Bones tapped his chin. It wouldn't be an easy job. The LaLauries were infamous in both human and undead history. Louis was rumored to be around four hundred years old, and a powerful ghoul. Delphine was not quite two hundred, but what she lacked in Louis's age, she made up for in viciousness.
"One hundred thousand pounds," Bones said.
It was a steep enough price that Marie wouldn't feel she owed him a favor, but low enough that she'd also know it was a friend's rate. In truth, he might have done the job for nothing. The LaLauries were as nasty a pair as some of the other sods Bones had shriveled for free.
Jelani didn't even blink. "If you finish the job by Ash Wednesday, the money is yours."
That gave him just over a week. Bones finished his whiskey. No time to dawdle, then.
"You'll give me full run of the city," he said, setting his glass down. "And you'll stay out of my way unless directed. Do we have an accord?"
Jelani gave him a thin smile. "We do."
Chapter 2
The townhouse smelled of death, blood, urine, and random police officers, in that order. Bones grunted as he knelt next to one of the reddish-brown stains on the floor.
"With the stench from all the different coppers in here, I'm amazed you could even decipher the LaLauries' scent."
Jelani stayed at the top of the stairs, not venturing down to the first floor.
"They weren't only down there. They slept in the bed up here"-Jelani pointed to a room down the hall-"and sat on the couch here"-with a stiff finger at what Bones supposed was the family room.
Bones inhaled deeply, making a mental catalog of the scents. Then he leaped up the stairs in one bound, noticing Jelani's inadvertent flinch as he watched.
Right. No need to remind the fellow of what he couldn't do anymore.
"The bed and the sofa, you say?" Bones asked, changing to walk with the slowness he used when around humans. The sofa faced the telly, with a view out the balcony to the left of it. Bones went over to it and inhaled again, noting the differences-and the similarities-from the smells downstairs.
"The owner of the flat. The girl. Has her body been found elsewhere?"
Jelani gave him a slight smile. "What makes you think this wasn't the boy's place?"
Bones shot Jelani an annoyed look. "There's a feminine scent all over this flat. This wasn't where the boy lived, though it's mostly his blood on the first floor."
"There's a picture of the girl in her bedroom." Jelani's voice was neutral, as if they were discussing the weather. "She's beautiful. I imagine she's still alive. For now."
Bones stared at Jelani. All his instincts told him that the ghoul was hiding something. Bones wondered if he'd known the girl. Jelani was acting as if none of this affected him, but his scent was of fear... and hatred. If he'd been emotionally attached to the flat's owner, that would make sense.
Or he could just be frightened of what would happen if Bones was unable to kill the LaLauries by the time Marie returned. Since Marie had left him in charge, it would be considered Jelani's failure as well.
"You've never told me how you know Delphine and Louis's scent to recognize it," Bones stated.
Something flashed across Jelani's face before it became smooth as dark glass again.
"I was married in the eighteen sixties," Jelani replied. "She was a slave in the St. Francisville house, which happened to be where the LaLauries fled after they left the Quarter. While I was fighting in the Union Army, Delphine and Louis tortured and ate my wife. I arrived too late to save her, but I'll never forget their scent."
Bones didn't blink. "Your arms and legs?"
"Amputated after the battle of NewMarketHeights. They told me it was a miracle I survived at all. Majestic changed me afterward, at my request. I wanted to live long enough to one day see the LaLauries die."
Jelani's expression was pure defiance now, as if he expected Bones to berate him for changing into a ghoul solely for revenge.
"I was turned into a vampire against my will," Bones replied evenly. "Brassed me off for a good long while, then I got over it. Can't change how we ended up as we are, so why bother fretting over it? If you're looking for judgment, look elsewhere."
Jelani seemed surprised. "I hadn't heard that about you," he murmured.
Bones let out a short laugh. "Why would you? It's not the sort of tale to be bandying about, is it?"
"Don't you hate your sire for that?"
I did.
For years, Bones had hated Ian for turning him into a vampire. But Ian hadn't done it to be malicious-he'd done it out of a twisted sort of gratitude. If not for Bones sharing his meager food, Ian would have died on that long voyage from London to the New South Wales penal colonies, where they first met as prisoners.
But Bones wasn't about to share that with Jelani. No need to air those particulars to a ghoul he barely knew.
"I don't hate him anymore," was all Bones said.
"You have a house in the city," Jelani noted, changing the subject. "Will you be staying there?"
Bones shrugged. "Not after tonight. You can ring my cell, if you need me. I'll send word when it's finished."
Jelani smiled, and it was cold. "Don't underestimate them. Delphine took the boy during an evening walking tour of the Quarter. He was seen leaving with a dark-haired girl right after the tour had stopped at her former mansion."
Has a sick sense of humor, does she? Bones thought sardonically. Their old home was about the last place he'd expect to find the LaLauries hunting, but it told Bones quite a bit. They were arrogant, which was good. Arrogance and a sense of invincibility were two large points in his favor toward killing them.
"How many ghouls and vampires live in the city?" Bones asked.
Jelani mulled it for a moment. "Year round, a few hundred. At Mardi Gras, that number doubles, easily. Humans aren't the only ones to enjoy the city's festival."
Bugger. Which was why it was an ideal time of year for the LaLauries to hunt, of course. The abundance of people, alive and undead, made them blend that much more into a crowd.
Of course, it would make Bones blend, too. He felt confident he could catch them. What he wasn't certain about, was how many people they might kill before he did.
"I'll ring you when it's finished," Bones repeated to Jelani, and walked out of the blood-soaked townhouse.
Chapter 3
The afternoon sun glinted off the countless beads people wore around their necks. The streets weren't completely clogged yet. More people would venture out once it got dark. It amused Bones that a vampire could be about at this time of day, yet some humans let their excesses from the night before trap them in bed until dusk.