“Case keeping you that busy?” He stepped backward until his rear made contact with the table, leaned against it, and crossed his arms.
“Yeah.”
“Where’s Nick?”
I winced. “Leave of absence. We broke up.”
“Ah. Was it the arguing?”
“Got it in one.” Close enough anyway.
Damian nodded. “I completely understand.” He freed one arm to wave his hand toward the line of boards. “Well, this looks good. Now tell me how the vics are connected.”
“Lady Esme, Lords Holmesby, Merriven, and Tanaka were all council members.”
“What about her family?”
Soames glanced at me before responding. ”Ramon was Esme’s heir apparent to her council seat. He was a master too, but the other four weren’t.”
“All right. What’s the theory for why they were killed?”
My turn. “Politics. There’s two political parties, one that wants to stick to the old ways—killing when they feed—and the other doesn’t.” I paused for breath. “They were all members of the second party.”
“Uh huh.” Damian re-crossed his arms. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but when you spoke to me about Ginger’s situation, didn’t you mention she’d claimed Merriven was draining some of his blood donors?”
“Yes.” A hint of bitterness tainted my voice. “Not that anyone bothered to check it out.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge, Cordi. I did check, quietly, and the only person who made that claim against him was your friend.” Damian offered me a faint smile. “We can’t do full-scale investigations based on the claim of a single, unhappy vampire fledgling.”
That drove me to defend her. “She wasn’t lying.”
“Why do you believe her?”
“She never lied to me.”
Damian tucked his chin, focusing his sky-blue gaze on me. “Being a vampire wasn’t what she expected. She was abused and desperate. People in such situations have been known to mix lies with truth in order to convince others to help them.”
My anger rose. “Not her. Ginger wouldn’t do that.”
“How can you be so certain?”
Because she was my friend. I opened my mouth, intending to tell him that, and something slunk out of the back of my mind. Out from where I shoved all the nightmare-inducing things I’d seen.
I didn’t really want to look at it, but it was waving around in response to Damian’s question. Closing my eyes, I focused on it.
“Cordi?”
“Give me a minute. I’m remembering some...oh.” I shuddered and fought to put the memory back where it’d come from. It wasn’t mine. The memory didn’t want to return to the darkness, fighting my attempts to push it away, throwing blood across my mind between flashes of the terrified faces of two strangers. I knew the room they were dying in. Soames had taken pictures of it. And I learned something else too, before finally winning.
Opening my eyes, my heart racing and gasping for air, I focused on Damian. “I believe her because I saw her memory of one of Merriven’s ‘dinner parties’.” I pointed at the white boards. “That’s why I thought those two looked familiar when I first saw their photos. They were there.”
Damian dropped his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“It was almost two years ago.” I hadn’t turned twenty-one yet, was still a scared kid trying to keep my abilities under control. “It scared me.”
He relaxed. “You buried it.”
“Yeah.”
“All right, let’s move on, unless you need a minute?”
“No, I’m good.” I fought the urge to tuck my trembling hands behind my back. The vamps hadn’t just eaten dinner. They’d played with their food first. “But that means those three all shared a secret. That’s how they’re connected.”
“Right.” Damian regarded the boards again. “Are you certain Esme’s family didn’t have the same secret?”
“Yes, because of the gargoyles.”
His head snapped around so he could see me, and Damian winced, lifting his hand to rub his neck. “Gargoyles?”
Soames jumped in to explain those, and Damian’s eyes bulged when he reached the part about Tase using me as a hiding place. “Wait. It touched you?”
“Yeah, he was pretty scared. It’s why I didn’t try questioning him, even though he has to be a witness.”
My warlock friend sputtered, his face flushing dark pink. “A witness? Is that all...good night, Cordi. Don’t you know what it means when a gargoyle...of course you don’t. Let’s put it this way: I know a coven of witches who’d sacrifice their own body parts to attract a gargoyle.”
Wow. “Okay, why?”
“Why, she asks.” Damian lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “My God.”
“Psychic here, not a witch,” I reminded him, feeling miffed. “It’s not like I’ve crossed paths with gargoyles before.”
“Right.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to get back soon. Go by the shop when you can, and ask David to tell you about gargoyles.”
“Okay. Where were we?”
Soames answered. “I think we’re stuck on how Esme’s family could be connected to the other three victims.”
“Right.” I nibbled my thumbnail. “First thought that comes to mind is that Esme discovered their secret. She was killed first.”
That received an approving nod from Damian. “Do you have any potential leads to work that angle?”
“Lira had a sister. We were thinking of finding her, see if she knows anything.”
“Good plan. How about any psychic leads?”
“Nope. My abilities may as well be on vacation.”
“Aw.” He grinned. “You’re having to play this old school.”
“Yep, and it kind of sucks. But it’s fun too. I mean, having to put everything together like it’s a giant puzzle with a thousand pieces. Not the dead people part.”
“Wait until you solve it. You’ll feel high for days.” He checked his watch again. “I have to go.”
“Thanks for helping. I owe you a lunch.”
“Out, or will you cook?”
I laughed. “Your choice.”
“You’re cooking then. Good luck.” He shook Soames’s hand, gave me a peck on the cheek, and left.
Grinning, I rubbed my hands together. “Let’s find Lira’s sister.”
Angelique Herrera proved relatively easy to locate, thanks to an online directory. She didn’t answer when I called, and I didn’t leave a message. “It’s not even seven yet, so let’s drop by and see if we can catch her at home.”
“Sure. Dinner after that?” Soames asked.
“Yes, I’m starving. Had to share my breakfast with the dogs.” Everyone else had left for the day, including Mr. Whitehaven. I locked up behind us when we left.
David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” poured from my car’s speakers when I started it, and Soames instantly began singing along. He had a nice voice.
Angelique’s apartment complex was near the community college. I drove the maze of parking lots until Soames spotted her apartment number. “That one, right there.”
There wasn’t an empty spot to borrow for parking. I drove out and around, parking on the street behind her building. The sun had sunk below the horizon by then, leaving the sky the dark blue that precedes full dark. No stars visible, obscured by too many street lights. Even with all the lighting, I shivered. “Let’s go see if she’s home.”
After we walked around the end of her building, Soames touched my arm and murmured, “There’s a vampire on the roof of the building across from hers.”
I didn’t look up, though I wanted to, but I did drop my mental shield a few inches. “I don’t feel anything, so it can’t be a master vamp.”
“What do you want to do?”
“How about this?” I grabbed his arm, glanced upward, and teleported to the roof and behind the vampire. The vampire rose from his crouch, peering over the roof’s edge, as I
let go of Soames.
The shifter wasted no time leaping into action, taking one long step to grab the vampire’s arm, whirl it around, and take a swing. I winced at the crack of fist on jaw, but cheered when the vamp dropped. “Woohoo. Nice punch, dude.”
“Thanks. Don’t suppose you have handcuffs?”
“Nope.” I removed my thin, faux leather belt. “Will this work?”
“Let’s find out.” Soames took the belt, and flipped the vamp face down. Roughly five seconds later, he’d pulled the vamp’s arms back and wound my belt around his victim’s wrists before buckling it tight. He rolled our prisoner back over, and hefted him up onto a shoulder. Soames stood up in a smooth movement, not a sign of strain on his face. “Can I get a ride down?”
“What, you can’t jump?” I grinned to make certain he knew I was teasing, and walked over to take hold of his elbow. “Going down.”
Soames looked at me when we appeared in front of Angelique’s apartment door. “Really?”
“He was watching her, not us. Let’s see if we can find out why.” I knocked. Soames listened, nodding when he heard someone on the other side.
“Who is it?”
“Angelique Herrera? My name’s Discord Jones, and I’m a private investigator. We’re here about your sister, Lira.”
“She’s dead.”
Well, at least I wouldn’t have to break that news to her. “I know, and you have our sympathies. May we speak to you for a few minutes?”
“Do you have a badge?”
“No, ma’am. I can show you my PI license though. Just a minute.” I hurriedly dug out my wallet, and opened it to display my license. Holding it up to the peephole, I said, “Here it is.”
Silence, followed by the sliding of a dead bolt and Angelique opening the door a crack. Just enough for me to see part of her face, including one dark brown eye, and the chain still in place. “Let me see it again.”
“Sure.” I moved to give her a good look of my license. “My associate here is Soames, and the lump on his shoulder is a vampire we caught watching your place.”
Her eye widened. “You caught a vampire?”
I smiled. “He’s a shifter, and I’m a psychic. Poor little vamp was outclassed tonight.”
She swallowed hard enough that I heard it. “Why do you want to talk to me?”
“We’re investigating your sister’s murder.”
Her one-eyed gaze flicked from me to Soames before she moved out of sight and pushed the door closed. The chain scraped as she removed it, and she opened the door wide, stepping back. “Come in.”
“Thank you.” She was tiny, four-one or -two, and no bigger around than a toothpick. Her slender neck bore a lot of round, white scars, and looked too fragile to support the weight of her thick, black ponytail, much less the dozen or so necklaces she wore. Angelique was barefoot, dressed in black leggings and an oversized, rose pink, cowl necked sweater.
In two steps, I was clear of the entryway and entering her living room. Soames followed me, dumping the vamp on a floral-patterned couch. I scanned the room while Angelique relocked the door. It was spotless and comfortably furnished, but the mini-blinds had a slat out of place right about eye level for our hostess to have been watching out the front window. Soames noticed that too, but didn’t say anything. He leaned against the wall by the couch, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops.
I sat down on one of the chairs that matched the couch. Angelique took the other one, pulling her feet up and wrapping her arms around her bent knees. “What do you want to know?”
Straight to the point. “Did your sister have any enemies that you know about?”
She shrugged. “She was a vampire.”
“And you were a blood donor.”
One of her hands crept up to touch her neck, calling my attention to a set of jagged scars. They looked as though a vamp had bitten down and then jerked away without fully opening its mouth. She frowned. “So?”
“As a blood donor, you must’ve spent a lot of time in the Barrows.”
“Yeah.”
My mind was scrambling. “Lira wasn’t turned all that long ago. Your scars are old.” None had the pink appearance of freshly healed wounds. “You stopped donating before she was turned?”
Angelique’s eyes slid away from my face. “Yeah.”
“May I ask why?”
Her fingertips brushed across the jagged scars. “I was attacked. Had a vamp that didn’t want to stop drinking.”
Oh, we were getting somewhere now, and I even thought I might know where. “How did you get away?”
“Another vamp came along, and spooked him, I guess. He let go and took off.” She shivered, probably thinking of how near a miss she’d had. “Just disappeared.”
“Do you know who the other vamp was?” I held my breath, waiting for her to answer, and remembering Tase’s mumbling: Invisible, invisible, invisible.
“His name was Ramon.”
Hello, Giant Freaking Clue. “Lady Esme’s Ramon?”
“Yeah. That’s how Lira met her. They called her to come get me.” Angelique blinked. I had the impression she’d surprised herself by volunteering the information.
“Okay.” Puzzle pieces were raining down, and falling into place. “Any idea why that guy was watching your place?”
Her face tightened, and she shrugged, plucking at the hem of her sweater. Darn it. I looked over at Soames, who freed a hand and flicked his finger across his throat. With a tilt of my head toward her, I silently invited him to speak.
He cleared his throat. “Miss Herrera, you’re wearing a lot of silver. Interesting thing about silver: It’s like poison to vamps.”
My new thing learned for the day. Useful now and in the future, so an excellent thing to learn. “You’re afraid because there’s a vamp after you. Who?”
She touched the necklaces, the scars, and dropped her arm to hug her knees to her chest. “It’s the one who attacked me. They were trying to find him. Said he was breaking the law, trying to drain me.”
I nodded, hoping my expression looked properly encouraging.
“Lira said, last time we talked, they’d tracked down three they thought were killing people. She was sure one of them was him.”
Three. Holy crap. I pulled the folder out of my purse and collected the photos of the three dead vampire lords. “Please look at these.”
Her hand trembled as she took the photos. The second photo captured her full attention. “Him. He’s the one that nearly killed me.”
I took the photos back and checked. “Merriven.”
Angelique licked her lips. “I think he killed them.”
I shook my head. “Maybe Esme and Lira, but he was killed before the others were.”
She stared at me. “No.”
“No, what? They found his ashes in his home.”
“He can’t be dead, because I saw him three nights ago. That’s why,” she gestured at her cascade of silver necklaces. “I haven’t left here since I saw him. He wants me dead too.”
She was afraid, could’ve thought she saw him. I wasn’t willing to take that chance. “Well, we’re not going to let that happen. Go pack a bag and put some shoes on. I’m going to take you somewhere safe.”
I left Soames standing guard over the unconscious vampire, and teleported Angelique to the Blue Orb. More specifically, David’s kitchen on the second floor. He jumped, the knife he was spreading mayo with clattering to the floor. “I really wish you’d call ahead.”
“Sorry. I need a favor.”
“Okay, what?” He bent to retrieve the butter knife.
I explained, while Angelique studied him, doubt all over her face. David grinned, an edge of fierceness sharpening it. “Absolutely, she can stay here.”
“He’s a warlock, and he won’t let a vamp near you.”
Angelique looked from him to me. “You’re sure?”
Admittedly, David didn’t look like a magical bad ass, in his beige slacks and baggy blue cardig
an over a white button down shirt. The glasses holding on for dear life at the tip of his nose certainly didn’t help. “This is his Clark Kent. If a vamp shows up, you’ll get to see him turn into Superman.”
David blushed bright pink.
“I have a question too. How difficult are invisibility spells?”
“Ingredients aren’t difficult to find, but to find a spell that actually works? Nearly impossible,” David said.
“Thanks.” I patted Angelique’s shoulder, smiled at them both, and teleported.
Soames was flexing his right hand. “He came to.”
“Oh.” The vamp was out cold. Again. I shrugged. “Angelique’s safe.”
Soames didn’t ask where I’d taken her, just hauled the vampire up to sling the limp body over his shoulder. I touched the shifter’s arm, teleporting us out to my car. We dumped the vamp into the hatchback area and climbed in. I sighed. “Looks like we’re about done with this case, depending on what this guy has to tell us.”
“Are we going to question him?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We’re going to drop by the office for a minute. I need to check something before we call Derrick to set up a meeting. He can have Sleepy.”
Soames grinned. “Then let’s go.”
Thirteen
The stop by the office was as brief as I’d promised Soames. I only needed to refresh my memory about something, and grab a few of the scene photos, before meeting with Derrick.
Back in my car, I called Stone. “Hey, we’ve found some new info we want to share. May I teleport directly to the library?”
“Yes, that will be fine. We had less than satisfactory results with the witnesses.”
“Bummer. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” I pushed the button on my car stereo to end the call. “I’m really liking this hands free thing.”
Soames was frowning. “I’m guessing that means they didn’t have their memories altered. But how could he make himself invisible?”
“I have a theory about that, and it doesn’t include spells. David says that invisibility spells that really work are nearly impossible to come up with.”
“What’s your theory?”
“You’ll just have to wait. No sense in repeating myself. By the way, nice job mentioning the silver thing.”
Save the Last Vamp for Me (Discord Jones Book 3) Page 10