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“We don’t kill anybody unless their file has been approved by the guild,” Alfonso explained.
“In other words, you can’t kill your neighbor just because you don’t like the volume of his music at night,” I offered.
“We can’t kill any neighbors,” the vampire said. “One of the rules.”
“Right. No killing in Fairhaven.”
“We get to live here in peace and, in return, we must do the same for others,” Alfonso added.
“How do you decide who’s ‘bad enough’ to get the axe?” I asked.
“No more questions,” the vampire said. “You’ve gotten more than enough information. I still don’t understand why Sullivan agreed to let you join us, NDA or not.”
I raised a hand. “Actually, I have one more question, but I don’t think you’ll mind this one. I need to get inside a house with a maximum-security ward. Know anything that can help with that?”
“Sounds too powerful to use our tarot cards,” Camryn said.
Gunther made an appreciative sound. “Are you joining our ranks after all?”
“No, the owner of the house is already dead, but the ward seemed to strengthen when he died.” The opposite of my ward, which would break with my death.
Camryn nodded. “His death triggered a failsafe. What’s inside the house?”
“That’s what I want to know, but in order to figure it out, I need to get back inside, and the usual methods won’t be good enough.”
Camryn’s gaze flicked to Gun. “We know a guy. If you want, I can make a call. He’s by appointment only.”
“You would do that for me?” Her last favor for me was actually a favor she owed to Kane.
Camryn sipped her martini. “Kane obviously wants to stay on your good side, which means so do I.”
“Do you always do whatever Kane wants?”
“You misunderstand me. I’m not staying on your good side because he asked me to. I’m doing it because Kane Sullivan is the smartest, scariest demon I know, and if he thinks it’s prudent to cater to you, then I’m following his lead.”
“You’re overthinking it,” I said, knowing perfectly well that was a lie. Her reasoning was sound and on the money, not that I would admit it.
“He’s in the city,” Gun added. “He goes by the name ‘the Collector.’”
The name could be cute or terrifying, depending on what he collected.
Camryn typed on her phone. “I’m sending you the address. I’ll let you know when I’ve made the appointment.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
I left the nightclub feeling upbeat. My ambush was as productive as I’d hoped. No more assassins on my property and imminent access to the house on Thoreau Street. Things were looking up.
CHAPTER5
My neck and shoulders ached from looking up, although in this case, it was from installing new light fixtures rather than sunny optimism. The human body wasn’t designed to keep the head tilted back and the arms overhead for any length of time. To be fair, it didn’t seem designed for a lot of positions required by home renovations.
I’d hired an electrician to update the wiring when I first moved in but hadn’t gotten around to adding the actual fixtures until now. I’d been relying on naked bulbs to see at night, which Nana Pratt informed me was bad for my vision. I wasn’t sure I should be taking medical advice from a woman who admitted to rubbing whisky on her children’s gums when they were babies.
“Let there be light!” I flipped the switch in the dining room and waited. The bulb flickered and died.
Damn.
Well, there was no rush. It wasn’t like I planned to use this room anytime soon. I still needed to scavenge a dining table and chairs. Pops had been a master at spotting diamonds in the rough and either upcycling or repurposing items. I’d been too preoccupied lately to trawl for treasure.
