Blood Rites (38 page)

I felt my heart speed up. It beat with a dull pressure on my hand. It wasn't pain yet, but it was coming. "Okay, let's think, here. Arturo didn't announce that he was getting married again. I mean, I only found out because someone who knows him made a sharp guess. And I doubt the ex-wives knew about it firsthand. In fact, I'd be willing to bet they were informed of the fact by a third party."

"Why?" Murphy asked.

"Because if you want to work magic on someone, you've got to believe in it. You've got to want it. Otherwise it just fizzles. That means that they
want
someone dead. Genuinely want it."

"Because when they found out it was a nasty surprise," Murphy said. "Maybe whoever told them tilted things even further before the ex-wives found out. Made it hit them really hard, made them really mad. I don't know, Harry. You'd need a fourth party to want Arturo's new squeeze nixed for that to hold water."

"Yeah," I agreed. Then I felt my eyes widen. "Unless that wasn't what they wanted at all. Murph, I don't think this is about money."

"I don't understand."

"Genosa's in
love
," I said. I felt myself rise to my feet. "Son of a bitch, it was right there in front of me the whole time."

Murphy frowned and rose with me, putting her hand on my good arm. "Harry, you need to sit back down. All right? You're hurt. You need to sit down until Ebenezar gets back."

"What?"

"Ebenezar. He thinks he can do something for your hand, but he had to pick up something first."

"Oh," I said. My head spun a little. She tugged at my arm and I sat back down. "But that's
it
."

"What's it?"

"Trixie and the other
stregas
are just weapons for someone else.
Genosa
is in
love
. That's why he didn't react to Lara like everyone else. They can't touch him. That's what this is all about."

Murphy frowned. "What do you mean? Who is using them as weapons?"

"The White Court," I said. "Lord Raith and the White Court. It's no coincidence that he
and
his second-in-command are in Chicago this weekend."

"What does Genosa's being in love have to do with anything?"

"The White Court can control people. I mean, they seduce them, get close, and before long they can sink in the psychic hooks. They can make slaves of the people they feed on, and make them
like
it to boot. That's the source of their power."

Murphy arched an eyebrow. "But not if someone is in love?"

I laughed weakly. "Yeah. They just said it out loud. It was an internal matter. Hell, it was practically the first thing she said about him. That Arturo was always falling in love."

"What who said?"

"Joan," I said. "Plain old practical, flannel-wearing, doughnut-scarfing Joan. And Lara the wonder slut. Not in that order. I'm sure of it."

Murphy scowled. "Egad, Holmes. You've got to provide me with some context if you want me to understand."

"Okay, okay," I said. "Here's the setup, all right? Raith is the leader of the White Court, but over the past several years he's been losing face. His personal power base is slowly eroding."

"Why?"

"Thomas, mainly," I said. "Raith apparently murders his sons before they start getting ideas of knocking him off and taking over the family business. He sent Thomas to get killed at the vampire masquerade ball, but Thomas hooked up with Michael and me and came out of it alive. Then Raith set Thomas up again last year, at the duel with Ortega, but Thomas got through that one, too. And from what I've deduced, Papa Raith isn't putting the fear of himself into his own children very well anymore."

"What's that got to do with Genosa?" she asked.

"Genosa publicly defied Raith's authority," I said. "Arturo told me that someone had been slowly buying up the adult-movie companies, manipulating things from behind the scenes. Trace the money trail back and I'd bet you dollars to doughnuts that you'll find that it's Raith and that he owns Silverlight. By leaving Silverlight Studios and going off to break stereotypes by doing his own movies, Genosa was defying Raith's authority in a very public way."

"So you're saying that the White Court controls the erotica industry?"

"Or at least a bunch of it," I confirmed. "Think about it. They can influence people's opinions of all kinds of things—what physical beauty is, what sex is, how one should react to temptation, what is acceptable behavior in intimate relationships. My God, Murph, it's like training deer to come to a particular feeding point to make stalking and killing them easier."

Her mouth fell open for a moment. "God. That's… that's sort of terrifying. That's huge."

"And insidious," I said. "I never even thought about something like that happening. Or maybe it's fairer to say that it's
been
happening. Maybe Raith was just taking over the business from some other player in the White Court."

"So when Genosa thumbed his nose at Silverlight, it made Lord Raith look even weaker."

"Yeah," I said. "A mere human defying the White King. And Raith couldn't send Lara to control him, either, because Genosa is in love."

"Meaning?"

"The White Court can't touch someone who is in love," I said. "Real love. If they try to feed on them, it causes them physical agony. It's… their holy water, I guess you could say. Their silver bullet. They're terrified of it."

Murphy's eyes brightened and she nodded. "Raith wasn't able to control Genosa, so he had to find a way to torpedo the guy instead, or lose face."

"And be torn from his position of power. Exactly."

"Why not just kill Genosa?"

I shook my head. "The White Court seems to pride itself on elegance when it comes to power games. Thomas told me that when the Whites go to war with one another, they do it through indirect means. Cat's-paws. The more untraceable the better. They believe that intelligence and manipulation are more important than mere strength. If Raith just popped a cap in Arturo, it would have been still another loss of face. So…"

"So he finds someone he
can
control," Murphy said. "He sets them up to find out that the new wife is a danger to their positions, and he does it in the worst possible way, to make them readier to take action. He even hands them the murder weapon—a big, nasty dark ritual. He's not sure who it is, so he tells them to get rid of whoever Genosa is secretly engaged to. They've got a means, a motive, and an opportunity. Even in magical circles, I'll bet no one's going to be able to easily prove it was Raith who was responsible for the death of the woman Arturo was engaged to."

"And in love with," I said. "For Lord Raith it's a win-win situation. If they kill the fiancée, it will destabilize Genosa and hamper his ability to produce films. Hell, maybe Raith planned to wait until he fell into a depression afterward, and then send one of the ex-wives after a while to offer comfort, seduce him, and leave him vulnerable to Lara's control. If they
don't
manage to kill the fiancée, they might still create enough havoc and confusion to derail Genosa's work."

"And even if someone on the spooky end of the block figures out whodunit, Raith has it set it up so that they can't be traced back to him."

"Yeah," I said. "Meanwhile, Arturo is back in the fold and Raith has reconsolidated his power base. End of problem."

"But not if you interfere and stop him."

"Not if I interfere and stop him," I agreed. "So once Raith gets word that I'm sticking my nose into his business, he brings in Lara to keep an eye on me and take me out if she can."

"Or just take you," Murphy said. "If this guy is a schemer, maybe he thought it would be great to have this Lara get hooks into you."

The puppy stirred, disturbed. I shivered and petted him. "Ugh," I said. "But it didn't work, and I'm close to blowing the whole thing wide open. Now he'll have to take a swing at me and get me out of the picture."

Murphy made a growling sound. "Gutless bastard. Going through other people like that."

"It's smart," I said. "If he really has been weakened, he wouldn't want to take on anyone from the White Council directly. Only a fool goes toe to toe with a stronger enemy. That's why Thomas did the same thing as his father—recruiting me to go up against him."

Murphy whistled. "You're right. How the hell did you get this bag of snakes?"

"Clean living," I said.

"You should tell Thomas to get lost," Murphy said.

"Can't."

"Why not?"

I looked at her in silence.

Her eyes widened. She understood. "It's him. He's family."

"Half brother," I said. "Our mother used to hang around with Lord Raith."

She nodded. "So what are you going to do?"

"Survive."

"I mean about Thomas."

"I'll burn that bridge when I come to it."

"Fair enough," Murphy said. "But what is your next move?"

"Go to Thomas," I said. "Make him help." I looked down at my bandaged hand. "I need a car. And a driver."

"Done," said Murphy.

I frowned, thinking. "And I might need something else from you tonight. Something tough."

"What?"

I told her.

She stared silently past me for a moment and then said, "God, Harry."

"I know. I hate to ask it. But it's our only shot. I don't think we can win this one with simple firepower."

She shivered. "Okay."

"You sure? You don't have to do it."

"I'm with you," she said.

"Thank you, Karrin."

She gave me a small smile. "At least this way I feel like I get to do
something
to help."

"Don't be silly," I said. "The image of you gunfighting in your panties is going to boost my morale for years."

She kicked my leg gently with hers, but her smile was somewhat wooden. She looked down to focus on the puppy, who promptly rolled over on his back, chewing at her fingers.

"You okay?" I asked. "You got kinda quiet."

"I'm fine," she said. "Mostly. It's just…"

"Just?"

She shook her head. "It's been sort of a stressful day for me, relationship-wise."

I know what you mean
, I thought.

"I mean, first that asshole Rich and Lisa. And…" She glanced at me, her cheeks pink. "And this thing with Kincaid."

"You mean him taking your pants off?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. It's been… well, it's been a really, really long time since a good-looking man took my pants off. I sort of forgot how much I enjoyed it. I mean, I know this is just a reaction to the danger and adrenaline and so on, but still. I've never reacted that strongly to a simple touch."

"Oh," I said.

She sighed. "Well, you asked. It's got me a little distracted. That's all."

"Just so you know," I said, "I don't think he's human. I think he's pretty major bad news."

"Yeah," Murphy said, her voice annoyed. "It's never the nice guys who get a girl worked up."

Apparently not. "Oh," I said again.

"I'll call a cab," Murphy said. "Get some clothes and my bike. The car's still back at the park, and there might still be family there. Give me about an hour, and I'll be ready to take you where you need to go, if you're able."

"I have to be," I said.

Murphy called the cab, and just as it got there Ebenezar opened the door, carrying a brown paper grocery sack. I looked up at him, feeling a sudden blend of emotions—relief, affection, suspicion, disappointment, betrayal. It was a mess.

He saw the look. He stopped in the doorway and said, "Hoss. How's the hand?"

"Starting to feel things again," I said. "But I figure I'll pass out before it comes all the way back."

"I might be able to help a little, if you want me to."

"Let's talk about that."

Murphy had pretty obviously picked up on the tension between us back at the shelter. She kept her tone and expression neutral and said, "My cab's here, Harry. See you in an hour."

"Thanks, Murph," I said.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Murphy," Ebenezar said. He corrected himself almost instantly. "Lieutenant Murphy."

She almost smiled. Then she gave me a look, as if to ask me if it was all right to leave me with the old man. I nodded and she left.

"Close the door," I told Ebenezar.

He did, and turned to face me. "So. What do you want me to tell you?"

"The truth," I said. "I want the truth."

"No, you don't," Ebenezar said. "Or at least not now. Harry, you have to trust me on this one."

"No. I don't," I responded. My voice sounded rough and raw. "I've trusted you for years. Completely. I've built up some credit. You owe me."

Ebenezar looked away.

"I want answers. I want the truth."

"It will hurt," he said.

"The truth does that sometimes. I don't care."

"I
do
," he said. "Boy, there is no one,
no one
, I would hate to hurt as much as you. And this is too much to lay on your shoulders, especially right now. It could get you killed, Harry."

"That isn't your decision to make," I said quietly. It surprised me how calm I sounded. "I want the truth. Give it to me. Or get out of my home and never come back."

Frustration, even true anger flickered across the old man's face. He took a deep breath, then nodded. He put the grocery sack down on my coffee table and folded his arms, facing my fireplace. The lines on his face looked deeper. His eyes focused into the fire, or through it, and they were hard, somehow frightening.

"All right," he said. "Ask. I'll answer. But this could change things for you, Harry. It could change the way you think and feel."

"About what?"

"About yourself. About me. About the White Council. About everything."

"I can take it."

Ebenezar nodded. "All right, Hoss. Don't say I didn't warn you.

"Let's start simple," I said. "How do you know Kincaid?"