Personal Demon

HOPE: OVERTIME

When we reached William’s office, the door was open and there was no sign of an occupant. Griffin went in first, circled the room, then came out and said, “He’s not here.”

I stepped inside. Papers were scattered across an otherwise pristine desk, a briefcase sat on a chair and a suit jacket hung behind the door. Karl picked up the jacket. Griffin’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m thinking of taking this too,” Karl said. “You don’t mind, do you?”

He gave the jacket a shake. At a jingle, he reached into a pocket and fished out a set of keys.

“So he hasn’t gone far,” I said. “Where’s the nearest bathroom?”

Griffin walked to a closed door that I’d presumed was a closet, and opened it to reveal a dark and empty bathroom.

“Water cooler? Vending machine? Photocopier?”

He pointed to the cooler and an all-in-one printer. “There are no vending machines on this floor. If he wants something, he calls.”

He crossed the room and picked up the phone, and I thought he was just being sarcastic-demonstrating-but he pushed a button and murmured something.

“Maybe he stepped out to stretch his legs,” I said to Karl. “Can you tell?”

“Only that he’s been in here recently. I could try tracking him, but he’s been in and out of here so often that unless he went someplace he doesn’t normally go, it would be difficult to find a fresh trail.”

“Do you smell anything else?”

“Blood? No.”

I closed my eyes, but all I could pick up was a general sense of unease and distrust emanating from Griffin.

“He left this floor at nine-thirty,” Griffin said, startling me.

“What?”

“The elevator access records show he went down to the fourth floor at nine-thirty, but never came back up.”

“What’s on the fourth floor?”

“Lots of things.”

He was out the door before I could get another word in.

“Karl?” I said. “Can you tell whether anyone else was in here with William?”

“I can try.”

He walked to the doorway and dropped to his haunches. Griffin strode back as if just realizing we weren’t behind him.

“Are you com-?”

Seeing Karl, he stopped and let out a snort of disgust. Karl ignored it, inhaled, then stood and brushed off his trousers.

“There seems to be a recent second trail, but that was probably whoever dropped off dinner.”

“Are you coming now?” Griffin snapped.

Karl glanced over at him and smiled. “What’s the magic word?”

Griffin stalked off, muttering a word under his breath.

“That’s not it,” Karl called after him.

Griffin’s shoulders tightened as he realized he’d been heard, but he didn’t stop.

WHEN THE ELEVATOR doors opened onto the fourth floor, it looked as quiet and empty as the other levels. Odd. I’d worked for corporations, and even on floors staffed by nine-to-fivers you could expect to see cleaners at night. But I suppose having cleaners-even your own staff-in a Cabal office, unsupervised, wasn’t wise. Better to lock down the floors and monitor all access.

We followed Griffin until we reached the first junction. Then Karl stopped, his nostrils flaring, and veered down the adjoining hall.

We got about ten steps before Griffin’s “Hey!” rang out.

“I thought I told you to stay with me,” he said as he stalked up behind us.

“No, I don’t believe you did.”

“This is a Cabal head office. You can’t just run off like that.”

“Run?” Karl turned slowly, eyebrows arched. “I believe I was walking. I also believe you are in as much a hurry to get this over with as we are, but if I’m mistaken, then you go your way, and let me follow the smell of blood.”

“Blood?” I said.

A faint wince-he hadn’t intended to say that in front of me.

“Where?” Griffin demanded.

“I need to follow the trail to find the source. Now, if you’ll allow me to do that…”

He continued down the hall. Griffin swung into his path. He moved so fast I stumbled out of his way, but it was nothing compared to how fast Karl moved. Before I could blink, Karl had the bodyguard pinned against the wall by his shirtfront.

“You want to take a pop at me?” Griffin said. “Go right ahead.”

“I know you don’t plan to hit him, Karl,” I said. “But in case you’re provoked, I’d strongly advise against it. He’s a Ferratus.”

Karl glanced at me.

“A half-demon who can make his skin as hard as iron. Hit him and you’ll break your hand.”

Griffin smiled. “Don’t take her word for it. Go ahead.”

“Once I have you pinned, you’re no longer a threat. But before we continue this pleasant little venture, let’s come to an understanding, Griffin. I don’t trust you. You clearly don’t trust me. Sudden moves of any kind can be easily misinterpreted as aggression.”

He released Griffin’s shirtfront. “Now, let’s find the source of the blood. I doubt your employer would be pleased if you let a fellow guard bleed to death because you got into a pissing contest with a werewolf.”

ANOTHER TWENTY FEET down the hall, Karl veered into a room and lifted a hand to ward me off. For once, I obeyed. I’d had enough.

Then the room went dark and I remembered that there was no sense blocking my eyes. The vision began.

A man stood with his back to me as he bent over an open filing cabinet drawer.

“Right where I said they were.” He pulled out a folder. “I appreciate that you’re putting in some overtime for a change, but if you’re going to interrupt-”

The pftt of a silenced shot. The man fell back against the cabinet. I saw his face then. William. The folder fluttered from his hand as he stared, incredulous, at his shooter.

His mouth opened, but a second shot sent him reeling. He crumpled against the filing cabinet, then slid to the floor.

When the vision ended, I didn’t jolt out of it. It just…stopped. And I just stopped. Like coming to the shocking end of a movie, sitting there, staring at the blank screen, unable to think, feel, move. Even the chaos vibes didn’t penetrate.

“Hope?”

Karl’s voice sounded miles away. I felt him grip my arms, as if through a thick winter coat.

“It’s been too much for her,” he said. “I need to get her out of here.”

His words floated past, disconnected, meaningless.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“The hell I’m not. Get out of my way.”

I recognized the rising chaos, but it was like pouring wine in front of my face-I could see it, smell it, know what it was, but it had no effect.

“Hope? Can you hear me? Can you walk, hon?”

“Hon? I should have guessed. A werewolf thief. She must love you. Just dripping with chaos.”

“Get out of my way.”

“You do know that’s all it is, don’t you? That’s all her kind care about. The chaos.”

“Get the fuck out of my-”

My eyes snapped open and I gasped, as if breaking free of icy water. “William? Is he-?”

“Yes, and we’re leaving.”

“No, I had a vision. I can help. I want to.”

“Oh, I bet you do,” Griffin said.

“One last time,” Karl said. “Get out-”

“Do you think Benicio Cortez won’t figure it out, Hope? You fooled him for a while, and nothing I could say would change his mind, but if my partner dies because-”

Karl made a move, as if to brush past Griffin, but he stepped into our path again, and I plucked at Karl’s sleeve, asking him to hold on.

“You think I shot Troy?” I said. “I was with Lucas and Paige, and if there’s a better alibi than that-”

“You didn’t need to pull the trigger. You had a whole gang of young men, just itching to do it, especially if there’s a pretty girl goading them on, so she can sit back and enjoy.”

“I didn’t-”

“Mr. Cortez hates stereotypes. He thinks you should take the measure of the man, not measure him by his type. But in some cases, the type is all that matters, and I know all about yours.”

“You know an Expisco?”

“Hope…” Karl began.

I wriggled from his grip and stepped closer to Griffin, consumed by the need to know, circumstances be damned.

“Are you still in touch with him? Could I talk to him?”

Griffin gave a harsh laugh. “Not without a necromancer.”

“He-he’s dead? How? No, just tell me. What was he like? Did he figure it all out? Did someone help him?”

“You want to know about Expisco half-demons? About yourself?” He stepped toward me. “Let me tell you about-”

Griffin staggered back, then collapsed to the floor. I wheeled to see Karl wiggling his fingers as if checking for damage. It took a moment to realize he must have clocked Griffin, the punch so fast I hadn’t seen it.

I turned to stare stupidly at Griffin, lying unconscious across the doorway.

“Whoops,” Karl said. “Benicio won’t be happy about that. But I did warn him. No sudden moves. As long as he’s out, though, no need to hang around.”

He grabbed me around the waist and swung me over Griffin into the hall. I took one last look at the fallen Ferratus.

“Is your hand-?” I began.

“Just fine. The trick, apparently, is to hit them before they see it coming.”