His eyes were saucer-huge. “You crazy bitch.”
“Fuckin’ A.” It was finally my turn to smile. The move made my face throb, but it was worth it.
Bane threw down the gun and raised his hands. “I want to see my attorney!”
Deep down where the root of my humanity resided, something snapped. It released something dark and acid into my veins. The taste of metal on my tongue and my vision went static tinged with red. The fact he thought it could be that easy. That he could cause so much destruction and pain and just raise his hands and be protected by the law. Why did he get that when the innocent did not?
I thought of my brother lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Depending on tubes and bags to keep him alive. I thought about Marvin’s body bleeding out on the sidewalk in front of Volos Towers. I thought about Ferris Harkins, who thought he was helping the MEA, only to get shot down because he’d been potioned by a real monster.
I stalked forward, my gun pointed at his forehead as if it were a bull’s-eye. He took a cautious step back, another. His eyes narrowed when I didn’t lower my weapon. “Read me my rights, Officer.”
I blinked rapidly through the rage blurring my vision. Sweat coated my forehead and my hands trembled with staunched anger. “You have no rights.” Another step forward.
He shuffled back some more. “Read me my rights!”
“You gave them up the minute you came after my family.” My voice was cold and low. Another confident step forward.
“But”—his tone went from demanding to cajoling—“we are family. Uncle Abe’s my cousin. That makes us what?”
“Enemies.” I laughed bitterly. “How convenient that you could ignore shared blood when you stuck a needle full of poison in Danny’s jugular.” I tightened my hand on the gun. “Give the devil my regards.”
Boom!
A loud, drawn-out scream followed. But it was drowned out by the cacophony of doors being kicked in and running boot heels. Smoke filled the place and chaos reigned as what seemed like hundreds of bodies spilled into the space. In reality, it was the MEA team combined with a handful of BPD officers. Light flared inside the warehouse, forcing me to blink.
“Kate!” Morales called. He barreled out of the smoke and ran toward me. I blinked at the cavalry in confusion. He slowed and took in the scene.
He placed his left palm over my trembling hands and forced me to lower the hot gun. I didn’t fight him but I also couldn’t help wishing he’d come in thirty seconds later.
“Help!” A pitiful shout rose from the hole, followed by a raspy cough.
Morales frowned and edged to the perimeter of the large hole in the floor. He glanced down for a long moment. When he looked up at me, he looked puzzled. “What happened here?”
“The crazy bitch tried to murder me!” Bane’s voice filtered up from the story below.
Morales raised a brow at me.
My hands were shaking as I pointed to the gun he’d taken from me. “Salt flare.”
Then Morales turned and walked over to the prone form of John Volos. “Did you shoot him with the flare, too?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “I shot him with real bullets.” Quickly, I added, “But I knew he had on an antiballistics shirt.”
Gardner had been walking up behind Morales when I spoke. “How’d you know he was wearing it?” she asked.
“I saw it peeking out from under his shirt when he attacked me.” I didn’t tell them about Volos showing it to me at the hospital. Doing so now would only raise more suspicion since I hadn’t mentioned John’s visit to anyone.
“Why did he attack you?” Gardner continued with her questions. I didn’t like that interrogator’s mask she was wearing.
I sighed. “Because Bane potioned him with Gray Wolf.” Both their eyes flew to Volos’s still form.
A groan sounded from the ground. The three of us skidded over to see what was up with John. He was pale and sweating, but at least the tufts of hair had receded and his face had morphed back into its normal shape. His eyes blinked open and closed several times and he coughed.
“Mr. Volos? Are you okay?”
He managed a nod. “Kate,” he gasped, “saved me.”
Gardner’s suspicious gaze flew to mine. “What I want to know is why you were here in the first place.”
I paused, my mind going totally blank. Mental and physical exhaustion had shut down the part of my brain that allowed me to bullshit off the top of my head. I could not think of one good reason for me to be in that brewery that wouldn’t get me kicked off the team.
“I called her,” John said into the silence that followed Gardner’s question. “I figured out the antipotion for Gray Wolf and I wanted to give her a sample to save Danny.”
I squinted at him. It wasn’t as if I was in any position to take credit for figuring out the antipotion, but I resented how his covering for me painted him as a real fucking hero.
“That true, Kate?” Morales asked.
I nodded. “I guess Bane had been tailing me.”
Gardner sucked on her teeth for a moment, as if she expected me to suddenly break down and admit to some sort of major crime. I just stared at her with a look fueled by adrenaline crash and shock.
“All right,” she said finally. “Morales, get medics to help Mr. Volos. Have them check out Kate, too, while you’re at it.” When I opened my mouth to protest, she snapped, “Don’t. That potion Mez put in the amulet will wear off soon and then you’ll wish you were dead.”
A commotion came from over near the lab. The uniforms had found Hanson’s body. Shadi came running toward us, dressed in combat boots, jeans, and a black turtleneck. “What happened there?” she demanded.
Already the mood in the place was shifting now that the cops knew one of their own had died. Expectant gazes zeroed in on me as I debated telling the truth. Gardner must have seen something in my face because she suddenly stepped in. “We’ll discuss it once you’ve had medical attention,” she said to me. “Call Eldritch,” she said quietly to Shadi.
Then she turned to the room at large and yelled, “Focus on getting the job done! We can mourn once we get the evidence to make the case.”
They accepted this with solemn nods and got back to work.
Morales had been scanning the scene while she talked. As Gardner went off to oversee Hanson’s body, he turned to me. “Back up—why did you shoot Volos if you dosed him with antipotion?”