Dark Debt (Chicagoland Vampires 11)

I thought of what Maguire had said about Balthasar on the island, his apparent distaste, decided to use it. “Balthasar attacked a woman last night.”

“What’s new?” he mumbled.

“She says he attacked her in her mind.”

Maguire’s eyes darkened. “You think I’m bad? I’m nothing compared to him. He’s the one you should be afraid of.”

“How so?” I asked.

“He hunts women. With no regret and no remorse. You ask me, he’s just an asshole.”

So there was dissention in Reed’s ranks. “I wouldn’t disagree with you.” I took a chance, offered my unsubstantiated theory. “We know he’s not the real Balthasar.” Behind me, my grandfather and Ethan stiffened. “Who is he? What’s his real name?”

Maguire smiled crookedly. “And spoil all the fun? No.”

Ethan’s magic flared behind me at the realization, the implicit confirmation, that the man who’d wreaked havoc in our House hadn’t just been a monster—he’d also been a fraud.

But we’d have to deal with that later. First, we had to find out who he was.

I walked closer to the bed. “Then tell me how he got the details right.”

Maguire coughed, winced again with pain. “Do your own work.”

“Why? I know you don’t respect him, Jude. And I’m guessing he’s not making things easy for you—doing magic tricks on Michigan Avenue, for God’s sake. That’s not exactly helping the Circle stay underground. We bring him in because he’s being an idiot, and I’d bet Reed reduces whatever percentage of the profits he’s getting.”

His jaw worked as he considered, but there was anger in his eyes, and I didn’t think it was directed as us. “He was there.”

Ethan pressed forward. “He was where?”

“With Balthasar. He was a prisoner of the Memento Mori.”

Chapter Twenty-three

WALK LIKE A (WO)MAN

Ethan needed time to breathe, to process, to cool off. Jeff, Catcher, my grandfather, and I gathered in the hospital lobby—Catcher standing, me on the floor in front of the bench Jeff and my grandfather shared—looking at the small tablet Jeff operated. Through the window, Ethan paced the sidewalk, phone pressed to his ear, probably talking to Luc or Malik.

Jeff continued to tweak his ledger-searching algorithms, still looking for mentions of Balthasar, but without success. “I got bubkes,” he said, obviously frustrated. “The algorithm isn’t working. It’s not even catching words I can verify are actually in there. I can go through the microfiche by hand, but I’ll want my own comp and scanner for that.”

o;How is he?” Ethan asked.

“Conscious, under guard,” my grandfather said. “He’ll be arrested formally once he’s clear. Let’s go up and hear what he has to say.”

*   *   *

As a vampire, I didn’t have much use for hospitals, much need for them. But there was still something about the pale green walls, the antiseptic scent that made me nervous.

We followed a complicated trail from elevator to passageway to elevator, and finally through a gauntlet of nurses and cops before we reached Maguire’s room at the end of a hallway. Two uniforms stood by the door, and they nodded when my grandfather approached.

“Mr. Merit,” said the one on the left. “He’s awake. Watching COPS.”

“Ironic,” my grandfather said.

“I’d have to agree with that, sir. Three of you can go in at a time.”

“Me, Merit, Ethan,” my grandfather said, then gestured for Catcher and Jeff to wait.

“Let me talk to him first,” I said. “I think we have a rapport.” Mostly of the ass-kicking variety, but I think that still counted.