“Do you think her ghost is walking around?” I asked.
“It didn’t go through her heart.” He knocked on the window. “Looks like a few layers of plexiglass. No wonder I couldn’t hear them breathing.”
Noticing the keypad, I entered the same code we’d used to get inside, and the door unlocked.
Christian walked in, as bemused as I was. “Am I dreaming? This has to be a trap.” He touched the stake in her chest and gave it a good shake, one that would make even the toughest Vampire scream who might have been pretending with fake impalement wood.
I ripped the note off the stick and read it aloud:“She’s all yours.”
“Is that all it says?” Christian took it from my hand.
The note was written on a postcard with a picture of a hideous bird on the other side.
I returned to the living area and noticed a yellow envelope on the coffee table. When I opened it, I found a deed inside with my name on it, signed and dated yesterday. I peeked in the envelope and fished out a handwritten letter.
Butterfly,
I have no use for this place anymore, so what’s mine is now yours. I’ve left you a gift, and I will be very interested to speak to you one day about what you decided to do with it.
Affectionately yours,
Chaos
“This bird is a condor,” Christian said, walking into the living room. “They’re the national animal of Columbia, Peru, and I think Ecuador. Do you think it’s a clue? They’re vultures. That fits Lenore to a tee. But who the feck could have done this? And why would they bring her here?”
I shut the door to Lenore’s room, giving us privacy. “It’s Houdini.”
Christian flicked an alarmed glance toward the hallway.
“Don’t worry, he’s not coming back. This isn’t a trap; it’s an offering.”
“And how can you be certain?”
“Because I think in his own way, he’s trying to make up for the wrongs.” I sat down on the coffee table. “He mentored Lenore through a difficult time. They have a friendship that goes way back.”
“Is that so?”
“When she buried me, I think it insulted him.”
“You don’t say?” Christian cursed under his breath. “He staked an official and placed her nearourdoorstep. That’s entrapment. When the Regulators show up and here we are, how’s that gonna look?”
“I don’t think that’s what this is about. Houdini would never set a trap. He would think it’s simpleminded and lacking creativity.”
What got me was yesterday’s date. Did he falsify the document to throw me off and make it seem like this wasn’t an impulsive decision? If he had planned it all along, why wouldn’t he have warned me back at Lenore’s high-rise? It sure as hell would have saved me from nearly falling to my death.
Christian eyed Lenore. “Why would he hand her over this way for nothing? Did you promise him something?”
“No, but I’m his youngling. When she tried to kill me, that made it personal. Or maybe he was upset that he had no say and might have spent the rest of his life wondering where I’d gone. That would bother him more than if he’d planned it himself. Houdini likes control without being involved. In his own twisted way, he feels entitled to me without actually caring about me. Lenore walked in and tried to break one of his toys. He lashed out.” I handed Christian the letter. “He’s leaving it up to me to decide, and that’s so him.”
Christian wadded up the paper and pitched it at the sofa. “We have to take her head. We can’t set her free. She’ll ruin us. She’s seen our faces, so she’ll think we’re involved no matter what we say. That’s a spiteful woman in there, and she won’t bargain.”
“Fine. Just not here.”
Christian put his arm around me. “I’ll find a good place, and we’ll take that sorry excuse for a Creator with us. He’s yours to do with as you wish.”
CHAPTER28
Christian dragged Fletcher downstairs with Lenore. We needed to temporarily hide them until we worked out a plan. Hopefully I wouldn’t see Houdini again for a long while, but just in case, I left a note on the plexiglass saying that we’d be right back and not to touch anything.
