Chapter Seven
Certain things that would have struck me as odd when I was human, I now quickly dismissed as a vampire. Parents turning their young daughters over to be groomed into fancy blood donors. Music lessons after 9:00 P.M. Gardeners roaming around after nightfall.
A large carriage house rested behind the school. The dirt drive that led up to it was mostly overgrown with grass, but an old, tired pickup was parked in it. A leaf blower rested on top of the open tailgate, and several black bags were piled up in the bed. As Ms. Collet led us toward the truck, the boy I’d seen earlier appeared, wrestling a bag of leaves as he tied off the top.
“Wesley,” Ms. Collet called. His head jerked up, and for a moment, I wondered if he might bolt. “These people were sent by the duke. They’d like to have a word with you.”
“I’m… I’m not finished with my work yet,” he said slowly, eyes darting to Murphy and then down at his feet.
“This shouldn’t take long,” I said, offering him a small smile. “We understand you were close with Jodie—?”
“I wasn’t here the day she and Ingrid disappeared.” He blushed, having realized he’d cut me off, and bowed his head again. “Sorry, ma’am. I wish I could be more help.”
“Do you?” Murphy asked.
“W-what?” Wesley tugged nervously at the cuffs of his flannel shirt.
“Wish you could be more help?” Murphy clarified. “Because everyone we’ve talked to seems to think you cared for this girl, but something tells me you’re not being as helpful as you could be. Why is that?”
“I am,” he insisted. “I swear, if they ran off, they didn’t tell me where they were going.”
“Why do you say if?” I asked, eyeballing the lawn around the school for any signs of a struggle. “You don’t think they left willingly?”
Wesley eyed Ms. Collet, but she seemed uninterested, as though she’d already heard everything he had to say about the girls. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with the back of one hand. “Look, if Jodie had called and asked me to drive her to the coast of California, I would have dropped everything and done just that. She knew it, too.”
“Speaking of phone calls…” I said, noting the way his face blanched and his eyes dilated. “Any idea how Jodie got her hands on a cell phone?”
“I…I sometimes let her use mine.” His eyes dropped to the ground again.
“Wesley!” Ms. Collet gasped. I supposed she didn’t know everything. “Why?”
“So we could talk when I wasn’t here. I’d call her from my house line.”
“That is unacceptable behavior,” Ms. Collet scolded Wesley. “I will have to report this to the headmistress at once.”
“Where’s your cell phone now?” Murphy asked before Ms. Collet scared him into clamming up.
“Jodie had it when she disappeared,” the boy confessed. “I’ve called it a hundred times, but she never answers, and it goes straight to my voicemail. Either the battery’s dead, or she turned it off.”
“A lot of good that’ll do us now.” Murphy sighed and shook his head at the boy.
“Did you use any GPS or map apps on your phone?” I asked, trying to salvage the stale lead.
Wesley shrugged. “Sure, sometimes.”
I held out my hand to Murphy. “I need your phone.” He didn’t argue, but he didn’t seem happy about turning over his lifeline to the duke either. I immediately handed it to Wesley. “Log in to your maps account.”
He hesitantly took the phone, as though he might refuse, but then Murphy cleared his throat, and Wesley set to work punching in his information. “What will happen to Jodie if you find her?” the boy asked as he turned the device back over to me.
“I’ll buy her a phone charger and tell her to check in,” I said, meaning it. “We weren’t sent here to drag her back to the school or to the duke. Our only job is to confirm her safety.”
I clicked on the app’s menu and scrolled through it until I found the history tracker. The phone had been active until around 10:30 A.M. on Tuesday, not long after it had been discovered that the girls were missing. I saved the last known coordinates to Murphy’s phone so we could plug them into the car’s more precise GPS system.
“Whoa,” Wesley said, glancing over the top of the phone. “What is all that?”
“A timeline map.”
“It tracks everywhere? Even when the app’s not being used?”
I nodded. “No one reads the fine print anymore.”
“Lucky for us,” Murphy added under his breath.
* * * * *
October was new enough that the first frost hadn’t yet occurred. Which meant most of the insects were still active and annoying as ever. They buzzed around my head, tickling my ears and catching in my hair as Murphy and I trudged through a soggy ravine that ran under the road leading to Bathory House.
The coordinates we’d taken from Wesley’s map app had pointed us north less than half a mile, but on muddy, uneven ground in the pitch black, the trek was trying even for a pair of vampires. The first layer of fall leaves covering everything didn’t help matters.
It had rained here recently, and the steep ditch fed into a nearby creek. I could hear it gurgling not far away. The beam of Murphy’s flashlight bounced over the rocks and the brush ahead of us, but I didn’t need illumination. I was wound too tightly, so the Eye of Blood painted everything in shades of red.
“The duke’s gonna kill me,” Murphy mumbled to himself for the fifth or sixth time. “We should have checked in by now, and I don’t have signal down here—I only had half a bar up at the road. We need to go back and call in a search party.”
“Just a little farther,” I said, climbing over a fallen branch angled across the ravine. I paused to point it out to Murphy. His pants snagged as he stepped over it to join me on the other side.
“Damn it.” He sighed and gave me an accusing glare. “I liked this suit, too.”
As per Blood Vice protocol, I was wearing a pair of black slacks and a modest blouse under a blazer. It was the one business-casual outfit that Mandy had salvaged from my house before it was torched to snuff out my human identity. If I were ever allowed to make an official return to Blood Vice, I’d have to do some shopping. In the meantime, I did my best not to muck up my outfit. Murphy, being built like a pro wrestler, had a harder time managing the same.
“We’re almost there,” I said, encouraging him on. “We can’t quit when we’re this close.”
“If the phone was tossed, we won’t find it without a good wolf. Shoulda brought Mandy along,” Murphy said, glancing back toward the road.
I ignored him and hurried ahead while his back was turned, using my blood vision to navigate the rocky terrain. The creek was growing louder, and so was my determination. My nose crinkled at the organic bouquet infusing the air. Wild onion and rotting leaves. Damp earth and fish.
Decay.
“Hold up,” Murphy hissed as he stumbled along behind me. “Damn it, Skye. You’re gonna get me in so much trouble.”
I held up a hand to shield my eyes from the glare of his flashlight as I turned around. “Do you smell that?”
Murphy paused, and we both took a long, deep breath. I didn’t wait for him to reply before I moved ahead. He followed, thrashing loudly through the underbrush as he caught up to me.
A few yards farther ahead, we stopped where the ravine met up with the creek. A trickle of muddy water pushed up over the lip of rocks that marked the end of the ditch. Just before that, in a shallow puddle, lay the broken body of Jodie Watts.
Blood stained the front of her dress. The material was torn in a few places. Some of the damage had likely been caused by her journey down the ravine, though, I imagined some of it was from whatever had landed her there in the first place. The damp material clung to her frame, and a lump near her hip revealed where Wesley’s phone had finally died. An open, bloodless gash across her forehead was the most likely reason I could see why she wouldn’t have answered hi
s calls. Though, the damage to the rest of her body would have to be analyzed by the experts back at the field office before anything could be confirmed.
Jodie’s pale eyes stared up at the sliver of moon, shining down between a break in the canopy of rusty leaves. Despite her mangled condition, her face looked at peace.
“Where’s your friend, Miss Watts?” I asked, taking another look around.
Murphy’s phone chirped loudly as if in reply, and we both jumped. I swallowed back a yelp as I turned to frown at him.
“Two bars,” he commented, jiggling the phone. “Whadayaknow?” Then he looked down at the screen and swallowed. “And six missed calls. All from the duke.”
Chapter Eight
Dante paced back and forth in front of the fireplace in his room. His lips were parted, revealing a glimpse of his extended fangs. It was a startling sight, considering how used to his calm and collected demeanor—even in the most dire of circumstances—I’d become.
I watched him silently from an armchair, my hands in my lap, mud clinging to my shoes and the hem of my slacks. He’d already dismissed Murphy with a promise that he’d deal with him later. When I tried to follow Murphy out, I was ordered to sit, which I immediately did. I’d been sitting for some time now, waiting for the floodgates of the duke’s wrath to open.
“The potential scion from Renfield was found dead in an alley,” he said, breath rasping unevenly. “When I couldn’t reach Mr. Murphy, I didn’t know what to think. I was halfway to Belleville when he finally called.”
That explained the dress shirt and slacks. Unless we were expecting fancy company, Dante favored his Henley shirts and sweats at home, sometimes jeans. I preferred the more casual look, as well. The duke paused his pacing to stare at me, dilated eyes swirling with equal parts rage and relief.
“You can’t imagine the awful things that went through my mind.”
“The area around Bathory House has horrible reception,” I offered timidly. “But we were perfectly fine—”
“You found a dead girl less than a mile from the school,” he snapped. “And we’re no closer to discovering who is responsible.” Dante ran both hands down his face and then turned his back to me. “I should not have sent you. I am sorry.”
The apology deflated my ego even more than I expected a lecture would have.
“Hey, I trained for this—as a human and as a vampire,” I reminded him.
“Then you should understand, especially as a member of House Lilith, how much danger you are in until the killer is found. As it stands, we have no leads.”
“Give the coroner a chance,” I said. “Maybe he’ll turn up some helpful evidence for us.”
“For the Blood Vice agents who were initially assigned to this case,” Dante amended. “Now that this is a confirmed murder investigation, you cannot be involved. Ursula will not allow it.”
“Right.” So much for getting out of the manor. I sighed and pressed my lips together. “I guess I’d better change before the princess’s lesson du nuit.”
“De la nuit,” Dante said.
“What?”
“Night is feminine in French. De la nuit.”
I rolled my eyes. “Looks like someone chose Rosetta Stone over the crotch fiddle.”
Dante’s face flushed, and his fangs retracted suddenly. I could almost see the memory of his blood mishap from the night before playing out behind his eyes. I wondered if the princess ever felt this wretched after pushing my buttons. Maybe that was why she rushed off so soon after each time.
“I should go,” I said, standing.
“Jenna.” Dante stood, too, and stepped in front of me. His touch was feather-light on my shoulder, but my skin warmed as his fingers trailed down the back of my arm. The manic look in his eyes faded into a softer expression. “It is more than just Ursula. I…I could not bear it if—”
A sharp knock cut him off, and then Belinda’s muffled voice echoed through the double doors. “Your Grace?” she called excitedly.
Dante withdrew his hand and ground his teeth. “Enter!” He bit off the word so harshly that I jumped.
A door cracked open, and Belinda poked her head inside. “Forgive me for intruding, but Captain Nicks just called. One of his units picked up the missing girls from Darkly Hall here in St. Louis.” Her smile hinted that they were in better condition than Jodie Watts. “They’re on their way now.”
Dante’s shoulders sagged with relief. He raked a hand through his hair and licked his lips. “Once they arrive, bring them to me straight away.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Belinda bowed her head before exiting and closing the door behind her.
I waited for Dante to finish what he’d been saying before the interruption. But instead, he turned to stare out the darkened wall of windows behind the fireplace and hugged himself.
“That’s great news,” I said, trying to mean it. “Looks like that just leaves Ingrid unaccounted for.”
Dante nodded slowly. His mind had wandered off somewhere I couldn’t follow, and I suddenly felt like I was invading his privacy. I didn’t want to be here when his new blood bride and her donors-in-waiting arrived. But before I managed to work up the nerve to leave, Dante turned around again, facing me.
“I sincerely wanted this for you,” he said, following the comment with a disappointed sigh.
“Wanted what for me?” My stomach did a somersault as I swallowed.
“Your reinstatement with Blood Vice.” He gave me an odd look that made me wonder if he knew the direction my mind had initially gone. “But even if Ursula had the courage for it, I fear I do not.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dante’s chestnut eyes were tender, even as they filled with irony. “What do you think it means, Ms. Skye?”
My breath picked up speed, as did my pulse. Maybe all our flirty banter wasn’t as frivolous as I’d imagined. Though, I wasn’t sure how to feel about that or where we went with it from here. I opened my mouth, preparing to free all the delicate questions I’d been hoarding.
But then another knock came at the door before it opened without an invitation, halting my inquiry.
“Audrey.” Dante brushed past me, and I turned to watch him cross the room and greet the newcomer with a warm hug.
She was…gorgeous. No other word would do. Her face was clean, not a speck of makeup, and she wore a pastel green dress that looked as if it had been stolen off the back of a Southern belle. Strawberry curls dusted her pale shoulders just inside the wide, lace collar of her dress.
“Your Grace,” she sighed breathlessly and curtseyed as Dante released her.
“Are you all right? Should I call for the harem nurse?” He touched her cheek, and she blushed, turning her face away coyly. I instantly hated her.
“I am fine—we all are,” she said, nodding over her shoulder at a pair of young ladies waiting in the hallway. “Whatever our captors’ intentions were, they were unable to fulfill them before Polly escaped and called for help. Your brave men rescued us mere moments later. Bless them.”
Dante nodded. “I will see to it that they each receive personal recognition and a handsome Midwinter bonus.”
Audrey yawned against the back of her dainty hand. “A thousand apologies, Your Grace. It’s been a terribly long night.”
He smiled softly and cupped her shoulders. “Of course, my dear.”
My fangs dug into my bottom lip. I had to get out of there.
Belinda and Yoshiko appeared out in the hall with the two other girls. More curtseys and bows were exchanged, and I decided that I wouldn’t be playing Miss Manners with anyone tonight.
I was a duchess of House Lilith, however useless or temporary the title was, and if Ursula’s etiquette lessons had taught me anything, it was that the only people I was absolutely required to stoop to were the queen, the prince, and the princess. Everyone else could suck an egg. I was in no mood. Not after watching Dante fawn over his new blood bride.
“My ha
rem manager will show your donors-in-waiting to their quarters upstairs,” the duke said, eliciting another bow from Yoshiko. “And Belinda, my assistant, will show you to your room in the south wing.”
So I was acquiring a fancy new neighbor. Great.
“We can talk more tonight, after sunset,” Dante said to Audrey, leading her out into the hallway to hand off to Belinda.
He hadn’t bothered to introduce me, and Audrey hadn’t so much as looked in my direction. I felt like a fly on the wall. More like in the ointment, I decided when the virgin blood doll shot me a fleeting glance. She was probably wondering if I was the duke’s midnight snack.
When Dante closed the door behind the dispersing crowd in the hallway, I cleared my throat, reminding him that I was still there.
“I really should go and get cleaned up,” I said, cutting across the room to where he stood. “Ursula will come looking for me soon.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “She would skin me alive if she knew the danger you were in tonight.”
“A thousand apologies, Your Grace,” I said, mimicking Audrey’s sticky-sweet, Southern accent.
He blinked at me, lips parting with surprise. “You’re jealous.”
“Am I?” I sidestepped around him, but he caught my arm before I reached the doors.
“I am following the queen’s orders,” Dante said softly. “This new bond has no bearing on the one I share with you.”
“And what bond is it that you think we share?” I huffed and pulled my arm out of his grasp. When he hesitated to answer, I went for the exit again. “You know what? Forget I asked.”
“Jenna—”
I circled around the back hallway and cut down the south wing, relieved to see that all the bedroom doors were closed. I’d figure out which one I needed to avoid tomorrow. For now, a cold shower was in order.
Dante’s new arm candy might have had a long night, but mine wasn’t even close to being over. Though I doubted the second half would be any more pleasant than the first.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Blood Vice Book 6) Page 5