Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
He surveyed the equipment. Large white machines that did who knew what. It was beyond his own expertise, but they were expensive and important. He wasn’t here to ruin the place doing good just to fix an error. Graves didn’t make many.
He found Kierse’s file. He rifled through the notes and located every piece of information on Kierse McKenna. Saliva swab, urine sample, blood sample, physical information, temperature, blood pressure, and all the other tests that were done to her. He destroyed each of them individually, reducing the evidence to ash. He couldn’t leave a speck of her behind.
Then he went to the computers and hacked into the doctor’s email. He sighed when he saw what she had done.
Well, that complicated things.
He’d thought he could just destroy the lab. Now, he might have to destroy her, too. She was working for King Louis. From the look of their exchange, he’d had her in his pocket for many years and it hadn’t been entirely her fault. She owed him a substantial amount of money. She’d been paying it back with blood samples from her supernatural clients, looking for a specific blood match for the vampire king. Dr. Mafi wasn’t a bad person; she was just in a bad situation. What to do with that information was up to Graves.
He forwarded the emails to Graves. He’d await instructions, though he already suspected what Graves would say. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d killed someone on his orders. The doctor might be a problem with her witch abilities, but he’d figure it out, like he always did with time and patience.
Finished with the emails and server, Edgar removed the hard drives and drilled holes into each of them. It’d be more fun to smash each of the monitors successively, but all the information was on these babies. It didn’t appear that she had taken Kierse’s info off the server, but he’d go to her home just in case. He had a feeling she wasn’t there. She was scared Graves was onto her. Well, she was right about that.
His phone buzzed. “Report,” Graves demanded.
“It’s what you suspected. Want me to terminate her?”
“No,” he said at once. “She’s more valuable alive. Just find her. Bring her here if you can. I bet she’s already on the run.”
“I thought as much, sir.”
“You got everything else?”
“The only thing missing is the blood from tonight.”
Graves cursed. “I bet we know exactly where that will be.”
“Yes, sir.”
Edgar smiled as he ended the call and looked around at the hospital. He didn’t have time to play. He hoisted the bag on his shoulder. He had a hunt in front of him, and his quarry had a head start.
PART V
THE THIRD FLOOR
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Graves insisted on arming her to the teeth.
To which she did not object one bit.
She opted for all black from head to toe. She’d even removed her wren necklace, much to her dismay and possibly Graves’s as well. She strapped on the two beautiful guns that Graves had given her when she’d first taken the job. Plus, he offered her two for her boots and extra magazines for the inside of her jacket. She slipped knives up her sleeves, down her boots, and in her jacket. She’d added pins to her hair just in case—never know when a bobby pin would save her life. She felt like she was going into battle.
“Stop looking like that,” Graves said.
“Like what?”
“So happy.”
“I will temper my energy when I’m in the underworld. But come on. We’re finally going out into the field. I’ve been waiting for this.”
“If I’d known you would get this excited, I would have considered bringing you to my business meetings.”
Kierse went very still, surprised that he would even suggest it. “No, you wouldn’t.”
Graves smirked. “Are you sure?”
And the look on his face told her that she wasn’t. He actually had considered bringing her. She couldn’t imagine Graves letting anyone in on his secrets.
“Don’t forget the mission for today. We’re finding a way to get you inside and make sure you can pass through Walter’s wards.”
She blew out a breath and refocused. Reconnaissance, after all, was more fun than failing at magic training, which she had been working on since Graves showed her the box to ward. Walter might have been one of Graves’s warlock trainees before he let him go, but his wards were reinforced with force-field magic. They were pretty sure she could get past his warding with her absorption, but today would be the test of that.
“He’s not as strong as Imani,” Graves continued. “We just want to get you inside Third Floor.”
“I’m armed to the teeth. What do you think I’ll find there?”
“It’s a dark market stories beneath the subway. Monsters congregate there to feast on their darkest desires, organize illegal weapons deals, and so on. It’s not a place where the Monster Treaty holds any sway.”