Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(42)

However, that show of insult on his face right now was nothing more than an act.

He belted down another quick slug and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his flannel shirt. “Most likely, it’s a witch conjuring Noirre, but that doesn’t rule out another being, since we ain’t got a Who’s Who directory of black majik folk around here. There ain’t been a Noirre in the south for the past fifteen years I been hangin’ loose. Only ones I ever heard of worked alone.”

Evalle smiled at how he described his years of being a Nightstalker as “hanging loose.” More than once she’d wondered if Grady was the derelict vagrant he presented to the world with his ragged speech or if his core personality was the highly educated man who peeked out from beneath the charade at times.

But that didn’t matter right now. If he was right about a lone witch being behind the Noirre majik, she jumped to the only conclusion she could.

Adrianna.

The witch who came from a long line of corrupt witches. After all, most witches were good people who harmed no one. That was their code: Do no harm. Whatever you send out into the universe will return to you threefold. That kept almost all witches in line. However, there were those who did dabble with the darkness, and Evalle couldn’t rule out the possibility of the Medb being here either.

But still she couldn’t let the thought of Adrianna go.

Those like Adrianna and her family who danced on the dark side didn’t adhere to those happy pony rules. They were the deadliest of all because they had no conscience, and all that mattered was what they wanted.

If Adrianna really was here to work in VIPER’s favor and not turn on them, her first test would be finding the witch behind the Birrn.

Would that help or hinder Evalle’s position if Adrianna found out the Birrn had been looking for an Alterant?

Then again, she couldn’t see Adrianna doing anything to benefit her.

The heavens grumbled, threatening to turn this into a full sauna evening.

“I’ve got to make the most of tonight. That all you got on the demons?” Evalle gave her watch a quick glance. Grady would start to fade soon, then he’d be hard to find for an hour or two.

VIPER didn’t want her mentioning the Ngak Stone even though Grady would know about it being lost in Atlanta two years ago. But he might have something new to share if she positioned the question creatively. “Or anything else? Any unexpected energy floating around? Maybe a female with unusual powers who’s new on the scene?”

He took another swig. “Not part of the original deal.”

She should take his bag of French fries back, but the whining would be worse than pulling a sack of trick-or-treat candy away from a four-year-old. Not a pretty sight on a ghoul his age. She tried a sly approach. “I need intel now on anything unusual and quick. Something to show VIPER I’m on the ball.”

Grady shrugged. “And I’m running out of my anytime minutes. Want to shake again?”

“You know I can’t shake for another hour.”

“Then give me an hour of prime time Wednesday night.”

She grunted a disparaging noise at the ridiculous request. Even from Grady. “Want the Brooklyn Bridge while I’m at it?”

He growled and stomped around, putting on a show to let her know she’d ticked him off. Then he stopped suddenly, concentrating on something. His eyes stared off into the black skies.

She kept silent, since that was how he looked when he listened to some invisible spirit.

His lips moved without saying a word, then he flinched at something he heard before his gaze shot to her. “That’s all I got on the demons, but Kardos has more.”

She frowned at that. “What does he know?”

“Not sure, but I heard he and his brother were outside the Iron Casket when the Birrn caught him.”

“I’d believe Kardos was stupid enough to hang out in the parking lot of Deek’s nightclub, but not Kell. What makes you think Kardos knows more?”

“Because he’s at the Iron Casket right now.”

“Inside?”

“Yep.”

She didn’t like the suspicion raised in her mind at hearing all that. Had she made a mistake with Kardos and Kellman? Had they set her up with a demon? She just couldn’t believe that but would give Kardos a chance to explain. That meant her next stop was the IC.

Someone shoot me. She absolutely did not want to deal with the owner of that nightclub tonight. Or any other night, for that matter. “Can’t that boy stay out of trouble for five minutes?”

“He don’t seem worried about making his next birthday, that’s for sure.”

Yeah, and the first thing Kardos was going to explain when she found him was how he’d gotten past Deek’s tight security that didn’t allow teens into the club. “Okay, bud. Back to—”

Grady started fading. “I don’t have nothing for sure yet, but there’s a synergy moving through the city. I might have more later if you want to trade something like … more time.”

She’d lose him for a couple hours now, because unlike the other Nightstalkers, who tried to stay in one spot so they could be found easily, he tended to reappear anywhere in a ten-block area. “You be here when I come back with information on that synergy.”

His form flickered as he took a deep drink before answering. “You know I ain’t got no control over where I go next.”