Page 15 of Cold Sacrifice

“Oh yes,” Rick said. “It is. And you should be careful not to make things worse for yourself.”

Wang stared down at the phone for another second, his jaw tight. Then he straightened. “Slow it down,” he told Joe.

He turned and strode back to his cruiser. A moment later, the lights went dark and he pulled away.

Joe sagged with relief. “He’s gone, Detective. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Rick said. Then, “Kait, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I told him. “I was just worried about getting Joe someplace safe before dawn.”

“Can you get him there,” he asked dryly, “without speeding?”

I laughed. “We can do that.” I hesitated. “Rick, thank you.”

“I’m happy to help.” I heard the smile in his voice. “Is the Alexandria thing something I should know about?”

I sobered at once. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll know more once I talk to Bastien. I’ll call you after.”

And finally, we headed to Alexandria. I’d have maybe an hour to talk to the vampire master before dawn came and forced him to keep his secrets a little while longer.

Chapter Four

The glamour surrounding the vampire village of Alexandria was as tight and controlled as it ever had been. Once, the nightmare that was Avis Vine had warped that glamour, and the humans had seen things they hadn’t been meant to see.

But it had been smoothed over, explained away, fixed.

And the humans had put their heads back into the nice, comfy sand.

We parked in front of Bastien’s house, which looked like any other house in any other neighborhood. It didn’t look like the home of a vampire master. It looked like the home of a well-to-do—and human—businessman.

But inside that house, where the glamour was relaxed, it was a totally different story. Inside, it was all vampire. Most of the windows were fake. The place was huge and old, and the walls and floors, the brick and wood, and even the pictures on the walls were permanently scarred with blood and magic.

Bastien was waiting for us. He appeared abruptly in front of me after one of the vampires had escorted us inside, his stare dark. He was unsmiling and tense, and he didn’t try to hide his anger from me. Maybe he tried to hide the edges of his fear, but I saw them anyway.

The vampire master was upset.

He led us into the kitchen, fully equipped and stocked despite the fact that vampires couldn’t eat. There were humans in the house, and they had to eat. Humans who fed the vampires, humans who managed their daytime lives, humans who helped the master maintain a connection to the human world.

Servants, all.

There were no humans in the kitchen, as though Bastien knew it would be distracting or uncomfortable for me. There were two vampires there, though, waiting to see if we would need anything before they gave us our privacy.

“Can I feed you?” Bastien asked. “Or get you something to drink?”

“Nothing, thanks,” I told him. “I just ate and I’m full, for once.”

He nodded. “Please, sit. I will explain.”

The vampires melted away, and then it was just Bastien, Joe, and me. I could hear the activity in the other parts of the house, though. Laughter, conversation, thumps, scrapes…an occasional and distant scream, sounding like it might have come from somewhere down the road, but I knew it was inside the massive house.

Bastien sat down across from me, though he looked like he needed to pace out some of his energy, and finally, he relaxed. Though relaxed might have been the wrong word. He didn’t relax so much as find that stillness vampires were known for.

He became still, his eyes emptied, and his face shifted into blankness. “As I told you,” he began, “my vampires are dying. Something is getting to them in their beds as they sleep.”

“No,” Joe said. “That can’t be true.”

For an instant, Bastien’s gaze lit on Joe, and something dark flared in his eyes. Despite himself, Joe recoiled. Vampires did not contradict the master.