Remus looked panicked. The officer he had pinned under his knee was sweating, panting in pain, expression tight and probably kicking himself for letting Remus get his gun. The I.S. personnel inched closer. Ivy didn’t move, but I saw her tense. So did Mia.
“Stop!” she shrilled, letting the toddler slip gently to the floor, where the little girl stood, gripping her mother’s leg, her eyes wide, and silent at last. “Remus, stop,” she said softly, her voice elegant and holding an odd accent. “This isn’t going to help me. This isn’t going to help Holly. Listen to me. You’re going to hurt Holly if you do this. She needs a real father, Remus, not a dead memory. She needs you!”
The man brought his attention from the upper floors and focused it on his wife. Grief marked his expression. “They’ll take you from me,” he begged. “Mia, I can get us away. I can keep you safe.”
“No.” Mia started for Remus, and Ivy intercepted her, holding her in a loose but unbreakable grip, six feet back. Holly wobbled unsteadily after her, again latching on to her mother’s leg for support. The I.S. personnel watched, tensing.
One hand on her daughter’s blond head, Mia gave Ivy a mocking look, then focused on Remus. “Love,” she said, her well-born voice full of persuasion. “It’s going to be all right.” She glanced at Ivy, and in a voice carrying strong conviction, she said, “Let me go. I can calm him. If you don’t, he’s going to kill that officer before you can move, and I will lose the only man I can love. You know what he means to me. Let me go.”
Ivy’s grip tightened, and Mia frowned. “I can give him peace,” she insisted. “It’s what I do.”
“You hurt my friend,” Ivy said softly, and a shiver ran through me at her anger.
“It was an accident,” Mia responded coldly. “Leaving him like that was a bad decision. We will accept our mistake and do what’s necessary to make reparations. I have not lived this long by risking my life or letting my instincts rule me. I can calm him.” Her voice changed, becoming softer, but her eyes were almost black with what looked like vampire hunger. “No one will get hurt,” she said. “Let me go. The law can decide what is just.”
Yeah, like I believe that.
Remus’s breathing was harsh, and the man under him was gasping in pain, eyes trying to stay open as the agony pulled them shut. Mia hadn’t said “trust me,” but I’d heard it. Ivy must have, too, for she hesitated only briefly before she slowly released the banshee. My pulse hammered as the woman stood free, shaking her coat as if she were shaking off the memory of Ivy’s touch.
Edden shouted, “Back off!” and I felt the tension wind tighter even as everyone retreated. A faint dusting of gold was sifting down, and Jenks dropped to my shoulder.
Mia picked up Holly, and with the toddler on her hip, she went to Remus as calmly as if they were shopping for peanut butter. “Let the officer go,” she said, laying a light hand on his shoulder.
“They will separate us,” he pleaded. Behind him, FIB officers were creeping closer, but Edden waved them to a stop when Mia caught sight of them. “I love you, Mia,” Remus said, desperate. “I love Holly. I can’t live without both of you. I can’t go back to that place in my head.”
Mia made a shushing noise and smiled at him. “Let the man go,” she said, and I wondered if this had played out in their living room before they had fled, leaving Glenn for dead. “Once they hear what happened, we can return to the way we were.”
I doubted that, but Remus shifted in uncertainty. Around me, the officers tensed.
“Let them cuff you,” she whispered, the small woman on tiptoe to almost whisper the words in his ear. “I will protect you. We will not be separated. If you love me, trust me.”
My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Trust me? Jenks’s wings clattered, and I glanced at him.
“I don’t li-i-i-ike this,” he said in a singsong voice.
Yeah. Me either. I was a witch, damn it. Banshees were way out of my league.
Mia put a small hand against his cheek, and with Holly happily babbling between them, Remus exhaled, his shoulders slumping and his chin dropping to his chest. “I’m sorry,” he said, carefully sliding the safety on the gun before tossing it to spin on the floor, away from everyone.
“Thank you, love,” she said, smiling, and I wondered if the young-seeming but age-old woman was going to throw him to the mercy of the court, letting him take the blame for Glenn’s injuries while she hid behind the excuse of being a bystander. She was up to something. I could feel it.
Remus let go of the man’s wrist, and the FIB officer cried out in relief. Edden gestured, and the men behind Remus moved, jerking him off their fellow officer and cuffing him. From the other side of the food court, the I.S. officers buzzed, some of them swearing, most laughing. Ivy pulled herself together, trying to find her usual svelte elegance. Her eyes were black when they met mine. A pulse of fear went through me, then vanished. She looked away, and I resolved to keep my distance for a while. I should have brought my perfume…
“Be careful!” Mia demanded as the officers handled Remus roughly. A woman cop had closed in on her and Holly, and seeing it, Remus stopped, his arm muscles straining and a fearful look in his eyes.
“No,” Mia demanded in a high voice before Remus could react. “Don’t separate us. I can keep him calm. I never wanted to cause any trouble. We were just sitting there.”
Jenks snickered from my shoulder. “Didn’t want to cause trouble. Does she really think we’re buying that crap?”
“Yeah, but look at him,” I said, gesturing at the man. Under Ivy’s watchful attention, Mia had rejoined him, and he was again docile. Meek, almost. Creepy, definitely. It was easier this way, and less embarrassing, seeing that the I.S. was watching. Not to mention the news vans out front. If it hadn’t been for Ivy, this would’ve been a lot more difficult. As long as Mia didn’t want to cause trouble, Ivy could keep her in line, and with that, Remus would do the same.
Beside me, Edden huffed in satisfaction. “Got ’em both, when they were too afraid to even try,” he said to me, gesturing with his chin to the I.S. But I had my doubts that this was over. From Mia’s words, I guessed she thought all we wanted was Remus. When she found out we were after her as well, things might get ugly.
“I don’t like this,” I murmured to Edden, thinking this was too easy, and he gave me an insulted look. Okay, so we had her walking to the door, but she was not going to meekly let us take her baby. She lived with a serial killer, for crying out loud! That she was pushing him around should be a big warning to Edden. “This isn’t over,” I whispered.
Edden snorted. “What do you want me to do? Cuff the baby?” he said, then shouted, “Pack it up!”
People started to move. Remus was led to the front doors, his head bowed and looking beaten with his hands cuffed before him. Ivy and Mia were six steps back, and Jenks and I fell into place after them. The baby was still on Mia’s hip, and the little girl was watching me from around her mother with eyes so pale, they looked albino. Peeking from under her pink snow hat, her hair was a wispy blond that reminded me of Trent’s, and it looked nothing like the jet-black severity of her mother’s. Holly had her thumb in her mouth, and the child’s unblinking stare was getting to me. She started to fuss when I looked away, and Mia jiggled her. Tension tightened my gut. This was too easy.
“You’re losing her, pixy,” Mia said, shooting a glance at us over her shoulder.
Jenks let slip a burst of green dust. “What?” he said, and I wondered at his panic.
“You’ve lost her already,” Mia said, the banshee’s voice faint, as if she was seeing around corners to the future. “You see it in her eyes, and it’s killing you slowly.”
Ivy gave the woman a soft jerk to turn her back around. “Leave him alone,” she said, then glanced at Jenks, her eyes crinkled up in disgust. “She’s trying to feed off you,” she said. “Don’t listen. She’s a liar.”
Mia chuckled, and Jenks’s wings fluttered against my neck. “I don’
t have to lie, and it doesn’t matter if he listens to me or not. She’s going to die. And you, silly vampire?” She looked askance at Ivy, and Ivy paled. “I told you that you were weak. What have you done in five years? Nothing. You think you’re happy, but you’re not. You could have had everything, but now she’s gone, even though she’s right next to you, because you were afraid. It’s over. You were passive, and you lost. You may as well be what everyone wants you to be, because you aren’t ever going to find the guts to be who you want.”
I felt the blood leave my face. Ivy’s jaw clenched, but she kept us moving forward at the same steady pace. Holly gurgled happily. Angry that Mia was hurting my friends, I snarled, “What about me, Ms. Harbor? Got anything in that bag of hate for me?”
She turned her cold blue eyes to me, and the corners of her mouth lifted. Her eyebrows arched slightly, making an expression of pure, delighted malice. Then Ivy pushed her through the double set of doors and they were gone.
It was snowing still, and I hesitated in the chill air lock. “Get in my bag, Jenks,” I said, standing between the doors while FIB personnel eddied past us. The pixy seemed to be in shock, unable to move, and I reached up for him.
“I’m going!” he snarled, wings clattering as he dropped into my waiting bag and I zipped it closed. I’d put a hand heater that deer hunters use in there, and I knew he’d be all right.
My knees felt funny as I left the mall and entered the snow, and I slowed to try to see if Marshal was anywhere. No Marshal, no Tom—just faces craning to get a look at something. My breath steamed, and I was reaching for my gloves when the child-protection van pulled in under the tape the FIB had strung up.
“Mia!” Remus called out as two men tried to force him in the back of a cruiser. His voice was panicked, and I watched the banshee stiffen in Ivy’s grip. Only now did she realize we were after her, too.
“Remus! Run!” she shrieked.
The baby started to cry, and Remus exploded into motion. His entire face changed. Gone was the panic, replaced by a delicious satisfaction. He moved, hooking a foot behind one of his captors and giving a yank. The man went down, slipping on the snow, and Remus went with him, slamming his fists on the man’s throat. From there, he rolled to take the other man down. Just that fast, he was gone, spinning under the car and shoving through the crowd.
“Get him!” I cried, seeing him up and running awkwardly, from the cuffs.
“Run, Remus!” Mia shouted, urging him on.
Ivy shoved her at the nearest FIB officer, then leapt for the cruiser. She landed on the hood, and the car’s shocks squeaked when she jumped off. I heard her booted steps in a fast cadence, then nothing.
In a belated rush, FIB officers started after them on foot or scrambled into their cars. It had been only three seconds, but Edden had lost him. The news crews were going nuts, and I looked for a place to hide. I hated news vans.
A soft thump pulled my attention from the cold parking lot. Someone gasped and pointed, and I followed a mittened finger to a blue lump on the snowy pavement.
“Edden?” I called, unheard over the noise. It was the FIB officer Ivy had shoved Mia at. The banshee was gone. Seeing several people trying to help him, I scanned the parking lot for Mia’s long blue coat and a pink snowsuit. Crap on toast, I’d known this was too easy.
“Edden!” I shouted, then I saw Mia almost thirty feet away, head down and walking fast. Holy cow, how had she done that?
Adrenaline pulsed through me, and I hesitated for a split second. It’s a banshee. I shouldn’t be doing this… But if I didn’t, who would?
“Hold on, Jenks,” I said loudly, then looked for Edden’s gray hair. “Edden!” I shouted again, and when he looked up, I threw my bag. “Take care of Jenks!” I exclaimed when he caught it, and then I ran after Mia. Why am I doing this? They don’t even trust me.
“Miss, oh, miss,” a news reporter said, getting in my face, and I elbowed her out of my way. Cries rose up behind me, and I couldn’t help my smile.
In three seconds, I was through the ring of watchers. Darkness replaced the glare. A muffling silence pushed out the noise. Action replaced a frustrating inaction. I was moving, and I had a clear and definite goal. Mia had a good head start, and probably a car, but she also had a baby, and Holly was not happy.
Following the sound of a frustrated toddler, I ran through the parked cars, the blur of gray and falling snow quickly becoming a background nothing. The puddles of overhead light were flashes of interruption. I ran, chasing a weak prey, gaining fast.
Holly’s whining grew faint when Mia’s awkwardly running form vanished behind a Dumpster next to a delivery entrance. In six seconds, I was there. I skidded to a stop at the mouth of the walled parking lot, not wanting to get beaned by anything. My eyes scanned the open bay, finding Mia with her back to a padlocked door and Holly clutched to her. The small overhead light showed her proud, scared determination, and I struggled for breath. She had no way out. Ivy would catch Remus, and I would bring Mia back. It was done.
God help me if it’s not that easy.
My pulse slowed, and I raised a placating hand. “Mia, think about it.”
The woman clutched her daughter so tightly the baby started to cry. “You’ll kill her,” the banshee said, the anger a stark fury. “You can’t care for her. If you take her from me, you’ll kill her as surely as if you drowned her in a well like a cat.”
“Holly will be fine.” I took a step forward. The tall walls hiding the delivery entrances surrounded me. It seemed warmer without the wind, and the snow fell peacefully between us. “The people at social services will take good care of her. You can’t raise a child on the streets. If you run, that’s all that’s left for you. I’ve seen your house, Mia, and you can’t live like that. You don’t want to force Holly to live like that. Give me the baby, and we’ll go back. Everything will be okay. There can be a peaceful end to this.”
Helpless as she looked, I couldn’t bring a banshee in alone by force, but if I had her baby, she wouldn’t run off again. I’d been moving forward all this time, and now only a few feet separated us.
“What do you know about peace?” Mia said bitterly, jiggling Holly in a vain attempt to get her to stop fussing. “You’ve never lived without running. It’s all you do, run, run, run. You know you can’t stop. If you do, it will kill you.”
I halted, surprised. “You don’t know anything about me.”
Her chin lifted, and she shifted Holly so they were both facing me. Finally the little girl stopped crying, staring. “I know everything about you,” she said. “I see inside you. It pours from you. You won’t let yourself love anyone. Like that vamp. But unlike Ivy, who’s merely afraid, you really can’t love anyone. You’re never going to have the happy ending. Never. No matter how you look for it, it’s out of reach. Everyone you love you will eventually kill. You are alone even now, you just don’t realize it.”
My jaw was clenched, and my hands were fisted. “It won’t work, Mia,” I said, thinking she was trying to upset me to make herself stronger. “Put the baby down and your hands behind your head. I’ll make sure Holly is okay.” Damn it, why hadn’t I brought my splat gun?
“You want my baby?” Mia mocked. “Fine. Take her.”
She was holding Holly out to me, and thinking she was starting to understand, I reached out. Holly gurgled happily. I felt the unfamiliar weight of an entirely new person fill my arms. Mia backed up a step, a harsh gleam in her eye as she glanced at the open lot behind me. A car was coming, and its lights shined into the dead end, making it bright.
“Thank you, Mia,” I said, reaching to take Holly’s hand before she hit my face. “I’ll do what I can to keep Holly with you.”
Holly’s cold, sticky little fingers met mine, and my hand closed reflexively around them.
Pain came from nowhere. My heart jumped, and I gasped, unable to cry out. Fire blazed across my skin, and I found my voice.
A harsh guttural scream ripped throu
gh the icy night, and I sank to my knees. My skin was on fire, and my soul was burning. It was burning from my chest outward.
I couldn’t take a new breath, it hurt that much. People were shouting, but they were too far away. My pulse was firing madly, and every beat pushed the fire through my pores. It was being stripped from me—my aura was being ripped away, and my fear was feeding it.
Holly gurgled happily, but I couldn’t think to move. She was killing me. Mia was letting Holly kill me, and I couldn’t stop it!
I managed a harsh gasp, and then, as suddenly as it had come, the pain vanished. I felt an icy wash of black flow through me, in time with my fading pulse. Holly cooed, and I felt her being lifted from me. Her lack of weight unbalanced me, and I slowly collapsed to the pavement. But still, the wash of black flowed through me, and it was as if I could feel the frightening nothing within me, growing larger. I couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t even think how.
Mia helped me down, and grateful for small favors, I stared at her exquisite boots. God, they must have cost more than my last three months of rent combined. I could feel the night air raw on my unprotected soul. And finally Holly stripped the last from me, the flood of black slowing to a trickle and stopping to leave only a fading, empty warmth.
I tried to breathe, but it wasn’t enough. The snow hurt where it hit my skin, and I whimpered.
“I will not let them take Holly,” Mia said as she stood over me. “You’re filthy animals, and you’d kill her, even if only by accident. I worked too hard for her. She’s mine.”
My fingers twitched, accidentally rolling a gray pebble between my cold skin and the pavement. Mia stepped away and vanished, her footsteps fading quickly. I heard the slamming of a car door and then the car’s idling away. All that was left was the falling snow, each flake making a soft tap as it landed on my eyelashes and cheeks.
I couldn’t close my eyes, but it didn’t seem to matter as my fingers quit moving and the heavy blackness finally smothered me.