The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) (26 page)

He did, and the space between carriage and building went completely dark save for ambient light from the street, which wasn’t much.

I opened my door and stepped out. Vex followed.

“You can come out,” I said, in a soft voice. “It’s just me and the MacLaughlin.”

Not a sound came from the darkness, but within seconds a shadow emerged from the others, and then I caught a flash of glowing eyes. A young goblin, cautious on slightly bowed legs–limbs that didn’t look like they should support bipedal motion but did. Buff-coloured fur, a short snout–more humanoid than I was accustomed to seeing. He had wide, doe-like eyes.

Now that I had spent time with them, I realised that goblins didn’t look any more alike than humans did, or aristos. They had species-specific traits, but each was an individual. Some were very animalistic and others weren’t.

I wondered how much of that was due to their shape-shifting abilities, such as William being able to change his paws into hands. It was a brilliant ability, and one that made sense of my own shifting. I was a new breed of goblin, and while I could look completely humanoid, I might never be able
to shift into an entirely goblin form–which was sometimes disappointing because it meant I would never be quite as fast or quite as agile as a gob, or at least not in the same ways.

“Have we met?” I asked.

“No,” came the slightly raspy response. A male. “I’ve seen you in the den, but we’ve never been formally introduced. I’m George.” He held out his hand, and waved the other one in greeting at Vex.

I gaped at him. He was incredibly modern and well-spoken for a goblin. What kind of schooling did they get in the den? I made a mental note to find out and make certain education was offered to each and every one of them. If trouble was coming, and it was bound to eventually, I’d rather they be deadly and informed rather than dangerous and ignorant.

“Nice to meet you, George.”

“Apologies for the light.” He pointed at the back door. “It hurt, and I didn’t want anyone to see me.”

“Don’t worry about that. Would you like to come in?”

He shook his scruffy head. His fur was long and silky, and he wore horn-rimmed dark spectacles to protect his wide eyes. He was just a kid–a teenager at best. “Thanks, but no. If I don’t get back soon my dad will worry.”

“Who is your father?”

“Dunno who my real father is–I’m a foundling–but the prince adopted me and raised me, so he’s the only one that counts. He wanted me to give you this.” He offered me a piece of heavy folded paper.

I opened it. It was a photograph, taken at the back door of Freak Show, the lights in the courtyard illuminating the couple so well I didn’t have to squint at the grainy image. There was no mistaking Penny–no one else in London looked quite like
her. And the person with her was… a betty. One of the ones that had got away the night I killed the third. He was also one of the ones who’d taken Val. I was sure of it.

Icy fingers seemed to seize my heart and squeeze. “When was this taken?”

“Got it off the camera about an hour ago,” George informed me. “I came here straight away. The prince tried to ring you.”

I had my rotary set on silent and hadn’t checked it since escaping the horror show. Shit. “Thanks, George. You need a lift anywhere?”

He shook his head. “Nah, thanks. I’ll be on my way then.” He gave me an awkward bow and set off toward the street. I watched as he checked both ways and then disappeared.

“There’s a sewer opening not far from here. That’s where he’ll go,” Vex told me. “No need to worry about the pup.”

I nodded. He was right, of course, but I did worry–a little. Didn’t matter that George could rip the arms off any human who challenged him. Even goblins could get ganged up on. I had to walk out to the street and look to make sure he was gone rather than in trouble. Only then could I go into my house and ring Avery.

“I’m bloody bored,” she said by way of greeting. I could hear music and talking in the background. “What happened tonight?”

“I’ll tell you later–nothing that got me any closer to finding Val. Are you still at Freak Show?”

“Where else would I be?”

I ignored her snippy tone. I should have known based on the background noise. “Have you had your eye on Penny the entire night?”

“As much as I could. What’s going on?”

“Is Penny still there?”

“Of course she is. I wouldn’t be here if she weren’t.”

“Did you see her talk to anyone?”

“She went outside during her break. I followed as closely as I could. Some guy was waiting for her. I didn’t get a good look at his face, and Em called at the same time so I didn’t hear what they talked about. She came back inside a few minutes later.”

“Did she seem agitated or upset?”

“Not at all. Should she have?”

“A betty paid Penny a visit tonight.”

A pauize1">“se. Suddenly the background noise reduced drastically–Avery had changed locations. “One of the bastards who took Val?”

I glanced at the photograph in my hand. “Yes.”

“You want me to ask Penny about it?”

“No. Then she’ll know for a fact that you’re watching her.” I put the photograph down on the table.

“I met friends here tonight to throw her off a bit. You reckon the betty threatened her?”

“I have no bloody idea.”

“She’ll tell you about it when she gets home.”

“Yeah, probably.” I wasn’t so sure about that. Penny had been acting strangely lately. Maybe she doubted my ability to find Val. God knew I hadn’t much faith in myself as of late. Or maybe she knew I was keeping things from her. She could have decided to take matters into her own hands.

Avery and I talked for a few more minutes and then I hung up–after agreeing to tell her all about the horror show the next day.

I ran upstairs to change into a camisole and a pair of thin
baggy bloomers that came down to below my knees. On impulse, I prised up the floorboards covering my secret hiding spot. I removed the files and looked at them. So much information, and none of it did me any good. All it did was make my chest hurt.

I removed the pages about Dede’s baby from the envelope and looked at them. When I read the first lines of the form on the second page, my heart skipped a beat. I flipped back to the first page and read it again, just to make certain I wasn’t imagining things.

The first page was about Dede’s baby–all the things the Prince Albert Hospital recorded when a halvie gave birth: child’s name, sex, weight, length, blood type and race. Some one had initially checked the box next to “V” on the form–indicating that the baby was born vampire–but had then crossed it out, ticked “H” and written “stillborn” on the adjacent line.

The second page was for Ainsley’s son with his wife. All the information was the same as on the first page–as though someone had copied it. Only this time the “V” wasn’t crossed out. Even the accompanying documents on the genetic screening were identical. I had no doubt that the documents on file at the hospital had been tampered with to tell the story Ainsley wanted, but these were the original pages. Why had Churchill kept them? In case he ever needed to blackmail Ainsley? Or perhaps to convince Dede or myself to do whatever he wanted? I had no idea, and the old man was dead along with his secrets.

Why would Ainsley want me out of the way unless he knew that I had discovered the truth about his child? And why not just kill me to keep me quiet?

Unless he wasn’t allowed to kill me.

Paranoia crept into my brain–it didn’t take much for me to start wondering if there was some sort of great conspiracy afoot, not lately, when I’d had ample evidence that my life was built on bloody secrecy and intrigue.

I showed the pages to Vex. Earlier, in the carriage park, he’d seemed entirely calm, but now a muscle ticked in his jaw and his eyes shone bright with gold, reflecting the lamplight.

“I’m going to rip that fucking nancy’s head off,” he growled, “and piss down his throat.”

Graphic imagery to say the least. “Get in line, wolf. I want to talk to him first.”

“What the1">” hell for?”

“He’s not doing this on his own. The horror shows maybe, but it doesn’t make sense that he’d want me locked up rather than dead. There’s someone else behind all of this, someone who figures I’m worth more alive.”

Vex frowned. “You reckon he’s involved with the people behind the disappearances as well?”

“I do, though I have to admit that makes him even more of a prick than I originally thought. Smarter, too.”

“You know, if he’s been in on this from the start, there’s a chance he seduced Dede knowing she might give birth to a fully plagued child.”

The thought turned my blood to icy sludge. Could he have orchestrated the entire thing? No, aristocratic reproduction was too much of a gamble, even with modern fertility treatments–no doubt discovered because of these wretched experiments. Ainsley had got lucky in more ways than one. And when his wife delivered something not meant to survive, it was just a happy coincidence that he had a plan B in Dede. Literally inside Dede. Lucky indeed. Did he shit rainbows too?

“Regardless, Ainsley has answers I want.” My jaw was clenched as I glanced at the papers, creased by the tightness of my grip. “I think it’s time I asked him a few questions.”

I couldn’t get in to see Ainsley until the following afternoon. He was being held in daylight seclusion until sunset, when he would be released. As I’d predicted, it looked as though he was going to avoid being charged with anything. That was my own bloody fault. I was the one who’d released the prisoners and torched all the evidence of anyone having been held in those cellar prisons. I cursed myself for it, but kicking Ainsley’s arse was not worth Vex getting in trouble or people dying for. Funny, not long ago I would have given the kid–David–up to his maker without a blink. Human life had never meant much to me. I’d been taught to fear and despise them. I reckoned that was mutual.

I managed to cross paths with Penny before I left. She slunk out of her room just as I came out of mine. She looked tired, thin and she needed a shave.

“You all right, love?” I asked.

She smiled wanly. “Morning, Xandy. I’m fine.”

Fuck small talk and little lies. “Avery said she saw you talking to a betty at the club last night. Did he threaten you?”

Her back stiffened–the silk of her robe rippling. “So you have been spying on me, then?”

“Spying on you?” Where the hell had that come from? “I asked Avery to make sure no one tried to grab you again.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that, did I? I didn’t ask to be involved in any of this!”

I started. This narrow-eyed creature scowling at me was not my Penny. “You tell me what the fuck is going on. Right bloody now.”

Her shoulders sagged. “The betty said he had information on Val, but that he’d only talk to someone with the power to protect him–you.”

“That’s what’s got your knickers in a twist?”

Her dark gaze darted away. “I offered myself in exchange for Val and he laughed at me. He said his employers were only interested in useful freaks.”

I hugged her. “Oh, honey. That was brave of you. Stupid, butu. at brave.”

Penny’s hands barely touched my back before she pushed me away. “What would you have done? Beat him to death like the other one? At least I found out what they really want.”

Me. It came back to that–again. Was anyone else as sick of me as I was? Penny, apparently. Suddenly her anger and moodiness made sense.

“It’s not my fault Val was taken.” The truth of the words surprised me, given how much I delighted in blaming myself for everything.

She sighed, shoulders sagging even more. I hadn’t realised just how much weight she’d been carrying. “I know. I don’t blame you, ducks. I’m just so worried and… scared. I didn’t want to tell you about the betty showing up last night.”

“You did the right thing. When does he want to meet?”

“Tomorrow night. Midnight–at the club.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.” But I wasn’t going to be alone. I knew better than to trust that the betty just wanted to talk. At best he wanted to make a grab for me too. At worst he was going to
dump Val’s corpse at my feet. Either way, someone was going to have to be there to make certain I didn’t kill him, because he had information I wanted, such as who was behind all of this.