The mystery of the metal object would have to wait.
After setting the wine bottle on the coffee table, I sank into the leather sofa, sipping away and mulling over tonight’s visit to the museum. My gaze drifted over to the antique bookcase with its collection of history and travel books, none of them mine. Over to my left sat a writing desk, and straight ahead a 64 inch television I was too tired to watch.
I jolted upright.
Upon the dining room table rested a stuffed fox staring back with beady glass eyes. It had come from Hauville’s taxidermy collection and was the very same one I’d seen in his storage room. The same one that never made it to our evidence room. I set my glass on the coffee table.
And began the search for an intruder, moving slowly, guardedly, making my way to the bedroom and finding it untouched. Next, onto the guest bedroom, also finding it empty and undisturbed. All the cupboards I searched were clear. Kitchen: clear. I opened the bathroom door—
My heart tried to escape through my chest.
“Hey Ingrid,” Anaïs said.
She lay naked in the bathtub, bubbles of white foam frothing around her. The aroma of sandalwood filled the room.
“Anaïs?” I screeched, resisting the urge to run, which my adrenaline insisted I still do.
Anaïs’ exotic Asian eyes held mine. Her beauty was hauntingly familiar; her long, black mane was wet and slicked back and her white skin bathed in the soft yellow lighting, emphasizing her supernatural aura. Her small breasts peeked above the bubbles, revealing pierced rings through pert nipples.
I flipped down the toilet seat and sat on it. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I dozed off.”
“How long have you been here?”
“An hour.”
Before Anaïs had been transformed she’d been a Gothica, a servant of the undead, and like me she had the circled brand to prove it. The only thing we had in common.
“What do you want, Anaïs?”
“How have you been?”
“I’ve had better days.”
“It only hurt a bit,” she said.
“What did?”
“Getting them pierced.”
My jaw fell open.
She stared down at her nipples. “You were wondering how much it hurt.” She raised a finger. “To answer your other unspoken question, I got them done before I was turned.”
“Why are you in my bath?”
“Killing time,” she said. “You’re usually home by eight.”
“I stopped off somewhere.”
“How’s Lucas?”
Damn, I have to avert my thoughts.
“How did you know what time I’d be home?” I said sternly.
“It’s good to see you too, Ingrid.”
I considered going back into the living room for my wine. Then remembered the fox.
“Inside it is a camera,” she said.
I swallowed hard, feeling a painful twisting in my abdomen working its way into my throat.
“Don’t panic,” she said. “Orpheus removed the fox before anyone saw it.”
By it, Anaïs was referring to footage filmed through the fox’s glass eyes, capturing both Orpheus and I contaminating the evidence and rendering it inadmissible in court.
Bloody hell.
I covered my face, annoyed I’d messed up. The future of my career now rested firmly in Orpheus’ hands.
“The footage is in a safe place,” Anaïs said.
Fuck.
My throat tightened. “Any chance I can see it?”
And destroy it. Of course, they could always make a copy. I rubbed my eyes in frustration.
“A friend of mine has gone missing.” Anaïs said.
“Have you filed a missing person report?”
She cocked her head.
“She’s a vampire?” I said.
“Turned three months ago.”
“So reporting her would be an issue?”
“You’ve got it.”
“When did you last see her?”
“Two weeks ago.”
I arched an eyebrow.
Anaïs frowned at me. “We were happy.”
“I understand.” A wave of empathy came over me. “Anaïs, of course I’ll help you. You don’t need to blackmail me.”
She slid down the tub and water whooshed toward her feet. Like her fingernails, her toenails were painted black. A tattooed fleur-de-lis marked her delicate ankle. It was like having a wild animal in my bathtub. Anaïs was breathtaking, graceful and oh so feminine, and her eyes mesmerized their prey. All this served as subterfuge for her unpredictability.
“I thought we’d learned to trust each other?” she said.
With a shaky inhalation I said, “Of course we have.”
I hoped Anaïs’ friend wasn’t the one in that photo we’d found on Hauville’s computer. I pushed that thought far away, not wanting to alarm her.
“I’ll make it worth your while,” she said.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll help you find Jadeon.”
I reacted and immediately regretted it.
“See, I can help you too.”
I forced a smile. “Why don’t you dry off? Meet me in the sitting room.”
“I thought you wanted to see him?”
“Some doors are not meant to be walked through again.”
“You still love him, though.”
“This is kind of private.”
“And he still loves you.”
I liked Anaïs, really I did, but her ability to read me left me vulnerable, and despite being the one fully clothed she made me feel naked. “Apparently you need permission from the elders to speak with me? Did you get it?”
She looked away.
“Didn’t think so.” I pushed myself to my feet and strolled back into the sitting room and went straight for the fox. Sure enough, there was a camera inside. I placed the fox on the coffee table so its beady eyes could punish me with their glare. Then I took a swig of wine from my glass, but it tasted bitter now.
I’d been so naive to think Orpheus had helped me wrap up my case. He’d set a trap, and like an idiot I’d walked right in having believed Jadeon had sent him. Orpheus saving my life from my escapade on that ledge had been a strike of luck on his part and he’d taken advantage of it, like he was taking advantage of me now.
Was that why Anaïs was here? To deliver his threat?
Within a few minutes, she reappeared, having dressed in black leather trousers, her skimpy T-shirt damp since she barely dried herself, her wet hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked edgy in laced boots with spiked heels and oozed gothic chic.
She sat beside me on the couch. “Orpheus doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Huh.” Even if it were true it didn’t help ease my paranoia. “I would offer you one.” I raised my glass.
“I’ve upgraded to blood.” Her attention settled on my throat and she clenched her teeth, her fangs sharp and ready.
“Not exactly reassuring.” I leaned back.
“I bet your blood tastes amazing.”
“Look, it’s been a really long day. I have to be up early.” And that fox’s beady-eyed stare hadn’t left me.
“You’re going too slow on this case.”
“Lord Hauville’s counterfeit case?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes. Only it’s not just a counterfeit case, is it?”
“What do you know about it?”
“You conducted a preliminary investigation before all your findings were handed over to another department.”
“How do you know that?”
She shrugged. “Everything you saw before the evidence was taken from you is all in here.” She pointed to her head.
Hadn’t Paradom intimated the same thing?
Anaïs looked excited. “What if I were to tell you that you can increase your ability to solve this crime a thousand times quicker?”
Leaning forw
ard, I placed my drink down next to the fox.
“I know it sounds freaky,” she said.
“Okay, you’ve lost me. What are you saying?”
“Look, there’s this stuff you can drink. It’ll have you firing off on all cylinders.”
“What is it? Coke?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Anaïs, I’m a police inspector, and even if I wasn’t I’d still never dabble in drugs.”
“It’s not a drug. It’s blue illuminate.”
I felt a headache coming on “What is that?”
“The spell that you drink.”
What the fuck!
What the hell had driven her to believe such crap? “Listen to me—”
“Ingrid, you’ve had the privilege of spending time with vampires. Your doubt about the possibilities of the supernatural surprises me.”
I assumed all this had something to do with the photo of that young Gothica. Anaïs after all had been one before she’d served out her time as a vampire servant and taken the leap into immortality. She probably knew the girl. It really wasn’t that much of a stretch.
I caressed the tension out of my forehead. “Shouldn’t we talk about your friend? Let’s make a list of everywhere she might go. Other friends too. Let’s work methodically.”
“I’ve been everywhere and spoken to everyone.” She gave a nod. “I’ve exhausted every possibility.”
“What’s her name?”
“Beatrice Shaw.”
“I’ll check our records. Why don’t you ask Orpheus to help you find her? I have a sneaky suspicion his resources are as good as mine if not better.”
Her eyes widened. “Blue illuminate will help you see things you don’t know.”
“You’re trying to tell me this concoction can make you smarter?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t you drink it?”
“I did. But you can only do it once. It’s pretty potent. The effects last for about forty-eight hours. Apparently the next time you take it the spell blows your brain cells to smithereens.”
I stared at her for the longest time. “And you want me to drink it?”
“It’s safe the first time.” She looked sincere. “I don’t blame you for not believing me.”
“I’m trying to hold on to rationality.” I raised my hand. “I’ve had a really long day. My workload is exhausting—”
“Show it to me then. The metal object you went to Lucas with.” She pointed to my handbag.
Damn, my thoughts betrayed me.
Reluctantly I pulled the metal object out of my bag and handed it to her. “Please be careful with it.”
“What did Lucas tell you it was?”
“A puzzle. But he didn’t know how to unravel it.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“You think Lucas lied?”
“I think he’s scared of whoever sent it to you.” Her pale, long fingers examined it and she twisted the object’s small parts round and around until it changed shape. She transformed what had appeared as metal chaos into what was forming a more prominent shape. She placed the object into my hands. “There you go.”
I peered down at the metal circle with three sturdy hooks protruding from its center. I held it up reverently. “A key?”
She looked triumphant. “Though what for is a mystery.”
I placed it on the coffee table. “Why would anyone give me a key?”
She shrugged. “I need to look at Lord Hauville’s computer.”
I dragged my gaze away from the key and back to her. “We have specialists examining it right now.”
“They don’t know what to look for.”
“What should they look for?”
She turned her head away, evidently not willing to share that.
“If you know something,” I said.
“Maybe you can get me into Scotland Yard? I’ll be discreet.”
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question.” I held her stare.
“I know about the photo found on Hauville’s computer.”
“That’s why you’re here?” My shoulders slumped. “How do you know?”
“Orpheus told me about it.”
“Was it Lucas who told him?” Yet I’d only just left Lucas at the museum, so the timeline didn’t match. Still vampires moved at lightning speed. Nothing was ever as it seemed with them.
Just as it wasn’t with Anaïs now. She was up to something. And from that small flutter of her eyelids, she knew I knew.
“I haven’t seen Lucas in months,” she said.
“Then how does Orpheus know about the photo?”
“He’s been tracking the investigation. When you moved the computer over to S C & O—”
I sat back, realizing. “Orpheus has a contact at Scotland Yard.”
“So can I see it? The photo?”
“Please tell me Orpheus isn’t interfering in this investigation.”
“If he were you should be grateful.”
Even though there was no room for egos when it came to getting the best results, the idea of Orpheus meddling made me antsy.
“Well?” she said.
“What I have is a photocopy.” I reached into my handbag and brought it out. “Are you sure you want to see it?” I leaned over to her and held her hand.
“Yes.”
“The girl appears to be constrained against her will.”
Anaïs found the courage to look at the photo.
“Is it Beatrice?”
Her lips trembled.
“Oh, Anaïs, I’m so sorry. If I find any evidence pertaining to where she might be I’ll tell you right away. I promise.”
“Her car was totaled,” she said. “But there was no sign of her afterward. She just vanished.”
“Two weeks ago?”
“Yes, that was the last time I heard from her.”
“She’d make a full recovery if she was injured. As a vampire, right?”
“Of course. We traced her cell phone to the Bainard Building. The phone turned up in a dumpster hours later in SoHo. We lost track after that.”
“I’ll see if any traffic cameras caught the incident,” I said. “I need the location, date, and time it happened.”
“On the 8th, at Oxford Circus, around 10 P.M. The other car was totaled too.”
“Okay. Now we have to find out if this photo was taken before or after her accident,” I said. “What happened to her car?”
“It got towed.”
“Where is it now?”
“Waiting to be crushed. Trust me, we examined it for any evidence of where she might have gone.”
“We being Orpheus?” I said.
“Yes. We found nothing.”
“Hauville’s missing, presumed on the run,” I said. “Did you know that?”
“Yes.” Her attention stayed on the photo. “There’s nothing on the news about this. Something tells me your colleagues at Scotland Yard aren’t taking this seriously.”
“We don’t have a lot to go on.”
“Well at least she might still be alive.”
I remembered what Lucas had told me about laudanum, which would explain Beatrice’s inability to send a mind message to Anaïs. The drug apparently incapacitated both body and mind, if given enough. A sinister crime by someone who knew they were dealing with a vampire. There were more questions than answers and it made my head ache.
I squeezed her hand again. “Anaïs, what are you not telling me?”
“None of us killed Hauville if that’s what you’re asking.”
“At least let me look at the evidence you’ve gathered.”
“That’s why I’m here. We have nothing.”
“We’ve identified the girl as your friend,” I said. “It’s a start.”
“There may be someone who knows more.”
“Who?”
“Dominion.”
“Jadeon Artimas?” I said.
“Yes. Would you like
to see him again?”
“Um. Well...”
“I can make it happen.”
“When?”
She looked surprised. “Tonight.”
I swallowed hard, not sure if I was ready to face Jadeon again so soon. Not after his insistence that it was better all round if we were apart.
“Well?” She offered her hand to shake. “Do we have an agreement?” She leaned forward. “Come with me to see Jadeon and I’ll give you all the footage shot through the fox.”
Absurd. Seriously, what was I agreeing to? Was I really going along with her blackmail?
Her hand slid into mine. “And I promise no more interference with your investigation.”
“And I promise to do everything in my power to find Beatrice.”
We shook on it.
Anaïs pushed herself to her feet. “Let’s get you changed into something more appropriate.”
“Why?”
“We’ll be entering the domain of the elders. I hope you don’t mind but I’ve brought a couple of outfits that are more suitable. We have to mingle in.”
“Elders?”
“They dress elaborately. Our gowns are in the car. I’ll go get them.”
“You knew I’d say yes.”
“I suspected you wouldn’t pass up the chance to see Jadeon again. Once a week our hierocracy convenes in Pall Mall. And that’s where we’ll find him.”
“What is this place?”
“The Athenaeum. It’s heavily guarded, but with me you’ll get in.”
“Sounds risky.”
“Some risks are worth taking,” she said.
Paradom’s words found me again. Something about a warning not to take another step. Something about a bridge crumbling beneath my feet.
This doesn’t feel right.
But Anaïs had already gone.
CHAPTER 8
Anaïs drove the black Lamborghini way too fast.
We sped across London, weaving between the chaotic traffic, and despite my insistence that police officers were just as likely to get a speeding ticket Anaïs reassured me she could talk herself out of one.
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