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“Did Frieda have any brothers? Sisters?”
“No,” she said. “But there were a couple of other women living with them—it was another reason Frieda was mocked. We only ever saw them occasionally, when they came to pick Frieda up from school if her mom couldn’t make it.”
So the women weren’t vampires, although we couldn’t yet rule out Frieda’s dad as a possibility. While vampires might, as a general rule, be loners, there were always some exceptions. These came in the form of pods—a small group of humans who willingly allowed a vampire to feed on them in exchange for security and an easy life.
If being a vampire’s meal ticket could ever be considered easy.
That being the case, however, it meant our vampire couldn’t have been Frieda’s dad. Vampires were not fertile, so the only way he could have had a child was if he’d inseminated one of them before he’d turned—which was certainly possible, I guessed, even if it made the subsequent living arrangements a bit more perilous.
But if he’d had the control to feed from three women without killing them, why take so long for retribution? Why wouldn’t he have done it right there and then? It didn’t make much sense.
“Where did the family live?” I asked.
Marjorie hesitated, and then shook her head. “It was somewhere on the west side of town.”
“But in town, rather than out in the scrub?”
She nodded. So much for the vague hope that Frieda’s home might be our vampire’s current hideout. “Is there anything else you can tell me about the family?”
“No. As I said, it was a long time ago. That’s why I’m struggling to believe it could be related to what has happened to Karen.”
“It might not be, but if you can’t remember any other event, it has to be considered,” I said. “Was Frieda buried here?”
“No. But I can’t tell you why.”
Maybe they simply hadn’t wanted her buried in the town that had all but killed her. Or maybe Frieda had shared blood and was about to become a vampire herself, so they dared not risk remaining in the town. “What happened to the family after Frieda’s death?”
She shrugged. “They were never seen again, as far as I’m aware.”
And I doubted a search would reveal much information on where they’d gone, especially if we were dealing with a pod. Not only had it all happened a long time ago, but it was easy enough to get a new identity if you knew the right people or spells—Belle and I were evidence enough of that.
“If you do think of anything else, please call me,” I said. “In the meantime, maybe it would be best if you left—”
“No.” Her expression switched from guilt to anger in an instant. “Karen is here and I will not go anywhere until I see her.”
“Marjorie, a newly turned vampire is nothing more than an insane mess. She won’t know you. She won’t even remember who she is. Everything about her has changed, and it’ll take time—”
“I’m her mother,” she said. “I will not abandon her.”
I hesitated, then pulled the charm from my wrist and held it out. Belle would kill me, but Marjorie needed it more than I did right now. “Then wear this. It will at least offer you some protection from the vampire who raised Karen last night.”
Her expression was somewhat dubious as she accepted the charm. “How can something so fragile in any way deter a vampire?”
“Magic can do many things,” I said. “Wear it, and it’ll hopefully keep you safe.”
She slipped the charm over her wrist and then rose. “You’ll call me if you hear anything? Either about Karen or the vampire?”
“I will.”
“Thank you.”
She left. I locked up again and then headed back upstairs. I didn’t fancy reheating the crumbed fish in the microwave, so I made myself a cup of tea and grabbed a packet of Tim Tams from the cupboard. It might not be the fuel my body needed, but my soul also had needs, and right now it wanted chocolate biscuits.
I was halfway through the packet when I felt the faint caress of magic. It wasn’t witch in origin, but rather dark.
Blood magic.
Our vampire wasn’t neatly tucked away somewhere recovering his strength and controlling Karen.
