“This was bound to happen.” Linus crossed to me. “Severine kept an eye on you all these years, and her granddaughters did too. They would have reached out at some point. The same is true for Lacroix. You didn’t bring this on yourself. They were always waiting in the wings, hoping for an opening to walk through.”
“Grier.”
“Did you hear that?” I spun in the chair toward the window. “It sounded like…”
A furious zing rippled through the wards, and yep. Woolly expelled Boaz with enough force to send him flying.
“Crap.” I leapt to my feet and ran, skidding onto the porch just as he tried to bull his way in a second time. “Woolly, no.” I took the stairs two at a time and demanded of him, “What’s gotten into you?”
“Lacroix made his move.” Anguish cut lines into his cheeks. “All the sentinels we thought he killed…” He rubbed his hands over his face, leaving crimson streaks behind. “He compelled them, Grier. He held them prisoner until he rounded up a dozen or so then gave them orders to return to their units and open fire.”
“Goddess,” I whispered and went to him. “How bad is it?”
“We lost thirty-two men and women.” His shoulders hunched. “Becky…” He wet his lips. “Lacroix discovered she was a sentinel and compelled her to take down Commander Roark. That was his special assignment for her. I was in a meeting with him and a few others when she walked in, drew her weapon, and…”
“I’m sorry.” I eased forward, about to yank him into the hug he needed, when a commotion near the property line I shared with the Pritchards distracted me. “Who is…?”
Blonde hair flying loose around her shoulders, eyes bright with panic, Adelaide ran across the yard and threw her arms around Boaz.
“You didn’t call.” Her grip on him tightened until he returned the embrace. “You jackass. You knew I would hear about the massacre from the sentinels you posted outside the house, and you didn’t call.”
“I didn’t think.” He bowed to the need for comfort and buried his face in her neck. “Becky’s gone.” The blood on his hands streaked the ends of Adelaide’s hair when he clenched his fists in the pale length. “I was on duty, and I couldn’t… It all happened so fast. I had to…” His shoulders juddered. “I killed her, Addie.”
Grateful when Linus came to stand with me, I folded myself against his chest as Amelie skidded onto the scene.
Bad enough that Boaz had to watch his partner fall, but to be the one who pulled the trigger…
Adelaide eased him onto Woolly’s lowest step, and Amelie settled in beside him, leaning against him.
I doubt any of them were thinking what a colossally bad idea it was to risk Woolly’s wrath. Lucky for them, the old girl had a good heart, and she had loved Boaz for a long time. She might be mad at him, she might never get over his betrayal, but she would always have a soft spot for the boy he had been.
As much as I hated to interrupt them, I had no other choice. “Did the commander make it?”
Head in his hands, Boaz stared at the blood flecking his boots while Adelaide and Amelie hovered over him.
“No.” He raised his chin, and I could tell the effort cost him. “I couldn’t process what was happening. We hadn’t heard the other reports of sentinels turning on their own yet. We had no reason to distrust her.” His gaze slid back to the ground. “She walked right in and killed him, and I…”
“Shhh.” Adelaide raked her fingers through the longer hair on top of his head. “You don’t have to talk about it. You’re okay. That’s the important thing.”
“Yeah.” A hard laugh punched out of him. “I wouldn’t want to miss the wedding.”
“Boaz,” Amelie snapped, climbing to her feet. “That was uncalled for.”
“It’s fine.” The concern wetting Adelaide’s lashes and streaking her cheeks dried as if the tears had never fallen. “I should go.”
When he didn’t call her back, I went after her since Amelie couldn’t. “He shouldn’t have said that.”
“Hey.” She slowed, allowing me to fall into step with her. “That’s my line.”
The smile creeped up on me, reminding me why I liked her. “How are you holding up?”
“We have food, water, and gas for the generator.” She laced her fingers at her navel. “It’s a big ask, I know, but can you talk to him? He’ll accept comfort from you better than he does from me.”
“I’m not going to pat his head or rub his belly, but I’ll kick him in the ass to get him moving in the right direction.” I met her stare head-on. “That’s the best I can do.”
“Thanks.” She made a vague gesture toward the Pritchard house. “I should be getting back.”
As I watched her go, I resisted the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake sense into her.
Marrying Boaz was one thing. Both their families would benefit from the union. I could see that in hindsight, even accept it. But she had rushed over wearing her heart on her sleeve, and he dusted it off like lint.
As usual.
“You can’t fix this.” Linus came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, propping his chin on top of my head. “They have to figure it out on their own.”
“I can’t help it.” I leaned back against him. “I like Adelaide. I want better for her than she’s getting.”
“She chose him,” he reminded me. “There’s no going back, for either of them.”
“I’m warning Cletus. He can get word to Clem for us.”
The wraith materialized in seconds and spread his hands in a show of them being empty.
No news, in this case, was good news.
“Lacroix made his play,” I told Cletus. “Don’t let Corbin out of your sight for a blink, okay?”
Cletus bobbed his head then disappeared back to stand guard over my progeny.
Heaving a sigh, I forced myself to step out of Linus’s comforting embrace. “Do you have a tattoo gun here?”
“Yes.”
“Can you give the remaining sentinels the same tattoo you gave me? It holds against Lacroix’s compulsions. I’ve tested it time and time again.” I faced him. “We can’t turn a blind eye when we can help protect the sentinels who are putting their lives on the line for the rest of us.”
“I can bring in help, other artists, and more equipment.” Wisps of black flickered in his eyes. “The problem is the ink.”
The blend contained Volkov’s blood to boost the wearer’s immunity from Last Seeds.
There had once been an arrangement between the two of them that resulted in Linus having the blood, and test subject, he required to experiment on himself until hitting the perfect ratio for use in his design.
For the sentinels’ sake, I hoped we could stretch what remained of his supply thin enough to cover everyone. “How much do you have left?”
“Not enough.” He shook his head. “Not nearly enough.”
I swallowed hard. “Then I guess we go get more.”
Seven
“No.”
That was Linus’s entire argument against me going with him to see Volkov. Hard to counter when his succinct reply left me no wiggle room, but that had never stopped me. This needed doing, and I wasn’t letting him go alone.
Bold as brass, I hurled my suspicion. “He’s in the city.”
The cool assessment in his eyes skated dangerously close to a mask. “You’re fishing.”
Fiddlesticks. He knew me too well, which meant he ought to know I wasn’t giving up or giving in.
“You visited him several times,” I reminded him, “but you couldn’t have gone far. You were always home to fix me breakfast, and most mornings I saw you before I went to bed.”
“Volkov is dangerous.”
“Weird.” I arranged my features into oblivious puzzlement. “I didn’t get that vibe from him. I’m sure he didn’t mean to kidnap me, hold me prisoner, or force me to marry him. It was all a big misunderstanding.”
Linus pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s been asking for you.”
A cold lump formed in my gut. “That’s good then. He gets what he wants, and we get what we need.”
Black filled his eyes from edge to edge when he dropped his hand, and eternity stared back at me.
“I can’t promise to honor your decisions then break my word when it’s tested.” Mist rose from his skin, and I was glad. It meant he wasn’t hiding his quirks, any of them, from me. “I’ll make the visitation arrangements.”
Uncertain how victorious I felt, considering winning meant spending quality time with Volkov, I found myself in need of a distraction. “How can I help?”
“Call the Mad Tatter.” He prowled the room, the promise of violence simmering beneath his skin. “Ask Mary Alice to send six of her best.”
We couldn’t very well invite humans into the city at the moment, let alone allow them to work on the sentinels and the Elite without raising questions. There was also the small concern they might go back out into the world and replicate the design without understanding what it meant. He knew that but…
Phone in hand, I searched for her number. “I shouldn’t specify necromancer or…?”
“She’ll know who I mean,” he reassured me, giving away nothing.
With no one to blame but myself for pulling the assignment I was about to take on, I dialed up the Tatter and asked to speak to the boss.
“You destroyed my guest suite,” Mary Alice said in place of hello.
“See, there were these vampire assassins,” I began. “And then—”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Information broker. Right. “Linus told me to call you.”