Taste a Thousand Deaths (Marionettes of Myth #3)

Chapter Sixteen

The muted TV flicked between different angles of the tall black building. Whether the shot came from the street or the helicopter that wove above the neighboring skyscrapers, it was impossible to miss the mess and the tangle of shadows and people that clustered on the ground level, a clot in the veins of traffic. The obnoxious breaking news banner left no question.

Orion hadn't just set Yuuhi, Nekane and Leon free.

In Jason's recovery room, which was filled to the brim with the scent of his morphine and the muddy, wet dog smell that the rest of them exuded, the others still had surprise left in them as they watched the screen.

Ave didn't.

With an arm on Jason's bed, her hand resting on his still unconscious body, she could only press her lips together as her hand wrapped around her jaw.

She should have known better. Orion was, after all, vying for winner of the world's longest game of cat and...well, not mouse. But if anyone could do this, it was him. If anyone could do this and have no fucks to give, it was certainly him.

Maybe he had released some actual Grade-A, real quality villains in there. Maybe the five lords of the vampire world really had locked up people like Vampire Hannibal and Vampire Hitler and Vampire Dahmer.

But how many more Leons, Nekanes, Yuuhis, and even Jasons were down there as well?

Tian shifted in his sleep, sitting in a chair beside Kali's, his head on her shoulder. Her eyes never closed. Ave was almost convinced she hadn't so much as blinked since they had arrived at the hospital, and the way she held absolutely still made a perfect pillow for Tian to doze against.

Hours passed. Murky daylight trickled into the room. No one asked Ave about Orion, though she could see it burning Toivo up like a fever. He and Carmi retrieved food from the cafeteria, stocking up for what everyone knew would be a long stay. Appetites were minimal. Zia munched on saltines and even Carmi only gnawed on his breakfast eggs.

But then Zia stood, the remote in her hand, and she switched off the mute on the TV. The news anchor's face did a poor job of masking apprehension as his voice came to his lips. "—and authorities are confirming that many of the Demon Allegiance representatives had vanished, unreported, over the past few months. So far, little else has been confirmed about the body discovered early this morning, but it is believed to be head representative Mazin Castor, who has captained the Allegiance for the past century."

As Tian rubbed the sleep from his face, Kali slowly rose from the chair, her gaze tethered to the screen as the reporter added, "Officials are remaining mum about the collapse of the Allegiance and the whereabouts of the other eleven representatives as the investigation continues."

Elliot's chin lifted, the sluggishness fading from his eyes as he absorbed what he'd heard.

The words didn't make sense to Ave. They were distant. Empty.

Mazin?

No, they hadn't seen him very long ago.

He wasn't just a body, he was a person.

Kali moved to the windows, as if she would be able to see the commotion, as if she'd be able to find Mazin and prove for herself that he wasn't just a body, too. She couldn't. There was nothing to see but the other towering medical buildings and the street below. The lights and the television flickered as her fingers coiled into fists against the glass.