harmless as the teenaged girl he’d drained. It was hard to reconcile the sight of him with the ravening ghoul he’d been just minutes ago.
“Hel’s liaison.” Stefan inclined his head to me. I could see the strain on his self-control reflected in his widening pupils. “It is best that I go with them.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you. And Stacey Brooks owes you her life.”
“You did well.” He straddled one of the bikes, two of his henchmen doubling up on another without a word spoken. A faint smile touched his lips. “We will speak later of the folly of using the pneuma as a weapon before you were ready.”
I winced a little. “I know, I know.”
The motorcycles roared away into the night, taking the Outcast with them.
“I don’t understand how you can just let this happen!” the tourist mom burst out. “Let creatures like that walk the streets! We came here to be entertained, we came here to see ghosts, not, not . . .” She gestured at her daughter and husband. “Not this! God! Oh, God! What’s wrong with you people?”
My tail twitched. I wanted to tell the woman that she was an idiot for assuming that the eldritch community, a haunted eldritch community, for Christ’s sake, was safe, that it was the paranormal equivalent of Dollywood, everything sanitized for their protection. But it wasn’t her fault, not really. She’d done exactly what the PVB had encouraged tourists from all across the country to do.
Cody shot me a quick glance. He might not have been able to read my emotions like one of the Outcast, but he knew my temper. “One of those creatures saved a young woman’s life tonight, ma’am,” he said gently. “Are you staying in the area? Miss Johanssen and I would be happy to accompany you and your family to your car, or I can have an officer take you to your hotel if you’re not feeling up to driving.”
The tourist mom blinked away tears, sniffling. “We’re staying at the Ridgeway Motor Lodge. I can drive. I just want this all to be over.”
Cody and I escorted the three of them to their car, which was parked in the little lot behind the coffee shop. It was disconcerting to see how empty and lifeless the father and daughter were after having been drained of their emotions. I’d had a run-in with a ravening ghoul of my own, but it hadn’t been anywhere near this severe. I’d been lucky; or maybe my super-size emotions had saved me. God knows, I’d spent enough time wrestling with them, but I’d never thought before about how much of what animates us as human beings—or semi-human beings—depends on our feelings.
Without them, we were dead inside.
The tourist dad sat placidly in the front passenger seat, gazing at nothing, his hands resting idly on a camera with a big, fancy lens that dangled from a strap around his neck. Behind him, his daughter slumped in the backseat.
“You’re sure they’ll recover?” the tourist mom whispered. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.” I put all the conviction I could muster into the word, which was a fair amount. I didn’t think Stefan would mislead her, not with his well-developed sense of honor. “And if you’d like to stay here in Pemkowet while they recover, the PVB will be happy to cover the cost of lodging.”
Okay, I was going out on a limb with that one, but as far as I was concerned, Amanda fucking Brooks owed me. If she’d canceled the Halloween festivities like Cody and I had asked her to do, none of this would have happened.
Of course, there was no telling what would have happened instead.
At any rate, the tourist mom was having none of it. A look of horror crossed her face. “No,” she said hastily, getting behind the wheel of her Audi. “No, thank you. I think we’ve seen quite enough of this town.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
Cody and I watched them drive away. “Too bad,” he murmured.
“It could have been a lot worse without the Outcast.” I was feeling a little defensive of the ghoul squad. “It was a mob scene, Cody. We’re lucky none of the spectators was killed.”
“I know.” He stroked my hair. “I’m not arguing, Daise. I’m sure they’ll be fine, eventually. They shouldn’t have been here in the first place. It’s just . . .” He shrugged. “I should have known.”
I was confused. “Known what?”
“The Tall Man’s remains.” Cody bared his teeth in a