Blood Song

ful month to weaken the tie to their sire.”

I didn’t ask who “we” were. I had a strong suspicion but didn’t real y want to know. Nor did I think he’d

tel me. Or maybe he would. Which might be worse.

“Did it work, and if so, why am I awake?” Or had it been a month? I probably should ask what month

and year it was. “How long have I been here, anyway?” I pul ed on a pair of elegant powder blue lace

panties and matching bra, then promptly covered them up with a serviceable navy sweat suit. I used a

covered rubber band to pul my hair into a ponytail at the back of my head. It felt about the same length

as it had this morning. Or whenever. I reminded myself, yet again, to find time for a haircut. Of course,

it occurred to me that my hair might not grow back … ever. Man, I’d better find a really good stylist if it

was going to wind up my last haircut.

“You’ve been here about six hours. It’s around ten A.M. And a month didn’t work perfectly. No.”

He didn’t elaborate, and his tone was absolutely neutral. Too neutral. Sometimes the absence of

something tel s me more than its presence. My guess would be that the mission he’d been referring to

went very bad, very quickly. It might even be the source of the scarring on his neck. Or not. I wouldn’t

ask. It was rude. Yes, since I apparently was an abomination I should probably find out as much as I

could; and I would … eventual y. But right now I needed to find out what had happened in the hours I’d

lost. Because I hadn’t just lost six hours. The last I remembered was getting ready to visit Vicki.

“Can you sense your sire?” Jones’s words brought me back to the situation at hand.

I thought about it. Nothing. There was no sorrow or rage or even happiness connected to the lack of

a connection. Just bland neutralness. “No. Is there a trick to doing it?”

“No. General y the connection’s just there.” He seemed genuinely puzzled and not particularly

pleased.

“That’s not terribly helpful, you know,” Emma said coldly. She wasn’t looking at him as she said it.

Instead, she was very careful y cleaning and putting away every bit of equipment they’d used. In

moments there would be no trace of my having been here at al . Except, of course, for the video

camera.

“Make sure they keep the film of my being brought in.”

“Why?” Emma sounded surprised.

I wanted to look at it, to see if the video prompted any memories. But that’s not what I said. “The

police may want proof that I didn’t leave the crime scene under my own steam.”

“No police.” Jones sounded as though he were scolding a particularly dim-witted child.

“Look, it’s fairly obvious I was attacked, and I wouldn’t have gone down without at least a few shots

having been fired. That gun on top isn’t even mine, so weapons were used. The police have bal istics

on most of my weapons from a couple of previous incidents. They’re going to match up the pieces

when they start digging through the scene. They know what I do for a living, so it isn’t usual y an issue.

It isn’t a crime to kil a vampire, but people are general y supposed to report that sort of thing.”

Jones shrugged. “Ah. A good, law-abiding citizen.” There was a hint of condescending amusement.

To my surprise, his tone didn’t irritate me. Probably because he was trying too hard. I do have a short

fuse, but I don’t like playing into people’s expectations. So I smiled and spoke sweetly. “It makes life

easier. I like easy.”

Emma gave me an odd look. She knows me wel enough to have expected me to put up more of a

fight. I saw her open her mouth as if to speak, then close it, compressing her lips tightly.

I looked from one of them to the other. “Here’s what I propose. I cal the police, arrange to come in

and make my statement.” Not that I could say much, with no memories of whatever had happened. But

I might be able to get some information. They might even do a memory enhancement for me. Or not.

That sort of thing was only used as a last resort—too traumatic to the witness. Besides, the courts

were split on whether or not the evidence obtained that way could be used because of proven cases of

mental manipulation. Stil , worth a shot.

“After that I go to Vicki, see what she knows, maybe see if she can help me track my sire’s daytime

hidey-hole. If that doesn’t work, we go back to wherever you found me and see if we can find any

clues.” If my sire was going to be stalking me with death or undeath in mind, I wanted to get the jump on

him. Preferably in ful daylight with as much specialized weaponry as I could carry. I’ve fought vamps.

I’ve kil ed them. But mostly they’ve been babies, new to the game. Vampires that are old enough to

actual y bring humans over are good. Scary good. They’ve got strength, magic, mind games, the works.

I was going to need every advantage I could get to get close enough to kil the bastard, before he kil ed

me. Vicki has a better than 99 percent accuracy rate. Odds are she either knew what was going on or

could find out. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.

Emma nodded, which I expected since she knows Vicki nearly as wel as I do. But I hadn’t expected

Jones to speak.

“I’d recommend that. But I’d suggest you see Vicki first. The police are open twenty-four/seven.

Birchwoods isn’t.” That was interesting. How did Jones know about Vicki? While it was possible Emma

or Kevin had told him, it didn’t seem likely. No, I was betting that Jones had found out the information on

his own. If so, he’d been researching al of us. Maybe he’d done it after Kevin had cal ed him. But I

doubted it. He’d have had to work fast and be amazingly good. Because Birchwoods takes

confidentiality very, very seriously. If a starlet or executive wants sympathy, they check into one of the

other rehab facilities. If they want secrecy to the grave and beyond, they choose Birchwoods. It’s

pricey as hel , but for folks who value their privacy Birchwoods is worth every penny. And there was no

way Vicki’s parents would leak she was there. It would be too damaging to their lily-white reputations.

Hel , they’re so worried about their image that they hire a double to impersonate her for the press. So

how had Jones known?

I turned toward him, my expression studiously blank. “Are you in this for the duration?”

He shrugged. “I owe Kevin Landingham a significant favor. Helping you wil repay that.”

“Fair enough.”

I turned, giving Emma a long, hard look. What I was about to do was virtual y guaranteed to annoy her,

but it was necessary. If she came along, she’d get in the way. Besides, I didn’t want to wait for Kevin,

but I wanted him riding shotgun as soon as possible. Cal me paranoid, but I didn’t trust Jones with my

back. I just didn’t know him wel enough. “When your brother gets back—”

“I’m going with you—,” she interrupted, but I kept talking over her.

“—tel him where we’re headed so that he can catch up.”

“We can leave him a note. I’m going with you. I am not sitting here and waiting like a good little girl.”

She wasn’t shouting, wasn’t hysterical. In fact, there was a level of cold, hard determination I’d never

seen in her before. It made no sense. Why now of al times, and about this?

“Em—”