“You ever think that vamp stabbed himself because he knew Meredith would shoot him anyway?”Manahan asked.
Was it possible she’d been playing him the entire time?No.He refused to believe it.Goddess, he needed a shower.“I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Be careful out there… but not too careful.”Manahan picked up his coffee and took a long swig.
Silas stood to leave.“You know better than to think I would be.”
At times like this,Silas wished he still had a zafka.After Alex murdered his last decoy and hospitalized Laina’s, Silas decided to leave the position unfilled temporarily.He didn’t want anyone else’s blood on his hands.But as he followed Grateful through an abandoned garage to a door with a conspicuous smear of red across the chipped paint, he longed for a body double.Vampires were dangerous.Always.
“You’d better let me go first.As a rule, vampires don’t love werewolves.You know, on account of your bite being fatal to them,” Grateful said.
“Only when we’ve shifted into wolf form.The rest of the time, vamps are stronger and faster.”Silas eyed the dark doorway.“Is this the only way?”
“There are other passageways to Club Cabal, but they take longer.Believe me, once we’re down there, you’ll thank me for choosing the shortest route.”Her sword, Nightshade, ignited, its purple glow illuminating a cobwebbed staircase that spiraled toward the gates of hell.
“You were saying something about going first?”He swallowed hard and moved aside to allow her to pass.
“These passageways connect businesses all over the city,” Grateful said as she descended.“They were built by humans during Prohibition to smuggle moonshine.The vampires learned to feed on the smugglers.Bootleggers were less likely to complain to the authorities when one or two of their kind went missing.Doing so would give away their illicit activities.”
“Great.So basically that rusty, fetid scent is, in fact, dried human blood.”
“Do yourself a favor and don’t look too closely at the walls.”
“Too late.”Silas turned his gaze away from the scratch marks in the stone.At some point in the past, someone had wanted out of this tunnel bad enough to try to claw their way through solid rock.
“So how’s Lucas?”Silas asked, trying to distract himself from their surroundings.
“He’s walking now.That’s normal for a one-year-old.The floating, not so much.”
“Floating?”
“Right out of his crib.We’ve had to pad his room.”
“That bad, huh?”
“You know how human babies are using a spoon at this age?Maybe saying dada?”
“Yeah…”
“Imagine if, instead, they could set the walls on fire or make a million roaches pour from the pipes.”
“No.”
“Yes.He has quite the temper and an ever-growing grasp of his power.Rick and I are trying to teach him control, but I think he’s too young to understand what he’s doing.If he uses his magic without permission, he gets a time-out.”
“Has to sit in the corner, huh?”
She glanced sheepishly in his direction.“In my attic.It’s the only place that’s safe.”
Silas grunted.“You don’t leave him up there?”
“No!Not alone.One of us is always with him, and he likes to play with Poe.But I’m not gonna lie.The kid spends a lot of time up there.I don’t know how I’m going to do it with two.”She sighed heavily.
“You’ll do fine.You’re a great mom.And hey, about the attic, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.Can’t have the little tyke raising the dead or anything.”He laughed.
She chuckled briefly before her smile melted into a more concerned expression.
“I hear music,” Silas said.
