“I’ve got it,” she said. She sounded like she was on surer footing now. Covering shit up was what we did. “Don’t worry about Teddy; I’ll make sure Abby gets him somewhere safe.” A pause, and when her voice returned there was a new note of coolness in it. “And I suppose, in return for saving him, you want Molly exonerated.”

“Uh . . .” Stupid, stupid Scarlett. See, this is why I sucked at everything political. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Jesse shot me a questioning look, but I just shook my head, my thoughts racing. Here it was, the golden opportunity to save my friend. No more running around, no more violence, and I didn’t even have to stop Count Asshat if I didn’t want to.

All I had to do was leverage the life of a man I liked and respected.

Of course, Hayne could survive as a vampire. He would just miss most of his kid’s life and lose his relationship with Kirsten. So it wasn’t like it was a death sentence if I refused to do it. More like an un-death sentence, pun intended.

Focus, Scarlett. I gave myself the time to take a deep breath and push it out slowly. “Honestly, Kirsten? No. I want Molly safe, but I will do this for Hayne either way,” I said into the phone. Silence on the other end. “But you should keep in mind,” I added, because what the hell, “that without Molly, Hayne would have bled out in Dashiell’s driveway tonight.”

“I understand,” came her strangled voice. I hung up the phone.

Chapter 34

When we pulled into the driveway of the Marina del Rey residence, I spotted Matthias’ vintage Cadillac already in the driveway. The three of us were hurrying inside when Jesse put out an arm, stopping me. Shadow wheeled around and gave him the stink eye. Jesse dropped his hand.

“What?” I asked.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go in right away,” he pointed out. “If he’s trying to use her boundary magic to bring her back . . .”

“Oh. Right.” Null, here. I could probably go into the house and try to keep Shadow’s cell out of my radius, but there wasn’t much point in risking it. What if they’d moved her out to the sofa or something? “Can you go in and figure out where we stand?” I asked. Jesse was already moving toward the house, with Shadow at his heels. I guess she wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

A couple of minutes later, Eli came out of the house, trudging toward me with his shoulders slumped. I looked at him in alarm. “Is she dead . . . -er?”

“No,” he said, sounding tired. “Matthias did something with his little collection of drugs, and her heart just started beating again. He’s going to give her an adrenaline shot to wake her up faster. You shouldn’t come in until she’s conscious.”

I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“We should talk, Scarlett.”

I swallowed. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of one stupid joke or quip that could deflect the tension. Not even a movie reference. “You’re right,” I said. “But can it wait until tomorrow? I’m kind of drowning here.”

He really looked like he wanted to object, but he shrugged sadly. “Fine. I’m going to the Trials to help Will with the pups.”

There was something defeated in his expression that I really didn’t like. I stood on tiptoes to kiss him. “I love you,” I said.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “I know.”

I watched him head for his pickup with a sinking feeling I couldn’t quite explain. I was still standing there a few minutes later, when Jesse came looking for me.

“Scarlett?” he said.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“She’s awake.” He sounded a little awed, like in his heart he hadn’t really believed Matthias could do it. Couldn’t blame him there.

“Okay,” I said, giving myself a little shake. “Yeah. Let’s go talk to the big bad witch.”

Matthias met us just inside the doorway, carrying an old-fashioned black doctor’s bag. Where would you even find something like that? Probably from a vampire, I concluded. “How is she?” I asked him.

Matthias was handsome in a bland-but-excessive way that always reminded me of the actors who play doctors on nighttime soaps. If he were an actor with even a tiny bit of talent, he would be starring on his own Grey’s Anatomy spinoff for sure. “Alive, but barely,” he reported. “The bullet that your werewolf friend took out did not actually pierce her heart, which is good, but it did sever her aorta. I inserted a stent, and by the time I had her closed back up, her heart started beating again.” He shook his head a little, smiling. “First time operating on a dead patient. Boundary witches are interesting.”

Yeah, I didn’t love his tone just then. As useful as Matthias could be, he always had just a whiff of “mad scientist” around him, like what he really wanted to do was cut up half the Old World and experiment with our parts.

“Riiiight,” I said. “Is it okay for me to go near her now?”

“Yes. The stent should keep her alive, but she cannot be jostled or move around. She needs to stay on that cot.”

“What if she has to pee?” I asked.

“I put in a catheter,” he said, amused. “It will last six to twelve hours, and then the bag needs to be changed. Dashiell should be able to find you a nurse, if you can’t do it yourself.”

I thanked him as I hustled him toward the door. Matthias told me he’d send his bill to Dashiell, which would probably be entertaining for me later.

Katia looked like hell. The phrase “death warmed over” was accurate on many levels. She was lying on the camp-style cot with every pillow in the house propped under her, and a sheet draped over her nude upper body. She still wore her pants, though blood had dripped into them. Her skin, which had been a healthy tan when we’d first met, was now bone white with just the slightest tint of green. The magic that kept her from dying didn’t actually speed her healing, so she wasn’t going to be a threat to anyone for quite a while.

The cot filled up almost half the room, and Matthias had pulled in a kitchen chair on top of that. All in all, I was reminded of the cell where we’d visited Molly. Had that really been earlier today? Jesse took the chair, and I leaned on the wall inside the doorway. Katia’s sullen, sunken eyes glowered at us.

“We weren’t properly introduced before,” Jesse said conversationally, “but I’m Jesse, and this is Scarlett. Who are you?”

No response.

“Okay,” Jesse said easily. “How about we start with what we already know? Your name is Katia, you’re obviously originally from Russia, and you’re a boundary witch.”

“And she works for Count Asshat,” I reminded him.

“Yes, of course, thank you.” He turned back to Katia. “You’re helping a vampire enslave women and pimp them out for fun and profit.”

Katia’s eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, but then snapped it shut. She shook her head with a tight smile. Nice try. “You’re a witch,” I pointed out. “Not a vampire. Why are you serving him?”

Her lips were pressed together in a thin line. “You also helped this same vampire frame a friend of ours,” Jesse continued. “Molly. What do you have against her?”

Confusion flashed across her face, so fast I almost missed it. “You do know Molly, right?” I asked. “You’ve met?”

I couldn’t be sure, but I didn’t see any spark of recognition from Katia, like “Oh yes, Molly, that bitch who ruined my life.”

Jesse must have thought the same thing, because he said, “Did she do something to hurt you?”

Maybe it was the soft, sympathetic tone, but Katia actually shook her head slightly. I resisted the urge to fist-pump. We had contact.

“If she didn’t do anything to you, why set up Molly?” he persisted. “There are plenty of vampires in Los Angeles.”

“She lived with those girls. Good candidates,” Katia answered, giving a little shrug. “Your friend was a . . . what’s the word? A patsy.”

Jesse looked at me, and I could read his thoughts. What if she didn’t actually know anything else? If she was just a . . . henchwoman, or whatever, it was possible that Count Asshat really hadn’t explained his motives or his plans to her. If that was the case, we were fucked. And we had just wasted a lot of time reanimating a dead witch for nothing.