by Zoe Arden
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It wasn't hard to figure out which lineage Melbourne belonged to. I had never thought Melbourne's last name, Hammond, sounded particularly old or regal. Seeing it listed in the pages of this book, though, I realized that Hammond was his middle name. His last name was Winslet.
"He must have dropped it when his family disowned him," I told Snowball, who opened one eye and yawned at me. Winslet was a name I'd heard before. I remembered William Carney mentioning the family once or twice to me. He'd said they were "deep with magic."
I was a little nervous when I knocked on Esther Winslet 's door. It opened to a pretty woman with dark hair in her mid-thirties. She smiled politely at me, the face of a woman too well-bred to be rude but too disinterested in whatever you were selling to invite you inside.
"Ms. Winslet?" I began.
"Yes. How may I help you?"
Her voice sounded wealthy, if such a thing was possible. She lived in a part of Sweetland I had driven past but never explored. For once, it wasn't quite within walking distance. It was out toward Whisper Crossing. The house was huge and expensive looking. I'd borrowed Eleanor's car to get here, bribing Rocky, Tootsie, and Snowball not to say anything. Rocky probably still would. He was Eleanor's familiar, after all, and couldn't be bought off easily, even with a dinosaur-sized dog bone.
"Um, I'm Ava Fortune. I'm, er, I'm a friend of Melbourne's." She blinked expressionlessly at me, but I could see the corners of her mouth dip down just a bit. "Melbourne Hammond," I restated.
"I'm sorry. I don't know anyone by that name. If you'll excuse me." She shut the door in my face without a goodbye.
I stood staring at the door, surprised by her reaction even though I shouldn't have been. I guess I'd thought that a century might have cooled things off between him and his family. Clearly, I was wrong. I knocked on the door again. I had to do it three times before Esther returned. This time, she wasn't smiling politely.
"What?" she demanded.
"I had a few questions about Melbourne. I don't know if you heard, but he..." I was about to say he was killed, but I knew that wasn't true and couldn't quite bring myself to tell a lie that big. "His ashes were found, and I'm just sort of trying to piece things together."
"Look, I already told you, I don't know any Melbourne Hammond."
"Well, maybe you never met him in person but—"
"I've never even heard of him."
"Then why are you getting so upset?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "I've got nothing to say on the subject of Melbourne."
I stood my ground, not flinching away from her steely-eyed gaze. "I'm not leaving until you talk to me. It won't take long."
"Why should I?"
It was a fair question and one I hadn't considered. "Because, if you don't, I'll... make copies of your family tree and distribute them to everyone on Heavenly Haven."
Her face paled but she didn't uncross her arms. "You don't have our family tree."
I unfolded a copy of the lineage I'd used to find her. I was grateful to whoever kept it updated in that book and was glad I'd been smart enough not to bring the actual book with me. Snowball was guarding it for me in my bedroom. I handed it to her and this time her face turned white.
"Come in," she said through gritted teeth. The door closed behind me, and she rounded on me before I was even out of her entryway. "How much do you want?" She was seething.
"I'm sorry?"
"How much? Tell me."
"I don't want anything except answers. I... you're Melbourne's niece, right? I tried to figure it out but lost count. Like, his great-great-great-great-great niece, or something like that?"
She nodded. "Something like that."
"I just..." And suddenly I thought I'd made a mistake. This woman didn't know Melbourne. She'd clearly worked hard to avoid having him be a part of her life. What was she going to tell me that could help?
"I'm sorry," I said. "This was a mistake." I turned back toward the door.
"Wait a second," she said, stopping me. "Are you here because of V?"
"V?" I wondered if she meant Vlaski. "Yes," I said, playing along.
She sighed. "How'd you find out?"
I reached into my mind for an answer that would make sense. "I read about it in a book. The Last Vampire."
"I told him to get rid of that thing."
My eyes bulged. "You mean you knew Melbourne?"
"I met him. Once. Right before he got staked. He came here asking me to hold onto something for him. That book. He said it was evidence."
"Evidence for what?"
She shrugged. "No idea. I didn't ask because I didn't want to know. I still don't. All I can tell you is that it's got something to do with the Cult of V. That is, if you believe in them."
"I... uh... I'm not sure that I do. What are your thoughts on the Cult of V?"
"How should I know? My family has passed the story on as if it were legend, but that doesn't mean it was. Vlaski Ambrose was certainly real enough. Is real enough, if you believe he's still alive."
"You don't?"
She shrugged again. "I don't want to get involved. Look, all I know is that Vlaski's little cult had a strong agenda that they never fulfilled. If Melbourne had anything to do with stopping them, then I'm glad of it, but I still don't feel like I need to make him a part of my family."
"Can you remind me? What exactly was the Cult of V's agenda?"
She looked at me like I'd just asked her to spell "I," then sighed.
"To kill or enslave every man, woman, child, and witch. If they had their way, you'd be food right now."
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CHAPTER
EIGHT
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Melbourne's home hadn't been entered since we'd found his ashes in it. The front door wouldn't budge, so I went around to the back. This time, it opened easily. I stepped into his house just as my phone rang, scaring me.
"Hello?" I asked, my irritation coming through.
"Ava? Are you okay? You sound funny."
"Colt?" Oh, warthogs! I'd totally forgotten that I was supposed to be meeting him at Coffee Cove. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I'm, uh, running a little late. In fact, maybe we can take a raincheck on coffee?"
"Okay." He stayed on the line, waiting for me to say something else, but I didn't know what. "What's going on?" he finally asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. You tell me. There's definitely something up with you lately."
Dang it! He was too good at reading me. That's probably why he was such a good detective. I hoped Dean Lampton knew what a great officer he had.
"I don't know what you mean," I tried one last time. Futilely.
"Ava, tell me what it is or I'll find out on my own."
I sighed. "Can you meet me at Melbourne's house?"
"Melbourne?" I could hear the confusion in his voice. "Sure. What for?"
"I'll tell you when you get here."
"You're already there?"
"Yeah. I'm inside."
"Ava, breaking and entering is a criminal offense. I could lock you up for that, you know."
I almost told him the truth right then, but I kept seeing Melbourne's face. It had been bloody last time I'd seen him. He said he'd been attacked. I pictured Colt's face with the same amount of blood on it. Only with Colt, it would be worse. Because Colt was a wizard, not a vampire, and wizards died when they lost blood.
"I know, but I'm looking for something."
"What?"
"A book," I told him, then thought better of it. "A book about the Cult of V."
When Colt spoke again, his voice was husky. "I'll be right there."
I was still looking for the book when he showed up ten minutes later. If the door hadn't been open, he would have busted it
down. His voice was intense when he called out to me.
"Ava!"
"I'm here!" I called back from upstairs. I was going through Melbourne's bedroom. He hadn't told me where to look, only that it was here at the house. So far, the obvious places hadn't turned up anything.
"What are you doing?" he asked when he stepped into Melbourne's room with me.
I'd just uncovered a bunch of photographs that had been torn to shreds. Most of them had been burned as well. Only part of one remained intact enough for me to tell what it was—a picture of Melbourne smiling, his right arm wrapped around a friend's shoulder. His friend's face was gone. The photo had been torn right down the center diagonally, leaving the man headless.
"I told you. I'm looking for a book. It's called The Last Vampire. See if you can help me find it."
Colt took hold of my arms, stopping me as I pulled open one of Melbourne's dresser drawers. "What?" I asked.
"You can't do this, you know that, right? We need to get you out of here, now."
"Before what?"
"Before Dean Lampton finds you in here. I told you. Breaking and entering is a crime."
I bit my lower lip, confused and nervous. "What would Dean Lampton be doing in Sweetland Cove? And why would he care about me or Melbourne?"
"I don't know. He doesn't usually leave the headquarters in Florida."
"So, why did he?"
"He's here to see me. I'm supposed to be picking him up at the ferry docks right now."
"Oh. Warthogs."
Colt sighed and kissed the tip of my nose. It sent a shiver up my spine. A cuckoo clock sounded loudly from the living room, making us both jump. We giggled as Colt cupped my chin and tilted my head back. "Listen, part of being a good boyfriend means keeping your girlfriend out of jail."
"Is that what I am? Your girlfriend?"
He blushed. "Is that what you want to be?"
A smile broke out on my face, and I forgot all about the book for the moment. I kissed Colt, letting my body soak up the sweet, warm fragrance of his face. When we broke apart, my mind felt numb.
"Come on," he said, taking my hand and leading me to his car. I didn't stop to think until we were inside and rolling away from the house.
"Wait, what about the book?"
"What is it with you and this book?"
Now it was my turn to blush. I didn't like keeping secrets from him. "I just... think it's important. That's all."
"What would make you think that?"
I shrugged and blew out a steady stream of air from between my teeth. "What about you? When I mentioned the Cult of V, it seemed like you'd heard of them before."
"I have."
"Well? Who are they?"
"Don't you know?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't need to ask you."
Colt smiled. "They're a group of vampires. Very old school. Very bad."
"Old school as in the type of vampires who still drink human blood?"
"Precisely. Vlaski Ambrose was their leader."
"So, Cult of V stands for..."
"Cult of Vlaski. They just call themselves V, though."
"What do they want?"
"To enslave the world's population. Turn them into food for their kind. Make humans and paranormals do all the work they don't want to do themselves. They want to live like kings and queens, and anyone who isn't one of them would be considered a servant."
I shuddered at the idea.
"How come I've never heard of them?"
"They died out long ago. At least, all of them except Vlaski. That was one of the reasons I was so surprised to find out he was here in town when you saw him with Melbourne."
"Why didn't you mention any of this to me then?"
"It was old news. No need to scare you."
The more Colt talked about this, the worse I felt.
"How do you know so much about this?" I asked him.
"Easy. The Cult of V killed my dad."
My jaw dropped open. I thought you said you didn't know who killed your dad."
"I don't. Not precisely. It was someone in their group, COMHA was just never able to figure out who." He talked about it with an eerie calm. Like the eye of a hurricane waiting to break open.
"Sorry," I said.
"For what? Listen, can I drop you off at Coffee Cove? I've got to get to the docks before Dean Lampton issues an order for my arrest." He laughed, but I wasn't sure he was joking.
"Sure... Colt? How do you know it wasn't Vlaski Ambrose who killed your father?"
He shrugged. "I don't."
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CHAPTER
NINE
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Coffee Cove was almost as packed as The Mystic Cupcake was on a weekday morning. Colt pulled up to the curb to let me out. I leaned in to kiss him goodbye, and he suddenly jerked away.
"What's wrong? Do I have onion breath or something?" I was thinking of the onion bagel I'd chowed down this morning. I was lucky I didn't go for a second one if this was the reaction I was going to get.
"No. I think I just saw Dean Lampton."
"Where? Inside the Cove?"
"Yeah. Crud. That means I missed him at the docks. He's probably mad. Why didn't he call?" He looked down at his phone. "Oh. Double crud. He did."
I winced as Colt opened his car door and hoped he wouldn't be in too much trouble. Especially since it was kind of my fault that he'd missed catching Dean at the ferry in the first place. Maybe if I told Dean that, he'd go easier on Colt, but when I mentioned it, Colt told me that would only make things worse.
"If you do that, then he'll think I blew him off for my girlfriend."
"You kind of did blow him off for your girlfriend, though."
Colt shot me a look. "Not helping."
I laughed. "Okay, sorry. I'll just be at the counter."
Inside, I went straight to the counter and pretended not to be watching Colt from the corner of my eye.
"What's up?" Lucy Lockwood asked when she saw me.
"Nothing just now. At least, I don't think so." I shot Dean a look.
"Is that Dean Lampton talking to Colt?" They were sitting at a table.
I nodded. "Colt was supposed to pick him up when he got off the ferry, but I sorta made him miss it."
"I see how it is," Lucy said, winking at me. "Well, Dean can hardly blame Colt for skipping out on his ugly mug in lieu of your adorable one."
"Thanks, but that's not exactly what happened."
I gave her a brief rundown of going to Melbourne's without giving away the fact that Melbourne had been to see me. She had the same questions Colt did. Like what did I want with one of Melbourne's books and why did I think it was important.
"Never mind that right now," I told her. "The point is, I have to find it. Can you go back with me later and help me look?'
"Sure, if it's that important."
Megan, Lucy's younger sister, came walking by just then and poked Lucy in the ribs. "Are you gonna stand here chatting with your friend all day or are you gonna help me make some lattes? I'm drowning in foam over here, come on."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I better go. Call me later and let me know if you wanna do that thing tonight."
Megan looked from Lucy to me. "What thing?"
"Grown up stuff," Lucy said, mockingly.
"You realize I'm eighteen, don't you? Almost nineteen?"
"Doesn't mean you're grown up," Lucy said, sticking her tongue out. Now it was Megan's turn to roll her eyes.
"Neither does being twenty-two," Megan said and walked off.
Lucy pouted. "Guess I deserved that. She better not rat me out to William Carney."
I sometimes forgot that Sweetland's resident beach bum had taken over Coffee Cove when Melbourne died, er, disappeared. He'd announced he was tired of trying to sell water to tourists when they were surrounded by it and wanted nothing more to do with steak knives, even
if they were magical.
Lucy was looking at me with an expression that was part irritation, part nutcase. I couldn't help laughing.
"Laugh at me like that again and next time I make you a latte, it'll be quadruple strength with a dash of peppy extract." She smiled to show she was joking then hurried to help Megan with the lattes.
When I turned back to see how Colt was doing with Dean, I realized that Sheriff Knoxx had joined them. When had he come in? He looked very intense. He kept nodding his head and puffing out his chest the way he did when he wanted to show how strong and brave he was.
Aunt Eleanor had told him once that it wasn't necessary, that all of Sweetland Cove thought that he was very brave and a great sheriff. It didn't stop him from doing it though. I thought it was an involuntary action, like breathing. He did it when he got nervous. He did it when he got excited. He was part goblin, and I'd always suspected it was the goblin in him that was in charge of the puffing.
I stepped closer, trying to hear what they were saying, realizing how impossible that was. Every table in Coffee Cove had a silencing charm around it so that people could talk freely without being overheard. It was one of the reasons the Cove was so popular.
Suddenly, Colt stood up. He looked like he was yelling at Dean and the sheriff. Dean stood up and yelled something back. His hands cut through the air in short, staccato bursts of speed, like he was practicing karate chops.
Lucy snuck over to me. "What do you think is going on? Colt looks pissed."
"Yeah. I hope Dean's not railing on him for missing him at the docks."
Sheriff Knoxx put a hand on Colt's shoulder, and Colt seemed to calm down. A few other people were watching them, but without being able to hear them, it didn't capture interest for long.
Finally, Colt moved away from the table. He walked straight toward me. "Wanna get out of here?" he asked.
"Sure, yeah." I shot Lucy a look that said I'd text her later and followed Colt out the door. We got into his car, and he took off. I had no idea where we were going.