Slayer(78)

Artemis hits her again, then backs up. “Fine. Do you have any idea who did this?”

The vampire adjusts her shirt, smoothing back her hair. “Word on the street is a couple big demons—real powerful nasties—turned up dead. No marks on them.”

“Did they have enemies?” Leo asks.

“They were demons, darling. They have enemies just by existing.”

“Any suspects?” Leo seems troubled by the demon deaths. I can’t see the connection. But maybe he suspects something I don’t.

She laughs. “Why, yes, Officer! We’ve got the tip lines ringing off the hook! Everyone is real cut up about the deaths.”

“Did they die in bed?” I ask.

“How do you imagine demons sleeping? All tucked up in their four-poster queen? I don’t know how they died. Just that they were alive, and then they weren’t. No struggle, no marks. Could be the same thing, could be unrelated. It’s a bloody world out there.” Her stomach rumbles and she winks. “Not bloody enough, lately. Anyway, Cosmina also ran into trouble with some vampire heavies for an underworld type. Not sewer underworld. Human underworld. Sean something or other.”

Sean. Doug’s Sean. Which confirms that the same man who kept Doug captive was also running the demon-dogfighting rings. The one that almost got Cosmina and me killed. If we hadn’t been trying to keep our activities secret, we could have acted like real Watchers and investigated them. Maybe Cosmina would still be alive if we had. Instead, we ran back to the castle and pretended like nothing happened. Gods, Honora is right. We really have been hiding.

The vampire shrugs. “That’s all I know. We were zompire-cleanup partners. She didn’t exactly confide in me. Now, do any of you see her phone?”

Leo looks around the floor. “Do you think she had info on there that might help us?”

“No, I think she had at least a month more paid on her account, which means free phone for me until they shut it off.” She grins at me, tapping her nose. “I can smell it on you too. This is a preview of coming attractions for you, little Slayer. Ain’t it great to be Chose—?”

Artemis slams a stake into the vampire’s chest.

“What did you do that for?” I shout, shocked, as the vampire disappears into dust.

If a look could kill, I’d be as dead as the vampire. “You’re a Slayer, Nina. Try to remember.”

“But the zompire nest!”

“I don’t believe for a second she was going to take care of this alleged zompire nest. But I know for certain Dublin is better off with one less vampire. Let’s finish up.”

Still wigged out by Artemis’s violence, but also bothered that it should have been me staking the vamp, I take a soft, well-worn blanket off the end of Cosmina’s bed and drape it over her body. Leo stands over her, staring down.

Artemis puts her cross away. She glances under the bed. “The phone really is gone, though. So our killer demon is either a thief or there was something worth having on there. Let’s go.”

“What about the body?” There’s a framed picture lying on the floor. The glass is cracked between two girls. One is a much younger, chubby-cheeked Cosmina. Her hair is dark and pulled back from her unmangled ears. The other looks like a sister. I run my finger along the crack between them.

“What about it?” Artemis steps over the frame. “Come on. We still have a demon to find.”

“Shouldn’t we look into this Sean guy?”

“Loose demon is a bigger threat than loose human. And I don’t agree with you that Doug couldn’t have done this. Honora said he was a killer.”

“For once, could you please listen to me and trust that—”

Artemis has already left the apartment.

I look to Leo for his opinion, but he’s still staring at Cosmina’s covered body. I can hear Artemis stomping down the stairs beneath us. But I can’t quite force myself to move away from Cosmina. Once we leave, she’s alone. Forever. I doubt her parents or her sister know where she is.

Rhys has taken whole courses on how to dispose of demon bodies. But what about the human bodies demons leave in their wake? Bradford will get as traditional a Watcher send-off as we can manage. Gone are the days of funeral pyres on seaside cliffs, but he’ll be cremated. The worst fate a Watcher could have is to come back as a vampire. We’re never buried. Always burned.

Except my dad. There was no question that his death was permanent.

“That’s not going to happen to you.” Leo’s voice is as hard and cold as the cement floor beneath Cosmina’s body. “I promise. Whatever else happens, you’re not going to end up like her.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I take one last look at the ducky pajamas. If Cosmina’s phone were still here, I could call the police anonymously. That way I’d know she’d at least be found quickly. But I can’t even give that to her.

I pick up the photo and set it reverently on the nightstand next to a white business card. I stare at it in surprise.

Cosmina came through for us, even if we failed her.

? ? ?

We catch up to Artemis at the car. “Hold up,” I say. “We aren’t going home yet.”

“Where are we going, then?” she asks.

“To visit a demon drug dealer, demon dogfight organizer, and probable source of information. You want to find out more about Doug, and I want to make sure Sean didn’t kill Cosmina.” I hold out Sean’s card, listing a business address for a place called Naked Grains. “It’s our only lead.”