I spent several hours at the station, going over the evidence we had on Sven’s death, and looking through the photos Ryder uploaded to the database. There wasn’t a lot I could draw out of the photos of Jame that I hadn’t already known by being there.
It was a vampire attack. The bite made that clear. The bloody ichor techne seemed to back it up. I didn’t know how powerful a vampire had to be to take down Jame and kidnap Ben. Maybe it was more than one vampire. Maybe it had been vampires and other creatures working together.
Since it had happened outside of Ordinary, it could have even been a god who jumped them, though most gods saw our town and all those who lived within it as pretty much beneath their notice.
Until they went on vacation.
“Anything?” Myra asked from her desk. We’d sent Jean to the hospital to tell us when Jame was conscious enough to be able to speak. Hadn’t heard from her yet.
I picked up my cup and made a face at the contents. When had I poured myself water?
“You’ve been drinking coffee like it’s air,” Myra said. “Hydrate before you get an ulcer or kidney stones.”
I took a sip of the water, then drained half the cup because she wasn’t wrong.
“I keep coming back to this ring.” I gulped down more water, then shuffled through the pictures. “It looks square on top, right?”
Myra stood, and groaned as she stretched. I grinned at her. “You okay there?”
“Still sore from practice.” The fanatic glow in her eyes meant she wasn’t at all sorry about that. “Bertie cornered me earlier today.”
“About the Cake and Skate?” I pushed the extra chair by my desk out with my foot, indicating she could sit.
She nodded and walked over. “I wasn’t going to compete.”
“Hold the hamburgers. She talked you into skating?”
Myra levered down into the chair. “You know how she is.”
“Yes. I do. And you do too. You never fall for her Valkyrie ways.”
“She was very convincing.”
“Blackmail?”
“Worse. Revenge. Petty revenge. I am a sucker and fell for it.”
I made clucking noises with my tongue. “You? Myra. It must be good if you’re listening to the devil on your shoulder. It wouldn’t involve a certain Rebecca Carver, would it?”
“I ran into her at Athena’s tea shop.”
“Picking up some of that fresh oolong from that tea farm outside Salem?”
“Yes. She was there complaining about the selection and the candles and the weather and the town.”
“Did you have to stop Athena from breaking her nose?”
“No, she was reading a magazine and ignoring her. Which is what I should have done.”
“What did Rebecca do? Tell you your tea sucks?” I was sort of fascinated to find out what had made Myra angry. Not that she didn’t get mad, but out of all of us Reed girls, she was the best at keeping a level head.
“She told me she liked how my uniform made me look like I was in shape.”
“You want revenge because she said you were fat?”
Myra was curvier than me or Jean, and tougher than both of us put together.
“No. I don’t care if she thinks I’m fat. I’m in good shape for this job, and for myself. But then she went on about how sad it is that everyone from small, backward towns like ours are fat and uneducated. She said she had only agreed to compete in the fundraiser because she was sure that anyone from town who volunteered would have a heart attack, and how embarrassing that would be for them. A heart attack. Embarrassing! I sort of lost it.”
