one psychopath had been stopped.
The house looked empty. Of course, if the killer had murdered everyone on the premises like he did the last time, then the place would look empty.
“Do you know where the local nests are located?”
I shook my head. “One of them is on the west side, but I don’t know about the other one.” Vampires were notoriously secretive about where they slept during the day. But then, if you burned away to ash in the sun and were significantly weaker during the day, you’d be a little paranoid too.
Gideon swore under his breath, taking another look around the silent street. “We’ll just be cautious then. No magic if you can help it.”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
Gideon glared at me for a second as he tucked his wand back up his right sleeve. “You take the back door. I’ll go in the front. We’ll search from bottom to top.”
With a little wave of my hand, I started around the side of the house, heading toward the gate in the six-foot wooden privacy fence that lined the backyard. The fucker had picked a pricy neighborhood in which to settle. He couldn’t have spent much time here because the neighbors would have definitely noticed something strange going on in the house. It had been my experience that the more money a person had, the more attention they paid to what their neighbors were doing. Or maybe that was just the neighborhood my family lived in when I was a kid, living in an upper-middle-class subdivision littered with houses just like this one. You couldn’t sneak out of your bedroom window without someone being there to call your mom two minutes later.
The gate creaked as I pulled it open on frozen metal hinges. At the same time, a security light flashed on, flooding the back lawn and stone patio with harsh white light. I blinked a couple times, my eyes adjusting to the bright glare after walking for so long in the fading afternoon light.
A high-pitched laugh drew my eyes to a tall, thin man seated on the swing of a child’s playground set. He had hair as white as snow and his skin had a strange gray cast to it. His lank, stringy hair fell forward, covering most of his face, but one glimpse of his eyes revealed madness burning in their liquid black depths.
“I can seeeeee you, warlock,” he called in a singsong voice. Using his feet, he pushed off the frozen ground, swinging slowly while his bare hands gripped the metal chains on either side of him.
“Who are you?” I took a couple cautious steps into the yard while letting the gate close behind me. Was I finally faced with the madman who had been slaughtering people as he traveled north? He certainly didn’t look as if he was in his right mind. Could the Death Magic have driven him insane? There had to be a chance of that, but then didn’t you have to be insane to kill children in order to raise the dead?
“You’ve been following me,” he continued. His voice had a strange melody to it, as if it would be extremely pleasing if it weren’t entirely creepy at the same time.
“You’re the psychopath who has been murdering those children.”
The white-haired man cocked his head to the side so that his eyes were completely covered, but I wasn’t willing to bet that he was blind. “Psychopath? That’s not a nice word. But warlocks aren’t very nice. You’ve killed so many.”
“Like you.”
His laughter rang out, echoing through the silent neighborhood. There was a sickening child-like innocence to that sound, which twisted in my stomach. The man kicked his feet out and lay back as he swung higher. His white hair fanned out behind him in a cascade of starlight, shining in the glare cast by the security light.
I pulled some magical energy together, preparing to defend myself. I didn’t know where Gideon was in the house, but the warlock would realize that I hadn’t entered yet and would come looking for me. Right? He was my backup. And I was going to fucking need it. This guy was definitely not human. He wasn’t an elf, a siren, an incubus, or a shifter.
“No need for that, warlock,” he called as he straightened, his hair falling back over his face when he leaned forward. “I’m not going to kill you yet. I need you alive to see my final creation. My moment of triumph.”
“But maybe I’d rather see