"Dad's friend? Sure. Why? He in trouble?"
So the bastard was telling the truth. Amazing. "No, I was just checking. Thanks for your help, Josh."
He nodded and slammed the door shut. The windows twitched as I walked away, and a freckled face watched me climb into the car.
The next stop should have been the safe house so I could show Joe the picture of the two women and check whether one was his blonde, but with the business cards all but confirmed as trackers, that wasn't the wisest move. The magic might have faded, but that didn't mean the witch couldn't still track us through it. I hoped the magi had come up with something to counter it-and had already given it to Joe.
I traveled back to the Directorate then headed for my desk and checked out the searches. Both of them were still ongoing.
I blew out a breath in frustration, then glanced up as Jack came into the room.
He didn't look happy. "You'd better get over to the safe house straight away."
Alarm ran through me and I stood up quickly. "What's happened?"
"Another zombie has been raised, and the safe house holding your street kid has been attacked."
Chapter Seven
"How long ago was this?" I asked, grabbing my old leather jacket from the back of the chair. Though it was actually Rhoan's old leather jacket, I'd recently liberated it.
"Five minutes, if that."
"What happened to Joe and the guardian minding him?"
"We don't know." His expression was grim. "Jacques isn't answering, nor is he picking up the phone."
"Then how do you know about the attack?" I grabbed my car keys and purse and headed for the door as I spoke.
"Because unlike some guardians, Jacques has his com-unit on during all working hours. He managed a quick report before things went silent." Jack stepped to one side to let me through the door, then fell in step beside me as I walked toward the elevators. "Two zombies apparently crashed through the front door. Jacques killed one, but then everything went silent."
I frowned as I punched the elevator call button. "But Jacques is a vamp. Surely he would have been able to cope with a couple of zombies?"
"I would have thought so. The bigger question is, though, how the fuck did these people even know where to go?"
The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside. "What about the magic on the business card?"
Jack put his hand against the door to stop it from closing. "By the time Marg got to the warehouse and the card, the magic had faded. She said that the same would probably happen with any tracking magic that had been transferred onto people."
"Obviously not, because the zombies found Joe." I hesitated. "I've touched the thing, too, so theoretically, she could track me."
"I'll get the magi working on a blocker. In the meantime, turn on your com-unit and let me know the minute you get to the safe house."
"Will do, boss."
He stepped back and let the doors close, and I flicked the little button inside my earlobe, as ordered.
I made it to the safe house in record time, thanks mainly to the fact that there was little traffic. I parked the car in the driveway of the pretty, double-story cottage, but the minute I climbed out, the scent of blood hit. It was thick and fresh, but it had the stench of evil and decaying flesh entwined within it. And it was strong enough that the wolf within wanted to bare her teeth.
Which meant that the zombie might still be here.
I reached back into the car for my laser, shoving it in my back pocket before quietly closing the door. I couldn't see any crows about, so if the zombies were in there they mightn't be anything more than a lump of unresponsive flesh. But I wasn't about to bet my life on that. Who knew what sort of orders the sorceress had given it? And given she was capable of telepathic contact with her creations, she probably didn't need to be in the vicinity for them to create havoc.
I scooted around the front of the car, ducking past the front windows then running to the door. It was smashed in, lying in splinters on the floor, a clear indicator of just how much strength these creatures had.
The air flowing out of the house was heavy with the scent of decay, blood, and evil. Bile rushed up my throat and I gagged, unable for the moment to force my feet inside. God, the stench was vile. And considering my wolf soul generally liked rolling around in all things rotten, that was saying something.
Once my stomach was a little more under control, I stepped cautiously inside, breathing through my mouth as I looked around. The hallway was empty of anyone living or dead, but awareness skittered across my skin. Magic, death, violence-it all lay waiting in the room to my left.