Free Viper Moon by Lee Roland Page B

Theron’s face. He glanced at them for a second, then back at Michael. He stared at Michael for a long time, then said, “Hammer had them. I asked, but he said they were for a special buyer and I didn’t have enough money.”
    I knew Hammer, a minor drug peddler and pimp. Not known for kidnapping, but I supposed he could be expanding his business.
    I’ve seriously injured a few Bastinados and perverts who got in my way, even killed a couple in self-defense. I drew my knife and decided I’d make my first true murder a man who prostituted children. Michael caught my wrist.
    “Don’t bother. Someone will take his place. Better a familiar evil than someone new.”
    I pulled against Michael’s unyielding hand. Finally, I relaxed.
    True, I knew how Theron operated, and that knowledge helped me find Maxie Fountain. But I still wanted to risk it all and kill him anyway. “You get a pass for now,” I snarled at Theron. “Courtesy of the Archangel. Next time you might not be so lucky.”
    “Who is Hammer’s buyer?” Michael demanded of Theron.
    “I don’t know. I don’t know.” Theron’s head drooped.
    I sheathed my knife and pointed at the blood on Michael’s sleeve. “Is that bad?”
    He stared at the blood as if seeing it for the first time. “No. Come on. He doesn’t know anything else.”
    We left Theron sitting in the chair. Michael led me down the stairs and through the eardrum-bruising turmoil of the Goblin. He didn’t exactly hurry, but he made a steady-moving beeline toward the door. In minutes, we were outside, in the Jag, and rolling back into the relatively blessed silence on River Street.
    I laid my fingers on his wounded arm. What little blood remained came off to reveal smooth skin. I sat back and stared straight ahead. Human? Sure he was . Violent? Yes. Evil? I didn’t know—yet.
    Michael had lifted a man who had to weigh two hundred fifty pounds or more off his feet and tossed him across a room with less effort than a child throwing a doll. I could do it, but not that easily, not even with the strength the Mother gave me when I agreed to serve her. He’d also cowed Pericles Theron like a puppy scolded for shitting on the carpet, then rubbed his nose in it.
    “What’s your place in the Barrows hierarchy, Michael?”
    “I’m a businessman.” His soft laughter rippled the air.
    “And Theron? How do you know him?”
    “He’s a businessman, too. He’s nowhere near as powerful as people believe. I took you to him because I didn’t want you to waste time—or get killed for nothing. The two you’re looking for are too old for him.”
    If Michael belonged to the Barrows, how deep did the roots go? I had to ask the question then. “Why did your mother try to kill you?”
    “Why don’t you go ask her? Her name is Elise Ramekin. She’s a patient at Avondale Manor.”
    Avondale Manor was a high-class private hospital for the criminally insane. Like the Archangel, the asylum catered to the wealthy. And Michael? Mystery upon mystery.
    Who was he? He’d invited me to investigate his past. He wanted me to know something, but for some reason he wouldn’t say it outright. I’d have to follow the trail he’d marked for me, but I’d be damn sure to keep one eye over my shoulder.
    “Okay. I’ll visit her. I owe you that. More than that.”
    Michael laughed, smooth as the fur of a black cat. “How should I collect on that debt?”
    “What? You mean I have to fuck you to be even, Archangel? You have a scorecard somewhere? What’s the going rate? How many pieces of ass for how many pieces of information?”
    “You misunderstand. You don’t owe me sex, no matter how much I desire you. You owe me the courtesy of remembering my answer to your question. I’m just as human as you are. Look to yourself, Cassandra. Look deep inside.”
    Michael stopped the car at a red light. He reached over and stroked a hand over my hair, then ran it down my arm and twined his fingers in mine. I didn’t