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I slid into one side of the booth, and she took the other. Roger then placed everything on the table and poured my tea. The sweet scents of jasmine and pear teased my nostrils. It was my favorite green tea, and while I hoped it was a lucky guess, I suspected it wasn’t. She probably knew way more about me than I would ever discover about her.
Roger collected the tray and silently glided away. He didn’t stop at the midpoint and look up at the floating contractor in order to act as her eyes, which made me even more nervous for his safety.
She raised her glass and took a sip of the thick liquid, her fangs extending to enable her to use them as a straw. It was a god-awful sight, and it took every ounce of control I had to not slide out of the booth and run far, far away.
“I take it something untoward has happened to bring you here again so soon.”
I tore my gaze from her and warily picked up the cup. Thankfully, it hadn’t been used enough to hold any sort of emotional echo.
“Three deaths in less than twenty-four hours,” I replied evenly, “and I fear all of them will be linked back to you.”
She raised an eyebrow, the movement eloquent and disbelieving.
“How so?”
“The first death was at a sacrifice site that called forth a basilisk.”
“A demon snake,” she murmured. “How appropriate.”
“You fear snakes?”
“No. I conjured one that consumed many of her lovers.”
“By mistake?”
“No.”
Great. Just great. I took a sip of tea that did nothing to ease the growing tension in me. “The third was a man who’d come across the snake and was frozen on the spot. His name was John Miller—he’s not one of your feeders, is he?”
“None of my current feeders are male, and I do not employ a man by that name.”
“And never have?”
She paused, and the brief flicker of… not distraction but perhaps distance in her eyes said she was conferring with Roger. “No, we have not. What of the second victim? I take it this is the one you believe is connected most closely to me?”
I placed the teacup back on the saucer and got my phone, bringing up the photo I’d taken of Rosie.
“This is the second victim. You cannot deny the similarities in appearance to yourself.”
She stared at the photo, her expression blank and her pupils pinpoints so small her eyes looked completely white.
It was yet another fucking awful sight.
After what seemed like forever, she raised her glass and took a sip. The blood briefly stained her canines before “melting” into the enamel. “I, of course, do not have a mole near my mouth, but I certainly know someone who did.”
Did. Meaning they were dead. Given the few scraps of information she’d given me about her past, I wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.
Especially given that when it came to dealing with vampires—or at least those caught up in their webs of desire—deadwasn’tstrictly dead.
“Who, Maelle?” I asked softly.
Her gaze rose to mine, and the fury in them had me instinctively leaning back.
“My daughter.”
ChapterSix
“Your daughter?” I said, shocked. “Do you mean a child you’ve given birth to or one reborn from your blood?”
