There were no good outcomes here.

Daughter . . .

Belphegor’s voice whispered faintly in my thoughts, promising power beyond imagining: powers of temptation, seduction, and destruction. The power to wreak vengeance on my enemies, which sounded pretty good right about now.

You have but to ask.

Yeah, and crack open the Inviolate Wall, paving the way for Armageddon. Turning my head, I gazed at the mermaid. She gazed back at me, eyes a lucent green beneath their nictitating membranes. The scales that covered the lower half of her body were large and gray. A row of gills ran along either side of her torso, starting below the armpit. They fanned open and shut feebly in the murky water, revealing vulnerable-looking inner flesh that was an unhealthy pale mauve color.

I didn’t know a lot about mermaids—or fish, for that matter—but I thought she looked pretty damn sickly. I wondered how long she’d been held captive in that tank.

“So what happens when this is over?” I asked Dunham. “You pack up the tank and skip town again?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “Not worth it to hire an experienced crew. I found that out the hard way.”

“Bringing her from Seattle?”

Dunham didn’t bother to answer. “Just not a big enough market in this Podunk town.” He thumped the tank again. “And poor old Rosie’s on her last . . . fins.” He laughed at his own joke. “My fault for letting a couple of dumb ghouls handle things. I should have kept her in the trailer like I planned.”

“We did our best!” Ray D protested. “It wasn’t our fault that kid panicked and got himself drowned.”

“Sweet, sweet panic,” Mary murmured in a melancholy tone. “My sweet baby boy panicked when I held him underwater, but I held him ever so tight until he went to sleep like a good boy.”

“They all panic,” Dunham said briefly, nudging the extension cord with his foot. “That’s part of your fun, ain’t it? Your job was to keep Rosie in line so she didn’t struggle.”

“So it was an accident?” I asked.

He gave me his flat stare. “You want to play twenty questions, blondie? It was a clusterfuck is what it was.” He pointed at Ray. “You fucked up giving those first Van Buren boys your name. Them others were never supposed to come looking for no Ray D at the bar. Just a phone number.”

Mary hummed and then sang to herself, swaying in Ray’s arms. “Operator, could you help me place this call. . . .”

“Ray, can you shut her up?” one of the ghouls I didn’t recognize said.

Ray glared, tightening his arms around Mary. “Fuck you!”

“Fuck you!”

Johnny swung his shotgun around the room, aiming at everyone and no one. “Shut up, y’all,” he said genially. “No point in turning on each other now. For the time being, we’re in this together. Once Stefan’s out of the picture, you want to fight, fight.”

Everyone fell silent.

Surreptitiously, I tested the ropes around my wrists and ankles. Yep, pretty tight. But if no one was watching, I thought maybe I could wriggle my arms over my hips and butt and get my hands in front of me.

And do . . . what?

Daughter . . .

“No!” I said aloud. “No!”

“No, what?” Dunham eyed me suspiciously.

I leaned back against the wall. “Nothing.”

“Ludovic’s taking his own sweet time.” Crouching before me, he plucked the pistol out of his waistband, shoving the muzzle under my chin. “You sure you’re plenty scared, blondie?” he mused.

Hyperventilating, I nodded.

“Stefan’s not stupid, Dunham,” Johnny said. “Don’t you make the mistake of thinking so. He ain’t gonna come storming in here. He’s gonna take his time to assess the situation, rally his troops, make good and sure he knows who’s loyal before he makes his move. When he does, you be mindful of what I told you.”

“No kill shots.” Jerry Dunham sounded disgruntled.

Johnny nodded. “You fire off a kill shot, he’ll just reincorporate.” He snapped his fingers. “Like that. He’s old and strong, stronger than any of us here. Shoot to maim and finish him off with the dagger, you hear?”

“I hear.”

Thirty-eight

Time crawled.

My head ached; my chin stung. My shoulders and arms were beginning to burn from having my hands tied behind my back. If the Locksley residence had air-conditioning, it was turned off in their absence.

Sweat trickled down my temples.

Daughter . . .

I hunched my shoulders toward my ears, trying to block out a sound no one else could hear. I thought about what the Norn had told me: The key lay hidden in something a vampire had said to me yesterday, and whatever it was, it lay within me.

For the life of me, I couldn’t think what it might be.

In the wide world outside, the sun reached its apex, baking in the sky. I made an effort to breathe low and slow.

“So how did you find this place?” I asked Ray D in a conversational tone. “It’s really nice.”

He looked pleased to be addressed. “Oh, I do a little handyman work from time to time. A guy I met at the bar hooked me up with this gig.”

“Mr. Cassopolis?”

He beamed. “You know him?”

I rotated my aching shoulders. “Yeah, I do.”

“My Raymond’s a very good handyman,” Mary Sudbury said helpfully, reaching up to stroke his jaw. “Very skilled.”

Ray bent his head toward her, and they smiled at each other, a pair of blissful ghouls in love. I might have felt sorry for them if the continued existence of their relationship didn’t necessitate generating incredible amounts of anguish and misery, which I was apparently next in line to provide.

Somewhere out there, Stefan was zeroing in on my location. Maybe, just maybe, Cody had tracked down a lead from Mr. Cassopolis after realizing the address I’d phoned in was bogus. Unfortunately, both would lead them straight into an ambush.

Okay, so it was past time to start using my wits. I just wished they didn’t feel so scrambled. But whatever cards I held, it was time to play them.

“You two seem really happy together,” I said to Ray and Mary. “It’s too bad Hel’s issued a death sentence for you.”

They stared at me. Mary’s pupils dilated fiercely. “You shouldn’t say such things! Liars make the baby Jesus cry! Liars get their mouths washed out with soap, little lady!”

I’d be willing to bet somebody was channeling an evangelical Mommie Dearest. “I’m not lying,” I said steadily. “Read my emotions and see. I’m Hel’s fucking liaison, and I’m here telling you that Hel has decreed you’re both to be dispatched for your sins.”

“For what?” Ray seemed genuinely bewildered.

I nodded at the mermaid’s tank. “What do you think? For that.”

“But we needed her!” he protested.

“No.” I shook my head. “You wanted her. You wanted this—this whole sick Sid and Nancy scenario. And you were willing to overturn Hel’s order to have it.”

“We didn’t do anything!” Mary said indignantly, pointing at Dunham. “He’s the one who did everything. We just took care of her.”

An incredulous laugh escaped me. “Took care of her? Is that really what you’re going to call it?”

Mary might just be crazy enough to believe it, but I saw a slow awareness dawn on Ray’s face. He was stupid, but he wasn’t that stupid. “Them boys didn’t really hurt her none,” he mumbled. “She’s a tough old gal.”

I didn’t bother to dignify it with a response, glancing at Johnny instead. “Hel’s prepared to banish Stefan if he can’t administer her justice to his own people. If you take over, these two become your problem.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Dunham advised him.

“Why not?” Johnny cradled his shotgun. “She’s telling the truth. I reckon I’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

“What’s that s’posed to mean?” Ray asked suspiciously.

“It means I’ll deal with it.” A note of impatience crept into Johnny’s tone. “Don’t worry about it, man.”

“It means he’ll get rid of you when this is over,” I informed Ray. “You and Mary. Lock you in solitary confinement for months on end until you starve and devour your own essence. Isn’t that how it works? Maybe it won’t take as long with both of you trying to feed on each other. Or maybe he’ll separate you to make it last longer. Do you plan on separating them?” I asked Johnny.

He strolled over, leaned down, and slapped me across the face, wrenching my head sideways. “All right, now, you shut your mouth, ma’am.”

I tasted blood.

Daughter . . .

A spiral of anger rose in me. The pump attached to the mermaid’s tank made an alarming sound, hoses bulging. “Or maybe he’ll have Dunham use dauda-dagr,” I said. “Make it quick and clean. Is that the plan?”

Johnny reversed the shotgun. “Do you want me to use this here stock to smash your pretty little face in?” He was breathing hard, his pupils wavering. “Or do you want me to turn every ghoul in this room loose on you?”

I held my tongue, anger dwindling back to fear. The pump stopped whining and the hoses stopped bulging.

“Ignore her.” Jerry Dunham sounded bored. “She’s just trying to turn us against each other. Don’t fall for it.”

“Easy for you to say,” I managed to whisper. “You’re mortal. You’re not subject to Hel’s authority.”

“She has a point,” one of the unknown ghouls muttered.

“It’s not too late for you to call this off,” I said to Johnny. “You haven’t done anything you can’t walk away from.”

He laughed mirthlessly. “Other than kidnap Hel’s liaison? No.” He shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am. There’s only one way that gets forgiven, and that’s to prove you’re a miserable failure at the job.”