"Unbound" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Kim, Frost Jeaniene, Pettersson Vicki, Drake Jocelynn, Marr Melissa)

8

Gregor wasn’t at the Dark Room. Adam quickly informed me upon arriving that when Gregor discovered I was looking for him, he left the Dark Room and asked that I meet him at the Docks. I could only guess that the nightwalker didn’t want to be seen being questioned by me. I could understand his hesitance, but that didn’t make me happy about it.

The Docks was a nightclub near the riverfront that catered to the local Goth scene with its dark, smoky decor and nonstop industrial music blaring in the background. It was one of my favorite places to spend an evening. The clientele were content to just let me enjoy the music and the dancing. It was a good place to hide when you were trying to avoid the world around you.

Slipping ahead of the crowd that waited to get into the club, I slapped a fifty on the counter per my usual no-questions policy with the management of the club. They didn’t ask to see my identification and didn’t attempt to put one of those paper strips on my wrist indicating that I was over the age of twenty-one. I didn’t come to this place to drink alcohol.

Gregor sat alone at a table in a dark corner of the nightclub. He wore a dark red, knee-length jacket over a black shirt and black double-breasted vest with large silver buttons. A gold chain for his pocket watch hung from his vest pocket. His whole attire screamed of Victorian aristocracy, making him appear to be horribly out of place in this bar filled with black leather, silver chains, and tattered lace. Regardless of the fact that Gregor had actually survived the Victorian era, he was now part of the Steampunk generation, which was a somewhat distant cousin to the Goth movement that refused to completely fade away. While I doubted he believed in their mentality, the Steampunk generation did fit his taste in clothing.

“Mira, it’s so good to see you again. It’s been ages,” Gregor said, easily rising to his feet as we approached his table.

“Hmm…yes, not since you suggested that a number of nightwalkers go running with the shifters on a full moon. How many fledglings did we lose that night? Six?” I said with a frown as I took a seat opposite him.

A grin spread across his face as he returned to his seat. “Eight.”

“And four lycans were badly injured,” Knox added from where he stood just behind my right shoulder. There were only two chairs at the tiny table, and I was surprised that he had chosen to stand behind me rather than pull over another chair. But then Knox was from the Old World and had been raised by an Old World nightwalker. Standing indicated that he was my assistant rather than my supposed equal sitting beside me.

“But it was fun. I’m sorry you missed out,” Gregor continued, nearly chuckling.

“It seems I missed out on some other fun, too,” I said, preferring to finally switch the subject. There was nothing I could do about Gregor’s twisted sense of humor. He had convinced a group of young nightwalkers to go running with some werewolves on the night of a full moon. There was the inevitable scuffle, and eight nightwalkers got shredded in the process, as Gregor knew would happen. My concern was the four lycans that got hurt. Barrett had not been happy about it, but then we both knew there was nothing we could do about it. We had to give our people some room to make stupid mistakes so long as humans weren’t involved.

“If you’re referring to what happened to Bryce, I had nothing to do with his demise as I’m sure you know. I heard that he was killed during the daylight hours,” Gregor said, sitting back in his chair. The music shifted at the back of the nightclub where the dance floor was located, moving to a heavy thumping beat that vibrated in my chest. I would rather be dancing, surrounded by smiling, sweating humans caught up in the music, than dealing with Gregor and this entire mess.

“For once, I believe you,” I said with a frown. “I need to know who Bryce hung out with. Particularly females. Someone killed him and Katie Hixson.”

For the first time since we walked into the Docks, the smile that filled Gregor’s face slipped away and he honestly looked confused. “I don’t understand. Katie was murdered?”

“Shortly after sunset. It was a nightwalker,” Knox interjected.

“You knew Katie?” I demanded, drawing Gregor’s stunned gaze from Knox to me again.

“Yes, Bryce and the rest of his group brought her in to the Dark Room a few times. She was a lovely young lady. Very polite and sweet. Not the usual Goth, living-dead nonsense that you see hanging on our kind as if we were their long-lost messiah.”

“Was there anyone jealous of Bryce and Katie? Anyone who might have wanted them both dead?” Knox inquired.

“Bryce, yes. I can think of one person who would want Bryce dead, but not Katie. Lauren was the one that introduced Katie to Bryce and the rest of his small group. Lauren had known Katie while she was a human and had brought her into the fold as a human. It could have been anyone within the group he hung with. There were three females: Lauren, Bridgette, and Kari. And then Charles traveled with that flock on occasion, but not so much within the past few years.”

I was familiar with Bridgette. She was about fifty years old and had moved into the area with my permission more than twenty years ago. However, the other two I wasn’t overly familiar with. “How old are Lauren and Kari?”

“Kari is nearly thirty, I believe. She moved here with Charles. Lauren is really fresh—five or six years, I think. I’m not sure who her maker is. She’s never mentioned him and I’ve never seen her with anyone but Bryce and the rest of his group.”

“Are any of them a member of Ravana’s family?”

“Kari and Bridgette are, I believe.”

“Where can I find them?” I demanded, drumming my fingernails on the sticky surface of the small circular table that separated us.

“All three ladies are back at the Dark Room. Charles is—”

“Thanks, Gregor.” I pushed to my feet. I had heard enough. I knew who had killed Katie and set the Daylight Coalition on Bryce.

“Mira, you don’t think it was one of those girls?” Gregor demanded, lurching awkwardly to his feet in his surprise. “They’re just fledglings. They couldn’t have…”

“Stay here, Gregor. You don’t want anyone to know you ratted them out,” Knox said, earning a low snarl from the nightwalker. I bit back a smile as I walked out of the nightclub and into the fresh air. It wasn’t much cooler than the uncomfortably warm nightclub.

Knox was as irritated with Gregor as I was. The nightwalker seemed to parade himself around my domain as if he ran it. He made sure that he was acquainted with everyone within the Savannah area and made himself up to be more powerful than he really was. However, those within my domain that were more powerful and stronger (including myself) tended to ignore him since he was just an annoyance. He also proved to be a valuable source of information on the rare occasion, so we all let him be. Regardless of all his pomp, he knew where the line was and he was very careful not to cross it. Dance on it, spit on it, and kick dirt on it—sure. But he didn’t cross it.

“So, you know who the killer is?” Knox said, walking beside me as we headed back to the Dark Room.

“Yes, and you’re going to end her bloody reign for me.”

I looked over at Knox to find him smiling at me, a faint glow touching his eyes. “As you wish.”