I stood up so quickly the force of my movement flipped the chair over. Link let out a yelp and scrambled forward. “What paranormals? Who exactly are we talking about here?”

Razor shook his head. “It’s unclear.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I paced up and down one of the aisles. “Don’t you understand? My best friend is being held by whoever these sick bastards are, and if I don’t find her, that could be her fate.”

“I do understand,” he said, his expression full of a strange mix of sympathy and anger. “All too well.”

I paused and stared at him. His jaw was lifted, shoulders tense, and one fist was clutching a pen. But his dark eyes, they were haunted. Whatever this Asier business was, he’d seen it before. “Tell me everything you know.”

Instead of answering, he spun his chair around and his fingers flew over the keyboard. Within moments, a file flashed on the screen. The name at the top read Amber Frost. He froze for a moment as he stared at the picture of the beautiful young woman associated with the report. She had long blond hair, piercing gray eyes, full red lips, and that same ethereal quality that both Willow and Tal possessed.

“She’s a fae,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“Was a fae.” He swallowed. “She went missing just over four years ago.”

“You knew her.” Again, it wasn’t a question. The anguish in his tone and body language said it all. Whoever this woman was to him, she’d been important and he still hadn’t recovered from her disappearance.

He tore his gaze from the computer screen and turned cold, hate-filled eyes on me. “She was their last sacrifice.”

His words weren’t a surprise to me. Why else would he be showing me her file? “Who are they, Razor?”

“I don’t fucking know.” He jabbed his finger on the mouse. The printer roared to life, spitting out the record he’d pulled up for me.

“Vampires? Shifters? Witches?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Probably not witches. As far as vampires or shifters go, look for yourself. The report is right there.”

I moved back to the printer, wondering why he didn’t just tell me what he knew. But the minute I laid eyes on the paper, I understood. He didn’t have the answer. Not a definitive one. No one did. The report indicated Amber had been drained of her blood. That was a clear indication vampires had been involved. But she’d also been ripped to shreds as if she’d been offered to a feral pack of wolves. My stomach turned, and I shook my head, forcing the image of Willow suffering the same fate from my mind.

In all my years as a vampire hunter, I’d never known one vamp that was the slightest bit interested in carnage. They were singularly focused on blood. It was their food, their life force, and also part of their sexual gratification. It was also their preferred way to harm someone. The only exception was when a vampire went up against a fae who regularly drank liquid sunshine, a drug that made their blood taste bad to vampires. The vamps wouldn’t drink from them. They were far more likely to break the fae’s neck, ending the altercation quickly. Shifters were the ones known for bodily destruction when engaging in a death match.

Unless destroying a fae was part of the ritual, I didn’t see vampires having any part of it. I looked up from the sheet, rage coiling in my gut. “There were never any leads?”

“Just one. A lone shifter by the name of Ezan.”

I raised my eyebrows. “No pack?”

“Nope. He was ostracized by the Blue Bayou pack. In fact, they helped me hunt him down.” Razor’s entire body stiffened with the memory, and I had the impression I was watching a man who was right back in that moment, ready to strike. The glazed look in his eyes was a dead giveaway. Then his body started to vibrate, and he let out a piercing howl.

I wasn’t afraid of him, but I took a step back, putting a bit more distance between us. I hadn’t been sure if he was a witch or shifter; there was no way to tell inside the Void building. The howl set the record straight. He was a definitely a shifter and would have better than average combat skills. I was confident in my own abilities, but if he snapped out of reality, I didn’t want to have to test them out on a man who should be an ally. Wanting to keep him talking, I lowered my voice and in a steady tone asked, “Did you get anything out of him? Any known associates?”

His dark eyes pierced me as his muscles flexed.

“Keep it together Razor. I’m not your enemy.”

His lips curled into a snarl, but then he seemed to come back to himself because he uncurled his fists and his expression turned blank. “We never identified his associates. I was under the impression they all perished in a warehouse fire. Their remains were unidentifiable.”

“Good goddess,” I whispered. “Brutal.”

“Not brutal enough,” he said as pain flashed over his features again. “After what they did to Amber, they deserved to burn.”

“And what happened to Ezan?”

“I ended him.” Razor turned back to his computer and shut it down. “Made him suffer just like Amber.”

In other words, he’d torn him apart and left him in pieces. “Any intel?”

The shifter shook his head slowly. “Amber was already dead, and I was too far gone to care in that moment.” His haunted eyes met mine. “After learning about Willow Rhoswen’s abduction, it’s my only regret.”

I sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. My only lead on Asier was one dead shifter. But he did have ties to the Blue Bayou pack. They might know something about their former member and his associates. It was only a tiny thread, but at least it was something.

“One last question,” I said.

He nodded, his shoulders hunched and his face haggard as if exhaustion had set in.

“Ezan was a shifter, but you said you didn’t know if the ones involved in Asier were shifters or vampires. Is there a reason to believe vampires could be involved?”

“Yes. The offering on Asier is supposed to purge and save paranormals souls. Plenty of vampires have expressed interest in the practice over the years. All desperate paranormals have. The one thing I did learn from Ezan is that his group did not discriminate. Anyone who wanted to be saved could join the cult. I’ve interviewed a half dozen shifters he tried to recruit and about the same number of vampires. You’ll see it in the report.”

I flipped through the papers in my hands and scanned the summary. Sure enough, there were about a dozen statements from various paranormals indicating Ezan had tried to recruit them to participate in some cleansing ritual. I was about to stuff the papers into a folder when one name caught my attention—Nova Bandu, the leader of the Crimson Valley wolf pack.

“I’ll be damned,” I whispered, my eyes widening as I read his statement. When I was done, I grinned at Razor. “You’ve been more help that I could’ve hoped for. Thank you.”

“I don’t know that I gave you anything useful. Four years ago, we ran into a dead end. I’m not sure anything’s going to change that now.”

“You’d be surprised how things start to shake out when someone’s life is on the line.” I shoved the paperwork into a file and snapped my fingers. “Ready, Link?”

The shih tzu hurried to my side and the pair of us strode for the door. Just before I disappeared out into the hallway, I turned back. “By the way, where was everyone today?”

“We sent them home when we learned Allcot penetrated the building.”

“But you stayed?”

He shrugged. “I’m the boss.”

I sent him a warm smile. “You know, Razor, I think I like you. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

“Same, Kilsen. It was interesting meeting you.”

After one last nod, I jerked my head and Link followed me out into the stark hallway.

---

My boots echoed on the wooden staircase as I descended into the basement of the Void building. Link followed, but when I reached the dirt floor, he stayed on the last step, unwilling to go farther into the cold, dark room. I couldn’t say I blamed him. The last time he’d been down here, he’d been locked in a cage waiting for death.

“It’s okay, dude. No one’s going to lock you up this time,” I said. “They’ll have to go through me first.” Because if there was one thing I knew, it was that I wouldn’t let anything happen to Willow’s dog. He’d be right there by my side when I finally found her.

His amber eyes flashed in the shadows as he took the final step onto the cold floor.

“Kilsen, how nice of you and the wolf to visit me,” a familiar voice drawled.

I squinted in the darkness, barely making out the cell in the corner. Allcot’s pale features made it easier to spot him though, and I moved forward. “You’re awake.”

“Have been for a while. I’m surprised no one told you that.”

“They were probably letting you cool off a bit,” I said, sitting on a stool against the far wall. Allcot was in the magically enhanced cell, but he was an old, powerful vampire. There was no telling what tricks he could pull. I didn’t want to be too close, just in case he managed to break free. Link seemed to share my thoughts and trotted over to me, sitting at my feet.

“I’m only going to say this once,” he said, the stone-cold viciousness in his voice chilling me to the bone. “Let. Me Out.”

“I will,” I said easily, pretending his demeanor didn’t bother me at all. The fact was I fully expected that if we detained him for too long, he’d likely destroy everything and everyone in his way as he bulldozed his way out of here. “We just need to have a chat first.”

His nostrils flared. “Unless you have information on Pandora, I’m not interested.”

“Then it’s unfortunate that I don’t. But I am in charge of the investigation to find Willow and Talisen. And since the three of them went missing at the same time, it’s likely the abductions are related don’tcha think?”

A tiny flash of interest lit his eyes, but he blinked and it was gone. “Open the cell, Kilsen, or I’ll—”

“Tear the place down. I got it.” I waved an impatient hand. “Forget it. Not until we have an understanding. The way I see it, we each have a vested interest in what happened to Pandora and Willow and Talisen. If we work together, I think we can find them faster, don’t you?”

His green eyes narrowed. “Your director put me in prison and you almost killed me. Why would I work with you or the Void?”

“Because the only reason we did either of those things was because you tried to kill Marrok, and you know it.”

The vampire wrapped his hands around the bars of the cells and squeezed. The iron made a high-pitched noise of distress but stayed in place. “The shifters took Pandora,” he said as if that explained his actions.

“We don’t know that.”

“I saw them,” he snarled.

“But what pack are they from? Marrok says it’s not the Crimson Valley pack. He also says some of your vampires saw Willow and Talisen hauled off by some other vampire hive.”

“Taken by two different groups. Disappearances are unrelated. Now let me out. We’ll discuss restitution for my unlawful incarceration later.”

I snorted out a choked laugh. “Restitution? You really are an arrogant bastard, aren’t you?”

He gave me an indignant glare and opened his mouth, but I held up a hand, stopping him.

“Do you know anything about Asier?” I asked, eyeing him closely to monitor his reaction.

Allcot’s normally cool expression instantly shifted into one of disgust. “That is an ancient ritual that is not tolerated here in New Orleans. No self-respecting vampire would ever engage in anything so sacrilegious.”

“Why? Because the blood is offered up to the earth?”

“Do not insult me, Kilsen. Contrary to some of the unsavory opinions out there about me and my company, we actually value the sanctity of life. It’s why the majority of our resources at Cryrique go to pharmaceutical research. We are dedicated to helping the paranormal community, not eradicating it of our members.”

Dedicated to the bottom line was more like it. This time I held back my snort. Antagonizing him wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Besides, for all of Allcot’s faults, the idea that he was involved in some sort of ritual cult killing was laughable. He was right when he said the majority of the company’s resources went to research. Everything he did revolved around science and profits. Reducing his customer base with ritual killings would do nothing to fatten his bank account.

“All right. You might have a point. But the fact is we’re fairly certain we know that whoever has Willow and Talisen is planning on conducting a ritual on the next Asier. I don’t know if Pandora is with them or not, but I’m asking that when I let you out of here that you’ll cooperate with me on finding all three of them.”

Allcot straightened, and although I wouldn’t have thought it possible, his features turned a paler shade of white. “Asier? Are you positive?”

“I traced Willow. She said she overheard them say they couldn’t wait for Asier.”

“Fuck!” His hands tightened on the bars again and he yanked, causing the entire structure to bend.

My eyes widened at his impressive force. We’d locked up any number of vamps over the years, but never had we had one with that much strength.

“Get me the fuck out of here.” His green eyes were unfocused, almost wild as his voice rasped with anger. “No one is going to spill Rhoswen’s blood. No one.”

“Do we have a deal then?” I asked, needing to know before I released him where we stood.

“Rhoswen is under my protection. You know that Kilsen.” He blinked and his stone-cold businessman persona returned. “You’ll work for me while we track her down.”

I was afraid of that. Allcot didn’t answer to anyone. “You know I work for the Void.”

“And now you’ll work for me. Or you will if you want your friend home safe.”

Okay, that pissed me off. “You don’t need to insult my abilities, Allcot. I am an experienced tracker.”

“But I have the connections, and you obviously need my help or you wouldn’t be negotiating with me.” He took a step back from the bars and crossed his arms over his chest. His arrogance was suffocating and only got worse when he added, “You’ll work for me, take it or leave it.”

“One more question first,” I said.

He just stared at me, waiting.

“Besides being out of your mind looking for Pandora, why did you want to kill Halston?”

His chilly facade disappeared and raw hatred laced his voice when he said, “Because that power-hungry bitch doesn’t care about anything or anyone other than herself.”

“I’m not sure that’s true,” I hedged. “She told me I had use of all the Void’s resources to find Willow.”

A hollow laugh escaped his lips. “Only because she’s of value to the Void. If you really want to know why I threatened her, ask her sometime. Now let me out of here so we can get to work.”

“On two conditions,” I said. “One, don’t ever touch Dax again.”

Allcot’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “You’ve got it bad for that one, don’t you?”

I ignored his observation, even though it was true, and added, “You can’t bail if we find Pandora first.”

“I won’t stop until we find the fae. You have my word on that.”

“And Dax?”

That sordid smile was back, making me want to smack it off his youthful face. God, he was such a creeper. “Sure, Kilsen. Your shifter is safe from the big bad wolf.”

I rolled my eyes, but I reached for the key tucked in my front pocket. Halston was going to blow a gasket when she learned about our deal. But I’d known I was going to work with Allcot before I’d ever stepped into the room. I was already convinced he had nothing to do with Willow and Tal’s abduction. And Allcot had resources no other organization had. Plus roughly a half dozen of his vampires were loyal to Willow thanks to her ability to turn them into daywalkers.

The cell door swung open and Allcot strode out. Without saying a word, he flew up the stairs, leaving Link and me in the dust. I glanced down at the shih tzu. “This should be interesting.”

Link let out a sharp bark and took off after the vampire, his short legs working overtime to get him up the stairs. I ran after them, relieved to finally start the hunt.