AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She could have meant anything. To her, and to any human, when they say my kind of people they just mean otherkind in general. Which includes vampires.”
Diana looked thoughtful. She nodded her head as if this might be something of interest, but there was no sense of urgency in her reaction which frustrated Finch.
“So are you going to question this Marielle woman about Zezi or not?” he demanded. “Are you going there now? To see these Ronins?”
“None of your business.”
“Zezi is my business. I’m coming with you.”
Diana scoffed. She insisted that Finch needed to stay out of her business. Finch refused to back down. What the hell did she think he was going to do now? Go home and watch TV while this girl who looked far too young to work for the Agency was the only person in the world searching for Zezi? His Zezi. He did not think so!
He reasoned that there was no way she was going to be able to go into a vampire’s nest by herself. She smirked and told him that she had her means. In the end, when the car pulled up outside of the Ronin house, Finch simply followed her up the drive to the front door.
It wasn’t like she could stop him.
Finally, she turn to him and scowled. “What do you think you’re playing at? This isn’t a game. I’m here investigating a case that has nothing to do with Zezi. And vampires are dangerous if you hadn’t noticed. So scoot off, little man. I don’t want you here.”
“I know exactly how dangerous vampires are,” he retorted. “It looks to me like you’re the one who doesn’t. And you’ll need my help if anything goes wrong in there. Trust me.”
There was no time to resolve their spat. The front door opened, and a forbidding looking woman glowered out at them. She was tall and broad and dressed in a prim uniform that screamed housekeeper, and clearly she was a human given that she wasn’t flinching away from the daylight.
“How dare you disturb the sanctum of my mistress?” the woman demanded. “Be gone!”
Diana look unimpressed. She took out her badge and flashed it at the woman. “I’m here on official business, and don’t bother to tell me that your employers are not home, given that it’s daylight outside.”
She charged in, before the astonished housekeeper could stop her. Finch darted in after her with his customary swiftness. The housekeeper’s face went red. She looked immensely irate, as if she was about to grab Diana and Finch by the scruffs of their necks and throw them bodily outside. She was big enough to do it too.
But then a sonorous voice emerged seemingly from the bowels of the house. “Bring them here, servant. At once!”
It was a male voice, languorous and commanding, and incredibly rude given that he hadn’t bothered to address his servant by name. Finch hated the owner of the voice already and he hadn’t even seen him.
The housekeeper obeyed immediately, leading Finch and Diana deep into the darkened interior of the house and down several flights of steps to a richly furnished sub-basement. The art adorning the walls looked like old master paintings, and were framed in what looked like real gold rather than mere gilt.
The servant led Finch and Diana to a lavish sitting room, furnished in a style that looked like it belonged in the mansion of a billionaire who came from old money. The owner of the commanding voice was a thin, tall, and sallow-faced man with greasy slicked-back dark hair. He was sitting on a couch with his legs propped up on a pouffe and was puffing a cigar. The smell of it was incredibly strong, as if it was not only tobacco in the mix.
Finch was very careful to immediately lower his eyes, but he noticed that Diana did not do the same. She was striding straight towards the vampire as if he was a normal human. Finch grabbed the back of her jacket and tugged it in warning, but Diana shrugged his hand off with irritation.
“Hello,” she said cheerily to the vampire, and plonked herself down onto the couch opposite him.
At least she hadn’t tried to shake his hand. Finch warily took a seat beside her. He hated sitting in the presence of a vampire. It made him feel vulnerable.
“Thanks for inviting us in,” she continued. “I’m Diana. This is my… associate.” She gestured at Finch but did not mention his name, for which he was grateful.
Though Finch was resolutely avoiding the vampire’s gazes, from the corners of his eyes he could see that the vampire appeared to be responding to Diana with some degree of confusion.
“Diana,” drawled the vampire. “Such a lovely name for such a lovely young woman.”
It was safe to look at Diana, so that’s where Finch looked. She was giving the vampire look of mild disgust. Finch was astonished. She was looking the vampire right in the eyes while the vampire was clearly trying to mesmerize her, and clearly the mesmerism was not working!
“How can I help you, Diana?” the vampire continued, his voice still a drawl, but there was an undercurrent in it that made Finch suspect his eyes were narrowed.
Before Diana could respond, a female voice called in a ringing tone, “Darling!”
The door flew open and a simply stunning woman walked into the room. Her skin was like marble carved by a master artiste, her curling silken locks so alluring that Finch immediately wanted to run his hands through them. Her eyes were dark lodestars, her sensual lips the color of blood… Finch wrenched his head away and focused entirely on his hands. Dammit. She’d made him look.
The beautiful woman kept coming, her heels clicking on the stone underfoot and then coming to a sudden halt. Finch could tell that she had recognized Diana. Which must mean she was Marielle .
“What are you doing here?” Marielle said accusingly.
