****
The Inferno continued, unaware of Walter’s death. The roar of loud conversation mixed with the electronic music as people crowded the dance floor. The celebratory mood would change the moment Walter’s body was discovered.
“Walter blamed the waitress,” Rowan said with dead calm, getting to his feet.
Renegade nodded and did the same. “The bartender could also be involved.”
Rowan scanned the room. Holly was near another table. Her eyes were locked on his. Guilt flashed in her eyes as her tray slid from her grasp and crashed to the floor. Rowan turned toward Renegade. “Inform Colin. I’ll take care of the bartender and then capture Holly. We need answers. Watch the front entrance. Stop anyone with an itch to escape, and if Morgan arrives, don’t let her leave. I’m going after Holly.”
“Milady is meeting you here? Are you certifiably insane?
“Just make sure she doesn’t eat or drink anything. Can I count on you to keep her safe?”
“You don’t have to ask.”
Rowan heated his core and reached the bartender while the man was in the process of filling cocktail orders. Like the waitress, he was a half-blood Fae, an easy target for a Wizard to disarm. With one punch Rowan knocked the man unconscious and looked for Holly.
She had paused to glance over her shoulders in his direction, then bolted through the kitchen’s swinging doors. He reached the kitchen in time to see her disappear out the back door. She was fast, but no match for his speed. He raced past cooks and servers, overcoming her before she reached the steps leading into the alley.
He grabbed her arm and slammed her against the building. Walter had been poisoned and died before he could share his information. This case had as many twists and turns as anold-fashioned labyrinth. He hated labyrinths, mazes, winding paths through gardens—basically, anyplace he couldn’t control, anywhere he couldn’t see the enemy approach.
The young woman’s fear was so heightened he smelled it in the wind. It would be a beacon to whoever might have ordered the kill. Which meant they’d likely kill Holly next. Killers didn’t like loose ends. He’d have to act fast.
He pinned her against the wall in the alley.
“I know what you want. But I’m dead if I talk to you,” she whispered.
“You’re dead even if you don’t. Who ordered you and the bartender to poison Walter?”
She seemed to weigh her chances. He doubted she’d last long on the streets, but sometimes a person measured their life in days, not years. He figured she’d been on borrowed time ever since she was born.
She glanced over his shoulder, blinked away a tear, then focused on Rowan. “The bartender wasn’t involved,” her voice was as thin as mist as her words tumbled out. “I didn’t want to do it. Walter seemed a nice sort. He’s never tried to grab me, and that makes him different from those who think because I’m one of the Fae it gives them the right. They have my sister. I didn’t have a choice.”
The rustle of leaves. A flash of silver. In the next breath an arrow lodged in the base of her neck. Her eyes widened and then narrowed as she slumped forward into Rowan’s arms. He knew the weapon would be tipped with a fast-acting poison. She was dying. He scanned the rooftops. The assassin was gone. No need to stay and check if his victim died. Assassins in the magical community only used poisons that didn’t have known antidotes. The unanswered question mark was why the mercenary hadn’t shot him too.
He carried Holly a short distance away. She was lighter than he expected. A walking skeleton, made to look substantial by the layers of black clothing she wore. He guessed her age to be around twenty-one or twenty-two. A young woman who had never had the chance to grow and mature, and now she never would.
There was nothing he could do. He’d been able to save the dog, but a member of the Fae was different. Descended from pure light, they were uniquely vulnerable to poisons in the atmosphere, which was the reason the Fae’s numbers had reached extinction levels. Once a poison entered a Fae’s bloodstream, there was nothing anyone could do.
Already it was apparent that it had spread through her body, shutting it down. The good news was that it looked like she wasn’t in pain. The poison was as merciful as it was lethal.
Her breathing was shallow, her eyes unblinking. If she’d been larger, the poison would have taken longer. By the color of her skin, she was losing ground fast.
The time for pressing her for information was past. She’d already told him that she had been forced to harm Walter to save her sister. Rowan wouldn’t tell her that he doubted the people who had coerced her into murdering Walter would honor their vow and release her sister.
He would give her the dignity of dying in peace. He was not going to press her during the last seconds of her life. Besides, there weren’t that many in the magical community who used poison, and fewer still who would be bold enough to use it in a public place christened a neutral zone. Someone was feeling desperate. And desperate people made mistakes. He vowed he’d find those responsible.
Holly grabbed his shirt. “I’m dying.” It was not a question. She had stated a fact, and he would not lie to her. She swallowedas her eyes widened in fear. “I didn’t want to hurt your friend. They didn’t give me a choice.”
“I know. Save your strength.”
The humans and the magical community liked to debate the concept of what a person should do if they were in Holly’s situation. There were strong opinions on both sides. Some felt magic or circumstances could force a person to do something against their will, against their moral code, no matter the consequences. Others felt the opposite and he didn’t judge.
But what he did know was that everyone deserved another chance to get it right. If not in this world—maybe in the next. A thin grayish film clouded over her eyes, so he wasn’t sure if she could still see him, but he formed a gentle smile all the same. The effort felt rusty. Whether he agreed she’d had a choice or not didn’t matter.
He bent over her to make sure she could hear him. “I don’t blame you.” He added the words; “May your journey be swift, and your welcome in the next realm joyous. When we meet again, let us embrace as friends.”
It was the blessing said over the graves of those in the magical community who’d lived a full and respected life. Some might find it blasphemous he’d said this to her. He didn’t care.
