This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, #5)(5)

“Thought I smelled someone I knew,” I offered, downing the gin and tonic that had arrived with the other drinks while Bones and I were away.

It was an obvious lie, but Ed and Scratch made agreeable noises and pretended to believe it. The look Bones gave them didn’t lend itself to further questions on the subject.

“Right then, any more names of places these nasty flesh-eaters tend to frequent?” Bones asked, as if there had been no interruption in conversation.

Scratch elbowed the other vampire. “No, but Ed has something to tell you.”

Ed looked reluctant but then straightened his narrow shoulders.

“A buddy of mine, Shayne, called me last night and said our friend Harris got the shit kicked out of him from some ghouls at a club. Shayne was gonna go home with Harris to discourage any more beatings on him. Thing is, I’ve been callin’ Shayne’s cell all day, but he hasn’t answered, which isn’t like him. When I told Scratch, he told me to come here because he was meeting people who might be able to help.”

“Do you know where Harris lives?” I asked at once.

“Yeah. It’s not too far from here, actually.”

“Yet you didn’t go there yourself to check on him?” Bones asked with heavy skepticism.

Ed gave Bones a weary look. “No, and I still won’t unless I can get several people to go with me. I don’t want to be the next vampire no one ever hears from. Judge all you want, but I don’t have a bunch of badass powers to protect myself if something did happen to Shayne and Harris—and the ghouls who made it happen are still there.”

Sympathy welled up in me, dulling the voices still yammering on in my mind. Ed and Scratch were doing the best they could to look out for their friends under the very harsh circumstances of living in a world where they were close to second-class citizens. I knew from experience that it sucked to feel like no one had your back when the monsters came sniffing around. Of course, technically, Ed and Scratch were monsters, too.

Then again, so was I. In this case, that was a plus.

Bones looked at me and arched a brow.

“Let’s do it,” I said to the unspoken question.

He rose, giving his knuckles a quick, expert crack, and then threw several bills on the table.

“All right, then, mates. Let’s see if Shayne’s mobile just ran out of charge.”

True to Ed’s word, Harris’s apartment was only twenty minutes away. I found it ironic that it was also only about a mile away from the apartment complex I’d lived in when I went to OSU, seemingly another lifetime ago. If Bones noticed the close proximity to my old place, he didn’t comment on it. He seemed more focused on the exterior of the building, trying to pick up any vibes of danger within. We couldn’t risk sending Fabian in first to check it out. The ghost had snuck into our trunk when we drove off, unnoticed by Ed or Scratch, but if we sent Fabian in ahead of us, that would draw their attention to our phantom friend.

Tingles of power rode on the air behind us in the narrow parking lot. Ed and Scratch jerked around, but Bones didn’t flinch. Neither did I. That was Tiny and Band-Aid, our backup who’d followed us over from the mall.

“Tiny, Band-Aid, keep an eye on these two for a moment, will you?” Bones said to them before striding toward the complex. I went with him, shrugging into my long leather coat. It wasn’t because I was cold; the late summer day was warm, but my coat held several pounds’ worth of silver knives. Sure, I had knives tucked under my blouse, but those were the shorter, throwing variety meant for vampires. Only decapitation killed a ghoul, which meant I needed bigger blades if any sinister members of that species awaited us inside.

Bones inhaled once we reached the second floor. So did I. The front doors were all in a line facing the parking lot, with the fresh air chasing away most of the telltale scents of their occupants, but I caught a whiff of something inhuman coming from the second to last unit. Bones must have, too, because his steps quickened. I inhaled again, my nose wrinkling when we were almost at that door. Bones paused to give me a grim look.

The shades were drawn tight, preventing us from peering inside, but I already knew what we’d find. The scent of death was unmistakable.

“We’re too late,” I whispered. Seeing the broken lock on the door was almost redundant.

Bones pushed the door open, moving immediately to the side in case a flash of flying silver accompanied his entry. Nothing moved, however. The inside of the apartment was as quiet as a tomb.

And just like a tomb, it had bodies in it.

“I don’t feel anyone, but stay sharp,” Bones said as he stepped inside. I followed, checking the corners first, joining Bones in doing a sweep of the interior with as much caution as if we knew enemy forces were within. As we’d suspected, though, the place was empty of everyone except us—and two shriveled vampires on the floor of the tiny family room.

The damn voices in my mind began to rise again. There weren’t as many people in the apartment complex as the mall, so it didn’t affect me with the same sort of mental explosion, but it was like my mind was filled with the hum from a nest of angry bees. I rubbed my temple, as if that could tone them down, but of course, it didn’t help.

Bones didn’t catch the gesture. His attention was still focused on the two shriveled corpses near our feet.

“Looks like a dawn ambush,” he noted, taking in their lack of shoes and how neither body was fully dressed. “Poor sods didn’t have the chance to put up much of a fight.”