Chapter 7 - Petal and Thorn

Julian walked back into the precinct in the afternoon, about an hour or two after leaving Arcana Augurum. He'd eaten a quick, greasy lunch and had come back in to check in with Abigail about what she found, if anything, at the 'Rosebud Lounge'. He'd spent a long time trying to come up with what he was going to tell Abigail from questioning the imprint of Jenna left over in the djed, and he'd decided to tell her just a tiny portion of what he'd learned. As for the stolen djed, Julian had left that at the shop. There was an identical replacement in evidence now, and none of the human cops would be any the wiser.

As Julian approached his desk, he saw Abigail sitting there, poring over files. She brightened when she saw him, which was a surprise. He had thought she'd still be angry at him (and rightfully so, he'd been lying through his teeth in most of their conversations over the past couple weeks). His partner had her blonde hair tied back and despite the exhaustion obvious in her posture, she seemed eager.

"How'd it go at that address?" Julian asked, and Abigail shrugged.

"It went alright. They knew Amaya, but they didn't know Miguel. I did get access to their exterior security cameras though, and was able to confirm that Amaya did leave work alone, so the kidnapping didn't take place at the Lounge."

"Well, that's something." Julian said, and Abigail nodded.

"How about you? Anything on your mysterious Jenna Downey lead?"

"Yes, actually. I found out she was shopping at the Grove when she was taken. Or had maybe just left the Grove and was heading home." Julian answered truthfully. Abigail startled, like she'd expected his lead to have gone nowhere. She wouldn't be wrong, most of his leads did go nowhere recently, at least as far as she knew.

"How'd you find that out? Her parents hadn't known where she was." Abigail frowned.

"Yup, I managed to talk to some friends of hers who had known where she was." Julian lied smoothly.

"You get names and numbers? I'd like to ask some questions too." Abigail said, and Julian winced.

"Uh, no, I don't have any of that. They wanted to remain anonymous. They were pretty shaken up by Jenna's death, they didn't want to potentially become targets." Julian tried to come up with something on the spot.

Abigail sighed, and nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I can't imagine. Those girls are what, high school seniors? That's a lot to handle at that age."

"Agreed." Julian said, trying to keep the relief from his voice.

"So, what's next for us then?" Abigail sighed. "Any more mysterious leads in you?"

"Not at the moment." Julian shook his head. "I'll have to consult my crystal ball."

That won a smile from Abigail, though she forced it down again instantly. "Jules, I did want to thank you for sharing that info from Miguel's wallet. I don't know why you've been so damn secretive lately, but it's nice to know you still think of me as your partner at least a little."

Julian took a deep breath, wondering what in the hell he could say to make Abigail not feel that way. "It's nothing about you, Abigail. I trust you completely. There's just... there's parts of me I don't want you, or anyone, to see."

"I wondered if that was the case." Abigail admitted. "You have some kind of criminal history, don't you?"

Julian paused to consider that. That hadn't been where he was trying to go with this, but... "I made some bad choices when I was younger. It left me with a lot of regrets, but also a lot of contacts."

"So that's where you go, huh?" Abigail frowned. "I'm not sure how I feel about you getting information from criminals, Julian."

"If it helps to catch these killers, I don't care who I have to ask." Julian shrugged.

"Killers, plural?" Abigail noted, and Julian wanted to smack himself.

"I meant the killers for all of our cases, not just the serial killer." Julian said hastily, and Abigail's pretty green eyes narrowed at him, but she nodded slowly.

"That said, I'm at a loss right now." Julian said. "I don't really know where else to go with this case. There's just about nothing to go off of."

"Tell me about it." Abigail scowled. "But, after you discovered that Amaya Lake knew Miguel Ortiz, it got me thinking. What if there are connections between the victims, but the people who are connected to them just haven't been taken yet?"

"Like a big pool of people they're taking from randomly?" Julian frowned.

"Maybe so." Abigail nodded. "If we're just now discovering a connection, maybe more will pop up."

"And these connections are centered on this Rosebud Lounge, you think?" Julian asked.

"That, or maybe everyone's connected to that mysterious diamond in danger." Abigail recalled. "Miguel and Amaya were obviously trying to protect it, whatever it is, so maybe the others were involved in protecting the diamond, too?"

"Could the diamond be something at the Lounge?" Julian mused.

"Maybe, but I searched that place with a diamond in mind, and I came up empty." Abigail said firmly. "Maybe there's some part of the building I missed, but I was thorough."

"Bet the owners just loved you." Julian grinned. He may be the werewolf of the two of them, but Abigail could be like a dog with a bone sometimes.

"They might not have." Abigail admitted, making Julian laugh. "But, no, I didn't find anything interesting there."

Makes sense. The real juicy stuff was likely on the other side of the business, the veiled Petal and Thorn that Julian would be checking out tonight with Asha.

Julian tilted his head back and forth. "Alright, why don't you get with your CCTV stalker and try and see if you can pin down Jenna."

"What day was she taken?" Abigail asked.

"It was that Saturday right before we found her. Just after dinner time, she said." Julian said without thinking, then hastily realized his mistake. "Her friends said, I mean."

"I knew what you meant." Abigail scoffed. "It's not like I thought you meant Jenna."

"Yeah, that'd be... that'd be crazy." Julian shook his head. Abigail gave him a weird look, but she nodded.

"I'll go talk with Daniel, and we'll try and see if we can spot her being taken." Abigail said, with a pointed glare that meant she probably didn't like his CCTV stalker comment. "What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm gonna review the notes we have on the other victims, see if there's any links to each other or to this Rosebud Lounge." Julian said, and Abigail gave a nod.

"Good luck with that." she said, then headed over to see Daniel.

Julian sat down at his desk, pulling up the files on his computer. He really pored over the notes, trying to squint and make connections out of anything. He was still working hard at it when Abigail came back, shaking her head in defeat. Julian sighed, but got back to work. After all of that time, he came up empty. Other than the obvious marriage between Robert and Anna Russell and the Petal and Thorn connection between Miguel and Amaya, there seemed to be absolutely nothing connecting them. Who knows, maybe Robert was a patron of the Petal and Thorn, but Anna, Jenna, and Marina going there seemed unlikely, especially Marina, who was a bit of a hermit.

Finally, after a couple of hours of working on the case with Abigail, Julian had had enough. He stood up, shaking his head.

"Headed home?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah, gonna try and get some rest for once." Julian lied.

"Well, good luck with that. I'm gonna stay and keep working on this." Abigail said, rubbing her eyes.

"You should get some rest, too. You're not gonna magically crack it, especially not while you're dead tired." Julian told her gently.

Abigail sighed. "Maybe you're right. I dunno, seeing Amaya's sister at the crime scene this morning... just one more person we failed, you know?"

"Hey, we're gonna stop the serial killer." Julian said firmly. "We're gonna make him pay for everything he did to these people."

Abigail looked at him, and she nodded slowly.

"But we can't do that if you're falling asleep at your desk." Julian said with a nod towards the exit. "Go home, Abigail. Get some sleep."

"Alright." Abigail agreed. "I'll go home."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Julian said, and he grabbed his phone off his desk and headed for the exit himself. He had about an hour and a half before he needed to meet Asha in Santa Monica, and he wanted to get dinner before that.

———

Julian pulled up to the address that Asha had texted over, and he turned off the Cutlass, reaching down to grab his phone out of his pocket and text Asha.

Julian got out of the car, and looked towards the building. He could see a sign for the Rosebud Lounge on one side of the building, a sort of L shaped section, but there was a matching but inverted L shaped section that formed a full rectangle shaped building, though humans were only able to see the Rosebud Lounge L-shape, it seemed. Julian walked around the building to the Petal and Thorn half of the building, though there was no big sign advertising that.

Julian entered through the tinted glass double doors, emerging into a quite sultry looking spot. It used velvet and silk in liberal quantities, and offered a pretty spacious main room with a large ornate stage with brambles outlining the edge of it. The main room was dimly lit with red toned lights, and there were several dark wood doors leading out of the main room to other locations. Considering it was a brothel, Julian thought he could guess where those doors led.

The Petal and Thorn was a ghost town at just 7 in the evening, and so he made his way towards the bar. Warm lights illuminated the rows of expensive liquors on display behind the bar, and Julian peered over the bar, turning his head to try and look behind the staff door, but it was closed.

"Hello?" Julian called, looking around.

"Oh, sorry, honey, you're a little early." a soft, velvety voice said, and Julian whirled in surprise to see a woman sitting on the bar beside him all of a sudden. She looked to be in her twenties, with elaborate blonde princess curls and sparkling blue eyes. She wore a red, off the shoulder top with a sweetheart neckline that did more than hint at her breasts. From the smile she gave him, it was very clear she was a vampire.

"I'm not here to be a customer, I'm afraid." Julian said, pulling out his police badge. "I'm Detective Julian Anderson, I'm here about Amaya Lake."

"I see..." the dazzling blonde vampire said with a small frown.

"You heard about what happened to her?" Julian checked, and the blonde nodded.

"I did." she said. "Terrible tragedy, really. A lot of the girls here are devastated. Amaya was close with everyone, she was just one of those people, you know?"

"I'm sorry for your loss." Julian nodded. "I was just wondering, was there anything strange about last night? Was Amaya acting strange, was there anybody strange in here?"

The blonde furrowed her perfect brows, but she shook her head after a moment. "No, Amaya was the same as ever. And I didn't see anybody too bizarre in here, but, well, we get all kinds in here."

Supernatural brothel... Julian could certainly see how that could lead to diverse clientele. Julian opened his mouth to ask a question, but the door opened again, and Asha came in, stalking across the main room.

"Oh, Asha." the blonde said in surprise.

"Constance." the dark-skinned jengu replied with a nod of her head. Her silvery-blue eyes were out in the open, and she'd changed clothes since Julian saw her this morning. The gorgeous woman now wore a hunter green tank top under an open black leather jacket with silver studs on it. On her lower half, she wore practically skintight dark blue jeans that accentuated just how curvaceous she was.

"I suppose you two are here for the same reason." the blonde vampire, Constance, said with a nod back at Asha.

"We're trying to figure out what happened." Asha said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, emphasizing her ebony cleavage.

"Well, I have no idea. The girls who would know aren't even here yet, you two should come back in two hours." Constance shrugged.

"We were trying to show up early so you wouldn't be busy." Asha said with a scowl.

"Look, I can see who's here yet, but odds are that there's not many people." Constance sighed.

"Thanks." Julian nodded at the vampire, and she whooshed off.

Asha groaned, putting her face in her hands. "I know I shouldn't have got my hopes up, but I was really hoping we'd show up and be met by a girl who saw exactly what happened to Amaya."

"I found something today, actually." Julian remembered, and he pulled out his phone and opened the photo of Miguel's Petal and Thorn business card, specifically the photo of the back of it, where Miguel had a note. "Did you know a Miguel Ortiz?"

"Miguel Ortiz?" Asha asked, frowning. "No, I don't think so."

"He might have had a different name, but he's a changeling." Julian explained, handing over the photo.

"The diamond is in danger?" Asha asked, echoing the words on the screen.

"I was hoping you'd know what that meant." Julian admitted.

"Not a clue." Asha sighed. "Apparently there's a lot about Amaya I didn't know."

"Well, this little note about a diamond in danger is the only link we have between any of our murder victims." Julian explained. "I'm hoping someone here might have been close enough to Amaya to know what it's about."

Asha's silvery blue eyes flashed, but she gave a curt nod. Julian glanced around the place, up at the stage, along the bar, over at the tables and seating arrangements.

"A supernatural brothel, huh?" Julian muttered. "Had no idea places like this were around."

"Oh, they're definitely around." Asha said with a snort. "Lots of gorgeous women at these, and the women who are rarer supernatural beings can make incredible money. Always in high demand."

"Are jengu...?" Julian trailed off.

"Heh. Yeah, Amaya was always booked out well in advance." Asha said wryly. "But places like this get all sorts. Nymphs are quite common here, for example."

"Fertility and nature spirits." Julian supplied.

"Exactly." Asha nodded. "I know there's a kitsune here, and a selkie."

"Aren't selkies like... seals?" Julian frowned.

"Well, they sort of shift back and forth. Unless a selkie's sealskin gets stolen, which I think is the case for the selkie here." Asha said. "Amaya was telling me about her. She lost her sealskin and so she's stuck in her ridiculously sexy human form."

"Do you think she'd know about Amaya's diamond thing?" Julian wondered.

"I don't think they were that close." Asha shook her head. "There's this girl named Sarah, I'm not sure what she is, but Asha mentioned her name a lot, I think they were good friends."

"Right, and then Constance..." Julian trailed off curiously.

"She sort of runs things here. This whole place is owned by the Santa Monica vampire clan, but I think Constance is the vampire they actually have running things here." Asha explained.

"Gotcha." Julian muttered.

Asha leaned back against the bar as they waited, while Julian fell into his familiar pattern of pacing. Call it a werewolf thing, but he just could not sit still, and he knew Ellen couldn't either. Fortunately, they weren't waiting long before Constance emerged with a fiery-haired girl.

"Asha!" the girl exclaimed, and she ran forwards to wrap her arms tightly around the buxom jengu and embrace her tightly.

The newcomer, Julian noted, was wearing a glossy white, mostly see-through shift. Her ears were slightly pointed, and she was taller than the average girl, but not ridiculously tall or anything like that.

"I'm sorry about Amaya." the girl mumbled. Her hair was vivid orange, her eyes a deep brown color. She was slender and lean, with small perky breasts and slim hips.

"Thank you, Sage." Asha mumbled back, and Julian thought he saw a tear or two glistening on her cheeks before she hastily wiped them away when she stepped back from the hug.

"This is your dreamy detective?" Sage grinned.

"Dreamy?" Julian echoed, confused.

"I may have mentioned that part in confidence." Constance said with a glare at a giggling Sage.

"I'm Sage. I'm a nymph so, you know..." Sage said, waggling her eyebrows meaningfully.

Julian chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm Detective Anderson. Uh... werewolf."

"I've heard they're good in bed." Sage continued flirtatiously.

"O...kay, that's enough of that." Asha huffed. "We have more important things to talk about than you getting laid, Sage."

"Was there anything strange about last night? A weird customer, odd behavior from Amaya, anything like that?" Julian asked, and Sage furrowed her brow adorably, shaking her head.

"No, nothing that comes to mind. Um, there was a guy who got a little violent with one of the girls, but he left hours before Amaya did, and I don't think he ever even saw Amaya." Sage recalled.

"Who was the guy?" Constance cut in, glaring.

"One of those oni who came in here. They were part of that gang... Red Wrath?" Sage frowned. "Yeah, Red Wrath. They all had on those leather vests with the runes on the back."

"Ugh, I hate those bastards." Constance shuddered. "They think they own the place."

"Never heard of them." Julian shrugged.

"Not a surprise, they like to lurk around. Red Wrath is mostly oni and dokkaebi. Bunch of big, ugly brutes." Sage scowled.

"They've been problem customers here for quite a while, but they're better known for their drug running." Constance explained. "They've got a corner on witch powders, some of the really bad ones, too."

"And that time they absolutely slaughtered the Demon's Horn last year." Sage put in.

"I guess I don't keep up with supernatural gangs." Julian shook his head, mystified.

"That's a surprise, for a detective." Asha spoke up.

"Yeah, investigating human murders, not supernatural gang wars." Julian pointed out.

"Fair enough." Sage agreed. "But, no, other than that guy, nothing weird last night."

"Did Amaya leave with anyone?" Julian wondered.

"Not that I saw." Sage shook her head. "Sarah, our harpy, was talking to her right before she left, but Amaya left by herself."

"Right... and have you ever heard Amaya mention a diamond?" Julian asked.

"A diamond? Like, jewelry?" Sage quirked her head. "No, I never heard her mention a diamond."

"Hmm. Do you know a Miguel Ortiz? He's a changeling, so he might have had a different name." Julian continued.

"I don't recognize the name, but I do know a changeling 'booked an appointment' with Amaya a couple times." Constance nodded. "I handle most of the bookings for my girls, so I definitely remember a changeling."

"What name did he give you?" Julian wondered.

"I'd have to check." Constance apologized. "What's he have to do with Amaya?"

"If it's the same changeling I'm thinking of, he's also a murder victim." Julian replied bluntly, and Constance blanched.

"I'll find the name for you." the blonde vampire nodded, and she whooshed off.

"As for you... can we speak to Sarah?" Julian asked.

"She's not here yet." Sage shook her head. "Should be here within an hour or so."

"Great." Asha muttered, glaring at the ground.

"So... are you two..?" Sage asked, waggling a finger between Julian and Asha.

"Oh, no, we're not." Julian shook his head. "This is only our third time even speaking."

"I'm helping him with investigating Amaya." Asha explained.

"Ah, gotcha." Sage nodded. "Well, if you're just waiting around, Detective, I'm all free right now. Nymphs don't get scooped up as often as some of the rarer girls."

"I'll pass, thanks." Julian said, clearing his throat. "Not really in the mood right now."

That said, Sage did look damn good in her transparent white shift, showing off the rosy points of her nipples and the rest of her slim body on top of that. Constance whooshed back into the room, holding a small notecard which she handed to Julian.

"This is all we had on the changeling. We don't keep a whole lot of personal information about our clients, as you might expect." Constance explained with a shrug.

Julian took the notecard, looking down at it. It was a little list Constance had written out, with two names (Antoine Shaw and Phillip Odom), along with the eight bookings between the two names, all for Amaya. The dates and times were marked down, but Julian didn't think those would be too important.

"There's two names because I'm fairly certain they're the same changeling. They booked Amaya at the same time every other day eight times in a row." Constance pointed at the notecard.

"The bookings cut off just a week before Miguel Ortiz was killed. That's about the timeframe we established for how long Miguel's identity had lasted." Julian mused.

"I thought Amaya was always in high demand, how did this changeling get so many bookings with her?" Asha wondered.

"Amaya herself. She moved bookings around to fit him in." Constance explained. "I just assumed one or both of them were sweet on the other. Or the changeling was very good in bed."

"Well, of course he is. He can probably alter his dick size to fit perfectly up in there." Sage mused.

"Or they weren't having sex at all, but plotting something." Julian pointed out, ignoring the nympho nymph.

"There's got to be cheaper ways to meet up than bookings here." Asha shook her head.

"Unless someone was watching Miguel." Julian shrugged. "We know he was committing robberies as Miguel Ortiz, it's no stretch to imagine him involved deeper with criminal activities with his other aliases. It's real easy to commit crimes when you can change your entire appearance at will."

"Like he was undercover or something?" Asha frowned.

"Maybe. It's just a theory, because like you said, those meetups have to be expensive." Julian shook his head thoughtfully.

An idea occurred to Julian all of a sudden, and he lifted his head, looking between Sage and Constance. "Did Amaya have a changing room here? Or some kind of storage anything?"

"Yeah, she's got a locker, all the girls do." Constance nodded. "It's locked now, of course."

"I can get through a lock." Julian waved that off. "Can you show it to me?"

"Sure, this way." Constance said, and she led Julian through a door on the same wall as the stage. Asha followed closely behind him, with Sage taking up the rear. Once they were out of the main room, the place was properly lit up rather than in the romantic red and gold lighting. It also became much more utilitarian, a lot less velvet and all of that nonsense and instead was simple linoleum flooring and gray brick walls. Julian preferred the decor back here. Constance led Julian and Asha down the hallway until she reached a wooden door on the righthand side with CHANGING ROOM written on it.

"Anyone in here?" Constance called, pushing the door open slightly. There was no response, so Constance pushed open the door and led everyone inside. Asha was looking around intently, and Julian wondered if it was her first time seeing where her sister had worked. The real place she had worked, not the luxurious front room for customers.

"This one was Amaya." Constance said, pointing at one of the bigger lockers on the end. Maybe high earners got better lockers?

There was a lock on the front of it, as promised, but Julian took it in his hand and yanked, werewolf strength surging through him as he ripped the central locking mechanism off the silver hook that fastened the lock shut. Sage wolf-whistled, making Constance snicker as Julian opened the locker. No big, gleaming diamonds immediately caught Julian's attention, neither did much of anything else. There was some spare underwear at the bottom, neatly folded, and there were some photos of Amaya and Asha together pinned on the wall. Julian glanced at Asha standing off to the side, and he unpinned the photos, handing them over to her. She took them wordlessly, but he saw the tears welling up as she looked at them.

As for the top shelf, it had a couple of odds and ends, and that's what Julian was interested in. He ignored the lipstick and all other various kinds of makeup that likely had complex names, and focused instead on the other items. He found a letter still in its' envelope which he flipped over and saw it was from someone named Mr. Cassius Benning, and there was an honest to god signet ring wax seal on the envelope that Amaya had already broken.

Julian fished out the card and read the message contained within it.

{letter signed "Cassius Benning"}

Dear Ms. Lake,

While I appreciate the hospitality you extended at the Petal and Thorn last week, I'm afraid I cannot extend the same courtesy to you as you request. The Equinox Gala is a high-brow event, there will be no whores in attendance. I am unsure why you would wish to attend, but it is quite selective.

{endletter}

"What an asshat." Julian muttered. "You know this guy, Asha?"

He handed over the short letter, and he saw her eyes narrow, presumably at the whore comment.

"Never heard of him, but I wouldn't mind paying him a visit." Asha scowled.

"What's the name?" Constance asked.

"Cassius Benning." Julian answered. "He was talking about something called a Equinox Gala."

"Ah. Him. He's a warlock, quite a powerful one from everything I've heard." Constance explained. "He's also ridiculously wealthy. I know the party he's talking about, it takes place at his mansion in Brentwood."

"Why was Amaya trying to get an invite to that party?" Asha frowned. "She's the kind of girl to love going out to the Glade, not some kind of schmoozy rich person party."

"You know what sounds schmoozy and rich?" Julian said as a thought occurred to him. "A diamond."

"You think this connects to that?" Asha asked, eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Well, it's the best theory I've got so far as to what this diamond must be. Amaya could have picked up on something through clients like Cassius, and was trying to work with Miguel to get whatever it might be." Julian guessed. "Why else would she be meeting up regularly with a known thief? They could have been planning to steal something."

"Especially considering her accomplice can change shape." Constance agreed. "They'd only need one invite to the Gala, Miguel could become anyone and get in by himself."

"Is the Equinox Gala a supernaturals-only party?" Julian wondered.

"Definitely." Constance nodded. "It's the richest denizens of supernatural Los Angeles all rubbing elbows for a night while the equinox happens."

"So... no way for a werewolf detective to get in, huh?" Julian mused.

"It seems unlikely." Constance said with an amused smile. "Not even I would be able to get an invite. Hell, I'm not even sure my Highsire could get an invite. He's not exactly wealthy, not like Cassius Benning is."

"Great." Julian sighed. "When is the Gala?"

"The autumn equinox, obviously. It's a great time for vampires, when nights become longer than days." Constance said cheerfully. "It's next week some time."

"Just a few days before the full moon." Julian noted. Werewolf prerogative.

"Oh yes, the Harvest Moon." Constance nodded.

Julian froze. "The what?"

"The Harvest Moon. It's the full moon nearest to the autumn equinox." Constance said. "You should know that one, you're a werewolf."

Harvest... that was the rune being drawn on the left hand of all the murder victims. Could that really be a coincidence? The killings had started way before the Harvest Moon, but could it be preparation for something? Or was Julian just grasping at straws? He resolved to bring that up to Romero when he got the chance.

"Slipped my mind, I guess." Julian muttered.

"Well, is there anything else you might need from us?" Constance asked after a lengthy pause.

"Nothing other than a talk with Sarah when she gets in." Julian shook his head.

"You're welcome to wait in the main room if you'd like." Constance offered generously, but Julian shook his head.

"I'm gonna go for a drive, actually. It helps me think." Julian said.

"I'll wait here, then." Asha said. "If she gets here and you're not back, I'll ask her the same kind of questions you already asked them."

"Sounds good." Julian nodded.

"Let me show you out, then." Constance said, and she gestured to the door. They walked back down the plain gray hallway, emerging back into the velvety main room. Asha took a seat at one of the tables, and Julian walked out of the Petal and Thorn, mind whirring.

He got back in the Cutlass, enjoying the familiar feel of her engine purring to life. He pulled out of the parking lot and took off like a rocket, trying to figure out how all of these pieces fit together.

This serial killer investigation just kept getting more and more complex. There was two men in a donkey mask and a pig mask going around capturing supernaturals, strangling them, and drawing made-up runes on their hands, one of which said 'harvest' right before the Harvest Moon, an event that happened once per year. Julian didn't know a lot about magic, but he knew the importance of astrological events like that. Equinoxes, solstices, full moons, they really did have power. If the made-up runes were supposed to be doing some kind of ritual, that ritual could be coming due on the Harvest Moon.

And then there were all of these other pieces that didn't fit, or at least, Julian didn't see how. Strange men kidnapping Corinne and holding her prisoner like they were waiting for something. Just waiting for the sun to go down so they could move her? Or waiting for someone to arrive? Then Meg's visions about dark forces in Los Angeles and talking about fallen angels, something no one knew for sure was real. And now this, with Amaya and Miguel, and Cassius Benning and his Equinox Gala. Their mysterious diamond in danger... there were times when Julian wanted to throw out everything other than the known murder victims, but there were also times when everything seemed eerily connected, like Julian was just missing a few pieces to be able to understand everything.

It all seemed too big to grasp right now, and it was made even worse by the fact that Julian didn't even have his partner with him on this. Abigail knew maybe ten percent of what was happening, if that. The Arcana Augurum crew had been invaluable so far, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep bothering them. Julian needed to do something, he needed some kind of clue that could tether everything together, preferably without a seventh dead body popping up. Seven was also a pretty mystical number at times, and unless the killer was going to try to go for something higher like ten or thirteen, the seventh killing could be his last. Or, their last, rather. Jenna had recounted seeing two men, after all.

Julian sighed as he came to a red light, forced to slow the Cutlass down to a halt. Maybe he'd speak to Romero tomorrow about Cassius Benning, see if he knew anything interesting that Constance hadn't. Might turn up something interesting.

But for now... Julian drank in the night air through his open windows. He'd find these killers somehow. He had to.