Viper Moon Read online

  “Don’t bother. Someone will take his place. Better a familiar evil than someone new.”

  I pulled against Michael’s unyielding hand. Finally, I relaxed.

  True, I knew how Theron operated, and that knowledge helped me find Maxie Fountain. But I still wanted to risk it all and kill him anyway. “You get a pass for now,” I snarled at Theron. “Courtesy of the Archangel. Next time you might not be so lucky.”

  “Who is Hammer’s buyer?” Michael demanded of Theron.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know.” Theron’s head drooped.

  I sheathed my knife and pointed at the blood on Michael’s sleeve. “Is that bad?”

  He stared at the blood as if seeing it for the first time. “No. Come on. He doesn’t know anything else.”

  We left Theron sitting in the chair. Michael led me down the stairs and through the eardrum-bruising turmoil of the Goblin. He didn’t exactly hurry, but he made a steady-moving beeline toward the door. In minutes, we were outside, in the Jag, and rolling back into the relatively blessed silence on River Street.

  I laid my fingers on his wounded arm. What little blood remained came off to reveal smooth skin. I sat back and stared straight ahead. Human? Sure he was. Violent? Yes. Evil? I didn’t know—yet.

  Michael had lifted a man who had to weigh two hundred fifty pounds or more off his feet and tossed him across a room with less effort than a child throwing a doll. I could do it, but not that easily, not even with the strength the Mother gave me when I agreed to serve her. He’d also cowed Pericles Theron like a puppy scolded for shitting on the carpet, then rubbed his nose in it.

  “What’s your place in the Barrows hierarchy, Michael?”

  “I’m a businessman.” His soft laughter rippled the air.

  “And Theron? How do you know him?”

  “He’s a businessman, too. He’s nowhere near as powerful as people believe. I took you to him because I didn’t want you to waste time—or get killed for nothing. The two you’re looking for are too old for him.”

  If Michael belonged to the Barrows, how deep did the roots go? I had to ask the question then. “Why did your mother try to kill you?”

  “Why don’t you go ask her? Her name is Elise Ramekin. She’s a patient at Avondale Manor.”

  Avondale Manor was a high-class private hospital for the criminally insane. Like the Archangel, the asylum catered to the wealthy. And Michael? Mystery upon mystery.

  Who was he? He’d invited me to investigate his past. He wanted me to know something, but for some reason he wouldn’t say it outright. I’d have to follow the trail he’d marked for me, but I’d be damn sure to keep one eye over my shoulder.

  “Okay. I’ll visit her. I owe you that. More than that.”

  Michael laughed, smooth as the fur of a black cat. “How should I collect on that debt?”

  “What? You mean I have to fuck you to be even, Archangel? You have a scorecard somewhere? What’s the going rate? How many pieces of ass for how many pieces of information?”

  “You misunderstand. You don’t owe me sex, no matter how much I desire you. You owe me the courtesy of remembering my answer to your question. I’m just as human as you are. Look to yourself, Cassandra. Look deep inside.”

  Michael stopped the car at a red light. He reached over and stroked a hand over my hair, then ran it down my arm and twined his fingers in mine. I didn’t resist. With only a few words, he had touched on my fear. One that had haunted me from the day I accepted the Earth Mother’s call. Would anyone ever love me if they truly knew what I was? If they knew what I did?

  Michael squeezed my hand. “We’re different, Cass. You and I aren’t the same as those people uptown, living orderly lives. We belong together.”

  I had no answer to that, no smart remark. He had effectively gouged through one of my fears and thrown it in my face. The light changed, he released my hand, and he drove on in silence. We arrived at the Archangel’s parking lot, where an irritated-looking Detective Flynn stood scowling at the front-door bouncers. I might not remember much of last night, but this one should be unforgettable.

  chapter 8

  When the car stopped at the entrance, I opened the door and went to Flynn. He stood straight with his arms at his sides and his jacket slightly open, badge and gun clearly visible. Not exactly threatening, but formidable nonetheless. Two of Michael’s hefty bouncers barred his way.

  “Now what?” I said to him. He really pissed me off. “I said I’d find her. You have to let me do my job.”

  “I can see you’re working hard.” Flynn stared at Michael with that grim, hard-jawed cop expression. His voice had a sharper edge now.

  Michael approached, nodded at Flynn, and gave him a smug smile. He handed me the gun I’d left under the car seat. “Don’t forget this.”

  Damn him! The last thing I needed was for Flynn to question me about my illegal gun. Michael stood far enough away for me to have to make an obvious reach for my weapon. I grabbed it and shoved it into the holster under my jacket.

  I did a quick introduction. What a joy. Conceited Michael meets hard-ass Flynn.

  Michael extended his hand to Flynn. “Good evening, Detective.”

  In an automatic gesture, Flynn grasped the hand.

  Michael frowned. “Does Cassandra require a lawyer?”

  Flynn shook his head. “I only want to talk to her.” He glared at me. “For now.”

  Michael nodded as if to say he understood the situation. Then the arrogant bastard stepped close, caught my arm, and gave me a velvet-soft kiss on the cheek.

  “Don’t say anything you’ll regret, darling,” he said gently, as if to a lover. Which I was not! He released me and walked into the building. The two muscle-boy bouncers followed. One grinned and winked at me.

  Darling? Was Michael, perfect Michael, jealous? Or did he just want to fry my ass in front of a cop?

  “How’d you find me?” I asked Flynn.

  “I put out the word for anyone who saw your car to call me.” His tone of voice said he didn’t give a shit if such an action upset me. “Your pretty Michael had blood on his sleeve.”

  This cop didn’t miss much.

  “An accident. And he’s not my Michael. What do you want?”

  Flynn didn’t say anything. He walked toward my car, leaving me to follow. When I got there, I saw a duffel bag and rolled-up sleeping bag on the backseat.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “My clothes. I have some vacation time. I’d planned to use it hunting for Selene, but now I’m going to stay with you.”

  “What? You can’t—”

  “Oh, yes, I can.” He scowled at me across the top of the car. “It’s not my decision. If I don’t, you’d better be prepared to face your Madam Abigail and my mother. Of the three of you, I don’t know who scares me the most.”

  I opened my phone, walked three cars down. The evening actually felt warmer, not cooler. Sweat beaded on my forehead. I dialed Abby.

  “Yes, Cassandra.” Abby answered on the first ring. Only it wasn’t Abby.

  “I want to talk to Abby, not you.”

  The Earth Mother laughed. “No, Huntress, it is I to whom you must complain regarding Detective Flynn. He is to stay at your side until you find the children. If you serve me, Huntress, in this instance you will obey me.”

  “He can’t stay with me. How do I explain the Barrows to him?”

  “You show him, of course. Do I sense a bit of hostility, dear?”

  “Hostility doesn’t even begin to cover what I feel right now.” I cut the phone off.

  I am her servant. I’d made that vow and I’d kept it. I would continue to serve, but, damn, she made it hard at times. She’d never done anything like this before. I am a solitary lone hunter and now she’d forced me to accept someone in my hunt—and forced him into my life. I shoved the phone in my pocket and marched back to Flynn. He sat in the passenger seat and gave me an evil look when I climbed in.

  “Whe
re’s your truck?” I stuck the key in the ignition.

  “With my mother. Her car is in the shop. How’d you get the shit beat out of you if you carry a piece?”

  “I only carry it in the Barrows.”

  “You have a license? The Barrows is part of the city.”

  “You think so?”

  “That Michael. He’s your boyfriend?”

  “No. A friend.” An arrogant ass of a friend.

  “Your friend has a serious criminal record. You know that, don’t you? They talk about him a lot at the station. Nailing him is something of a mission. He and Carlos Dacardi are the big badasses in crime in Duivel.”

  Oh, great! The two big badasses in town and I was now involved with both. This would not end well. I had children to think of, though. They came first. Oh, I’d heard the stories about Michael, but they were always vague, with no details. Nobody ever said, Michael committed this crime or Michael committed this act of violence. I figured it was like the rumors about me. Kill a few monsters, kick a few criminal asses, and you get to be a heroine—or a rogue vigilante, depending on who’s talking. And yet, this very evening, I’d watched him take out two thugs and snap Pericles Theron’s arm. He broke the bone without mercy and forced Theron to talk, for no greater reason than to please me.

  “Just shut up and let me drive, Flynn.” I did not want to talk about Michael.

  I started the car and drove out of the Archangel’s parking lot, leaving a Lexus and a Porsche to fight over my parking spot.

  If, as the Mother insisted, Flynn had to stay with me, he had to know some of my secrets—and accept them without slapping me in handcuffs and hauling me to jail. For him, I’d have to break the veil of obscurity that cloaked the Barrows. He’d be initiated into a new world. Unlike the general uptown populace, he wouldn’t be able to turn away and pretend he hadn’t seen the weird and bizarre. Bigger problem? I didn’t know how I’d conceal some of my more devious retrieval methods from him.

  I pulled into the apartment house parking lot and switched off the car. “Are you a shoot first, ask questions later kind of cop?”

  “No.” He sounded offended.

  “Good. If you shoot my friends, I will be very unhappy.” Not to mention he’d have to shoot me because I’d stand in front of them. “Come upstairs and I’ll welcome you to my world.” When we entered the apartment, I told him to sit at the table. I sat in a chair across from him. “Pretend you’re dreaming. It might help. Nefertiti? Nirah?”

  Horus dashed across the room and leaped onto the table. Nirah coiled around his neck with her head between his ears. Her tiny forked tongue flicked in and out at lightning speed.

  Nefertiti lowered her slender body from a cheap and gaudy chandelier with burned-out bulbs hanging directly over my table until her head was eye level with Flynn. I don’t know how she made it up there. I hadn’t noticed her when we came in. Neither had Flynn.

  Flynn sat with his eyes wide and his mouth open. His hand was halfway to his gun.

  “No shooting!” My muscles tightened as I prepared to throw myself at him. “They won’t hurt you and you won’t hurt them.”

  His hand moved away from the gun, but his eyes never left Nefertiti, Horus, and Nirah.

  I reached out and stroked Nefertiti’s head with my finger. She let go and her body hit the table with a solid thump. She coiled herself into a ball.

  “Nefertiti, let’s start with you.” I held out my hand and she laid her head on my palm. For her, that signified trust. “This is Flynn. He’s going to be staying with us for a few days. I want you to learn his scent so you can recognize him. Now, he’s going to be nervous, so you be easy.”

  Nefertiti slid toward Flynn. He had his hands on the table in front of him, both clenched into fists.

  “I went to school, Cass.” His voice had an odd tone I didn’t understand. “That reptile has a brain the size of a pea. She could strike at any minute.”

  “Maybe she isn’t a snake.”

  He gave me a You’ve got to be kidding look.

  Nefertiti’s head reached his hands. Her tongue flicked, identifying his scent and body temperature, memorizing him as I would memorize the photo of a child I was hunting.

  With impressive courage, Flynn sat still, frozen as someone facing a fearful unknown, determined to hold his ground. Nefertiti inched her way forward until she reached his arm, then stopped.

  “She wants to crawl on you.” I gave him a smile I hoped was reassuring. “Can you take that?”

  Flynn nodded. A resilient man, facing an uncomfortable situation.

  Nefertiti worked her way up his arm and shoulder, the only sound the faint rasp of her body across his shirt. For some reason, her brown markings had deepened to a near black. His jaw clenched when she slid across the bare skin of his neck. She didn’t wrap herself around him, but she laid her head on top of his, mimicking Horus and Nirah.

  Flynn’s eyes were wide, but now more in shock than fear.

  “Wait.” I held up a finger. “Horus, your turn.”

  Horus marched up to Flynn with a cat’s graceful, arrogant dignity, deigning to introduce himself.

  “Nirah is small,” I told Flynn. “You need to watch out for her.”

  It wasn’t likely he would step on her—she is too fast for that—but unlike Nefertiti, Flynn would need to be aware of her at all times. Nirah isn’t particularly aggressive, but she doesn’t like strangers. Of the three of them, it was Horus’s shitty attitude that really worried me the most.

  Horus reached out a paw and flexed his incredible claws.

  Oops. Horus the badass tyrant wasn’t a team player. Nirah opened her mouth and hissed, flashing her fangs. Nefertiti darted forward across Flynn’s head to meet Nirah. Her fangs dripped venom and her head swayed back and forth like a clock pendulum, matching Nirah’s moves.

  Flynn sat frozen. Formidable control. He might deal well with the Barrows, after all. An unbidden thought jumped forward in my mind. He might deal well with me, too. Did I want that?

  “Hey!” I slapped my hand on the table. “You three, stop showing off. I’m ashamed of you.”

  Horus turned to me, and by default, so did Nirah.

  I shook my head. “Okay, he’s one of us now. Understood?”

  Nefertiti slid off Flynn and joined Horus and Nirah, waiting for the next move.

  “They’re venomous.” Flynn’s voice was flat and cold. “It’s illegal to keep venomous—”

  “They only bite when necessary,” I explained, but I doubt it comforted him. “A little kid could walk in here and pick up all three of them and be safe.”

  “You’re saying these animals, reptiles, have the ability to reason?” He gestured at them, but quickly drew his hand back. “Choose who they bite?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t believe you. Where did they come from?”

  “I don’t know. I found Nefertiti in the Barrows. She crawled in the car and came home with me. Horus and Nirah were at the front door the next day. I consider them gifts.”

  “You communicate with them. How?” Flynn drilled me as if this were a criminal interrogation, a demand for facts. At least he’d actually accepted my gift for animal communication.

  “Intuition. A psychic bond, if you can understand that. The way I’ve always been able to communicate with animals. Only, they’re not exactly animals. At least I don’t think they’re animals. Or reptiles. You’re on the fringe of reality here. Accept or reject. Your choice.”

  Flynn drew a deep, shuddering breath and rubbed a hand across his face. “People keep telling me you’re . . . a lot of things. Downtown, River Street. I went down there. I asked everyone who would actually talk to me. I paid for information. Any clue, just a hint. They call you a witch. Or a demon. But they all say you find children.”

  I’d bet Flynn had an analytical mind, full of right angles, mixed with the gut instinct cops develop over time. My snakes and cat, only a brief glimpse into my world, created an unpleasan
t paradox for him. I wondered what would tip the balance toward acceptance or rejection.

  “Let me see that gun.” Flynn held out his hand.

  Ah, something tangible to hold on to. Like Dacardi, this man understood weapons. After what he had just seen, he required the familiar, to balance things in his mind. I removed the magazine and gave him the pistol. While he inspected it, I used a paper towel to clean up the drops of venom Nefertiti had dripped on the table.

  “Nice piece.” He held the gun up. “Where’d you get it?” His calm voice almost hid his keen interest.

  “A Bastinado didn’t need it anymore, so I confiscated it.”

  He laid it on the table beside the magazine. “Ever used it?”

  Oh, boy. How did I answer a cop’s question about that? “Only in self-defense.”

  Flynn laid the gun beside the magazine. “It’s heavy. Are you a good shot?”

  “Yes.”

  I’d spent hours at the target range, and every couple of years I go to one of those survival schools where I learn to shoot moving targets and fire from any position. He didn’t need that information right now, though. His face held a neutral expression usually indicative of heavy thought.

  I stood. I needed another shower. The stink of the Goblin Den clung to me like a thin, disgusting oil. “I’m going to clean up. You can have the bathroom when I’m done.”

  Suddenly weary, I rubbed the back of my neck. I had to give him a way out and hope he’d take it. “Flynn, if you want to leave, I’ll understand. I won’t tell your mother, and I’ll find Selene.”

  He nodded. Then he turned back to face the girls and Horus. I trusted them not to bite him unless he did something incredibly foolish. Unlike myself, I’d bet Detective Flynn rarely made the leap into imprudent acts. I studied him for a moment. Flynn was a man with rough edges but seemingly strong principles. Though he claimed he was acting on his mother’s wishes by staying with me, I knew he was really there because he cared about his sister. He would endure venomous snakes—and a lot more—to get her back home. And he was attractive as hell. In some ways, I wished we’d met under different circumstances.