Before I could puzzle out her weird words, I spotted Silvio Sanchez waving at me in a clearplease come heregesture.
I nodded at him and looked at Mallory again. “Regardless of my lack of a date, you should mingle with your guests. Go, enjoy your party. We’ll catch up again later.”
Mallory’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but she headed toward Mosley and joined his conversation with a group of people. As soon as she was distracted, I hurried over to Silvio.
The vampire was dressed in a classic black tuxedo, as was the forty-something man standing beside him. The second man was much taller and broader, with brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. Like Clyde O’Neal, this man had a mix of giant and dwarven blood running through his veins that made him extremely tough, strong, and dangerous.
Liam Carter grinned at me. “Great party, Lorelei.”
Liam, another one of our mutual friends, was known throughout Ashland for providing protection services to everyone from wealthy citizens to police witnesses to criminals battling other criminals. I’d considered hiring Liam to watch over Mallory and Mosley in case Clyde O’Neal decided to target them instead of me, but I still wanted to handle Clyde myself, so I hadn’t approached Liam—yet.
Besides, Liam was still recovering from being beaten almost to death by Emery Slater a few weeks ago. Jo-Jo Deveraux had used her Air magic to heal Liam’s physical injuries, but I knew from personal experience that you didn’t so easily recover from that sort of emotional trauma, and I didn’t want to add anything else to his plate right now unless absolutely necessary.
I smiled back at him. “Thanks, but this was all Mallory. You should go tell her. My grandmother adores compliments.”
“I’ll do that.” Liam touched Silvio’s elbow. “And get us some drinks while I’m gone?”
Silvio nodded, and Liam disappeared into the crowd. The vampire watched him go, a dreamy expression on his face.
“I take it things are going well with Liam?” I asked.
“So far, so good.” Silvio looked at me. “I know this is a party, but I have some news you might be interested in.”
“Let me guess. Gin is home early and going to crash the party with dozens of enemies in tow.”
Silvio laughed at my joke, but his face quickly turned serious. “Nothing as bad as that. Although I did finally learn the identity of your mystery man.”
He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket, tapped on it a few times, and showed me the device. The dead guy’s face filled the screen, and he was smirking in a driver’s license photo.
“Actually, Xavier found out who he was,” Silvio continued. “Someone left your mystery man buried under some trash bags in an alley over in Southtown. A couple of sanitation workers found him earlier today. Xavier ran his prints and sent the info to me.”
“Who is he?” I asked.
“Walter Butler. He originally hails from Blue Marsh, and he has a rap sheet a mile long. Assault, armed robbery, and the like. But for the last few years, Walter has been hiring himself out as a hit man. He’s suspected of being involved in almost a dozen murders for hire.”
I frowned. “You think someone sent Walter to kill me?”
Silvio shrugged. “The thought had crossed my mind, especially given your recent troubles with Clyde O’Neal.”
“Did the hit man work for Clyde?”
Silvio shrugged again. “Not that I can tell, but I haven’t dug up that much information on him yet. I put out feelers to my usual contacts, so I should know more soon…”
He kept talking, but a flash of movement caught my eye, and I looked past him. Someone had darted past the open ballroom doors, a black blur that had gone by almost too fast for me to follow.
Suspicion filled me. I only knew one person who was that fast on their feet, so I reached out with my metal magic. It was hard to tell, given the conversation and music filling the ballroom, but I could have sworn that telltale hum erupted in my ears.
“…let you know as soon as I find out more—”
“Thanks for the info, Silvio.” I cut him off. “I really appreciate it, but I need to check on something. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Before he could say anything else, I strode past him and hurried out the open doors. To my left, several folks were talking and drinking, but when I turned to my right, I once again saw that black blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. More suspicion filled me, and I headed in that direction.
I smiled and nodded at everyone I passed, but I quickly left the crowded main hallway behind and stepped into an empty corridor. No one was moving through this area, and the only sound was the faint scuff of my heels against the carpet. Still, I kept moving forward, following that strange hum in my ears, wondering if I was just imagining the sensation—
A door to my right opened. I whirled in that direction, but before I could react, a hand darted out and dragged me forward, pulling me into another room. I stumbled, and my purse slipped through my fingers and dropped to the floor. That hand tightened around my wrist, spinning me around. I slammed up against someone’s chest, and a second hand settled on my waist, steadying me.
I lurched back. My head snapped up, and my own hands curled into fists, ready to punch whoever had grabbed me—
