“Did your sire not teach you any of this?” Sondra asked.
Once again, I was faced with having to tell someone I had no idea who my sire was. It was beginning to make me feel like I was abandoned in the trash at birth, slightly ashamed and defensive all at the same time.
“I have no idea who turned me,” I snapped.
She gaped at me. “How is that possible? Vampires are extremely possessive of their children. You’re too rare as it is. I can’t imagine them turning someone and then tossing them aside.”
That made me feel so much better. Not only did my sire totally derail my life, but evidently, I wasn’t good enough. At least not enough to stick around. A small piece of me felt rejected. A very small piece. So small that I probably would try to kill him if I ever laid eyes on my sire.
I shrugged like the topic didn’t bother me. “I seem to be getting along okay without him. Thanks for the tip about sunlight though. I was not happy about never getting to see the world during daylight again.”
“Have you thought about approaching one of the clans?” she ventured.
“No. I have no intention of getting involved with them.” My voice was cold and steely, signally the topic was closed.
She nodded, catching the hint.
She held up an armful of clothes. “Figured you could use some clean clothes. I think these will fit.”
I took the clothes from her and glanced at the sizes in the jeans and black long sleeve shirt. They should fit.
“Brax wants you downstairs to go over the next steps.”
Oh, did he? So, kind of him to include me in that.
“Any new information from the videos?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not really. There are a few odd things, but for the most part, it’s a bust.”
I wondered if she was telling me the truth or if that was a lie to keep me in the dark.
*
Brax and Clay were the only ones waiting for me in the living room. Neither rose as I entered. Brax nodded at the sofa. I took a seat and waited. Both fixed me with intent stares that somehow appeared threatening and calming at the same time. I stared back, knowing this was a kind of test, giving them a blank expression that said I had all night to play this game.
Tension grew between the three of us, and too late I remembered that meeting a wolf’s eyes could be seen as a sign of aggression. Now that I had committed, I couldn’t back down without it being taken as a sign of weakness. I thought non-confrontational thoughts as I tried to channel soothing peace.
“The videos turned out to be a dead end,” Brax said. His voice made it clear that my efforts had been ineffective. It sounded like he would like a more physically violent method of communication.
Inwardly, I smiled. So nice to aggravate my kidnapper.
“Oh?” I asked.
He hadn’t picked up on Angela. Though, why would he? I wouldn’t have either if I hadn’t met her through Miriam. Her presence wasn’t an indicator of guilt. She could have been out for a night on the town or meeting a friend. For all I knew, she was cheating on her boyfriend, Victor, with a vampire. What interested me was how they’d disappeared from the cameras.
I hesitated to give her name to Brax in case her presence was totally innocent. I didn’t know what they planned to do to whoever was killing people, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be particularly kind. I’d keep my suspicions to myself until I had more concrete evidence.
“It doesn’t escape me that you seem to keep popping up in all this,” Brax said. “First Franklin and then the attack on me.”
“This has been going on for months. I’ve only been involved in two instances. There have been dozens,” I defended myself.
“Would you be able to name all those you’ve heard disappeared or were killed?” Clay asked.
I frowned. I knew a good portion as it was part of my job for Hermes, but I couldn’t say I remembered every one. Weeks had gone by before the supernatural community was willing to admit there was a serial killer. A lot of the first murders had gone unremarked and unnoticed.
“Not all,” I said. “But most.”
“Create a list of names and any dates you can remember,” Brax ordered. “We’ll compare them to those we know.”
