Page 72 of Marked
Tanner looks at me. “Shit,” he mutters, having caught every word with his heightened hearing.
“And Cap ...” Gage grows silent for a minute. “You’re going to want to look at this.”
***
I stare at the dark-haired woman stretched across the dais of the VIP. Though her clothes are still in place, a bite mark mars the column of her neck. And I doubt it’s a coincidence that it is in the same place as the one on Lilah’s neck. Or the waitress’.
The previously ruby carpet is black with her blood, and the room reeks like a charnel house. But that could be thanks to the dripping message smeared across the back wall:
Stop hunting for Vlad or we finish the girl
I don’t need to ask which girl. The waitress outside Underground, the attack at Lock Lake ... And now this? Lilah is being targeted. I step closer to the body on that once illuminated stage, trying to block out the garish message behind her. “Another look alike,” I say.
Tanner huffs. “Not quite.” He reaches and gently tugs a brunette wig from the leggy blonde who guarded the rope the first night we were here.
I rock back. “Son of a bitch.” She was ‘friends’ with Lilah. There is no way that’s a fucking coincidence. I pull my phone and dial Underground.
“Underground Plaza, home of Aberoth the Great, do you have a–”
“Raina?”
“Oh hey, Ruin. Your girl is doing just fine. She’s a natural.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Yeah. Look, is Caine still near the door?”
She pauses. “Yeah. He hasn’t budged.”
A wave of relief flows through me. “Okay. Keep him near, will you? And make sure Lilah doesn’t go anywhere without him.” As pissed as I am at the demon for his stunt the other night, he has the best chance of getting Lilah out in a hurry. His portal may not be as strong as some of his kin, but he’s the fastest I’ve ever seen at conjuring it.
“Sure thing. Everything okay?”
I glance back at the dead woman on the stage. “As well as I expected.”
“Is that Ruin?” Lilah’s voice flows over the speaker.
Raina mutters something, and the line goes scratchy.
I wince. “Raina, don’t–”
“Are you headed back?” Lilah asks.
My head hangs.
“Ruin?” she says, softer that time.
“I’m here.”
“Caine said there was a call from the cops. Everything okay?” her voice is firm, but I can just detect the edge of anxiety in it.
Tanner and Gage watch me as I try to work through everything. Including my need to protect the woman talking. They both nod. It’s an unspoken understanding with the team. What happened at Lock Lake, it won’t happen again.
“Yeah,” I say, careful to keep the lie deep, deep down. “We will be headed back here in a minute. When is your shift over?”
“1.”
I turn my back to my men and walk to the rail for the second floor. It’s not real privacy. Not with supes so near. “We never got to finish breakfast.”
Her inhale is soft, but it makes fire scorch through my veins. “Are you picking me up from work?”
