Page 7 of Killer of the Bells
Oh.
Lyle’s cult had been killing people to sacrifice to their fake god in the hopes of making it real. They’d been using a stolen fae artifact to cover up the disappearances, and it was possible that Bethany was a name on one of Gareth’s many lists in his growing file on the cultists.
“Did Bethany vanish?”
“Bethany vanished.”
“And everyone forgot about her?”
“Everyone forgot about her.” The man nodded eagerly, showing genuine engagement in the conversation for the first time.
“Why didn’t you forget about her?”
The man shrugged. “I just didn’t forget about her.”
At first, I thought he was mocking me by copying my words, but his guileless expression told me otherwise.
“What’s wrong with you?”
The man gave me a dark laugh. “So many things are wrong with me.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“My name is Echo.”
“Of course it is,” I muttered.
He narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t respond.
“Okay, little Echo, I’m not going to kill you, but I am going to bring you to my boss.”
“Your boss is going to kill me?” Echo’s eyes brightened with hope.
“No, my boss isn’t going to kill you. He’s going to ask you some questions and then send you on your way. After that, you and I will part ways, and you can go find some other dumbass to murder you.”
“Why can’t you be the dumbass to murder me?”
I’d walked right into that one, hadn’t I? Baz would love Echo. He’d probably also get Echo killed by accident five minutes after meeting him, so Echo would probably love Baz too.
I made a mental note to keep Baz and Echo from meeting.
“What do we have here?” Wraith’s unwelcome voice made my shoulders tighten. “Did you find something for us to share?”
Echo perked right up at the appearance of Wraith. “Yes! Please share me.” He skipped toward Wraith like an eager puppy.
My resulting snarl startled hibernating animals from their burrows, and I was distantly aware of a colony of bats stirring restlessly in their cave.
Wraith’s eyebrows went up.
So did mine.
What the hell had that been about?
“The kid’s mine. Go find your own meal,” I said in an icy tone. Before Wraith could try to talk his way into a bloody threesome, I took Echo by the upper arm and dragged him away.
“I would be a good meal!” Echo called to Wraith as he stumbled along behind me. “C-call me!” He held a hand up to his ear to mime a cell phone.
“Don’t you dare call him,” I growled.
