CHAPTER THIRTY
Valdez
A booted toe nudged my ass. I suddenly registered the cold in my fingers and the frost on my beard. How long had I been sitting there?
“Hey, you big brute. Are you coming in for food?”
There was that soft, bright voice of hers piercing through my icy thoughts.
When I didn’t respond, she sat down beside me, her hand moving to my cheek, encouraging me to face her.
“You okay?”
Her eyes searched my face. I don’t know what she saw there.
I reached out and took her face in both my hands, giving her a long, slow kiss. I rested my forehead on hers as I breathed in the cold air. “I will be.”
She gave me a quick, soft kiss. “Come inside. Eat. I didn't burn it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I followed her in to the house. Rhen was already working on a plate of food. He paused and raised an eyebrow at me as Ellie led me by the hand in to the kitchen. In all the years he’d known me, I’d never shown affection to a lover in front of family, even in such a small gesture. This was new territory for all of us.
Ellie had laid me out a plate of food. It didn’t look the most appetizing, but it was at least food.
“What do you know about Caleb and the Blue Market?” I asked when we’d finished eating.
Rhen cursed under his breath.
“What's the Blue Market?”
“Go ahead.” I sat back in my chair, reaching for the new mug of coffee Ellie had poured for me. “Tell her, seal. It's your world.”
My brother-in-law ran his hand over his non-existent hair then rubbed the back of his neck. So different from his sister. Willow would have just smiled and taunted whomever had asked her. He still wanted to hide from humans.
“The Blue Market is the Merfolk’s’ equivalent to the humans’ Black Market.”
“Kinda makes sense; blue for the color of the water. Every culture has their seedy underside.” She spoke as if she almost believed what she said.
“No. That's not why it's called that.” He shook his head. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. “They trade in one thing only.”
“And that would be what?”
“Humans,” I interjected, knowing he wouldn't answer.
“What?” she squeaked.
He sighed, reaching for his own mug of coffee before answering. “They call it the Blue Market because when they store the bodies that deep, they nearly freeze and take on a blue tint.”
“I don't understand. Why would they store them?”
“They eat them,” I answered in to my cup of coffee.
“It’s not something common,” Rhen interjected, trying to make her feel better. Leave it to him it to try to always be the hero. “Melusine outlawed it about five hundred, or so, years ago. She had a thing for Drake, and didn’t want his crew to be eaten.”
“Drake?” Ellie barely could get the word out. “Like Drake the pirate?”
Rhen sighed and played with the spoon in his cup. “Yeah. About the same time, the selkies were kicked out of the mercourt.”
“Okay. This is just too much for me. If you boys will excuse me, I’m going to go get some air.”
I locked eyes with him across the table.
“Where’s Kenai?” Rhen asked when he heard the back door close.
“At the station. Someone called the troopers last night. I’m guessing it was Brooks.”
“You let him get arrested?”
“I didn’t let him do anything. He insisted on splitting up and going after the vampires hiding on land while I worked the boat.”
“What? That’s not Kenai.”
“And Cy showed up.”
Rhen paused and looked up at me. “What the hell did he want?”
“Said he was looking for someone.”
“Did he say who?”
I just shook my head. I felt panic rising as I thought about the previous night. Willow, the vampires, my father’s knife. I reached for the knife handle I’d tucked in my boot and laid it on the table.
“That’s your father’s.”
“You’re quite observant, seal. Brooks had it.”
“Did Brooks kill your father?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know if what Brooks had said last night was true. I didn’t want to believe it was, but there was no real way to know what happened that day.
“Did you kill Brooks?” Rhen managed before finishing the last of his coffee.
“I didn’t kill him, but I did watch as the vampires finished him off.”
My brother-in-law sighed and shook his head. “Guess it’s for the best. With his wife gone, and River gone, no one should come looking for you. Did you at least stick around to make it look like he’d set it for the insurance money?”
Yeah. That would have been a better plan than leaving the asshole in the mud and ice. So much for well laid plans. “I handled it.”
The back door creaked open. “It’s a bit too cold out there for me.”
I smiled as she joined us at the table.
“Maybe the two of you know the answer to my question. Caleb wouldn’t answer me last night. My first night at Broken Tusk, there was another red-haired woman that he called Foxy. Any idea who she is? No one there knew but him.”
Rhen stared at Ellie for a moment, then glanced at me. “You put her up to this?”
I shook my head. “I told you she was here.”
“Who was here?”
“My sister.”
Ellie shot me a glare that would have filleted me alive. “That's who you thought I was that night? That bitchy redhead that Caleb left Broken Tusk with?”
I started to respond, but he spoke first. “You're saying my sister was in my wife's bar two days ago? And the fish left with her?”
“If your sister’s a stuck-up magazine model with ruby red hair and a nice rack, then yeah. She left with Caleb.”
I tried not to react to the accuracy of her description of Willow, but ended up covering it with a cough.
“What the hell was that?” Rhen sat up straighter in his chair as he glanced over my shoulder toward the door. Zom perked up on the couch.
I turned in time to see the wooden door fly open and a half crispy vampire stumble in. It looked a bit like burned bacon, but did not smell nearly as appealing.
“Under the table, now, Ellie,” I barked at her as I made it to my feet, putting myself between her and that thing. I reached to pull my gun from my hip, but it was not there.
“Dez, what is that?”
Her voice was calm and steady.
Rhen answered her as I didn’t take my eyes off the vampire as it straightened, that crispy skin regenerating with every slow step. “Vampire. Welcome to Alaska, Ellie.”
“So she is the sugary sweetness I tasted on your skin last night.” The thing growled at me. “You should have stuck around and made sure we were all gone. I’ll be rewarded well for bringing you in. And who is that delicious snack back there with her? Fae? I’m not sure I’ve ever had that delicacy.”
“You’re not about to start now.”
I grabbed the knife from the table and stepped toward it. The vampire lunged, misjudging where I was, and nearly slammed right in to me. I stabbed it in the heart before moving to behead it. I let the pieces fall where they may, and wiped the knife off on my pants. Ellie just stared as I turned to face them. Zom hadn’t bother to get off the couch.
“How many more did you leave last night, Dez?”
“I don’t know, seal. There were too many shadows. And I was high on blood. There is no way to tell how many scattered to the wind when the red and blues showed up.”
Ellie pushed past both he and I to check out the corpse that Zom decided needed sniffed.
“You seriously can’t stay here, Dez. You’ll be an easy dinner for them.”
“I can fix the door. But I sure as hell can’t go back to the house. I’m not leading these things to Connor. Who knows what they will do out on the road. There isn't enough time before sundown to make sure everything is secure. Somewhere else.”
“Come over to Broken Tusk.”
I shook my head at him. I wouldn’t go running to my sister. I glanced over at Ellie as she nudged the head with her foot. “It has no blood, Dez. Why doesn't it have blood?”
“Because it was already half crispy.” I sighed, turning back to Rhen. “I can’t take her to Broken Tusk. Not with all the Others. She knows now, and would inadvertently make herself a target by asking too many questions.”
“You can’t stay here,” he hissed. “They will come looking for him. Go to Kenai’s.”
“He’s still in a holding cell.”
“Damn it, Dez. You’re just gonna let him sit? Are you sure Matthews is even gonna let him out at this point?”
“Go figure it out. We need him.”
“Fine. FINE.” Rhen shook his head, exasperation filling his voice. “She’s your problem. I’m going to get your brother.”