Chapter 53

53

SYLAS

Mina excused herself from the table after that, and I sent an innocuous amount of myself with her to the bathroom, extending it in a long unseen tendril to follow her like an obedient dog.

I had no prurient interest in seeing her excretions, but I would never make an assumption about her safety ever again, not after finding her in the tunnels. I licked the old blood and scabs from the boy off of my fingers, to try to place the magic, but it melted away too readily to be tasted properly.

And then, since I knew Mina was still in a stall—I pulled the skin out from the place where I'd hidden it, and ate it up entirely.

I didn't have a digestive system in the common sense, but I could destroy things from inside of myself just as well as without. I felt the structures inside of me pull apart the scrap of the other man's being, shredding skin cells, collagen, and hairs, until there was nothing left, and I still had no answers.

"I'm back," Mina announced, threading her way through the large tables to rejoin me. "Are you ready?" she asked, offering me a hand .

"Yes," I said, bringing it up to kiss before walking beside her outside again.

We ducked into an alley to portal to our new target's home, finding ourselves in the rose bushes in front of the mansion that Mina had warned me about. All the windows were dark, and the curtains were drawn.

"I think they're expecting company," she whispered.

"Should I blow a hole in their wall?"

She considered this. "As tempting as it would be to watch them run around like ants, no. Let's just knock on the door."

"That's foolhardy. They might try to shoot you."

"If they do, you'll protect me," she said, while pulling me forward. "We need to find out more information this time, Sylas. I think we should try talking to them."

"Why? They're not going to tell you anything without pressure. The Wolf has them scared."

"I know you're right—but once we're inside, I can stall, and you can search everywhere, and it won't matter what they say," she pressed. "Don't get me wrong, I like torture, and Garrett's gonna die, but I bet there's a lot of history in there. These assholes commemorate everything. Trust me?"

I made an unhappy sound. "I do."

"Thank you, baby," she said, then walked right up to the front door .

There wasn't a doorbell, just an ominous gold wolf's head shaped door knocker.

At least we were in the right place.

Mina shouldered her purse, and then grabbed it, tapping it politely on the door. Shortly thereafter a frail-looking elderly woman in an ivory pantsuit opened it up.

"Mina Moore," she said kindly. "We've been expecting you. Garrett's not here right now, sweetie. Would you like some tea?"

"I'd love some, thanks," she said, as the woman let her in.