City of Eternal Night by Kristen Painter

Author:Kristen Painter [Painter, Kristen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316278331
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Hours of patrols, of talking to people, of following up possibilities, and not a single usable lead to find Rue. Augustine’s gut ached with frustration. “We’re getting nowhere.”

Dulcinea nodded, her eyes watching the far end of the street. “If Branzino’s behind this, he’s got to have a connection in the city.” She faced him. “Who would want you out of the picture besides him?”

He leaned against the wall, pulled out a half-smoked nequam cigarette and lit it, taking a long draw and releasing the burnt-sugar-scented smoke before he answered. “I can think of a few people.”

“Like?” She took the cigarette from his fingers.

He narrowed his eyes. “Your old buddy Giselle.”

Righteous indignation danced in Dulcinea’s odd-colored eyes. She blew out a trail of smoke as she handed the cigarette back. “Oh, I hope it’s her. Just so I can personally take her down.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. She doesn’t feel that … organized to me. She’s a lot of talk. And yes, she was definitely assisting on letting the vampires into the city, but she’s not the big cheese. She’s not even the little cheese. At best, she’s the cheese plate. She just doesn’t have the authority to make things happen.”

“But she’s the high priestess, right?”

“Not officially, unless they’ve had the ceremony already. And from what Fenton says, her radical ideas aren’t supported by the whole coven.” He offered the nequam to Dulcinea again, who pinched it between her fingers. “No, Branzino strikes me as the type to want to deal with the head of the food chain. Father Ogun, maybe.”

She blew out a thin stream of smoke. “Evander then.”

“Evander was too much a by-the-book kind of guy.” Augustine straightened. “He did give me a lot of grief when I was trying to get that list of names of coven members known to perform black magic.”

Dulce handed the nequam back and shrugged. “Evander’s dead, so if he was working with Branzino, that’s over.”

Augustine swore. “Maybe Evander had had enough. Maybe this kidnapping was a bridge too far.”

“You think he wanted out so Branzino offed him? Made it look like a drowning?”

“Him or Giselle.” Augustine dropped the smoke and crushed it under his heel. “I need to meet Fenton at the police department. Do you have to head back to the Guardian house?”

She shook her head, rattling the beads and shells stitched into her dreads. “Beatrice is fine.”

“Then meet up with Cy and talk to anyone else you think might have seen something. Maybe go back to the hotel and talk to the employees who were on that night again.”

“You got it.” With a salute, she was gone.

A half hour later he was walking into the NOPD with Fenton. The cypher fae approached the front desk and spoke to the officer on duty. “We’re here to see Detective Grantham, please. He’s expecting us.”

A uniformed police officer led them upstairs to Grantham’s desk. He was on the phone but gave them a sign he’d seen them. A few seconds later he hung up.

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