AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The bar was jumping when I returned, but Derrick seemed to be handling the crowd in stride. I waved to him and headed into my office.
Chrysandra poked her head in. “Nerissa said to tel you she’s headed out for the night. She’l cal you later.”
“Thanks, chickadee,” I said, mul ing over who might be able to help us out in this situation.
Delilah was ostensibly a PI, but real y that was more for show than anything else, though she was good at ferreting out information. And no way was I sending her out scouting for information on vampires. That was a recipe for disaster. No, we needed help from the undead side of things.
Hesitating, I picked up a cream-colored invitation and stared at it. I hadn’t answered yet—at least, not more than a maybe. But the man who’d sent this, he might be able to help. Technical y, he wasn’t just a man. He was a vampire, but I was very cautious about getting anywhere near him.
With a sigh, I picked up the phone and dialed the number.
Both Kitten and Camil e were waiting up when I got home. I’d cal ed and asked them to haul ass out of bed because we had a few things we needed to discuss, and I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow night.
Camil e was sipping a cup of steaming tea. Dressed in a black filmy gown, she had a cozy fleece robe thrown over the top. She was gorgeous. That raven hair of hers seemed to be getting longer, and her curves fil ed out the night-gown and robe nicely. Good thing we’re sisters, or I might not be able to keep my eyes to myself, I thought.
Delilah, on the other hand, was wearing a pair of pink flannel pajamas with a kitty on the front, and fuzzy slippers that reminded me of tribbles. She was nursing a glass of warm milk and munching on cookies.
I took off my boots and jacket and sat cross-legged in the big overstuffed chair that Smoky had bought for the living room to replace one of the chairs damaged when the demons trashed our home. Most of the furniture was new, actual y, and there were stil gouges on some of the wal s where the Tregart demons had punched holes through the drywal .
The guys had repaired al of the outside damage and were slowly working their way through the inside of the house now, taking care of the detail work.
“We’ve got a problem. Chase cal ed me over to HQ tonight. It looks like we have ourselves a vampire serial kil er on the loose.” I leaned back against the cushions, closing my eyes. It felt good to be home. I loved clubbing, loved hanging out on the dance floor with my girl, or at the bar with my staff, but at the end of the night, I wanted to be home, to play with Maggie, our cute little calico gargoyle, to chil with my sisters and Iris, and just . . . just to be.
“Great. Another Harold, only after vampires instead of Fae?” Camil e grimaced. Harold Young stil sat uneasy on her mind. Al of our minds, actual y. He’d been the worst of the monsters, even though he’d been an FBH. In fact, that was what made him so horrible—he had been al human by blood. But pure demon into the depths of his soul.
“No—not a serial kil er after vampires. A vampire serial killer. He’s kil ing young women.” I gave them the rundown on what Chase had shown me. “He has to be either a fairly new vampire or new to the area, unless there was a trigger to set off this spree.”
The doorbel rang and we al stared at the hal way for a moment. It was three in the morning.
Who the fuck would be at our door at this time?
“Could it be Nerissa?” Delilah stood, but I motioned for her to sit and silently crossed to the door, wishing I hadn’t already taken off my boots.
We were al leery ever since the skirmish in late October when Iris had almost gotten kil ed.
We’d inadvertently left our home open to invasion and paid for it. After that, we begged some brawn from the elven goon squad back in Otherworld. They didn’t look particularly strong, but the three elves posted outside the house were deadly when it came to martial arts and magic.
Trenyth, Queen Asteria’s right-hand man, had arranged for them to stay with us for now.
We had two peepholes, one at Iris’s level and one at Delilah’s. I used Iris’s, and, to my surprise, saw my daughter.
“Erin?” What the hel was she doing here, and alone? I didn’t like her wandering around without supervision. I might be an overprotective mother, but I knew what risks there were out there, how great the hunger was for a fledgling and just how easy it was to slip.
I yanked open the door.
“Erin, what are you doing here? Is Sassy with you?” I glanced outside, scanning the yard, but there was no sign of the older socialite.
Erin shook her head and dropped to the floor, kneeling in front of me. As her sire, I’d always take on a certain godlike essence to her, and she’d fear my displeasure for a long time. At least until the day her powers grew to the point where she could destroy me. But considering who my sire was, chances were that day would never come.
Dredge had been one of the strongest, deadliest vamps to ever walk either Earthside or Otherworld, and I’d fed directly from his veins. Erin was once removed from him, and she was also human.
I’d turned Erin a little over a year ago, when she was forty-nine years old. She’d always been butch until Sassy took over fostering her. Now she was dressed in Chanel, with a stylish haircut, and her tan had faded into the albino skin that most vamps sported. Erin would never be beautiful, at least not to most eyes. But her heart was pure gold, even in her new state.
I held out my hand for her to kiss, as custom dictated. She pressed her lips against my pale skin, and I motioned for her to stand. “Come in. What’s going on? Why are you here? If you needed me, you could have cal ed and I’d have come right over.”
I led her into the living room and nodded for Camil e and Delilah to leave us. Not good for Erin to be around the living much. Not yet. The temptation to drink was a strong force. Thirst burned in the young.
Erin waved at my sisters, and they waved back as they left the room, Camil e with a stricken look on her face. Erin had been her friend, and Dredge had used her as a weapon when he came after me. Collateral damage. So far, two of Camil e’s friends had lost their lives thanks to our enemies.
