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You want me down there? Belle asked.
No. The rangers might be aware you’re a witch, but it appears no one else is. Let’s keep it that way.
Blume and his cohort know—they mentioned it when they first questioned you.
I’m not worried about the IIT. I’m worried about our regional witch investigating the backgrounds of two witches of Marlowe and Sarr heritage, and stirring curiosity in the wrong places.
You have something of a fixation with your parents finding you of late, Belle noted. Is there something you’re not telling me?
It’s just a niggle in the back of my mind. It’s probably nothing, but still… let’s not tempt fate.
Blume led the way to the biggest of our tables. “Why was the vampire attacking you? I would have thought it’d be in his best interests to avoid a direct confrontation.”
“He’s well aware that I’m no match for him magically.” I all but collapsed onto a chair opposite him. “Besides, it’s not the first time he’s attacked me.”
“No, but it makes little sense to do so as openly as he did just now, and with a hired gun at his side.” Blume’s brown eyes narrowed as he studied me. “That speaks of haste and anger, which is odd behavior for a man who has so meticulously enacted his plans up to this point.”
“Such a person is also likely to react violently when anyone interferes or otherwise upsets those plans.”
“Which leads me to ask again, why now? Why tonight?”
“It’s probably got something to do with the fact we tracked down and killed his zombie this afternoon.”
Blume’s gaze shot to Tala’s. “You lot are supposed to inform us before taking any such action against our target.”
“The vampire wasn’t the target, but rather his creature.” Tala’s voice was mild, but annoyance lurked in her expression. “And Ms. Grace was uncertain as to whether it was even possible to trace someone who’d been dead for weeks.”
“That is not the point,” Blume snapped, then made a visible attempt to regain control of his annoyance. “We’ve been down this track before, Ranger. If you and your boss continue to flout the rules, we will issue a formal complaint to authorities.”
Tala raised an eyebrow, obviously unperturbed by the threat. “If you cared to check your partner’s voicemail, I think you’ll find we did, in fact, leave a message stating our intentions. It’s hardly our fault if he didn’t bother listening to it.”
“I will check the authenticity of that statement,” he said. “And hadn’t you better start securing the crime scene and collecting evidence?”
Annoyance flicked across Tala’s features, but all she did was smile and move toward the rear of the café and the shattered teacups.
“Just how did you track Mason?” Anna asked. “Via a finding spell?”
Her eyes were several shades darker than Belle’s—more a slate gray than silver—which suggested her heritage might be mixed despite the classic nature of her features. It could also explain why she was here.
“No, because I’m a far stronger psychic than a witch.” I leaned my arms on the table. Weariness was a drum beating fiercely through my system now, and it was all I could do to keep upright.
“So you used your psychometric skills and a personal item of his to track him?” When I nodded, she frowned and added, “I would have thought both the desecration involved in raising the dead and the malevolence of the man behind it would have made any personal item all but untouchable.”
“I used a silk glove to separate it from my skin.”
“Ah. Good thinking.”
“Where is the body now?” Blume said. “It will need to be appropriately dealt with—”
“Which has been done.” My voice was tight as I fought the images that instantly rose. “He just needs to be reburied and blessed.”
“And have you a similar means of finding the vampire?” Blume asked.
“If you can find me a personal item of his, then yes, I’ll have the means. Until then, I’m as clueless as the rest of you.”
“Somehow,” Anna murmured, “I’m doubting that.”
I didn’t glance at her. I didn’t dare.
