be clicking. However, the picture was far from clear.
“The Zombies were in LA?” I asked, already knowing the answer, but deciding to assume nothing.
“The Zombies were in LA,” Ethan confirmed. “I want you to call Satan to us. We need to have a chat.”
I nodded and pulled out my cell phone. “Do we want Levi in on this?”
Ethan paused in thought then nodded. “Yes. There are no coincidences. Have both men meet us in my office in a half hour.”
“What if Satan says no?” I asked, knowing it was a real possibility. The Devil worked on his own time clock and didn’t give a crap about anyone else’s.
“Tell him I went on a shopping spree at Staples and had ten boxes of office supplies delivered this morning,” Ethan said with a raised brow and wicked grin.
“Is this true?” I asked with a laugh.
“Not a word of it,” Ethan replied. “However, that will get him here faster than demanding he share what he knows.”
“You’re hot and smart,” I told him as I texted the message to Uncle Fucker.
“Thank you,” Ethan said. “I try.”
“My Liege,” David said, sitting in front of one of the computers. “It does seem to be located only in California. General Deandra says that she has lost communication with twenty Vamps. No other area is missing anyone.”
I looked over David’s shoulder at the message. I knew of Deandra. Ethan trusted her. I hoped his trust wasn’t going to be betrayed. “Could you tell how many Vamps had perished by the amount of dust in the theater?”
David, Jax, Matthew and Ethan all considered my question, but not one had an answer.
“No,” Ethan replied after a long moment. “The dust began to dissipate while we fought the Zombies. The fact that the dust was there at all means that the murders had been recent. The remains of our dead disappear quickly.”
I nodded. My mind raced, but no thoughts were coherent.
“Would you like us to attend the meeting in your office?” Jax inquired.
“No,” Ethan said, picking up all of the magazines except for the one Jane had hocked a loogie into. “I want you to get our people up to speed and prepare to leave for the West Coast once I have more intel.”
“Yes, my Liege,” the three men said in unison as they bowed to us. “We shall get our troops ready.”
“Only those housed in the Cressida House. No one outside yet,” Ethan added. “And I want interviews done to ascertain none of them are involved in any way. Am I clear?”
“You are,” Jax replied, looking every inch the scary Vampyre. “Nothing will get by us. You have my word.”
Ethan nodded curtly and the men left.
“You want us to head out to LA and start removing sphincters?” Martha asked.
“What is this obsession with sphincters?” Ethan asked with a wince. “And whose sphincter are you going to remove? We have no clue who is involved right now.”
“He makes a good fucking argument,” Jane told Martha. “It’s bad to detach an innocent person’s poop pie hole.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Martha agreed. “We’ll just come to the meeting with you guys. You’re gonna need us.”
I wasn’t sure if that was true, but if they happened to remember anything else about Lizard’s mission, spending time in their profane company would be worth it.
“Fine,” I said. “Meet us in the office in a half hour.”
Jane grabbed the wrapped gift that there was no way I was going to open and tried to hand it to me.
“Nope,” I said, refusing the gift. “Is there a sphincter in there?”
“How’d ya know?” Martha asked. “Did you peek?”
My fingers sparked and the gals backed up. Zapping them was not a good option. There was a fine chance I would cook the sphincter, and I didn’t want my suite to smell like baked ass.
“I thought you didn’t fight with any of the reporters from last night,” I said suspiciously, wondering whose sphincter was in the box.
“We didn’t,” Martha said. “Just happened to get a good grip on one of their puckered starfish as they ran away.”
I had no words.
“You saw some of the reporters?” Ethan asked, purposefully ignoring the rest of what had just been shared.
“About five of the scum asses,” Jane confirmed.
“Could you identify them?” he asked, pulling up an encrypted site on his computer.
“Sure could,” Martha said.
Ethan stood then placed two chairs in front of the screen. “Have a seat, ladies. I have a feeling your knowledge will be very helpful.”
“FINALLY,” Jane shouted. “I’m so sick and tired