“Were you smelling sacrifices?”
Brute nodded.
“Were children, witch children, sacrificed here?”
Brute nodded. He tapped my booted foot. It took me a moment. Then softly I said, “Blood, like mine? Skinwalker blood?”
Brute nodded.
“Is it old? Like over a hundred years?”
Brute nodded again.
Ka. Ka’s blood was still here, soaked into the floor, so much of it that it still had a scent to Brute’s wolf nose, even after all these years.
CHAPTER 16
It Was Stupid to Use a Handgun as a Club
It was an hour from dawn when we left the warehouse. Bruiser had collected a sample of Ka’s blood from the black magic circle, though it was likely contaminated with other blood and unusable. We had walked through the building from top to bottom for anything I missed on prior visits. As we stepped outside, Storm appeared, sitting on top of an SUV. She was wearing armor like I had worn at the wedding and bristled with weapons. All of our weapons were instantly centered on her. Thema stepped in front of me, protecting me with her body. Quint tried to shove me down to stand over me.
I activated my mic and said, “Stand down.” The weapons—except for Thema’s—were repositioned, but I could smell the intense reactions of my security team. I touched Thema and Quint, each with a single finger, and they stepped aside, their aim never wavering.
Storm’s armor was dark amethyst and matched her purple-, lavender-, and grape-colored hair. It was the first time I had seen her wearing anything non-light-dragony.The security lights limned her with a silver glow, though the light may also have come from inside the rainbow dragon, shining through armor that was less physical and more energy-based than mine. Who knew?
I said, “The Warrior who seeks Peace welcomes Storm.”
“This is a bad place,” Storm said. “Why do the beings enter and leave? Why do they not destroy it?”
“We may,” I said, thinking that anullworking over the iron circle, topped by a layer of concrete might suffice.
“Why does the Dark Queen allow the fire thrower, the eaters of souls, the burned one, and all her enemies to watch? They are full of malice.”
Bruiser spoke into my earbuds, “Get her out of here.”
Thema picked me up and raced me toward a second SUV. Like a sack of potatoes. Or a baby. Before I had time to even speak, she had thrown me into the back seat of the SUV. Quint took shotgun. Silent. Weapons out. I rolled to the side. Opened the door. Held out a hand.
“Storm. Join me.”
Instantly the arcenciel was sitting at my side.
Okay that was weird. A security guy slammed my door, and Thema started the engine, wheeling the armored SUV out of the lot.
“My bike!” I shouted, spotting Bitsa in the dark.
“My mate will bring it to your home,” Thema said, gunning the motor, turning into traffic, and then off, slamming me into Storm and back against the door. I pulled off the spine holster that had bruised my back on the turn and buckled in. Thema whirled us again.
“Holy moly, woman. Where did you learn to drive?” I asked.
Thema didn’t answer. She just spun the wheel, making a hard left across traffic. This time I was holding on.
Storm was laughing like a kid on a roller coaster.
I replayed what she had said. “Storm, where are the watchers?”
“The burned one is there,” she pointed.
To my left I saw Sabina, standing in the shadows. For a bare moment, our eyes met. I somehow had expected Leo. Didn’t know which was worse. I caught a glimpse of Bruteracing toward Sabina, out of sync with my reality. The SUV swerved again. I could hear Thema talking into her mic, advising the team.
