“That’s impossible,” she whispered, and realized she’d taken her eyes off him.
“See?”He regarded her steadily.“Nothing here will hurt you, Livvie.Least of all me.”He even leaned forward slightly, like he was going to try to touch her.
Something in the water.Has to be.Shit.She retreated as fast as she could, slamming the bathroom door and throwing its ancient lock with sweating, scrabbling fingers.There was nothing elsetodo, and though her foot with its mask of drying blood slipped a little on both hardwood and tile, there was no sign of a wound.
Liv huddled on the commode for a long time, shaking, watching the white-painted door.
She wasn’t quite out of ideas yet, but it was close.
Lack of Faith
Jake had been busy,of course.He liked gathering intel, and had set up the screen-and-laptop array in one of the smaller temple cells years ago, updating it religiously.“Olivia Stellack.”Electronic glow bathed him; theirlirai’s face looked gravely down from the screen.It was her driver’s license photo, and managed to make her look plain, probably the only thing that could.“Born in Los Angeles, her mama was a single hairdresser.Thirty-two?—”
Erik shifted in his office chair.He hated the damn things; they felt too spindly to support any real weight.“She said thirty-five.”Once this had been a monk’s or a Son’s bedroom; nowadays, the cells stood mostly empty.Only three men in residence, when the place could hold at least thirty.
Sometimes Erik thought they’d been forgotten out here.At least Ignatius filed reports and arranged for gear drops and other shipments; sometimes he even mentioned directives from higher up.It was a Father’s job to take care of all that, just like it was Erik’s and Jake’s job to run patrols and try to keep at least some sections of the city clear of shadowbeast and other predators.
“Did she?”Father’s eyebrow raised slightly.He would draw his own conclusions.“Proceed.”
“Paralegal for Maddox, Baker, & Kinnock ever since graduating college.Four-year psych degree, paid mostly in cash as she worked her way through.Looks like ourlirai’s got a naughty side—she stripped for tuition.”Jake’s blond eyebrows wiggled slightly.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Erik muttered.Everyone had to make a living, and women most of all.Imagining her in skimpy clothing was pleasant, but imagining other men’s gazes crawling over her was…
Well.He didn’t like it, but then again, wasn’t any of his business.
“Looks like she was saving up to go back to school, too.Or for something.Anyway, address is a shitty apartment on the west side, but she’s got a tight-knit social circle.Last contact before we ran across her was an internet date.”
“Let me guess,” Erik said.“Neal.”No, you’re too smart to be with Neal.It made sense that she’d play the situation that way.She was looking for some control, any shred of agency—and an escape route.
When Erik considered it from her point of view, he was surprised she wasn’t still screaming.
“Give the man a prize!”Jake’s laugh cut itself short, seeing the look on Ignatius’s face, and he clicked to the next slide.A blond man smiled down at them, a bright summer beach behind him and a look of such patent self-satisfaction on his face Erik longed to find and punch the expression into oblivion.“Neal Allen Penn, suspected in two date rapes and probably about to commit a third but our girl ghosted him at the table.If not for the camera over the restaurant’s back door, the cops would still be sweating him.”
“Unfortunate,” Father said.Now their potential would become a statistic, one of the many people who vanished each year.The cops—or any other regular human organization—would never find her, and any family or friends would grieve and move on.
Considering the alternative, it was a mercy.Plenty of the missing simply met with natural bad luck or plain old human homicide, and some of them were even found.But a significant proportion were taken by the night’s underside, and the old chestnuta fate worse than deathwas horrifyingly apt.
“Not necessarily.It becomes a random encounter, and we know how hard those are to solve.”Jake, curse him, was looking like he enjoyed this.“Anyway, I’m still building her profile.The cops are involved early because our girl’s smart, and had check-in times agreed with her friends.”
“Very wise indeed.”Father pressed his fingertips together, settling back in his chair.“And her effects?”
“I cloned everything personal on her phone for profile-building, then incinerated it and her purse too.”Jake recited just like a good Younger, ticking off chapter and verse on his blunt, strong fingers.“The clothes she was wearing went right after.Wouldn’t have minded keeping the panties.”
“This is aliraiyou’re speaking of, Jake.”Ignatius frowned.
Erik watched the screen.Now she had no money, no keys, no ID, no phone, not even the clothes she’d been wearing.Erik had piled the purchases on the largerliraim’s bed, hoping Father had her sizes right.Once she met the Flame she’d be more effectively hobbled by a Dreamer’s sensitivity, needing a Son or two around to mute the harsh edges; they just had to keep her contained until then.
“Sorry, sir.”Jake even managed to look chastened for a second.An inset on the screen was the live feed from the largerliraim.The girl was at the window—at least she’d gotten dressed, jeans and a black T-shirt—gazing at the quad and its overgrown gardens below.Was she hoping to see someone she could flag down?
After the Flame, she would have everything her heart desired, except freedom from the Sons.That would probably be the only thing she’d want, though.And why did the thought make him… uneasy?
Even if she didn’t trigger the first time, they’d keep returning her to the Flame until it took.Liraicould handle successive bathings; it was what made them Dreamers.It didn’t even hurt them, really.
It only burned corruption.
The god-mark on his wrist was raw and aching.If Father’s was acting up, he made no sign, but Jake grimaced slightly and scrubbed the sleeve-hem over his left wrist against his side as he turned back to the laptop, a slight habitual movement.
“She’s bound to be hungry,” Erik said.“What should I bring her?”
