to hold on to the hope that I could get her back—that I could prove to her that I could create a safe home for her and our child.
I started the coffeemaker, creating more noise than substance in the process as my brain was having trouble getting my hands to obey commands. With the dark liquid brewing, I climbedinto the shower while the water was still ice cold to clear my head and shock myself awake. I needed all the cylinders running if I was going to figure this one out.
Serah would be hot on the trail of the tattooed killer and I fully expected her to call me with information at some point during the day. But the other murderer was out of her reach. The police might be able to identify the woman, but I needed Gideon to perfect the tracking spell with the blood he’d gotten from Serah. The only problem that was left was identifying the other killer. Gideon and I needed to know what the fuck we were up against before we met for the final showdown. He’d nearly killed us once. I didn’t think we’d be able to escape a second time.
Unfortunately, Zyrus couldn’t identify the fucker from the magic or the description I had given it. I’d kind of hoped that the demon had been around enough to be able to recognize every creature that walked the Earth. I guess there were still a few that escaped its notice.
I needed someone who knew a little bit about everything, particularly the dark side of this world. Someone who had his nimble little fingers in everything. And there was only one man in this city who knew everything that happened within the bounds of Low Town, and maybe even beyond.
Chang. The black-market dealer had his withered hands in everything, especially those rare, impossible-to-get items. He knew freaking everything without being told. And if I was lucky he’d know exactly what I’d need to do to defeat this asshole. I generally didn’t go to Chang for information, but rather for that rare item to complete a complicated potion or to save my ass from a nasty lunatic.
Turning off the water just as it was getting warm, I jumped out of the shower and toweled off the majority of the water still running down my body while hurrying to my bedroom. My heart was racing. I finally had a shot at getting one up on this bastard. It was a big first step in getting Trixie back.
Hell, if I could get rid of these two assholes today, I could maybe convince her to stay. Trixie and Eldon couldn’t have gotten too far from Low Town. I could use a tracking spell to find her and convince her that it was safe to come back.
I made a complete mess of my bedroom, or rather an even bigger mess than it already was, as I searched for something that was in the gradient of mostly clean. It had been weeks since I’d last bothered to take a pile of clothes down to the laundry room in the basement of my apartment building. For the past several days, I had been surviving on clothes that weren’t covered in blood, ripped to hell, or smelled like spoiled milk and feet.
The faded black jeans I pulled on were my last pair of clean pants. I’d either have to do laundry or wear shorts tomorrow. For most people, the choice would be clear considering that it was December and the temperature hadn’t climbed above freezing in more than a week. Sadly, as I pulled up the zipper, I found myself praying that I didn’t get blood or a new hole in these because I would be wearing them tomorrow.
Sucking down one cup of coffee, I filled a travel mug with more and left for Chang’s. It wasn’t too far from the parlor, but it was a long drive because of the slow morning traffic that was struggling to pick its way through yet another blanket of snow. These damn Winter Court fey needed to back off with the fucking snow. Low Town wasn’t so far north that usually we got several feet of snow each winter. But now it was nearly every other day that we were getting a fresh coat, giving residents just enough time to dig themselves out before it started all over again.
By the time I found a parking spot more than a block from the entrance to Chang’s, my