Page 33 of Blood Magic

Chapter Thirteen

“Holy shit,” I whispered, suddenly cold. “How the hell did you get my phone number?”

The alpha was just checking in, and he wanted to remind me about the Halloween night festivities at Shadowfield. As though I would forget that. I texted him back quickly, on autopilot as I thought about Remy Simon.

I’ll be there. And Jared…I went out last night to the woods near my place, and I shifted. The moon called me, even though she wasn’t full. It was amazing.

He texted me back as I was rereading Remy’s text.

I’m proud of you. You should have called me. I would have kept you company.And though he didn’t type it in, I know he was thinking, I would have kept you safe.

Jared didn’t have a lot of faith in my wolf just yet. Understandable, I guess. And finally, I took a deep breath and concentrated on Simon’s text.

I want to talk to you. Call me. Don’t make me chase you down.

“Shit,” I said. I didn’t know why I was so wary of him. I don’t know why he scared me. I just know he did. And I was most definitely going to make him chase me down.

I dropped my phone into my pocket, grabbed my keys, and kissed Ash goodbye. It was time to go to work. I also needed to dive back into the whole vampire shading thing and work on finding Paul Ferguson’s wife. I hoped she wasn’t dead—or worse, turned—but I needed to find out. I would call him to give him an update later, after I talked to Brenda Ferguson’s mother.

I took a box of donuts into work with me which would, I hoped, put Max in a better mood. I only ate three of them before I got there. Donuts put me in a better mood, too.

When I got to work, a man set in front of Max’s desk while Max took his information. They both stood when I walked in.

“Kait,” Max said, “you’re just in time. We’ve had a very busy morning. This man would like to talk to you about his deceased father.”

I smiled at the man, curious. “How can I help you, Mr.…”

He returned my smile and held out his hand for me to shake. He was a man who could easily get lost in the crowd. Not bad looking but not super good-looking, either. Just average in all ways. He did have lovely green eyes and a nice smile. “Ray Christian. It’s good to meet you, Ms. Silver. I wondered if you were able to contact certain people who had passed. Mr. Pepper wasn’t sure.”

I shot Max a quick look. He knew I didn’t conjure deceased people and speak to them for clients. When I saw spirits, it was because I accidentally stumbled upon them. I had no idea how to “call” people who’d crossed over. Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t want to tell Ray Christian that, though. “No, I’m sorry. That’s not in my skill set, unfortunately.”

He nodded. “I understand. Thanks for being honest. I’ve had a couple of people claim that they could contact them, but after they took my money…” He gave a self-deprecating shrug, and then his gaze landed on the box of donuts. “Hey, that’s from my favorite bakery. I eat there often.”

I placed the box on Max’s desk. “Help yourself, Mr. Christian. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.” I gave Joe a nod as I passed him, then sat down behind my desk and picked up the phone. I pulled Ferguson’s info up on my computer and found Cheryl Smith’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mrs. Smith, my name is Kait Silver. I’ve been hired to look into your daughter Brenda’s disappearance. I wondered if I could visit and ask you some questions.”

“Oh I know who you are. Paul’s a fucking idiot. He thinks he can throw money at some voodoo witch and take the suspicion off him. I know what happened to Brenda. He killed her and buried her somewhere. I’ve told the cops. And if you come sniffing around here, I’ll call them on you, too.” She hung up.

I sighed. I needed to talk to the vampire I’d dug up, but I couldn’t see him until the sun was gone. I didn’t want to revisit the county master, but it was likely going to come to that. I wanted to solve Brenda Ferguson’s disappearance.

There was something I could do as I waited for the vampires to wake up. If the vampires had killed Brenda, more likely than not she was buried on Frederick Axton’s property. And if they had killed her, chances were good she’d be staying close to the house where she’d died. Being killed by a vampire was one sure way of finding oneself unable to cross over. She could very well be wandering the county master’s property, waiting for someone to tell her what was going on.

Not likely, but there was enough of a possibility that I decided to visit Axton’s property while he and his coven slept. He wouldn’t be there—vampires, especially important ones, slept away from their daytime dwellings and rotated their sleeping places out constantly. When they were asleep, they were helpless, and they were forced to be very careful.

But I didn’t need to see Axton. I just needed to look around this property. I had no doubt that his human guards would have something to say about that, but all I could do was try. Investigating vampires was a son of a bitch.

Max stuck his head into my office. “Did you hear the latest about Jakeston’s serial killer?”

I shook my head. “What happened?”

“They found another victim.” He shook his head. “He doesn’t even try to hide them. He wants us to find the bodies. He wants everyone to be afraid.”

“He wants everyone talking about him, too,” I said. “Asshole.” The detective hadn’t mentioned that they’d found another victim.

“They’re all small, young, and blonde,” Max said. “They look like Lucy, Kait. Make sure she’s careful.”