“Halloween parade.” She rolled her eyes as she raked. “My turn to be the Queen of the Crypt. I won the honor when I lost at poker the other night with the ladies.”
He chuckled. “Fiona Hill?”
Peigi nodded tragically. “Damned fine poker player, that witch.” She glanced up at him. “So how are you, Liam? Honestly.”
“Is this an official interview?”
“Nope. Just the friendly neighborhood old lady asking the young man who’s just returned home how he’s doing.”
He cut his eyes at her. “Right.” He went back to raking. “I’m good. Fine. Terrific. Couldn’t be better.”
“Glad to be back in Clare Point?”
He chose his words carefully. “It’s nice to see people.”
“You need to visit. Reconnect. I know it’s hard for those of you on the road.” She made it sound like he was a traveling salesman.
“I ran into Kaleigh. She’s becoming quite the young woman.”
“She always does.” Peigi glanced at him. “But not just Kaleigh. Not just those you’re close with. You need to reconnect with all of us, Liam. Otherwise, you forget who you are. Why you do what you do.”
“I never forget,” he said quietly, thankful for the rake in his hand and a job to do. He didn’t want to look her in the eye. In some ways, Peigi was more like his mother than his mother was. For Mary McCathal, Liam could do no wrong. Peigi saw him as more . . . fallible. “You talk with your brother?” she asked.
“I was going to give him a call.”
“He may be appointed to the state Supreme Court.”
Liam’s older brother, John, had made the decision to be put up for adoption in this life cycle so that he could separate himself from Clare Point. It wasn’t something the sept allowed often, but it was done occasionally. John had been adopted by a clueless couple, with the help of sept lawyers in Maryland. He had become an attorney, and then a judge. Vampires in high places . . .
“I don’t like to bother him. I know he needs to remain apart from us.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have lunch with him. How about your mother? You speak with her?”
“I have.”
“She come to her senses yet?”
He gave a shake of his head. “Not to my knowledge.”
“Victor, of all people,” she scoffed. “I never saw that one coming.”
“Victor probably didn’t either.” He chuckled to himself. “So anyone go looking for them? She wouldn’t say a word to me as to where she was, but everyone is saying they think they’re somewhere in Florida.”
“The Council talked about sending someone to retrieve them, but they decided to leave them a few months and let them get it out of their system. They’ll come home. Our runaways always do.”
Liam raked for a couple minutes in silence. “So, this investigation,” he said, thinking it was time he got on with what he’d come for.
“Uh-huh?”
“The Council started it?”
“We’re looking into the matter.”
“That’s not the same thing as launching an investigation,” he observed. “And no one’s called about interviewing me. No one’s even asked me my side since the initial interrogation.”
“Quit being so dramatic, Liam. You weren’t interrogated and you know it.” She set aside her rake, seeming pleased with the size of the pile of leaves she’d made. It was taller than she was. “You know the process is necessary.”
“Yeah, I know.” He leaned on the rake. “So when do we get started? I have no doubt that when the Council hears my explanation, I’ll be exonerated.”
“Meaning that you didn’t kill the Gaudet brothers without High Council’s say-so after you were given the order to stand down?”
He exhaled. “It was complicated, Peigi. In the field, situations change; decisions have to be made instantaneously. You know that. You’ve done what I do.”
“Step back.” Peigi waved him away from the leaf pile.
“What are you—” Before Liam could get the words out of his mouth, the enormous pile of leaves spontaneously combusted, exploding in a flash of bright light and intense heat.
“Damn, Peigi.” He threw up his arms to shield himself from the blast as flames shot above the roofline of the porch. “You could have warned me.”
Peigi was pyrokinetic. Apparently, she didn’t get to use her gift as often as she liked. They were expected to take care with their gifts, always concealing them from humans, but no one would say anything to her about lighting a bonfire in the privacy of her own fenced-in backyard. Even a twenty-foot-high bonfire.
She stood back, hands on her hips, and watched with obvious satisfaction. “You want to put the rakes in the shed on your way out?” she said.
Meaning their chat was over. Meaning she wasn’t going to tell him a thing about the investigation or how soon he could expect to get out of town.
“No problem. So, someone will contact me about my interview?”
“I’m sure they will.” She smiled.
He didn’t return the gesture.
On his way back to the shop, Liam’s phone rang. “Fia,” he said, genuinely glad to hear her voice. About once a century, they had a fling. It was always short-lived, but enjoyable for both of them. These days, though, she and Arlan were a permanent thing, apparently. As permanent as vampire love could be, at least. The guy had been in love with her for at least five hundred years, so Liam was happy for him. Jealous. But happy for him. “Thanks for calling me back.”
“It’s always good to talk to the local Jesse James,” she quipped.
“Very funny.”
As he walked down the sidewalk, he nodded to Mary Hall, who was in her yard, talking to her neighbor. He didn’t care for the old biddy. She’d been having an affair with his father at the time of his death; permissible by sept law, but that didn’t necessarily make for fun family dinners. He smiled sweetly and kept walking, even though she was hurrying toward him, obviously hoping to speak to him.
“I’m a funny gal,” Fia said in his ear. “Better than being a cannibal. Please tell me you didn’t strip the flesh off those creeps, dry it, and use it for jerky.”
“Would it help if I did deny it?”
“Nah. Too good a story. So what’s up?”
“I was wondering if you could do that magic thing you do with the criminal data banks and see if you can find anything about a Weasel in Jersey.” It sounded silly when he said it.
“The animal?”
“Yes. Well, no. I know this girl—”
She groaned loudly. “Don’t say it! Don’t tell me she’s human. You know better, Liam. God knows I do.”
He smiled and went on. “I’m guessing the guy might be kind of old by now, so I need you to look at the mafia in north Jersey, possibly New York City area, twenty years back, maybe longer.”
“Live next door to Tony Soprano?”
“Arlan know what a funny girl you are?” He looked both ways and jogged across the street, wanting to put plenty of distance between him and Mary.
She laughed. “Oh, he’s well aware.”
“So, anyway,” Liam continued, “I’ve got no name.”
“Just an animal,” she offered.
“Just the Weasel. But something tells me you’re going to find him pretty easily.”
“You do know I’m an FBI agent, right? A federal government employee? I can’t just go into FBI data banks and give random civilians information on other civilians.”
“If you find anything, could you call me back?”
“If I find him, you going to eat him?”
“If I do, how about I save you some of the sweetbreads?” Liam hung up, smiling. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being home. Today he almost felt relaxed.
A car went by and the muffler popped, and it was all Liam could do to keep from throwing himself on the ground.
Relaxation was highly overrated, anyway.
Chapter 8
Lia
m grabbed the milk carton and wandered to the curtainless window. He gave the milk a sniff and frowned. It wasn’t the milk that soured him—the milk was still good—it was the teenager standing on the sidewalk below. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up so he couldn’t see her face, but he knew it was her. He opened the window. “Don’t we have a curfew for hooligans in this town?”
“It’s only eight o’clock,” Kaleigh called up, her tone of voice accusing him of being a moron.
“Were you planning on knocking on my door or just standing there all night?”
“Would you have answered the door if I had knocked?”
“Not if I’d known it was you.” He flashed her a smart-ass grin. “So, you coming up or not?”
“Push the window up farther.” She glanced up and down the street. It was dark and quiet.
Not sure what she was up to, but willing to play along, he opened the window.
“Get back.” Kaleigh waved her hand. “Way back.”
Liam stepped back. A second later, the teen was levitating outside his second-story window. She threw one leg over the ledge, then the other, sat down hard with a clunk, and then shot through the window, feet first.
“Nice,” he said with a nod. “Not the most graceful I’ve seen, but not bad for a newbie.”
She grabbed the milk from his hand, sniffed it, and took a drink from the carton. “Thanks. When I first learned how to do it, I was breaking glass, landing in trees. I even sprained my ankle on a landing once. It was ugly.”
He leaned against the kitchen counter. He’d remodeled the whole room a few years back, but it looked unused, with bare walls and counters. Mostly because it was.
“Got any cereal to go with this?” She held up the milk.
He pointed to a cupboard.
She opened it and pulled out a box. “This is it? Rice Krispies?”
“I know I don’t have to tell you that you shouldn’t be doing that. The Flying Nun thing. One of those pesky humans might see you.” He went to the window and closed it. It was cold outside and he was in only jeans and a T-shirt.
“You, know, that’s the thing I don’t get.” She opened another cabinet door and got out a bowl. “You have dinner yet? You want some, too?”
“No. Yes.”
“See, we’re not supposed to practice any of our gifts, but we’re supposed to develop them for the benefit of the sept. How the hell are we supposed to do that?” She poked around in the cupboard, then the sink, then took out a coffee mug from the cupboard. “What? You don’t have two bowls?”
“It’s just me. I can only eat from one bowl at a time.”
“Fine. You get the mug.” She managed to find two of the three spoons he owned and sat down at the dinette table.
He’d bought it in 1953, but it was in pristine condition: chrome, red vinyl, and red and gold sparkly Formica. It went with the 1950s kitchen design.
She set the mug and one of the spoons on the table, sat down, and started to make herself a bowl of cereal.
Liam took his appointed chair. “I guess you’re supposed to practice them in the privacy of your own home.”
“My mom yells at me every time I do it. She says I’m going to fall and get hurt.” She pushed the box across the table.
He poured his cereal. “So what are you doing here on a Saturday night? You’re seventeen. Aren’t you supposed to be out on a date or something?”
“Aren’t you?” She passed him the milk.
He studied the way the cereal washed up on the sides of the coffee mug as he added the milk.
Kaleigh’s face lit up suddenly. “OMG!” She stuffed a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. “There’s a girl! Really? I was just goofing with you. I didn’t know you had a girl. Pie?” She scrunched up her freckled nose. “Her name is Pie?”
“Get the hell out of my head or you’re going back out the window.” He pointed at her with his spoon, using his best authoritarian voice. “You’re not supposed to be levitating or reading people’s minds, uninvited.”
“So what’s really her name?” She grinned, eating another mouthful of cereal.
“Kaleigh, I really don’t want to discuss this with you. Frankly, it’s none of your business.”
She lifted a brow. She was a pretty girl, turning into a striking young woman with doe-like brown eyes and the most gorgeous red hair he’d ever seen. The little brown freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks were just icing on the cake.
“I’m your wisewoman. How can I be wise if I don’t know what’s going on in my people’s lives?” She munched on her cereal. “She’s human, isn’t she?” When he didn’t answer, she slapped her hand on the table. “I knew it! Oh, you’re naughty, Liam. You’re very naughty.”
Liam took a second to put up a mental wall to block her from reading any more in his head. Most of the sept could converse easily without speaking. It was an ability they had cultivated over time to aid their survival. But Kaleigh, once she was fully of age again, at around twenty-five, would be one of the few who could read vampire minds, even with a mental road block carefully erected to keep her out. In her last lifetime, she had also begun to develop the ability to read human minds. It was a little scary, how she was growing stronger with each passing century.
“So . . . where’d you meet her?” Kaleigh asked in a sing-song voice.
He knew he shouldn’t say anything. But he didn’t have anyone to talk to. Loneliness was part of the job. And sometimes, not usually, but sometimes, it made him sad. He hadn’t set out to be a loner. Not in the beginning. “She came here to the shop last week,” he said into his cup of cereal.
Kaleigh smiled. “Her name’s not Pie, is it?”
“It’s Mai.”
“That’s pretty. She nice? She know you’re a vampire? I don’t think it’s necessary in a relationship for them to know, but you have to be careful with the ol’, you know.” She drew back her lips and bared her fangs for just a second.
“It’s not a relationship.” He spooned cereal into his mouth. “It’s nothing.”
“If it’s nothing, why can’t you stop thinking about her? You think about her a lot. You’re thinking about her right now.”
“I said, stay out of my damned head,” he barked.
She didn’t seem the least bit offended by the anger in his voice. “I’m kinda surprised.” She watched him from across the table, thoughtfully. “You usually try to stay away from humans. Shoot, you try to stay away from us.”
He kept his gaze fixed on his cup of cereal. He didn’t like the way she was scrutinizing him right now. Kaleigh could read not only minds, but emotions, too. He could handle the mind-reading, but he didn’t want her to know how he felt about anything. Hell, he didn’t want to know how he felt. “She needed my help.”
“With what? Like a broken antique lamp? Gimme the box.” She motioned for him to pass back the cereal.
“Kaleigh, I’m not going to talk about this with you. Now tell me why you’re outside my window at eight o’clock on a Saturday night. Why aren’t you out with your friends? On a date with Rob?”
She exhaled as she poured more cereal into her bowl. “Had a fight with Rob. Just didn’t feel like hanging out with my friends. They’re all so—” She put a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and slurped up the milk.
“What?” he asked.
“Teenagery.”
“Teenagery?”
“You know, full of angst and woe. Flipping out over ridiculous things . Seeing slights when none were intended. Making bad choices. Just being genuinely stupid.”
He laughed and finished his cereal. “I don’t really think you can hold that against them, can you? I mean, they are teenagers. Actually, technically, Kaleigh, so are you.”
“I know.” She dropped her spoon into her bowl and pushed it aside. “I just feel so . . . so far removed from them sometimes. You know, the whole wisewoman thing.” She folded her arms over her chest and stared at her bowl.
&
nbsp; Liam let her sit quietly for a moment. “And Rob? What’s going on there? He’s a good guy, Kaleigh.”
“I know.” She groaned. “It’s just that everything’s so . . . complicated. Him, me, the sept. The friggin’ world. I swear, it seems like it’s worse every time I’m reborn. It just gets so . . . lame.”
He wanted to laugh. Maybe cry. He understood exactly what she meant. There were times when it all got so lame, he might have ended his own life, if he could have. Of course, that was precisely the point of God’s curse. They couldn’t die until they got it right. Until their souls were redeemed.
“You need to cut yourself a break once in a while, Kaleigh. I think you’ve got it the hardest of any of us.”
She frowned. “Right, and you’ve got it so easy.” She leaned toward him, pressing her hands to the table. Her fingernails were painted a sparkly blue. “Having to kill people. I mean, even knowing they’re evil, it’s got to be hard. God still made them. They’re still His children.”
Liam absently touched, through his T-shirt, the crucifix he always wore around his neck. “It’s not really that,” he mused.
“No?” She met his gaze.
He exhaled, trying to find the right words. “No, it’s—”
His cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his jeans pocket. Looking at the screen, he flipped it open, getting out of his chair. “Hey,” he said, walking down the hall to put some distance between him and Kaleigh. He knew she’d eavesdrop one way or another if she wanted to, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
“Liam,” Mai said.
He waited. He could tell she was debating whether to go on. He was debating whether he was strong enough to hang up. But he was a weakling. “What is it, Mai?”
“He just called again,” she whispered. “Here. At Suzy’s house. Liam, he asked for me. He gave Suzy some bogus name and acted like he was one of my customers.” Her voice trembled. “He says he’s coming after Babbo next if we don’t give him the package. I don’t know what to do. I can’t stay here. I can’t put Suzy’s family at risk.”
Ravenous Page 7