“She won’t stop. We’re back to square one. I told myself I was done running, that I’d finish it, once and for all.”
“So, what? You would have killed a friend in cold blood? That would make things better?”
She shuddered, unable to look at Tina. “No.”
“Exactly. We’ll find another way.”
“It makes me feel weak.”
“I know,” he said. “But you’re not.”
Lyssa leaned around to watch Jimmy at the pay phone. “How long do you think it will take him?”
“Why?”
“I want to erase Tina’s memories.”
Eddie turned to look at her. “You can do that?”
“It’s like cutting threads, then absorbing them. It’s what a Cruor Venator does when she kills. She absorbs and steals, until, at the last moment of death, the victim doesn’t even remember his or her own name. Everything is gone.” Lyssa had trouble meeting his gaze. “Does that bother you?”
“Be more specific,” he replied. “What you want to know is whether or not it bothers me that you’re a Cruor Venator.”
“Okay, yes. Does it?”
Eddie gave her an incredulous look. “Seriously? Get real.”
Lyssa stared, then leaned forward to kiss him. She couldn’t quite reach his mouth, so she had to settle for a spot between his nose and cheek. Their breath mingled, rich and warm — and his sigh as she kissed him again, this time beneath his eye, was more healing than anything she could have imagined.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you, for being my dream come true.”
“I’m no one’s dream,” he murmured gruffly.
She tugged his ear, gently. “You’re mine.”
Before he could say anything, she leaned back into the seat — heart pounding, cheeks flushed. “Do I have time?”
He touched his face where she had kissed him. “A few minutes. Have you ever. .”
“No. I’m not sure I should start now, but. . Tina deserves a second chance. So does Jimmy.”
“You won’t erase his memory, will you?”
“He can keep a secret.”
Eddie smiled. “Every good detective can.”
Lyssa rubbed away her own smile with the back of her hand. “I think he can handle what he saw. Even the fire and my arm. But Tina was down in that room, with the blood. .”
She stopped, unable to finish, and reached out to cut the unconscious woman’s hand. Blood welled, tipping a claw. But instead of licking it off, she pressed her mouth directly to the wound.
Power filled her, but it was easier somehow to accept it into her body. That, and the fact that Tina was only human, and the taste was different.
Lyssa found the memories quickly: sharp, bright, floating on the surface of her mind. She felt Tina’s horror, her fear for her son. .
. . she saw Flo’s face, covered in blood. .
. . and heard the Cruor Venator whisper, “What I am. . is what will survive the world. I will grow fat on death and fear. .”
Right before she slammed the blade into Flo’s chest.
Lyssa tore those memories loose from Tina’s mind and ate them. Then, she went looking for more.
Two minutes later, she was done.
Tina still slept, but the lines in her face had smoothed, and her breathing was easier. Lyssa wished she could say the same for herself.
Eddie reached back to wrap his fingers around her hand. “Okay?”
“Okay,” she told him wearily, “but I’d like to forget the things I saw in her mind.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “My mother did this, sometimes. Before she met my father, anyway. When she lived in Europe after the First and Second World Wars, people would come to her. . knowing she had a peculiar gift. . and beg her to steal their memories of the war. To just. . erase it all. . so they could move on with their lives.”
“She didn’t think it was better to remember?”
“She refused some people. Others, no. She also believed in second chances, for obvious reasons.”
“But she had to live with their nightmares.”
Lyssa closed her eyes. “I asked her about that once. She said it was nothing compared to what she had to live with after killing the other Cruor Venator. That woman’s mind. . she said. . was too vile to comprehend. That trying would be enough to make a person unclean.”
“You mother was tough.”
“I will never be as strong as her.”
“I doubt she would agree.”
Lyssa’s mouth softened into a smile. “You’re probably right. But she’d be biased. And so are you.”
“No,” he said, kissing her hand. “Not even a little.”
Jimmy ran back, his sweatshirt sleeves flopping wildly over his hands. Breathless when he got back into the car, he scooped Icky into his lap.
“I got her,” he said, with a hint of pride. “Serena? She said that someone named Roland called her, and she flew into New York an hour ago. She’ll be here soon.”
“Huh. What else?”
“I asked her if she was with the FBI, and she said it was better than that.”
Eddie gave him a wary look. “What did she tell you?”
“Mercenary.” Jimmy seemed totally fine with that and looked back at his mom. “Is she okay?”
“Better.” Lyssa wondered who Serena was. “She woke up for just a minute while you were gone, but didn’t remember anything about what happened. When you talk to her. .”
“I’ll be careful,” said the boy. “I don’t want her to be more scared.”
But a moment later, he gave Lyssa a hesitant look. “You didn’t really see a drug deal. . did you?”
Lyssa chewed the inside of her cheek. “Because of my arm, you mean?”
“It looks real. Can I touch it?”
Eddie’s mouth twitched. She took a breath and extended her right hand.
Jimmy’s eyes got big as he stared at her reptilian scales and sharp golden claws. He grazed them, lightly, with his fingertips. It tickled.
“Wow,” he breathed. “Did someone do experiments on you? Is that why they were really after you? Like, the cops were part of a conspiracy?”
What a kid, Eddie thought.
Lyssa said, “Yes. You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“No way.” Jimmy hugged Icky tighter. “Are we safe now?”
No, she thought. I haven’t killed the Cruor Venator.
She met Eddie’s gaze and saw his concern.
“Yes,” she lied again. “You’re safe.”
Serena McGillis was tall, lean, and wore dark clothing that hugged her body like a glove. Red hair, threaded with golden highlights, fell to her chin. Ageless face. Feline scent. An eye patch that Jimmy thought was just too cool for words.
He didn’t seem to notice that her other eye wasn’t quite human, but Lyssa did, and it made her feel less awkward when Serena openly studied her right arm.
“Does it ache?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Serena nodded and tossed her a shopping bag full of clothing. “I didn’t know your size, so I went big.”
Large jogging pants and a sweatshirt. There were gloves, too. Warm and roomy. Lyssa liked them all. Eddie received something similar. They dressed inside the car, while Serena and Jimmy moved Tina to the Humvee idling beside them. Icky sat in the big front seat, wagging his tail and panting.
“Do you need to wipe down the car for prints?” Lyssa asked Eddie.
He shook his head. “I’m going to burn it. Safer, that way. We’ve been in it for too long, and there’s blood in the backseat.”
He waited, though, until they were in the Humvee and on the road. Serena pulled over. Eddie looked through the back window at the stolen Cadillac, which was parked several hundred feet away. A safe distance from them and the gas station.