“What?” I demanded.
“Go ahead,” Bane said with an indulgent smile. “Tell her.”
Hanson’s jaw tightened. “He got some … pictures that he’s going to send to Eldritch if I don’t help him.”
I tilted my head. “What kind of pictures?”
Bane giggled. “Poor Michael has a taste for magical pussy, don’t you, Mikey? It was a simple matter of having my dear cousin take a few snapshots during his last visit to her temple.”
His cousin was Aphrodite Johnson, the leader of the sex magic coven—the Os. Last I’d heard Bane and Aphrodite had been on the outs over some sort of debt she owed him. Probably he had used that to convince her to help him with Hanson, too.
“You asshole,” I said. “Why not just kill him?” I stabbed a finger in Bane’s direction.
Hanson’s face morphed into an offended mask. “I’m not a murderer, Prospero.”
My mouth fell open. “What the fuck do you think he’s planning to do to us?”
“Oh, I’m not going to kill you.” Bane paused and let that sink in. Let that spark of hope grab a little oxygen and flare before he stomped it out. “John is.”
Something cold exploded in my heart. It felt a lot like fear. My brain scrambled, looking for angles and escape routes.
“Why would I do that?” Volos sounded a lot less freaked-out than I felt. But then he moved a fraction closer. I wasn’t sure whether the move was designed to reassure me—or him.
Bane shrugged. “Because once I dose you with Gray Wolf you won’t be able to stop yourself from tasting her tender flesh.”
All the blood drained from my face. Even the marrow in my bones felt cold.
“Oh no,” Bane said with a giggle. “You both look so upset. Does this mean you’re fucking again?”
Over the years, I’d had perps say all sorts of things to try to distract and unsettle me. Bane had just misfired by a long shot. I shook off the specter of John’s getting potioned and focused on getting us both out of there before it could happen. “Yeah. We’re fucking.” My tone was flat and dry as an Arizona highway. “You figured us out.”
Volos cleared his throat. “Might I suggest we come to some sort of compromise?”
Bane and I both looked at him. John’s posture was casual and his tone was formal, but the steel in his eyes made him look every inch a man capable of wreaking revenge of biblical proportions. If I hadn’t wanted to kill Bane so much myself, I would have felt bad for him.
“No compromises,” Bane said.
Bane raised his gun as casually as a man checking the time. With dawning horror, I watched him squeeze the trigger. An instant later, the bullet punched a large, red hole in the center of Michael Hanson’s chest.
The cop’s eyes widened in surprise. The betrayal had only just begun to register on his face when blood seeped from his lips. And then, just as quickly, the light dimmed in his traitor’s eyes. His body collapsed into the steel worktable. Glass beakers shattered across the floor along with his blood.
Regardless of whether Hanson was coerced or aiding Bane willingly, watching a fellow cop get murdered so easily, so coldly by that psychopath made my blood run icy-hot. Suddenly it felt a lot less as if we’d make it out of there alive.
“Now, where were we?” Bane asked, his tone bored. “Oh yes. I was going to start the game.” He moved, as if to get the Gray Wolf from a pocket.
“Why did Abe get involved in this?” John asked quickly, desperately.
Bane looked up with a slow smile. “Simple: He wanted revenge.”
“Why?” We needed to keep him talking. I shifted ever so slowly toward my right, hoping maybe I could reach some sort of makeshift weapon from the supplies.
“If he hadn’t testified against Abe, then none of this would have happened.” Bane pointed the gun at Volos. “You should have kept your fucking mouth shut.”
My eyes jerked toward John. He looked resigned. “So trying to frame John was Abe’s idea?” I asked.
“No! I went to him once this asshole announced plans to take over my turf.” Bane was panting with anger now. “Abe made the potion, sure, but it was my idea. I was finally going to earn the markers to take over the Cauldron. Just had to take Volos out of the picture.”
“How did Danny figure into this?” I asked, my voice hard and low.
“Payback for arresting Hieronymus and blackmailing him into betraying his daddy.” Bane shrugged. “Plus I needed to get you out of the game. Figured the kid would either kill you or you’d just walk away. But as usual you were too stubborn to know what was good for you.”
“Jesus, Bane.” I pushed aside the baiting words as it all clicked together. Bane had failed to take out Volos. He’d failed to hold onto his turf in the Cauldron. And he’d gone after Danny—Abe’s own blood—to try to fix his fuckups. “Do you have any idea what Abe’s going to do to you once he finds out you screwed up everything? You won’t survive a day in Crowley.”
I hated Bane more than anyone, but the threat of Abraxas’s vengeance was enough to make me pity him. Failure not only wasn’t an option—it was a crime punishable by extreme pain and a slow death.
“I won’t be going to Crowley.” He sounded so sure of himself. And that’s when it hit me: Bane was screwed only if this last-ditch effort didn’t work. Abe might be pissed the original plan failed, but if Bane could pull off a scheme to make Volos hit the evening news as a werewolf cop-killer, well, even Abe couldn’t stay mad too long. Especially if the cameras just happened to catch the BPD shooting Volos dead. “Abe won’t be able to stay mad at me. Especially when he finds I took out Volos and his traitor niece.”
I frowned. “Abe gave me his blessing when I left.”
“He figured you’d come running back for help, but then you had to go and become a fucking cop.” He shook his head, as if he was cursing his dumb luck. “When I found out that asshole MEA snitch attacked you, I tried to clear you so you’d stay away from the case. But then you had to go and get yourself assigned to the task force. Always sticking your nose where it’s not wanted. And you!” Bane stared at Volos with wild eyes. “The Sangs should have ruled the Cauldron after Abraxas went to prison. Instead, you decided to get in bed with the government and steal our corners and tunnels from us.” He pulled a second gun out of his rear waistband with his left hand.