find out what a potion bomb was. Seeing as I couldn’t throw fireballs like my
cousin, bluffing was the best I could do.
“What are you?” she asked, pressing her back against the fence that cut
across the alley. “Why are you after me?”
I hesitated. While I didn’t know crap about Magica species or types of
sorcerers, my life as of late had provided ample fucked-up inspiration.
I pulled a veil of darkness over my face—just like the sorcerer in my
visions. “I’m one of the faceless ones. A stalker in shadow. And if you don’t
help me, you’ll never walk in the light of day again.”
I called more shadows from the walls and wrapped them around her legs.
She dropped her knife and raised her hands. “Please stop, I’ll tell you
what you want to know!”
Victory.
Was it? A pang of guilt tugged at me. She was practically cowering.
But then my gui
lt evaporated. She’d stunned Jaxson, threatened me,
helped the Ripper—a serial killer—and also Kahanov, a kidnapper, murderer,
and cult leader. She deserved worse than a simple haunting.
I drifted closer, an ominous, faceless specter of shadow. “You need to tell
me exactly what you’ve done for Kahanov.”
The Viper nodded. “I was supposed to transport him and the Ripper out
of town, up to Wisconsin, where he had a contact who was going to hide
him.”
Billy. It had to be.
“The Ripper didn’t show, and then Kahanov made me wait while he
actually sneaked into the Hall of Inquiry. Can you imagine? You get out of
jail, and the first thing you do is go by the police station. The Order Archives,
technically, which is even harder to get into, although apparently, the place
had just flooded. It was insane. He was a total lunatic.”
“How so?” The first part we’d already pieced together. However, her