"They should be arrested."Another nod.
"Can I do a citizen's arrest?" Bess asked, throwing her arms out as she lost patience.
Ursula was letting her go off because she hadn't stopped from the five-minute walk from the library to the station. And it was kind of fun watching an intensely stoic man get the brunt of her passion.
"We've got it handled," was his reply. Then he offered, "But you're more than welcome to stay and throw them that stare. Would work better than most of our interrogators."
The teen seemed to preen under the praise and smiled the slightest.
"While I am sure that would be fun, we do have things to get to," Ursula answered for her. "Listen, you should know that Astra said something to Tilly."
Chief Landry stared at her.
"About, you know," she gestured to her mouth as she showed her teeth.
He raised his eyebrows in question and Bess explained.
"She asked if you bit her yet. And then she told us," Bess paused and Ursula almost jumped in to stop her but she beat her to it. "That vampires bite witches because it's the only way to sire a human and keep your bloodline going." She rushed the words like they were hot in her mouth.
Ursula looked around nervously as he and Bess stared at each other. No one else was in the station's waiting area as they talked vampire teeth and magic.
"Do you have a question?" he asked the teenager easily, without concern.
Her folded arms over her chest and raised eyebrow communicated that he should have concern.
"Do you have a response?"
"I don't think talking about biting your aunt is something I'm comfortable talking about with a young woman."
Ursula's mouth turned down at the corners trying to hold back a smile as they went back and forth.
"I want to know if you're using her. Because that would be a pretty lame dick move."
He almost smiled at her fire. "I assure you, and I promise on my honor, that I am not usin' your aunt. I happen to be quite taken by the little mynx. I've been chasin' her since I met her."
"And not because you want her magic blood," Bess clarified.
He nodded. "Not because of her magic blood." He didn't expand on that and Bess gave him an unsure look that he returned with a stone face.
"I'm rooting for you, man. You saved my life, and Lady Macbeth's," she added. "You fight for the good guys, and you don't talk a lot. Which is surprisingly difficult to find in people. So don't mess this up."Ursula groaned. She'd found herself giving up more battles with Bess lately. The girl was almost a woman and she had a lot of learning to do, but this is how she would do it. And Ursula found herself fighting smiles at the young woman's obstinacy, her charging through life. She had these glimmers of time, small and fleeting, but they flashed brightly with the warmth of how much she loved Bess and when she got them she learned to just stop everything and enjoy them. And she was having one now watching her standoff with one of the tallest men Ursula had ever met, with a concrete disposition to boot. She had to admire Bess's spunk.
He chuckled. "Listen. If there is any stirrin' up to be done, Astra will be the first with a spoon."
"Old girlfriend of yours?"
Ursula's eyes widened as she fought that smile.
The chief's smile twitched. "No ma'am. She's not my type."
"What is your type?"
"Tilly."
"And what are your intentions?"
His silence was not a good sign, and Bess widened her eyes in agotchalook.
"Unbelievable. Even men who have lived for thousands of years haven't learned how to actually woo a woman."
