Wager looked around for a moment. Then, without a word, he crooked his finger and headed to the left. Herne and I followed, our footsteps echoing in the dust as we strode along the corridor. We might as well be carrying a sign that said “We’re on the way,” I thought. It felt like we were in a fairytale, hunting through hidden lands for a secret entrance through which to rescue the princess. Except that I was the princess here, and I’d already been rescued.

  Finally, we came to a wide door. Over the door was a neon sign that read “Fire & Fang.”

  Wager turned around. “Remember, address the Regent as ‘Regent Reins.’ Allow him to speak first, never threaten him, make no sudden moves, and don’t ask favors unless you are willing to pay a steep price.”

  Herne motioned. “Lead on.”

  Wager pushed open the door of the nightclub, and in we went.

  Fire & Fang was an impressive club. I couldn’t even count how many booths lined the walls, and each one seemed to have some sort of privacy shade near it. The silence in the club echoed as though it were some supernatural visitor, and I found myself holding my breath, not wanting to make a sound. To one side, a spiral staircase led up to a door on what appeared to be a second floor of the club. The bar was made of heavy wood, and the counter looked like polished marble, looking very old world and expensive. Bar stools lined the counter, fully cushioned and covered in a red velvet print. A dim light illuminated the bar, and I noticed that one of the booths appeared to be occupied. The next moment, a man appeared out of almost nowhere, startling me.

  He had long hair, almost platinum and smooth as silk. His eyes were as blue as early morning sky, and he was trim, yet muscled enough to be attractive. The man was wearing a pair of leather pants and he had on a leather jacket but no shirt beneath it. Gold chains encircled his neck, and his features were so fine that I’d describe him as beautiful. My knees grew weak as he surveyed the three of us, a sly smile creeping over his face.

  “Well, it’s been a while, Herne. Lord of the Hunt. I recognize Wager, but who is this lovely piece of flesh?”

  I bristled, but I still found myself getting wet as he spoke. His voice was as sensuous as his looks, and my nipples hardened beneath my corset. I forced myself to stay in place and play the Ice Queen. As I looked away from his insistent gaze, I tried to keep my thoughts from wondering what he looked like naked, and I kept reminding myself that this man was dead. Well, undead. I had never been into necrophilia and I wasn’t going to start now, even though that wasn’t technically the accurate term for fucking a vampire.

  As if sensing my arousal, Wager reached out and rested his hand on my back, and I recognize that he was using his Dark Fae powers to try and ground me. I ignored the urge to shake him off and reminded myself that I no longer lived a life in which the Dark Fae were automatically enemies.

  “I will thank you to address my employees with more respect,” Herne said. His voice was gruff, filled with authority, and I was surprised to see Eldris actually flinch. “This is one of my agents. Princess Lyrical Muirín.”

  “So you’ve bagged yourself royalty, now? What happened to Ember? Is she yesterday’s news?” Eldris snickered.

  Herne stiffened. “In case you haven’t heard, Ember is my wife now and she belongs to the gods. She’s a goddess in her own right, so you will give her respect when you talk about her.” His voice was so low that it was almost a whisper and yet, the threat was loud and clear.

  I waited, curious to see how Eldris would respond.

  Eldris held Herne’s gaze for a moment, then simply inclined his head and said, “Of course. As you wish. My congratulations to the both of you.” It was obvious that he meant anything but congratulations, but there was no way to call him on it.

  It felt like a standoff for a moment, but then Eldris gestured, turning to lead us toward the booth. “The Regent is waiting for you. Please, follow with me.”

  As he led us along the row of booths to the one that I had pegged for having someone in it, Herne caught my gaze and gave me a brief shake of the head. I read it as meaning, Don’t say anything unless I give you permission. And although I might be impulsive, I wasn’t stupid enough to stir up a hornet’s nest around a bunch of vampires. I scooted closer to him, grateful that he was here. If it had just been Wager, I wasn’t sure exactly how safe I would have felt.

  When we reached the booth, I saw three very large men there, along with a fourth whom I was positive was the Regent. Two of the men slid out of the U-shaped booth, and stood to either side, arms crossed.

  “They’re going to search you,” Eldris said. He sounded positively delighted, which made me feel both sleazy and nervous at the same time.

  Herne held out his arms, staring at one of the vampires. The bodyguard began to fidget, looking nervous, but he very quickly patted Herne down and then stood back, motioning for him to slide into the booth. But Herne waited, standing to the side, his own arms crossed in front of his chest.

  The second man approached me, then—giving Herne a long look—made quick work of searching me. He was very professional, taking care to avoid touching between my thighs. He also avoided my boobs, and I joined Herne. After they patted Wager down, the three of us slid into the opposite side of the booth, followed by Eldris. I was grateful that it was Wager sitting next to the nightclub owner and not me.

  “So, Lord of the Hunt, we meet again.” Dormant sounded amused. “My, how times have changed, haven’t they?”

  Herne nodded. “Times have definitely changed, Regent Reins. I have several things of importance to discuss with you. And I am permitted to speak for the mayor. First, we’d like to know if the rumors are true. Are the vampires returning to the catacombs?”

  Dormant paused, then very slowly, he nodded. “Yes, we are. In fact, we hope to be fully back within the next few weeks.”

  “Have you heard about the dragons?” Wager asked.

  “You mean have I heard that the Dragonni are using our catacombs for subversive meetings? Yes, we have heard rumors. Do you know if there’s any truth to it?” Dormant’s eyes glittered and it made me wonder if he already knew and wanted to see if we’d verify it, or if he truly was unaware.

  “Yes, we actually saw them yesterday. One of them—probably the leader—is Gyell, a shadow dragon. They’re not supposed to be in the city, let alone running around the catacombs, so I’m not certain what they’re up to. It’s not going to be any good, you know that,” Herne said. He paused. “But you know that, because you’ve offered a bounty on their heads, haven’t you?”

  Dormant leaned back in his seat, eyeing Herne. “Well, we had to put a stop to their presence, didn’t we? They’re not allowed in the big cities, so why not offer a bounty?” He sounded eager, which gave me the creeps. But it also told me he wasn’t one to sit back and let things roll over him.

  “Because people are going to get hurt. Have you thought this out? The ramifications are dangerous and far less for the dragons than for those who will go hunting them.” Herne regarded him cautiously. “Even though the Dragonni are no longer immortal, they’re still dangerous—”

  “But they are mortal now. They can be killed.”

  “Then why not send your own militias out? I know you have them. It won’t look good for your people if you get a lot of innocent, desperate people killed.” Herne leaned forward. “The city is experiencing a renaissance. Imagine what will happen if the officials recommend all of your services.”

  Bingo, I thought. Appeal to the Regent’s ego and his greed.

  Dormant remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, the vampire said, “True enough. Have you ever seen my people hunt in a pack?” Now he sounded downright fiendish.

  I had a vision of a gang of vampires swarming a dragon and drinking it down to death. The picture in my head wasn’t pretty.

  Wager thought for a moment. “A pack of vampires could take down a dragon, possibly better than 95 percent of mortals.” There was a bleakness in his voice that moved me and I wondered what had happened to make him so certain.

  Dormant turned to him. “Thank you.”

  “I never forget an example. Or a debt,” Wager added.

  “You’ve been a loyal ward,” Dormant said.

  As I watched the interplay, I decided to find out what had gone down between the two men. Wager seemed like an upright man, but he also seemed deep in the vampires’ pockets.

  At that moment, a landline rang. Eldris moved to answer and then turned to Herne. “It’s Talia. She needs to speak to you.”

  As Herne went to take the receiver, Wager told me, “The reception down here for cell phones varies widely, so you can never rely on it. Hence, most of the vampires in the catacombs use landlines.” He shrugged. “You’d think technology would catch up, eventually.”

  “It probably will,” I said, glancing around the club. “This is a beautiful nightclub.”

  Eldris actually smiled at me—a genuine smile that seemed to have no ulterior motive behind it. “Thank you. I decorated it with care. I want my clients to be comfortable.”

  I was about to ask him more when Herne returned, his face ashen. “We have to get back to the office. I’ve had an informant watching Kilnakarn’s movements, and one of his men was seen fiddling with the underside of your car. I told my man to follow him, and I’ve already called the police in case they planted a bomb.”

  My stomach lurched. “Crap. I’m dead meat if he gets hold of me.”

  “We won’t let that happen,” Herne said. He turned to Dormant. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to excuse us. We have a pressing problem and we need to eradicate him as soon as possible.”

  Dormant stood. “Understood. I’ll revoke the bounty on the dragons and notify you when we’re back in the catacombs, but don’t expect it to be more than a few days. Also, it occurs to me that if this Gyell gets wind that we’re on the move, that may put a stop to him and his friends hiding out down here. But we’ll set out on a hunting trip, anyway.”

  “We’ll work it out. I’ll call you later, if you’re amenable,” Herne said, surprising me. I hadn’t expected him to defer to the vampires so much, but then again, keeping on their good side was important in today’s world.

  As we headed back toward the elevator, we were silent. I wasn’t sure what Wager and Herne were thinking about, but my mind was fully on Kilnakarn, and what he had planned for me.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  By the time we arrived back at the office, the informant had texted Herne that he was following Kilnakarn’s man back to the marina. The police had arrived with a bomb squad—just in case—and they were waiting for us as we pulled into the parking garage. Herne called Talia and told her to evacuate the building, and he made all of us go wait in one of the bakeries across the street. Luckily, the shop was big enough to have several tables and we ordered a snack while we waited. Or rather, the others ordered food. I stood by the window, staring across the street, wondering what the hell he had done to my car.

  We waited about fifteen minutes before Herne called me on my cell phone. “Come on over,” he said. “It’s safe.”

  As we trooped across the street, I wondered what they had found. The bomb squad was packing up and getting out of their suits. Herne motioned me over to his side. Someone in uniform was standing next to him.

  “This is Captain Delacrom,” Herne said, introducing me to the Dark Fae officer. “We found a tracking device under your car. I’m surprised they didn’t put it there sooner, but who knows what’s running through Kilnakarn’s mind.”

  “We’ve done a background check. There’s not much we can do because he claims Fae Sovereignty and, like most ambassadors from other countries, he’s exempt to most of our laws. It’s not fair, and it’s a holdover from older laws, but the fact remains that they can get away with a lot more than the average person.” Delacrom shrugged.

  “That stinks,” I said. “Why should they have special exclusions?”

  “It’s an agreement that the US made years ago with other countries, and when the United Coalition took over, they kept it across the board and even extended it to the sovereign Otherkin nations. Like the Black Forest Shifter Nation over in Germany, and the Fae Courts here.” Captain Delacrom shrugged. “I don’t make the laws, I just enforce them.”

  It wasn’t a satisfactory answer, but it was probably the best he had, given how the laws and court system worked.

  I paled. “So they were going to track me, which probably means they were planning on following me. What now? They’ll know we found it when my car doesn’t show up on their system as moving.”

  “Not necessarily. We have the tracker intact and it’s pretty simple. It won’t know whether it’s attached to your car or someone else’s, so we’re going to lead them a merry chase this evening,” Herne said. The look on his face said, Don’t mess with me.

  “I like that idea,” I said. “As much as it makes me nervous, I’d like in on it.”

  “You need to know what happens to him.” Yutani stood behind me, his hand barely touching my back.

  “If I don’t, I’ll be jumping at shadows the rest of my life.” In my gut, I knew that Kilnakarn wanted to make me pay for humiliating him.

  On the way back upstairs, Herne turned to me. “Lyrical, when you look beyond the immediate fear, does your instinct tell you that Kilnakarn is out to kidnap you again, or…”

  “Kill me? Both. He’s into torture, especially when one of his servants displeases him. He’ll make me pay for escaping, and then at the end, he’ll torture me to death. That’s his standard MO. You fuck him over, he makes you beg for death and when you can’t beg any longer, he kills you painfully.” My heart clenched. I wanted to go down to the water, to let the spray from the waves mist over me, to hear the roar of the ocean and let her cleanse me through. But I knew that I didn’t dare go anywhere alone.

  “I miss the cases we went out on before the Tuathan Brotherhood and the dragons got in the mix,” Talia said. “Everything seemed so much simpler then.” As we entered the main reception area, she made a beeline for her desk.

  “Our cases may have seemed simple, but the truth is, nothing in life is simple. Even a flower. It’s a complex world, and getting more complicated every day. But whether we’re going after a kuveo demonic fox or a serial killer, the fact remains we’ll always be facing something. For us, life doesn’t come easily. When you fight against the evils in this world, you’re always going to be facing an uphill battle.” Herne hooked his thumbs in his pockets, leaning against the wall. “We need to plan for tonight. We usually close in about an hour and we don’t want to disrupt the schedule or Kilnakarn might get suspicious.”

  “Do you think they’ll check to make sure Lyrical’s car is out of the garage?” Wendy asked. “I would, if I were paranoid. And I kind of think this Kilnakarn dude is paranoid.”

  “Oh, big time,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Tyrants usually are. They know they’re hated and they fear vengeance.”

  “I wish we had a cloaking spell,” Herne said. “We could cast it on your car before we leave.”

  “We don’t have a cloaking spell, but we do have the storage vault,” Yutani said. “It’s empty because we still haven’t gotten around to filling it up with our old equipment. Her car would fit in there.”

  “Where’s the storage vault?” I asked.

  “In the corner of the garage. It’s concrete, and it has a locking system that’s damned near impossible to break. We were going to bring in a boat and other camping equipment that we might need on future cases. But since it’s empty at the moment, Yutani’s right, your car would fit in there.”

  “But what if they wait to watch me pull out of the garage?”

  “I doubt they’ll be that obvious. If they put a GPS tracker on your car, my guess is they’ll be hanging back so there’s no chance you’d notice them. Kilnakarn isn’t a genius, but I imagine he has a couple advisors who are bright enough to figure things like this out. They may be trying to establish your route so they can plan for a future ambush. Or…we could give them the chance tonight.” Herne glanced at Wendy. “You willing to work overtime?”

  She inclined her head. “Of course. What are you thinking?”

  “Since Yutani and Lyrical live on the Eastside, we could take a trip over to the deserted lot near Ginty’s. It’s big enough and remote enough so that if we do get into a rumble, it shouldn’t be dangerous for anybody else who happens to be around.”

  “Given they sent coyote shifters after Raven and me, they’ll be waiting for another chance. But won’t they recognize your car? They know what I drive.”

  “Good point,” Wendy said. “These men are pigheaded, but they aren’t idiots. Chances are Kilnakarn has some semblance of brains.”

  Herne shook his head. “I don’t like the idea of you driving. What if we get separated?”

  I shook my head. “If we don’t want to tip them off, we take several cars, including mine. Yutani, put the tracker back into my car. I can have Wendy in the back seat, lying down so she won’t be seen. You, Wager, and Yutani can follow. I’m telling you, Herne, if they follow us to a lot and see your SUV, that’s going to raise their alarms. The Kelpies are brutes, but like Wendy says, they aren’t stupid. Their downfall isn’t a lack of intelligence, it’s overconfidence and arrogance.”

  “All right, all right,” Herne said. He didn’t look pleased, but he sent Yutani to replace the tracker in my car. “Okay, it’s almost quitting time.”

  “I’ll get my things,” I said.

  “I’ll get weapons,” Wendy said, heading for the armory. “Who needs what?”

  Wager called for a set of shurikens, a pair of nunchakus, and a couple of throwing daggers. Herne asked her to bring him his short sword and dagger. And I already had my dagger.

  “What does Yutani want?” she called as she headed for the elevator.

  “Probably his whip. That puppy is dangerous. It has ilithiniam threads woven into it and his father gave it to him.” Herne grinned. “I’ve asked to try it out a couple of times, and I will tell you this: it doesn’t like being used by anybody but Yutani. The Great Coyote wove it specifically for him.”