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“No, I’m not sorry. I wasn’t ready to die, and this was the only choice. I think, to be honest, that living with Sassy has been good for me, but I’m ready to move on. She’s making me nervous and I can’t do anything without her approval or she throws a fit.”
It was my turn to bite my lip. Sassy had lost a daughter, many years ago. Had she pinned al her love—both maternal and romantic—onto Erin’s shoulders? She was stil protecting Erin from the monster she was becoming, or she wouldn’t have sent her out of the room before attacking her victim. But had she also kept her from growing independent?
I decided to lighten the mood and held up a deck of cards. “Want to play a game of gin rummy?”
I knew that Sassy and Erin played like fiends, and though the game bored me stiff, I wanted Erin to feel comfortable.
She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I hate that game. I play because Sassy loves it.”
Laughing, I pitched the cards into the corner. “Fair enough. It’s not one of my favorites, either.
What do you want to do? We have a couple hours til sunrise.”
Erin let out a long sigh. “I’d like to go for a walk with you. Get outside, walk through the woods.
Sassy doesn’t take me out very often, and I miss the sound of the wind in the trees.”
I hunted through my closet and pul ed on a pair of Doc Martens. “Sounds good to me. Come on, let’s go.” And leading her up the stairs, I decided right there and then that I’d keep a tight watch over the next home I found for my daughter.
We returned to the house a half hour before sunrise to find my phone ringing. I snatched it up, afraid it might be Sassy again, as Erin contentedly sprawled in the armchair. We’d walked for about a half hour, then did a mad-dash al -out sprint through the woods, skimming the trunks and undergrowth through the freshly fal en snow. I taught Erin how to scale a tree—Sassy had ignored a good share of Erin’s physical training, much to my dismay—and by the time we got back, she was looking forward to sunrise and sleep. I never liked the drowsy pul , but for Erin, it seemed to hold no dread.
I picked up the receiver to hear a low voice, almost a growl, on the other end. “Please summon Menol y to the phone.”
The accent gave him away. As did the power behind the accent. It didn’t matter whether my Cal er ID was blocked. I knew who was on the other end.
“Hel o, Roman. This is Menol y.”
“Ah, the girl remembers my voice. That delights me.” He let out a short laugh, and my stomach tied itself in knots. His voice was so rich, so strong, and even through the phone line he beckoned to me, reeling me in. “My maid relayed your message.”
Shivering, I forced myself to sit on the bed. Roman scared the hel out of me. He was an ancient vampire whom I’d met once, thanks to Sassy. He could have taken on Dredge and slapped him down with one hand. Calculating he was, and cool, and perfectly at home in his skin. And he wanted me to attend the midwinter Vampire’s Bal as his escort.
I hesitated. Roman was Sassy’s friend. How was I going to juggle what I wanted to ask him with her meltdown? I had to say something, though—I wasn’t about to play head games with the godfather of vampires. That would be a losing proposition.
“I need your help, if you’re wil ing to offer it.” There. Plain, simple, blunt.
He laughed again, his mirth rich and rol ing over me like delicious honey. “And what wil you offer me in return, I wonder? But first, you wil attend the bal with me as my escort?”
It might sound like a question, but behind the façade, it was a demand. I rol ed my eyes and decided what the hel —it couldn’t hurt. Nerissa wouldn’t be going anyway. It didn’t do to take breathers to a vampire soiree.
“Yes, I’d love to. Thank you. I assume formal dress?”
“Lovely, and yes. Pick out whatever you like and send the bil to me. I would be happy to buy your dress for you. A fur, if you like.”
Whoa. Dresses and fur coats on the first date? I started to say something, then bit my words back. Again, the whole power struggle thing was not something I wanted to get into. Yet. He could wipe me out with the blink of an eye, even though I had Dredge’s blood in me.
“Um . . . thank you, but I have dresses.”
“The offer stands. Now, what do you need my help with?”
I could hear the smirk behind the words and it ticked me off, but I kept my temper at bay. “We have a problem. I think we have a vampire serial kil er at work in the city. I need to put an end to it.”
A pause. Then, “And just what do you want me to do? Such matters don’t interest me. You wil find him, or you won’t. Chances are, sooner or later, you wil track him down and kil him. You’re too good at your job not to. And then it wil be over, for the time being, and you wil move on to another case.”
Somehow his confidence in me didn’t make me feel better. “Have you heard anything out of the ordinary? Someone new to the life who’s gone off balance?”
“A lot of vampires lose their way when they’re turned. They walk into the shadows and lose their sense of reason. Those of us who make it to an ancient age must repress our consciences while maintaining logic and reason.”
Something about the way he said that gave me the shivers. “I see. You do realize, this vampire is going to make life hard for al of us.”
