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“Ivana, I thought you might be interested in striking a bargain. If you can produce results.” I waited, knowing the inevitable response.
“Bright flesh? You have bright flesh for the bargaining?” Her hungry voice gave me the shivers, and even though I’d be considered the monster by most people, I knew very well she was by far and away worse than I could ever imagine being.
“No bright meat,” I scolded her. “Never bright meat! But prime beef or plump chickens.”
She sounded disappointed. “You are a harsh one, Dead Girl. But…I think I hunger for oinkers. A suckling babe of an oinker, if the deal be struck. But before I commit to such a deal, tell me what you wish to trade for.”
I could have sworn I heard a shriek in the background. I did not ask who—or what—was with her, especially when she giggled.
“Can you dispatch will-o’-the-wisps? And we may have some ghosts for your garden.” I watched the wording carefully. Elder Fae were worse than the djinn for twisting the meaning of words.
Ivana paused, and I could practically hear the turning of those nasty little wheels in her head. After a moment, she said, “Aye. I can suck up the Corpse Candles and spit them out through my teeth. They fear neither Younger Fae nor Elder Fae, but Ivana knows how to handle them. Bugger the nasty pests, they get in my garden at times and I shoo them away when I don’t feel like dispatching them.”
“So you can take care of them? We have a yard full of will-o’-the-wisps and we need to get them off our land.” I glanced at the clock. I had to get moving. I settled the phone in the docking bay and activated the speaker as I pulled out of the parking lot.
Ivana snorted. “I can take care of them. An oinker babe, suckling and plump, juicy and raw.”
I groaned. Where the fuck was I going to find a suckling pig this time of night? But we had to have her help. “Fine, a deal struck. I will meet you in two hours at the edge of our land. We live—”
“Oh, I know where you live, Dead Girl. Never think I don’t know all about you and your sisters. A deal is struck on a tentative bargain. But ’tis not set until we shake in person.” The line went dead.
“Phone, off.”
Disconcerted that she knew where we lived, I stared at the road.
Where the hell was I going to find a suckling pig? I’d have to have it when she showed up. And then, I remembered. One of the werewolves we knew kept pigs and sheep. It was late—too late for a social call, but I didn’t have time to wait. I stared at my phone, trying to decide whether to call first. But that would give Frank a heads-up, meaning a chance to forbid me to drop over. Weres and vamps weren’t always the best of friends, though we were doing our best to put some of the old animosities to rest.
I brought up Frank’s contact info and checked his address. He lived about twenty minutes out of Seattle, and with the light traffic at night, I could make it there and back before Ivana met me at the house.
At times like this, I missed being able to let out a long sigh. There was something so satisfying about letting out a breath, oomphing, as it were. Oh, I could do it, but it required me to focus, rather than being instinctive, so it was pretty much a waste of time.
I missed that, just like I missed making noise when I walked, which was why I wore the ivory beads in my hair—they clinked, reminding me that I was still alive. And high heels clicking on sidewalks helped, too. There was an eerie silence that went along with being a vampire. No breath filling the lungs, no heart or pulse beating. Once I’d died and been turned, I began to realize how many sounds the living body makes, sounds that I never noticed, but took for granted. As a vampire, all the sounds of life within were silenced. Oh, we had blood in our veins, but it moved slowly, quietly, magically.
As I turned onto the exit leading to the freeway, I glanced at the clock. It was eight thirty. I hoped Frank would still be awake. He tended to keep farmer’s hours—early to bed, early to rise. I knew that because we got my bottled blood from him, and from a few other farmers around, and sometimes I came out instead of my sisters to buy blood, meat, and eggs. I’d show up at five in the morning, and every time, he was fully awake, breakfast tucked away, coffee in hand.
When he slaughtered the meat, he’d drain the blood, sanitize it, and pop it in the freezer. Selling it to us brought him some extra cash, and supplied me with necessary sustenance.
I glanced over my shoulder and, seeing no one behind me, shifted lanes, speeding along at a good pace. Seattle was a bustling metropolitan area during the day, but in late evening, when there weren’t any baseball or football games in play, traffic was fairly light. Afternoon rush hour tended to last from around three to seven P.M. After that, the streets were relatively clear.
The rain started up again, bouncing on the windshield in fat drops. I flicked on the wipers, then turned on the radio, running through the stations until I found the evening news.
There had been a murder in downtown Seattle—gangbangers roughing it up. And a policeman—no one we knew—had been hit while he was directing traffic around an accident. But the announcer said the cop would recover. I breathed a sigh of thanks. I didn’t pray to the gods much. Oh, I knew they existed, but I had no truck with any of them. They’d never done anything to help me, and they’d done plenty to hurt others. But for the cop’s sake, I whispered a simple thank-you to the powers that be. There was too much bad news in the world, and I was grateful for the good that we heard about.
My phone rang.
“Answer phone,” I said. There were laws against holding a cell phone while driving—for good reason. While we might break a lot of rules, there were some laws we actually followed.
It was Iris. “Camille and Morio are home, and they’re trying to do something about the will-o’-the-wisps but not having much luck. Menolly, I’ve tried to call Nerissa several times and she isn’t answering. I tried both her home phone and her cell. I’m worried. This isn’t like her.”
I kept my eyes on the road, but my mind began to spin. Where the hell was she? “Iris, can you call Yugi and ask him if she showed up at work today? Then call me right back.”
“I’ll do that now.” Iris hung up.
I wanted to turn around and go home, but now we needed that pig, and even though I was worrying up a storm, I had to keep going. Less than two minutes later, Iris called back. “Menolly? I talked to Yugi. He said that Nerissa was at work today. She told him she had some shopping to do this evening. I would think she’d be back by now.”
I eased down my speed. “Not necessarily. A lot of the malls are open until nine, and you know that Nerissa can shop till the stores close. I think I know what she’s looking for.” Images of wedding dresses flashed through my mind. “If she’s not back by the time I get home, I’ll go out looking for her. But right now, I’m working on a solution to those fucking will-o’-the-wisps.”
“What are you doing, Menolly?” Iris sounded suspicious.
