It didn’t surprise me to see a couple familiar vamps, Leon and Evan, break off from the celebration and make their way up to where we sat.
They were coming to guard Rossi, to make sure he would be safe here among the people and supernaturals.
Old Rossi, however, had other ideas. He lifted his hand, a small motion even I could tell was a dismissal, to wave them off.
They hesitated, debating whether or not to follow his order.
“Wow,” I said. “When did they get so dumb?”
He let out a sound very like a weary sigh. “My health has instilled doubt. It is, at the very least, irritating.”
“And at the very most?”
“At the very most, someone will decide to challenge me.”
I let that thought settle for a moment. “And how do you think that’s going to work out for them?”
“Poorly.” His smile was all fang, and his entire body tightened with the readiness of a hunter who had been idle too long in a cave. A hungry predator.
“You’re not supposed to enjoy confusing your family,” I said.
“Oh? And you’re going to give me advice on how to hold this clan of vampires together? What sorts of books have you been reading lately that make you an expert, Myra? Perhaps something I know? Perhaps something I’ve written?”
“Okay, fine, I get it. You’re old enough you don’t need my advice. Go ahead and ignore me. Everyone else does.”
He let that comment fall into the evening air, and I wished I hadn’t said anything. I really didn’t have a close relationship with Rossi, or at least not as close as the one Delaney and he had. Delaney had taken him a stuffed, blue llama toy a few months back, and told him to stop being such a baby about his injuries.
A stuffed llama. For one of the most powerful supernatural beings in town.
From what I could get out of Ben, Rossi’s actual blood son, Rossi sort of loved the little toy. Ben swore me to secrecy and told me Rossi had taken it into his private chambers where he kept all his favorite things.
So Delaney clearly knew him better than I did. The closest Rossi and I had been in recent years was when I ticketed him for streaking.
But still, he’d been a fixture in town, and I liked steady things. I liked it when the world remained the same, predictable. Safe.
My gaze roamed over to Bathin, who lounged among the werewolves like he was one of them. I was surprised they’d let him join them. I was also surprised he had a cat in his lap. Not the same stray, but maybe another one, that kneaded the fabric of his jeans as he ran his hand gently over her back.
Huh.
Delaney was curled up against Ryder at the fire. He was reenacting what appeared to be a very active chase scene, his arm snug around her, half-empty beer in his hand.
She laughed and shook her head, then took a drink of his beer. He didn’t miss a beat, just kept telling the story to the people next to him, who were wiping tears from their faces.
“What do you know about souls, Rossi?” I stared at my smiling sister. Had her smile changed? Was it less bright? Were her eyes going distant, even there in the middle of all that life, all that laughter and camaraderie? Did she look tired? Worn down? Damaged?
Or was it just a long day and a retiring friend that made her look so sad?
“Is that the question you want to ask me, Myra?”
“What other question would help me get her soul back?”
“Ask me what I know about demons.”
I shifted so I could look at him. He gazed placidly at the beach and bonfires, waiting.
“All right. What do you know about demons?”
“Demons do not lose.”
