flatly. “She’s safe now.”
“We’ll see.” He straightened the lapels of his tweed blazer and adjusted the silk pocket square. “The night is young. And I have many more visits to make.” His twinkling eyes pivoted towards me, and when he smiled again it was with the shark teeth he’d displayed in the basement. “I’m almost done here.”
Three vampire wardens had come to stand behind Holden. One was whispering animatedly on a cell phone and pointing to the mess behind him as if the person on the other end could see what he was looking at. The wardens stared past Holden and at me, each bobbing their head in a half-bow as was proper when in the presence of a Tribunal leader.
“Take care of this,” I told them. “But no one touches these two.” Cedes and Tyler seemed puzzled. “They belong to me.”
Well fuck, now I had two more humans I was responsible for. Was I ready to give my life for Tyler? I looked at him—his gun still trained on Mayhew—and reminded myself I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for him.
“As charming as this is,” Mayhew cut in, his British accent at odds with his pointy teeth and coal-red eyes, “I’ve got work to finish.” He dove at Gabriel with speed even a vampire couldn’t match. Before anyone in the room had a chance to respond, there was a fleshy rending noise and something white and glistening dangled from Mayhew’s bloodied hands.
Gabriel’s spine.
In a better time, it would have made for a great one-liner about my spineless ex-boyfriend. Instead I fought against a new wave of bile threatening to become vomit. Tyler lost his own battle, turning away from the scene to throw up behind us. Cedes had more presence of mind than both of us. In spite of my promise that bullets wouldn’t harm the demon, she emptied her clip into Mayhew’s head.
Had he been a vampire or some other kind of paranormal, he’d be dead as a doornail. There was a hole clean through the middle of his forehead that showed light from the other side. Instead of falling down dead next to Gabriel’s mutilated corpse, Mayhew stuck a finger into the open hole in his head and prodded around, seemingly amused by the new air circulation in his skull.
“In the Middle Ages, doctors would cut holes in the skulls of patients if they believed a demon was trapped within. Trepanation, it’s called. Your system is much faster.” He grinned at Cedes and plucked one of the bullets out of his gray matter, before flicking it back at her. “Too bad neither method kills demons.”
In a flash he was on the run again, knocking Cedes against Tyler, both detectives hitting the floor in a heap. I was on the demon’s heels, but I’d never seen anything move this fast. Another group of wardens dodged out of my way as I bounded up the stairs. When I reached the main work floor, all the detectives were staring forward at their desks in a mutual trance thanks to the efficient work of my wardens. Asking the detectives which way the wicked professor had gone wouldn’t do me any good.
I needed a weapon, and I needed a shot in hell.
I knew where to find both.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Desmond met me at the corner of West 52nd and 8th with a sword and an apparent willingness to turn it on me. When I ran up to him, instead of an open-armed embrace, he bashed me in the sternum with the sheathed blade and stepped back.
“Fucking hell,” I cursed, rubbing my bruised breastbone.
“Say the word.”
“Asshole?” I muttered.
He prepared to draw out the blade.
“Dracula. Dracula. Jesus, Des. Couldn’t you have asked before hitting me?”
“Your message was pretty adamant I shoot first, ask questions later.”
“Well thank goodness you didn’t bring a gun.” I held out my hand, and he passed my sword over. The katana seemed to warm up the moment my fingers brushed the hilt, like it knew it was in proper hands again.
“Where are we going?”
“You are going home. Locking the doors and not coming out again until I say so.”
“Like fucking hell I am.”