He tapped his temple. "Someone in my line of work remembers all the little details." He pursed his lips. "They did an excellent job of masking themselves. I would never have guessed."

"I've fulfilled my part of the agreement," I said. "Clear the bounties and leave my father alone."

"Done," he said, pulling out his smartphone and tapping on it. "I've sent a message to my person who works the bounty boards. His name will be removed by the end of the day."

One huge weight lifted from my chest. But another remained, a stubborn lump of stress that wouldn't go away until I forced it to. "You need to stop Maximus," I said. "He's just going to keep doing this over and over again until we're overrun with vamplings. Even if you get rid of his recruiters, it won't stop him from sending more. It won't keep other schools safe."

Underborn nodded but I could have sworn I saw the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Just as I told you, Justin."

"You knew this would happen," I said in a growl. "Did you engineer everything? Did you arrange it so Maximus would infect Brad, you sick son of a bitch?"

He shook his head. "I had nothing to do with this remarkable turn of events, although I must admit I was toying with the idea of arranging something similar which would force you to engage Maximus."

I stopped dead in my tracks, Elyssa halting beside me. We both stared at the man, me with a mix of horror and rage.

"What kind of monster are you?" Elyssa said, beating me to the punch.

"I am a man of necessity, my dear. One who will do what it takes to make sure our world as we know it survives."

"Maybe you didn't hear me," I said, resisting the urge to attack the assassin in full view of the other students. "I said you need to do it. Maximus isn't just my problem. What he's doing will affect the Overworld and noms alike."

Underborn resumed a steady march behind the other students, and we followed. "I've already explained why I cannot involve myself. My hands are tied. But the information you've given me will point me toward the vampire who is turning people into vampires for Maximus since he's obviously incapable of it himself."

His statement jarred a memory loose. "Ryland tested Felicia, one of Maximus's people. She told me that he'd personally turned her. But Ryland's test pointed to a vampire over two-hundred years old."

"Interesting." Underborn folded his arms. "I must test the blood of these female recruiters of his and see if the same blood master turned them as well. Such information will certainly narrow things down." He peered through the crowd a moment before turning back to me. "In the meantime, I suggest you think about ways to personally take care of Maximus."

"I'm done with your games. You take care of him."

"No doubt you wish to find your mother."

I feigned surprise. "Your powers of deduction are legendary."

He returned a tight smile. "You'll never reach her, you know. Not without my help."

"This is the part where you tell me to go after Maximus in exchange for that information, right?" I slashed the air with my hand. "Forget it. I'll figure it out on my own."

"You can be a rather obstinate young man." Underborn shrugged. "Have it your way, but know my information could greatly shorten your search. All you need do is take care of Maximus and his mysterious benefactor."

"You put a hit on my father just to 'test' me," I said making air quotes, "and then forced me to do more dirty work for you."

"I am the archer, and you are my arrow, Mr. Slade. I see nothing wrong with a little inducement."

I ground my teeth. "Has anybody told you you're insane?"

"Not to my face, no." He smiled. "Mr. Slade, you've helped immeasurably. By aiding me, you are helping yourself. Removing Maximus from this complicated equation will help you even further and possibly expose his accomplice. Do I need to write this down for you, or can you reason out the ramifications yourself? "

I bit back a smart response and replaced it with another. "In case you've forgotten, I'm brand-spanking new to this while you've been doing it for who knows how long. So don't patronize me and don't expect any favors, either. What I do, I do for those I care about, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say about you. "

"My reasons are my own, Mr. Slade. In any case, I suggest you keep a low profile for the time being. There will be many questions over the next few days and, considering the corruption in this despicable little community, a political catharsis shortly behind. You will not want to be caught up in this scandal."

Nightliss meowed as if to remind me of the recorder. I pulled it out and showed it to Underborn. "Good thing I recorded everything that happened in the locker room."

Surprised flickered on his face and vanished almost before it could register. "Interesting foresight, Mr. Slade. I'm surprised they didn't search you." He gave me a meaningful look. "I assume nothing we've discussed is on this recorder."

I tucked it away and recommenced walking well behind the other students as the long line trundled across the school campus and across the nearby highway. "You think I'm dumb enough to record us and then show you the recorder?"

"In that case, might I suggest you make several copies?"

"I already planned on it." Actually, I hadn't, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing a cat had thought things out better than I had.

Elyssa poked a finger into a hole on the front of my shirt next to my neck. She grabbed my arm and looked at my back. "Oh my god, Justin! Were you shot?"

I'd almost forgotten about my wound in the panicked minutes following Skinner's attempt on her life. "I guess so. Did it heal?"

She inspected my skin, pressing a hand to my back and chest. "Looks like the bullet made a clean exit." Her eyes softened. "You took a bullet for me."

"Did I earn brownie points?"

"Uh, that's off the brownie points scale, even if you can heal fast." She quirked an eyebrow. "I'll have to get creative with my rewards."

Heat flushed up my neck as my imagination ran wild. I quickly reigned in my erotic thoughts because I wasn't finished grilling Underborn just yet. "What's quicksilver?" I asked him. The only quicksilver I knew of was mercury. If killing vamplings was that easy, I'd carry the stuff everywhere with me.

He stepped around a car parked at the curb, his eyes on the disorderly line of students ahead. "Think of it as a deadly supernatural poison."

"So a dart of the stuff could kill me or Elyssa?"

He shook his head. "No, such a small amount would severely sicken a vampire or dhampyr. For you, it would do far less damage. At least a pint is required to kill a full-grown subject."

"But the vamplings—"

"It has a far different effect on them due to the infection in their bloodstream. For some reason, quicksilver has a violent reaction to the vampling virus, making it highly effective at eradicating the infection."

We reached the four-lane road bordering the high school and crossed, heading for a large church parking lot across the road. "Where do I get this stuff?" I had a feeling Maximus wasn't through making vamplings. Sick dread coiled in my stomach as I thought about the potential damage the vampling virus could do if unleashed on an unsuspecting population.

"It's extremely hard to find anywhere. Ancient alchemists were said to have the knowledge to manufacture it, but now all we have are rare geological deposits and the few Templar repositories which still have meager stocks." He raised an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, there were known deposits of this substance located at Thunder Rock."

Nyte, Ash, and Katie appeared from the throng of students as we reached the church parking lot across the road from the school. Ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars roared past and screeched onto the school grounds while others lined up across the highway to barricade the closest intersections from traffic.

"What happened?" Nyte asked, peering across the road.

I looked at him and shrugged. "Don't know."

Katie's knowing green eyes met mine. I returned a look which hopefully got the message across for her to zip it.

As I turned back around to face Underborn so I could grill him on a few more items of interest, my gaze locked onto a face that trapped the breath in my throat. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. Standing across the parking lot from us, my mom looked at me for several long seconds before turning and walking away.

Chapter 35

I didn't dare take my eyes off her for fear I'd lose sight of her blonde hair in the crowd of students.

"I'll be right back," I said and pushed my way through the dense throng.

"Where are you going?" Elyssa said.

"Wait here," I said my eyes locked on the figure with golden hair.

I cleared the huddled masses and broke free. Across the large parking lot, my mom stood next to her car. Not caring if people saw me or not, I ran faster until the soft treads of my tennis shoes sounded like the staccato rhythm of a crazed drummer against the asphalt. She leaned against her car and watched me approach, making no move to leave.

Fifteen feet or so from her, I slowed. Her blue eyes gazed at me as cold and emotionless as the stony look on her face. She pulled a white wand from her jacket pocket and made a circular motion with it. I took two steps more and bounced off an invisible barrier.

"Close enough," she said, her voice tight with anger.

"Mom? What's wrong?" I probed the invisible barrier but found no edges to it. "Why are you blocking me?"

"I want you to deliver a message to David."

"To Dad? Your husband?" I pounded my fists ineffectually at the solidified air. It flexed and bent, absorbing anything I could throw at it. I gave up and returned her glare. "Who are you? You're not Mom."