“Mildew,” I say quietly, sniffing the air again.
The flashy penthouse doesn’t have an ounce of mildew in it, but I catch a whiff of it, letting me know it’s definitely an out-of-place scent.
The sweet scent of innocent blood hits my nose next, and an animalistic growl rumbles in my chest as anger hits me. Already the instincts are kicking in, and I know I have to fight against them.
“Did you just fucking growl? What the hell, Chaz?” Zee asks, following me as I take in the air, stalking the scent of the blood.
My eyes drop to the floor, and my gaze narrows on the cracks of the tile. Sure enough, there’s one tiny drop of blood in the grout.
“Where’s your sister?”
“It’s actually my great niece... My sister’s daughter’s daughter,” he says quietly. “Sometimes I forget how long I’ve been gone.” He draws in a deep breath. “And she’s not here. She’s at the police station. I’m tracking her phone to make sure we don’t accidentally run into her. She wouldn’t exactly be happy to see me.”
Right. He has secrets all over. Just like me.
His family’s memories were wiped when they didn’t take his night stalker present too well. I’ve been filled in on the truth on the way here. Zee trusted me with secrets he’s kept lidded for so long. Now I need to see if I can use any of them to help save his niece.
The scent grows stronger the longer the power rises to the surface, and my vision shifts, changing. Green stains my vision, creating the illusion of night goggles, and white outlines of large footprints become visible.
The mildew... It’s from the shoes.
I follow the trail that mingles with the scent of innocent blood, and Zee follows behind me silently. Down the stairs and into the garage... My eyes find the footprints disappearing at a parking space, and I kneel, sniffing again.
“Their car had an oil leak,” I say softly.
“How could you possibly know that? And their car? As in more than one person?”
The footprints are showing on the passenger side, unless the car was facing differently. But I can tell they reversed out of the spot one day ago exactly, so there was definitely a driver.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Leah’s voice has my vision shifting back to normal, and I shake my head, freeing myself from the trance.
“What’d you find?” Zee asks her.
I turn around as a frown forms on her lips. “Nothing. The camera footage is gone. And I sort of had to knock a guy out when he caught me rifling through the video feed. Someone wiped everything, and I wiped our stay here as well. We have fifteen minutes before the cameras start working again.”
Nodding, I grab Zee’s keys from his pocket and start heading toward his car.
“Come on. I know where we’re going,” I tell them, letting my vision shift again. This time when the green ignites, the white outlines are to the drips of oil I’m seeking.
“What? How?” Leah asks.
“Don’t bother. He’s not saying much.”
“Remember how you wanted to know what I really was?” I ask Zee as I take the driver’s seat to his car.
I can feel his eyes on me as he and Leah get in, and she takes the backseat.
“Yeah...” His hesitant answer reminds me that I’m playing a dangerous game.
“You knew I was more than a duster, right?” I ask him as I speed out of the garage, following the trail ahead of me.
“Yes, but... What the hell, Chaz?”
“Well, I’m a lot of fucked up things, and this is one of the perks. It might save your niece. She hasn’t been turned. At least, not when she was here. There wasn’t enough blood.”
He blows out a breath as I drive faster, and I wait on the inevitable query. But silence is all that follows.
“Not going to ask me what I am?”