Even The Vampires Get The Blues

I sighed. It was unethical enough to make me admit the truth. 'I'm not sure where you heard I was a Diviner'—Paen glanced at Clare, who suddenly busied herself with something in a desk drawer—'but I must tell you that although I've had some training as a Diviner, I am not, in fact, one. So if you'd like to withdraw your request for help, I will understand. However, I do have some skills in finding lost objects, and I will be happy to apply my full effort to your problem if you see fit to entrust it to us.'

He rubbed his chin for a moment, his eyes darkening until they were a cloudy grey. 'I appreciate your honesty. If you are confident you can help me, I see no reason to go elsewhere.'

I smiled, and heaved a mental sigh of relief. 'Excellent. Shall we?' I gestured him back into the office. 'You mentioned something about a statue. It wouldn't happen to be a brass statue of a bird, a hawk or falcon, would it?'

He didn't even bat an eye. 'No. The statue I seek is black, of a monkey. It is called the Jilin God. Have you heard of it?'

My fingers itched to type the phrase into Google, but I didn't want to look so ignorant in front of a potential client. 'No, I'm afraid I haven't, but admittedly, I haven't made a study of art. Can you tell me a little about it?'

'No.'

'Ah.' I waited a moment to see if he wanted to add to that. He just watched me. 'Er… nothing about it? Nothing at all?'

He made a brief, annoyed, shrugging gesture. 'Virtually nothing. I can't tell you when it was stolen from my home, what its history is, or even exactly what it looks like. All I know is its name, that it's black, and depicts a monkey. It's up to you to find it for me.'

Paen leaned back in his chair, a slight arrogant twist to his eyebrows, as if he was challenging me to turn down his outrageous request.

I glanced over to Clare. She had thankfully stopped consuming flowers, but sat at her desk taking notes, a wary look on her face. That didn't bode well. Clare as a full-blooded faery (albeit one who didn't admit the fact) had an uncanny sense about people, a sense I had learned to appreciate. 'I see. Well…' I stopped and nibbled my lip again, unsure of what I wanted to do.

'Yes?'

The fact that Clare was hesitant about Paen raised enough warning bells in my head that I considered refusing the job offer. I had one job already, after all. I wasn't desperate for another one. I hesitated for a moment, and then looked back at the man sitting in front of me, intending to tell him that I was unable to help him. But as I opened my mouth to do just that, waves of coldness rolled off him, a coldness of despair and utter emptiness that buffeted me, leaving me shivering with a sadness that seemed to have no end. 'I'd like to come home with you,' my mouth said without consulting my brain.

I almost died. Mentally, I slapped a hand over my mouth and asked myself what my problem was.

Paen's eyes widened. Clare's just about bugged right out of her head. 'Pardon?' he finally asked.

'I'm sorry. That sounded like a base proposition, which I assure you it wasn't.'

That's a shame, a voice in my head said.

I ignored it. 'What I'd like to do is go over your home, examining it for clues as to the nature and whereabouts of the statue. Assuming it was there in the past, I might be able to pick up some whatchamacallit… vibes and things.'

'Vibes and things?' he asked, disbelief evident for a moment in those gorgeous quicksilver eyes.

'Yes. Emanations and such—very powerful things. They can tell a lot about an object.' Oh, great, Sam— babble like an idiot in front of a client. A very handsome client, not that his appearance had anything to do with it.

But man alive, he sure rang my chimes, what with those shoulders, and that jaw, and those flashing silver eyes… A quick glance at his expression had me pulling back from that particular mental excursion. I dug through my memory of Diviner precepts and trotted out something I thought had a bit more of a professional ring to it. 'Sometimes objects leave behind a non-tangible record of their existence. Diviners can use that trail to learn more about the object itself, and tune into its wavelength, if you will, thus allowing them to locate the item.'

'Hmm.' He didn't look convinced, but at least he lost that what-the-hell-are-you-saying-you-idiot-woman-you look. In fact, for a moment there, it looked like he was trying not to smile. 'I suppose that's possible, although the statue must have been removed from my home many years ago. Its intangible record may be so weak you can't read it.'

'I won't know until I can examine the house,' I said brightly. For some reason—oh, who am I trying to fool? It was because he was so damned gorgeous, and it had been so very long since I had been with a man—I was quite determined to do anything to prolong our contact, and that included checking out his home. Honesty forced me to admit that common curiosity about what sort of a place a vampire inhabited was not going to do for an explanation of my interest in him. It was the man himself that caught my attention, and held it. 'You never know what sorts of things you can learn until you open yourself up to new experiences.'

An interesting array of emotions flitted across his face. At first he looked obstinate, then somewhat surprised, followed by smug, ending with a smile so fleeting I almost missed it, which quickly dissolved into a bland, expressionless look that left me even colder than before. 'Very well. As you feel it's necessary, I will allow you to conduct whatever divination rituals you need in my home. What will you require as a retainer fee?'

'Nothing,' I said, quickly flipping over the little sign that stood on the edge of my desk proclaiming that a 10 percent retainer was due at the time of engagement. 'We can talk fees and such after I've had a chance to get a better feel for the case, if that's agreeable with you.'

His eyebrows rose for a moment, but settled down almost immediately. 'As you like. When would you like to examine my home?'

'Anything wrong with right now?' I asked, standing when he did.

The surprised look was back for a moment or two in his eyes.

A straightforward woman. What a refreshing change.

I jerked as if I'd been shocked. That wasn't my inner voice speaking to me as I had assumed it was—this was someone else. Someone male, someone with a Scottish accent that made me think of Braveheart, and men wearing kilts, and wild, sexy masculinity. In other words, it made me think of…

'As you put it like that, no,' Paen said, his eyes shuttered. 'There is nothing wrong with right now.'

Why on earth was he talking in my head? Why and how? And why didn't I particularly mind such an intimate feeling? I ignored the questions squirreling around in my brain, confident that I would work out the answers in the near future. It was just one more curious element in what I was coming to believe was a fascinating man.

'Excellent. We have another case we're presently engaged with,' I said, shooting Clare a meaningful look that, judging by the confused expression on her face, went totally over her head. I gathered up my coat and tapestry bag, closing my laptop and slipping it into the bag. 'But I think we can handle both cases without any difficulty. Clare, another minute of your time, please?'

Paen walked to the door as I conducted a quick whispered conference with Clare. 'You don't mind if I go check out this statue thing, do you? I was going to swing by Mr. Race's house to pick up the information about the manuscript he asked his housekeeper to get for me, but I can't do both tonight. Can you work on the manuscript case by yourself for a bit?'

'Of course. I have arranged for a meeting with a fence in two hours. I can go to Mr. Race's house first, then meet the fence.'

'A fence!' I stared at Clare.

'Yes. Raul the fence. He wouldn't talk to me on the phone, so I am going to meet him later tonight—'

'How on earth does an underwear-modeling faery know a fence?'

Clare gave me a wounded look. 'I do wish you would stop being so silly about that faery business. And as for Raul, I met him at a party. He is a very nice man for a criminal.'

Now, how on earth was I supposed to reason with that sort of an attitude? I didn't even try.

'Be careful, no matter how nice a criminal he is. I'll call you in a bit, after I check out Paen. Er.. check out Paen's house. It shouldn't take long, so hopefully I will be back in time to help you with your fence guy.'