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As she left the room, Delilah pulled up Word, and created a new file using a calendar template. "We'll start with one week. When does Maggie need her naps? Does anybody know?"
Pushing thoughts of rogue vampires and grisly murders to the side for the moment, I settled in on her right as Camille curled up on her left. We glanced at each other and though it went unspoken, I knew they, too, were grateful for something to think about that wasn't covered in blood, reeking of demon scent.
CHAPTER 7
We finished the schedule and posted it on the bulletin board while Iris served up Delilah and Camille's dinners. As they ate, we told her about Roz and the three new victims.
"So you've no idea why they were chosen?" Iris dished out second helpings to my sisters. I wasn't fond of watching people eat—it brought up too many memories of being alive and how much I'd loved a good meal—but I put aside my discomfort for the sake of discussion.
I shook my head. "No. We really don't know any more than we did before, except that these murders took place up in the Green Lake area."
"That's where Sassy lives," Delilah said, stabbing a noodle with her fork.
"Which is why I'm going to pay her a visit tonight." I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs.
Iris frowned. "Do you think she had anything to do with it?"
Camille and Delilah both jerked their heads up. Apparently the thought hadn't occurred to them, though it had lurked in the depths of my brain.
I shook my head. "Sassy doesn't strike me as the type to play renegade, but then again, when… if… the predatory nature takes over, she might lose the ethics she's tried to cultivate since her transformation.">I snatched it up and raced over to the still-covered third body, shoving a lab cart out of the way. The tray tipped, instruments spilling everywhere, the sound of metal and breaking glass shattering the air like an alarm. I leapt over the mess, raising my stake above the third body.
Twitch. The vamp was about to rise. Oh shit. I brought the stake up and plunged it through his heart before he could open his eyes. He let out a long whispering sigh, sounding like a breeze filtering through a hollow husk, and then vanished in a puff of dust and ashes.
Two down. I turned my attention to Roz. He was just bringing his stake down into the girl's chest and she let out a screech as she, too, disappeared into the abyss.
The immediate danger gone, I felt my legs ripple and I slid down onto the floor, staring at the stakes. Roz joined me.
"You okay?" he asked.
I shrugged. "There but for the grace of the gods, go I…"
"Nope. It won't happen. I watched you take down those two vamps. You're a survivor, Menolly. That's how you managed to break away from Dredge when he'd stripped everything he could from you. That's how you managed to fight your way back from the madness that he inflicted on you."
At my look of surprise, he pushed a lock of unruly hair off his forehead. "I know more than you think I do. Anyway, we still don't know where the Elwing Blood Clan is, but we'll find them. Don't worry."
"Right." He might know a lot about me, but I still didn't know him well enough to trust him. And yet… Roz seemed to be determined to help. And if it was Dredge and the Elwing Blood Clan, we needed everybody we could scare up for the hunt. I pushed myself up and dusted off my jeans, then held out my hand, yanking him to his feet.
"Come on, we need to let the others know we're okay. We have to figure out what the fuck is going on before it gets any worse."
On the way back to the bar, I asked Chase, "So what are you going to tell their families? And what did you tell the families of the first four?"
He paled. "Officially, we haven't found any of the missing. Since we run everything, including the bodies, through the FH-CSI office, we can fudge documents, as much as I hate doing it. All the techs from the investigation at the theater were our men, and we told the management there that a police informant had gotten beat up. Hush hush stuff. If any of their staff was found discussing it, they could go to jail."
"That's using your badge," Camille muttered, grinning. "You know somebody's going to leak something to the tabloids."
"Probably, but we can't control everything." He rolled his eyes. "You know, as well as I do, that everything had to be done in secret because they were vamp murders. There isn't—nor will there ever be—a record of those bodies. I hate doing this to the families, leaving them to wonder why their loved ones vanished, but at the moment, that's all we can do if we don't want full-scale panic to break out."
"Any missing person reports filed yet?" Delilah asked.
He shook his head. "Not yet, but my guess is by tomorrow. We'll officially 'look into the situation' but we can't keep up this charade. Seven people in two nights? Camille's right—this kind of story doesn't stay under wraps for long and pretty soon some savvy reporter's going to put things together. At the least, the department's going to take shit for not having a clue as to what happened to those going AWOL."
Delilah's cell let out an obnoxious series of beeps and she flipped it open and spoke in low tones. After a minute, she folded it closed and smiled. "Well, one bit of good news. I put out the call for a community Supe meeting. Seems like Zach, Siobhan, and Wade have been broadcasting like crazy because it's on for tomorrow night. We'll meet at the V.A. hall."
At least one thing was going right, I thought. But something nagged at me. I looked over at Roz. "Have you ever been to Aladril?"
He blinked. "No, actually, I haven't. Their city is highly warded against astral demons such as myself. I tried to get in once and couldn't set foot through the city gates. They don't need much of a military with their magical abilities, I'll tell you that much."
No wonder they weren't worried about the war between Lethesanar and Tanaquar. Any city that had the ability to magically deny entry to demons was far more powerful than Y'Elestrial's queen, or the sister battling for the crown.
