I nodded, hoping a hidden camera wasn’t recording our gossiping.
She said, “I don’t know how Michael puts up with her constant henpecking. She must give one mean blowjob!”
“No! Michael and Marlena are hooking up? I thought Michael was batting for the other team!”
“I have my theories. But they must be, right? How else could he stand to be around her?”
I snickered.
“Marlena’ssoself-righteous,” she went on. “She’s never said as much, but I can tell that sheloathesnew vampires.”
“New vampires?”
“Guess you don’t know much vampire slang yet. Give it a couple of weeks. You’ll start to sound like one of them!” Erika fluttered her tiny hands in the air. “I’ll try to explain this the clearest way that I can. You know how in human society, there’s old money and new money, and those with old money sometimes look down on thenouveau riche?”
“Sure.” I was so familiar with the notion that I could have taught a class calledDewhurst Snobbery 101.The whole old and new money bias was a social absurdity I’d never understood. Who cared how long a person had been wealthy? Rich was rich, as far as I was concerned. No business on earth would ever turn currency away simply because it was too young.
“It’s the same in vampire society, except their version of affluence is age.”
I frowned. “I’m not getting the correlation.”
She thought a moment. “Okay, so you know how old money detests new money for being flashy?”
“You mean how they have fifteen cars and McMansions with lion statues on the lawn, or wear head-to-toe designer logos on social media to tell the world how rich they are?” I said with a snort. “That sort of thing?”
“Exactly! Well, it’s the same with these guys. The old ones behave in a more refined manner, since being a vamp is no longer a novelty to them. The new ones, though, flaunt it.”
“How?”
“You know, they show their fangs and hiss. Some of them are like sulkier versions of goths, which you wouldn’t think would be possible. They melodramatically weep about missing the sun, whine about being hungry. They’re like parodies of themselves, ofrealvampires. Old vampires talk about them like they’re hormonal teenagers.”
I felt a grin spread across my face. “I can’t wait to start decoying. Vampires sound so interesting!”
“They are. We’re very lucky,” she said, studying me. She’d been looking at me strangely since I’d opened my mouth.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?” I rubbed at my chin.
“Was I? Sorry. No, it’s just that you remind me of Penelope, the last girl who worked here. I can’t figure out exactly what it is about you that makes me think of her—your hair or eyes, maybe? You two could be sisters.” She shook her head. “I think it’s more the way you speak. You sound just like her.”
“The one who went missing?”
Erika nodded. “She was such a nice girl.”
“Were you close?”
“Very. I miss her tons. She’d just fallen in love with a vampire named Lewis, so her disappearance was especially tragic. She’d never had much luck with romance until she met him. He loved her as much as she loved him, maybe even more. They even talked about eloping.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It is. Don’t tell Michael I said this, but I know she’s dead. I don’t have any proof, but I can feel it. Penelope would have never skipped town on her friends and Lewis like that. And Penelope was a fighter. She’d never run away from any problem, no matter how big it was.”
“Did she have problems?” I quickly added, “I hope I’m not prying.”
“No, it’s okay.” She paused, as if considering how much she wanted to share. “Penelope mentioned feeling like she was being spied on, like someone was maybe stalking her. She kept getting hang-up calls in the middle of the night from a restricted number, and she’d come home from decoying a few times and thought her apartment had been rearranged. It was little things—paperwork moved around, lights left on, doors opened—stuff that made her think that she was imagining things.”
“Did she go to the police?”
“I asked her the same thing. Penelope said that she didn’t have any real proof and didn’t want to come off like a crazy person. She was a very proud person, but she did have a point. She couldn’t file a police report for feeling creeped out.”
