Oath Bound
Page 79
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“But how is his blood on our hands?” Sera said. “We let him live.”
Kori snorted. “That’s what got him killed.”
Sera stood and covered her face with both hands, then ran her fingers through her hair. Her hands were small. They looked softer than Kori’s and more feminine, with short rounded nails instead of bitten stubs. I wanted to touch one of them. Then she dropped them, and for a second she was looking right at me—until that seemed to make her uncomfortable and her gaze found the corpse again.
I tried not to be offended that she’d rather look at a dead man than at me.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath, obviously collecting her thoughts. Trying to mentally move past the dead body. “My guess is that if your sister was ever here, she’s gone now.”
“Kenley was here.” I was sure of that. “They knew we’d figure it out, after talking to Ned, so they moved her and left him here for us to find. Unless you think Julia left us a rotting welcome gift at every warehouse we might think to search?”
Sera shook her head and I watched her, studying her intense focus. “You think Julia killed Ned because he didn’t kill us? Or because she knew it would upset you? Or because he told us they moved the blood farm to a warehouse?” It was a trick question, intended to test her growing understanding of syndicate life. The answer was: D. All of the above. Julia had killed him because she could.
“He’s dead because she doesn’t know what he told us,” Sera mumbled, rereading the note for at least the hundredth time, and I shook my head.
“Julia Tower is a Reader. The only way to keep her in the dark is to say nothing, and Ned didn’t have that option. He was bound to her.”
Sera started to argue—I could see it coming before she even opened her mouth—then seemed to think better of it. “Either way, they obviously knew we were coming. My bet is that this place is deserted.”
“Or they want us to think this place is deserted, so they can ambush us when we search it.” The warehouse was a trap. It had to be. If Julia wanted us dead—and she did—and knew we were coming—which she did—why not take advantage of the opportunity?
“Okay.” Kori glanced from Ian to me. Sera looked miffed that she wasn’t being consulted about the plan. “This hall has two exits.” The only two doors we hadn’t checked, because they were locked. “You two go left, we’ll go right. Stay together. If it gets dangerous, go home. Immediately.”
Ian could make his own shadows for them to travel through, but I’d have to destroy the infrared lighting grid for a chance to travel. “This isn’t my first rodeo,” I reminded her.
“Well, it is hers.” Kori shot a pointed glance at Sera.
“What, the last mostly deserted building doesn’t count?” Sera demanded softly. “If I hadn’t seen that guard in time, Ian would have been hit in the chest, instead of the shoulder.”
My sister scowled. “And if you’d known how to disarm him, Ian wouldn’t have been hit at all.”
“If I haven’t already thanked you...thank you,” Ian said.
Kori turned toward the door on her end of the hall and he followed her with a reassuring smile at Sera.
“Is your sister always so bossy?” Sera whispered as we headed toward our locked door.
“Yeah. We let her think she’s in charge, because it’s easier than arguing with her. But if her way isn’t the best way, I do things my way.” I shrugged and leaned closer to whisper near her ear, hyperaware that Vanessa’s strawberry-scented shampoo made Sera smell like she might actually be edible. And I wanted a taste. “Sometimes I do things my way anyway, just to watch her head explode. Though I usually save that for when the cable goes out and everyone’s bored.”
At the end of the hall, I tried the doorknob one more time, to make sure nothing had changed. It was still locked. I glanced back just in time to see Ian pull a deep column of darkness out of nowhere for them to step through, then I holstered my gun and took a longer look at the door and lock.
It was an interior commercial door. Aluminum and hollow, with a standard doorknob lock. Easier to kick open than to shoot.
“Stand back,” I said, and Sera backed up to give me some space. Two heel kicks to the left of the knob, and the door swung open with minimal noise and no real mess.
I stepped into the dark interior office beyond and did a quick security check, then motioned for Sera to follow me inside. Though the only visible light came from an open supply closet, I could feel the infrared grid blazing above me, rendering every shadow shallow and useless.
The office held two metal desks, each with the drawers open and emptied. A laptop power cord trailed across the surface of each desk, but the computers themselves were gone, along with whatever information they’d contained.
The wall opposite the door I’d kicked in held a long glass panel overlooking the warehouse itself, a good six feet lower than the rest of the building. A quick glance inside showed that it was empty, too, except for a couple of abandoned medical gurneys and several scraps of tubing, IV bags, and other medical supplies on the concrete floor.
“They left in a hurry.” I crossed the room, toward the entrance to the warehouse. “Maybe that means they’re still setting up the new place.”
“Or that they already had it ready, just in case.” Sera followed me down the steel grid stairs into the body of the warehouse. There was a set of bathrooms on the far side of the huge room, both doors standing wide open, but other than that, I saw nowhere for anyone to hide.
Kori snorted. “That’s what got him killed.”
Sera stood and covered her face with both hands, then ran her fingers through her hair. Her hands were small. They looked softer than Kori’s and more feminine, with short rounded nails instead of bitten stubs. I wanted to touch one of them. Then she dropped them, and for a second she was looking right at me—until that seemed to make her uncomfortable and her gaze found the corpse again.
I tried not to be offended that she’d rather look at a dead man than at me.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath, obviously collecting her thoughts. Trying to mentally move past the dead body. “My guess is that if your sister was ever here, she’s gone now.”
“Kenley was here.” I was sure of that. “They knew we’d figure it out, after talking to Ned, so they moved her and left him here for us to find. Unless you think Julia left us a rotting welcome gift at every warehouse we might think to search?”
Sera shook her head and I watched her, studying her intense focus. “You think Julia killed Ned because he didn’t kill us? Or because she knew it would upset you? Or because he told us they moved the blood farm to a warehouse?” It was a trick question, intended to test her growing understanding of syndicate life. The answer was: D. All of the above. Julia had killed him because she could.
“He’s dead because she doesn’t know what he told us,” Sera mumbled, rereading the note for at least the hundredth time, and I shook my head.
“Julia Tower is a Reader. The only way to keep her in the dark is to say nothing, and Ned didn’t have that option. He was bound to her.”
Sera started to argue—I could see it coming before she even opened her mouth—then seemed to think better of it. “Either way, they obviously knew we were coming. My bet is that this place is deserted.”
“Or they want us to think this place is deserted, so they can ambush us when we search it.” The warehouse was a trap. It had to be. If Julia wanted us dead—and she did—and knew we were coming—which she did—why not take advantage of the opportunity?
“Okay.” Kori glanced from Ian to me. Sera looked miffed that she wasn’t being consulted about the plan. “This hall has two exits.” The only two doors we hadn’t checked, because they were locked. “You two go left, we’ll go right. Stay together. If it gets dangerous, go home. Immediately.”
Ian could make his own shadows for them to travel through, but I’d have to destroy the infrared lighting grid for a chance to travel. “This isn’t my first rodeo,” I reminded her.
“Well, it is hers.” Kori shot a pointed glance at Sera.
“What, the last mostly deserted building doesn’t count?” Sera demanded softly. “If I hadn’t seen that guard in time, Ian would have been hit in the chest, instead of the shoulder.”
My sister scowled. “And if you’d known how to disarm him, Ian wouldn’t have been hit at all.”
“If I haven’t already thanked you...thank you,” Ian said.
Kori turned toward the door on her end of the hall and he followed her with a reassuring smile at Sera.
“Is your sister always so bossy?” Sera whispered as we headed toward our locked door.
“Yeah. We let her think she’s in charge, because it’s easier than arguing with her. But if her way isn’t the best way, I do things my way.” I shrugged and leaned closer to whisper near her ear, hyperaware that Vanessa’s strawberry-scented shampoo made Sera smell like she might actually be edible. And I wanted a taste. “Sometimes I do things my way anyway, just to watch her head explode. Though I usually save that for when the cable goes out and everyone’s bored.”
At the end of the hall, I tried the doorknob one more time, to make sure nothing had changed. It was still locked. I glanced back just in time to see Ian pull a deep column of darkness out of nowhere for them to step through, then I holstered my gun and took a longer look at the door and lock.
It was an interior commercial door. Aluminum and hollow, with a standard doorknob lock. Easier to kick open than to shoot.
“Stand back,” I said, and Sera backed up to give me some space. Two heel kicks to the left of the knob, and the door swung open with minimal noise and no real mess.
I stepped into the dark interior office beyond and did a quick security check, then motioned for Sera to follow me inside. Though the only visible light came from an open supply closet, I could feel the infrared grid blazing above me, rendering every shadow shallow and useless.
The office held two metal desks, each with the drawers open and emptied. A laptop power cord trailed across the surface of each desk, but the computers themselves were gone, along with whatever information they’d contained.
The wall opposite the door I’d kicked in held a long glass panel overlooking the warehouse itself, a good six feet lower than the rest of the building. A quick glance inside showed that it was empty, too, except for a couple of abandoned medical gurneys and several scraps of tubing, IV bags, and other medical supplies on the concrete floor.
“They left in a hurry.” I crossed the room, toward the entrance to the warehouse. “Maybe that means they’re still setting up the new place.”
“Or that they already had it ready, just in case.” Sera followed me down the steel grid stairs into the body of the warehouse. There was a set of bathrooms on the far side of the huge room, both doors standing wide open, but other than that, I saw nowhere for anyone to hide.
