Ripper (Hunter #1)(75)

We started to walk up toward the house, the men following my lead.

I knocked briefly on the door and was admitted into the house. The air was quiet and thick with grief. The windows were all open, letting in the sunlight and the afternoon warmth. But I felt a chill as I saw Joseph Castle sitting next to Helen Taylor, his meaty hand patting her lightly on the back.

The whole herd seemed to have come out. I could tell the deer from the other shifters in the room. They all had wide, dark, gentle eyes. They stood close to each other, as though they could physically share their grief and in doing so lessen it. I wondered what it felt like to have a whole group of people to depend on, who huddled together in times of trouble, held each other when tragedy struck. It seemed like a beautiful thing to me.

And a wolf was among them.

Yeah, somehow I didn’t think he’d come here to protect them.

Marcus stepped up, holding out a hand. “Helen, the Council offers you condolences in your time of grief.”

Helen took his hand, her head held high. “Thank you, Marcus. I appreciate you coming out.”

“You’re late, Councilman,” Castle said, a sneer in his voice. “Do all the vampires have their stories straight?”

“Mr. Castle, the vampires are sleeping,” Marcus replied, his tone revealing nothing of the contempt he must feel for the alpha. “I come to offer condolences and to introduce Mrs. Taylor to Lieutenant Grayson Sloane of the Texas Rangers. He’s handling the case for the human authorities and recently discovered your daughter was involved.”

Gray tipped his head forward. “Ma’am. I apologize for presenting myself in such a casual fashion. I was actually working on your daughter’s case when I got the call.”

Helen’s eyes seemed dazed. She looked around like she wasn’t really hearing anything until she focused on me. “Kelsey Atwood?”

“Hello, Mrs. Taylor.” I was quieter than usual. I felt the heavy weight of guilt. She’d likely been dead before I even got the case, but I couldn’t silence that voice that told me I should have found her. I should have been there. I should have known.

It’s funny how illogical an instinct can be.

“Is it true? Did you find her?”

I took a deep breath. “I did. I’m so sorry. There’s no mistake. I found her body not an hour ago.”

She stood up and held herself with such dignity I wanted to weep for her. Castle tried to stand next to her. She regally shrugged him off. “I would like to speak with Miss Atwood alone.”

She didn’t wait, merely walked off expecting me to follow. I trailed after her silently, gesturing to Gray and Marcus not to follow me. She walked through the kitchen and into the backyard. It was small and neatly kept, with old shade trees and rose bushes along the chain link fence. She turned to me, her eyes so much older than the first time we met.

“You found my daughter. I thank you for that.” Her voice was hoarse. I wondered if she’d screamed when she’d seen the evidence of her daughter’s fate. How long would that image stay with her, obliterating all the good memories. She’d been forced to exchange visions of her daughter smiling and alive for horrors untold.

“I don’t know that you should thank me. I didn’t save her.”

“Likely no one could save her. We’re much like the animals we turn into. Always prey. It isn’t in our natures to fight, to protect ourselves. We try to run, but everyone else is faster. I don’t blame you, dear. I would prefer to know than to be left waiting forever in vain for her to come home.”

How close had my mother come to that fate? It struck me that the world really was filled with predators and prey. Most people didn’t have to face that fact—or learn which side they belong to. Helen Taylor had known from birth. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

She nodded slowly. “You can be honest with me. You’re the only one I trust.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I knew what she was going to ask me and I knew that I would tell her the truth no matter what councilmen and faery princes and even Gray wanted. This was a contract between me and Helen Taylor, and I would not break it.

“Was my daughter involved with vampires?”

“Yes.”

She took the news with stoic pride. “Do you believe they killed her?”

I let out a breath of relief. If she’d left it there, I would have stopped. I was glad to be able to tell her my thoughts. I was sure Castle had been filling her head with his. “My instinct tells me no. One of the victims was killed during the day and the only two daywalkers in Dallas have ironclad alibis.”

She brushed that off with a wave of her hand. “Only Academics can daywalk. It’s not in their natures to kill in such a manner. A warrior, yes, but not an academic. Castle expects me to believe the king has something to do with this. The king is a good boy.”

Though I hadn’t met the king, simply by his nature he was the baddest ass among badasses, but I liked that docile Helen called him a good boy like he was just another kid on the block begging for cookies.

“I can’t rule out that some vampire might have an assistant, but it doesn’t add up for me. I’m going to the club tonight and the Council promises me an all-access pass.”

She sighed and her body sagged down into a worn chair. The vinyl used to have a pattern, but the Texas sun had faded it. Grief had faded Helen Taylor’s natural sunniness. “It’s good for you to keep looking. Castle doesn’t want to look past his own theories. Having a vampire slaughtering werecreatures plays to his political ambitions.”