“Wait for what? A visitation from the soul eater? Because it doesn’t actually work like that. You can’t keep adding names to the kill list willy-nilly. Not without paying a price.”
“You obviously don’t know fucking much about them, then, do you?”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But I did help stop it from killing Lance this evening.”
“Who cares—it was James we really wanted.”
This woman really wasn’t all that bright. She didn’t seem to realize she’d just admitted her part in his death.
“We?” I asked mildly. “Who are you working with, Molly?”
Her eyes widened just a little, even as she said, “Who the fuck is Molly?”
“I think the more interesting question would be, why did you call yourself Janice when you were at Frankie’s? What game were you and Marlinda playing?”
“I have no fucking idea what—” She paused as headlights speared the darkness, spotlighting us both. “Get me off the damn road—you’re going to get me killed.”
“Although I’m sure there are plenty of people who’d like nothing more than to see you run over multiple times, Ranger O’Connor isn’t one of them.”
She swore and began to struggle anew, again to no avail. I swiveled around as the truck came to a halt a few yards up the road. Aiden climbed out, and he wasn’t alone—Ashworth was him.
I frowned. “How safe is it to leave Tala in that house alone?”
“The spirit won’t come back, but I left a surprise or two for it if it does,” Ashworth said.
Aiden stopped beside me and stared down at my captive. “Who is she?”
“This, I very much suspect, is the missing Janice.” I reached through my net and tugged off her boots. Something rattled inside them both even as the shimmer of magic rolled up her body and disappeared. The woman it revealed was well-built, with large breasts, a smattering of freckles across her nose, green eyes, and brown hair.
“She certainly fits the description Larissa gave us of Janice,” Aiden said. “But who is she really?”
“Molly Brown, a friend of Marlinda’s up until she was fired for bad behavior at Émigré.”
He glanced down at me. “She wasn’t on that list you just sent me.”
“No, but Marlinda and James Morrison certainly were, and I rather suspect Aled Freeman might have been Frankie’s unknown victim.”
“He was.” He squatted next to me. “Why do you want these people dead, Molly?”
“I don’t. She’s barking mad.”
“Liz is many things, but mad isn’t one of them. Why were you following her?”
“I wasn’t. I just happened to be going the same way, and she attacked me.”
“Then tell me why you were at James Morrison’s.”
“We’re friends,” she said. “Why shouldn’t I be there?”
“You were never in his house,” Aiden replied. “The air ran with many scents, but your foulness wasn’t amongst them.”
Molly hawked and spat. The globule hit the net and became little more than steam, leaving only a few untouched droplets that fell onto her coat. She swore softly, but didn’t repeat the offensive action.
“If you don’t start talking, Molly, you’ll be charged with the murder of seven people, whether or not you’re responsible for the magic that brought the soul eater here.”
“And what evidence have you got tying me to those murders, let alone to the appearance of some damn soul eater?”
“We don’t really need actual evidence,” Ashworth said mildly. “The suspicion of dark magic is more than enough to have you hauled up in front of an RWA panel, who will get the truth out of you and then assign an appropriate punishment.”