Dead Spots (Scarlett Bernard #1)(80)

“Shut up.”

I snapped my fingers. “The hospital. You were at the hospital visiting Olivia.” Why would a vampire visit a dying null?

Next to my head, the sound of the gun’s hammer being cocked sounded deafening. “I said,” he spat, “shut the hell up.”

My knees threatened to collapse. I shut up.

“First he hands me his gun. Then we can have a nice chat.”

I was afraid to turn my head to look at Jesse, but at the edge of my vision, I saw him hand over his weapon.

“Okay, turn around,” Albert ordered. I did. His small face looked tired and tense, and his rumpled suit looked as if it had seen better days. “What the f*ck are you doing here?”

“We’re here to help Dashiell.”

Albert snorted, a very human sound. “Like hell. Isn’t Dash planning to kill you in a few hours?”

“That’s in a few hours. Did you see the girl?” I asked bluntly. “The teenager?”

A look of uncertainty flashed across his face. “Yeah, so?”

“Well, she’s with me. And if the guy holding her hostage is trying to kill Dashiell, then I’m all about helping him.”

“Sort of an ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’ kind of thing,” Jesse offered.

Albert considered this for a moment. “Then why were you trying to sneak in the door right behind Dashiell, where he couldn’t see you coming?” He shook his head. “No, I think you’re working with that *.” He lifted the gun, which had drifted down a few inches. Those things are heavy when you’re stuck as a human.

“Wait,” I said, confused. “Is there another way onto the patio?”

“Yeah, of course. You think Dashiell would build a patio with only one exit? It’s the servants’ door, behind the big guy and the little girl.”

“May I?” I said, inclining my head toward the patio doors.

He hesitated. “Fine. But he goes, too. Take more than three steps and you’re done.”

Jesse stuck to my side as I took a few steps into the living room to get a better view of the patio doors. Albert stayed in the doorway, pivoting the gun so it stayed on the two of us as we crept into the room. The living room was dark and the patio was bright with torches, so I wasn’t too worried about being spotted. I took the allowed three steps and was able to see the scene outside. Sure enough, Dashiell and Beatrice were closest to the patio doors, with their backs to it. Hugo was on Beatrice’s right. I saw Hess and Corry were standing up at the head of the table—and on their left, Ariadne and two men I didn’t know were sitting opposite Dash and his people. The guy next to her was short and squat, with Hispanic features and a permanent frown. He wore an expensive black suit with no tie, but didn’t wear it well. Next to him, across from Hugo, was a tall, lean man in black jeans and a cowboy hat.

Hess was saying something to Beatrice with a snarky look on his face, while Corry looked miserable and terrified beside him. Her plain green T-shirt was wet at the neck from tears, and—God, was her arm broken? Behind Corry, I could just make out the outline of a door, which had been painted to match the pink stucco of the exterior walls. No wonder I had never noticed it; I was generally scared and distracted whenever I met with Dashiell. There was a very small window in the door, at eye level, which I’d always thought was just a regular window into the house.

I turned back toward Jesse, telling him who was who, with the exception of the men I didn’t know. “You see the door?”

“Yeah. Come on.” We took the three steps back to the doorway, where Albert waited with the gun.

“Why is Ariadne here? And who is with her?” I hissed.

Albert’s face was grim. “She came to make her move against Dashiell. Carlos is the master who’s sponsoring her. The guy with them is a werewolf, muscle for hire.”

Talk about your bad timing, I thought. I bet Ariadne was wishing she had waited just a bit longer for her hostile takeover.

“Why haven’t you burst in there yourself?” Jesse asked Albert. “You could probably get a shot at Hess before he sees you. Isn’t that the kind of thing Dashiell pays you for?”

Albert just stared at us nervously.

“He’s afraid,” I said, understanding. “There’s a null out there, and he’s scared of getting hurt or killed while she’s so close. God, Albert, that really is cowardly.”

“Shut up,” he growled. “Listen, if you two are so brave, you’re welcome to storm out there. I’ll take you around to the servant door.”

“Give me my gun and we will,” Jesse retorted.

“So you can shoot me and then Dashiell? Yeah, right.” Albert shook his head. “I may get in trouble for not rushing out there, but I’ll definitely get dead if I let Scarlett Bernard waltz past me and take a shot at him. No, you go without a gun.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he just glared at me. “Or I could always just shoot you here, see if the sound distracts that guy long enough for Dashiell to jump him. That seems like a good plan, too.”

I closed my mouth and looked at Jesse. We didn’t have time for this. He nodded at me.

“We’ll go,” I said to Albert.

“Fine.”

As quickly as possible, Albert guided us in a wide circle around the patio, whispering directions in the dark as he held the gun at our backs. We ended up in a large, lavishly equipped kitchen that I had never seen before.