Demon's Vow: Part 2 of the Final Asylum Tales (The Asylum Tales series) (12 page)

“Is she okay?” she gasped.

“She’s a little shaken, but okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No problem. I just found out recently myself. We’re happy, but the timing could have been better.”

I suddenly found myself wishing I had something stronger to drink than coffee. There was a bottle of Jack Daniels stashed around here somewhere, but I still had a few more hours of work ahead of me and I never drank while I was inking. And while Serah and I were working together, she was still a member of TAPSS. She wouldn’t let me drink while I was on the clock. TAPSS frowned on drunk tattoo artists.

Roughly rubbing my hands over my face to clear away the last of the cobwebs, I took a deep breath and turned my full attention back to Serah. The dark blue jeans and pale blue T-shirt made her look soft and approachable while keeping her professional air.

“I’m guessing that you’ve found something out,” I said, figuring that it was as good a start as any.

“A few things actually.” Her demeanor instantly brightened and I hoped that this meant that we were actually making some forward progress at last.

“Good news?”

“Good news and some bad news.”

“Give me the good news first,” I sighed, crossing my left foot over my right foot as I stretched out in the chair. “I can definitely use some good news.”

“Well, we found some similarities between the victims. I spent the morning down at the station. One of the detectives reported that two of the women went to the same obstetrician.”

“And the third?”

“She didn’t use that doctor,” Serah said with a shake of her head. “She was a phlebotomist at Low Town Mercy Hospital. But here’s the link.” Her excitement was palpable in the room as she wiggled to the edge of her seat. “The obstetrician’s office is in the tower just across the street from Mercy.”

“So you think our killer was stalking his victims at this particular obstetrician’s office and she just got lucky when she picked up the third victim as she left work?”

Serah nodded. “It fits. We haven’t found any other links besides the fact that both women were in their third trimester.” Turning, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a little notepad. She quickly flipped through it until she found the page that she was looking for. I thought it was cute that she preferred paper over the little memo-pad app that was on her phone.

“The women lived nowhere close to each other,” she continued. “They didn’t shop at the same grocery store or go to the same pharmacy. They wouldn’t have encountered each other in any other way besides the doctor’s office.”

“I’m guessing that the cops are going to stake out the office building,” I said, arching one eyebrow at her.

“That and they’ve got two detectives working undercover in the office to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

“Are there other doctors’ offices in the building?”

“Yes, and all the offices are being checked. Every woman in the office is being checked for a tattoo. In addition, they are also checking all the businesses to see if anyone has suddenly disappeared or quit their job in case the killer might have worked in the building.”

“It looks like they’ve got all their bases covered.” Threading my fingers behind my head, I could feel myself relax a little. The cops might actually be able to catch this person without needing my interference. That would be a nice change of events for once.

“I think it’s a good start,” Serah conceded, but her happiness was already starting to fade.

“What’s the bad news?”

“Four pregnant women have disappeared.”

My hands clenched into fists and I fought the urge to pick up the phone to call Trixie. She was fine. She had to be fine. No one knew that she was pregnant. She wasn’t showing yet. No one knew. She was safe.

“How?”

Serah shook her head, tightly clutching the little note pad in both her hands. “We don’t know. They simply vanished into thin air. Three of them disappeared in the middle of the night from their own beds. The fourth disappeared after dropping off her other two kids at school.”

“Was there any kind of evidence of forced entry?”

“None. The police swept each house for DNA, but found nothing. There were no unlocked doors or windows. No evidence of a struggle. The women are just gone.”

A chill swept through me. While our Low Town killer had the benefit of a powerful tattoo giving her a boost in strength and confidence, she didn’t have any additional magical gifts. At least, the tattoo wouldn’t have given her any. She would never have been able to pull such a kidnaping off without leaving behind massive amounts of chaos and destruction.

This was someone new. Could the killer Gideon and I had been tracking north finally have arrived in Low Town? Only someone with magical gifts could have pulled off a stunt like this. We were running out of time to save these women and to stop these killers before they unleashed something even scarier than what was already hunting Low Town.

“Were all the women taken last night?”

“And early this morning.”

“Any of them shifters?”

“No. Human.”

I breathed a small sigh of relief. It was bad enough that pregnant women around the city were no longer safe, but I didn’t need to add to it the fact that all the shifters were in an uproar, though they were already going to be foaming at the mouth about losing one woman.

With my elbow on the arm of the chair, I dropped my head into my hand as I shoved away thoughts about the problems that Jack and his pack were going to cause. I just couldn’t get drawn into the mess. Besides, I didn’t need to go looking for trouble; I already had plenty in my lap. The easiest way I could help the city was to stop this maniac.

“We need to get ahead of this woman. As it is, we’re staying one step behind her so that we’re constantly tripping over dead bodies,” I muttered, talking mostly to myself.

“I was kind of hoping that you’d feel that way.”

My head jerked to Serah, the little hairs on the back of my neck standing on end at the nervous little smile straining her lips. This was going to be bad. “Why?”

“The cops want to set up a sting.”

“And what? They chose you to be the bait?” I snapped.

“I volunteered.”

“Shit,” I swore softly, a rant already rising up my throat detailing her stupidity, but I never got a chance to speak my mind.

“Listen, Gage!” she said sharply, pushing to her feet so that she was towering over where I sat. “There aren’t a lot of women on the force in Low Town. I’ve at least got some experience dealing with some of the lowlifes that lurk down the dark alleys. Believe it or not, I can take care of myself.”

“I have no doubt that you’ve managed to put down a rowdy incubus or a shifter at the end of a full-moon cycle, but this is different—”

“Don’t you dare condescend to me! Just because you’re some hotshot warlock doesn’t mean I haven’t learned to protect myself. Or is your issue the fact that I’m a woman?”

I jerked back as if she’d hit me. Is that what I’d just done?
Dear God, I had!
If my mother were here, she would have smacked me and then washed my mouth out with soap. When had I become a condescending prick?
Oh, about the time your friends starting getting hurt because you’re a warlock and hell’s fury made a habit of knocking on your door.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.

Serah took a step back, looking absolutely stunned. Yeah, I was feeling a little stunned myself. Not so much because I apologized. I had a lot of practice at that. Too fucking much. It was more to do with the fact that I had stopped seeing people as capable of handling a situation without me. Maybe this is why things got so out of hand with the witches and warlocks. Or at least started out this way.

“I’m serious. I’m sorry. I know you’re very capable. I guess with everything going on, I don’t want to see you get hurt as well.”

“Thank you.” Serah returned to her seat and blinked a couple times as if she were trying to get her brain functioning again. “I appreciate your concern.”

“There is an element of magic involved here that makes me uncomfortable leaving you solely in the hands of the police.” I shook my head, trying to watch my words but still impress upon her the danger that she was walking into. “You didn’t see what Gideon and I saw. The potion has made this woman stronger and faster. If she manages to surprise you, you’re not going to have more than a second to escape.”

“That’s why I’m kind of hoping that you have a trick or two up your sleeve that might help,” she said, her smile returning.

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to be there. Stick me with whichever cop is going to be following you or protecting you.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“What time are you heading out?”

“I’m going into the O.B.’s office at five, where they are supposed to have a fat suit for me as well as some maternity clothes. From there, I’m supposed to walk over to the hospital for an ‘appointment,’ ” she explained, making air quotes with her fingers. “After that, I’m to walk six blocks to a grocery store known for its dimly lit parking lot.”

“They’re going to make a pregnant woman walk six blocks in the cold? Heartless,” I joked, though the thought of her route was making me ill. Even without the threat of a serial killer, this wasn’t the best neighborhood that she was trudging through.

“Ha. Ha,” she said blandly. “We’re hoping that the killer took advantage of an opportunity rather than stalked these specific women. Otherwise, we’re shit out of luck.”

“True. What about backup?”

“There will be an unmarked car following and additional backup at the three-block mark in the alley as well as at the grocery store.”

“That’s pretty fucking thin,” I complained.

Serah gave a helpless shrug. “I’m not the only one acting as bait.”

My stomach twisted anxiously with guilt. I wasn’t planning to do a damn thing for those other women because I simply couldn’t. Anything I attempted would give away the fact that I was a warlock. Of course that raised the sticky question of whether protecting my secret was more important than protecting the lives of these women. I hated ethical quandaries. If the world found out my secret, I lost my value to the Ivory Towers and I was dead. Of course, if the world found out, it’s likely the world would rush to kill me or use me against the Towers.

For half a second, I thought about contacting Gideon to see if I could get him to help, but I knew what the answer was going to be—NO. Two warlocks couldn’t save the world. But then I didn’t want to save the world. I just wanted to save a few women in Low Town.

“Where do you want me to meet up with the cop following you?”

Serah frowned at me, not looking the least bit pleased that I was going to be tagging along. I was sure this ex-cop just saw me as a potential liability and someone who was only going to get in the way. That was a possibility, but I also had a good shot at keeping her alive.

“I’ll tell him to stop by for you in a few hours,” she finally conceded.

“Thanks.” I swung my feet over the chair and to the floor. “And now I’ve got a little something for you.” Walking over to the counter, I started pulling open drawers, searching for something small; something that could be easily concealed on her person but if found wouldn’t be seen as suspicious.

After coming up empty, a brilliant idea struck me between the eyes. Slipping past her to the glass case at the entrance to the main tattooing room, I reached back into the shelves and pulled out a large mason jar of buttons. I poured out a handful onto the glass counter and sifted through them until I came to a large black button that looked as if it belonged on a winter coat. With my back still turned to her, I said a whisper of words while sketching a design in the air over the button in the palm of my hand.

Once the spell was in place, I turned around and offered her the button with a smile on my face. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

“What is it?” she asked cautiously.

“What does it look like? It’s a button,” I said, still holding it out to her.

“Yeah, but what did you do to it?”

“I put a tracking spell on it.” When she didn’t take it, I grabbed her right hand and laid it in the palm. “Keep it on you at all times and I’ll be able to find you.”

“I don’t need it. I’m going to wear a wire and a wireless device so that I can be heard at all times.”

“Yes, but they won’t know what you’re feeling. I’ll be able to tell if you’re suddenly afraid or panicked due to being unexpectedly attacked. That could give me an extra second or two on your companions, which could make a hell of a lot of difference when it comes to this bitch.”

“And what if I don’t want you to know what I’m feeling?”

I arched one eyebrow at her and gave a little sigh as I flopped back down in my chair. “I can read your emotions. Not your thoughts. Right now, you’re suspicious and anxious, with a small hint of pissed. You wanted a trick or two to help. This is it.”

“Fine,” she muttered, shoving the button in her front pocket. With the button, there was no hiding the sense of relief and even a bit of disappointment. There was no doubt in my mind that she’d been hoping for something a little more, something flashy.

“I can’t do anything bigger to protect you. With magic soaked into this killer, I’m not sure what she can sense or what might be a trigger. We can’t risk scaring her off.”

“Oh, no. Sure. I totally understand. This is fine,” she quickly said, her disappointment evaporating in an instant.

“I’ll have your back, Serah,” I said, extending my hand to her.

She hesitated, an odd little smile lifting the corners of her mouth as she looked at it. “You know, I never thought I’d be comforted by the thought of a warlock watching my six, but I am,” she said as she shook my hand.

“Most people wouldn’t, but I promise, I’m not like them.”

Serah gave a snort as she released my hand and twisted around to scoop up her coat. “Something tells me you’re worse.”

I didn’t say anything as I walked her to the door. I certainly didn’t think I was worse, but then I wasn’t sure how many witches and warlocks were using demons to guard their shit. It certainly wasn’t something that placed me with the good guys. But what about the ends justifying the means? My intentions when it came to the demon were to take down the Towers and make the world a safer place for everyone. Wasn’t that a good thing? Did it really matter how I got it done?