“Did she ask you?”
“She may have. But not in a nosy kind of way,” Daniella hurriedly added.
Damon rolled his eyes.
“I didn’t tell her anything confidential. I don’t even know all the details of how you process blood from the funeral home, and I really don’t want to. It’s not something I care to dwell on.”
Daniella might not care to dwell on it, but Damon was well aware of Vamptown’s special blood source. Doc Boomer, the vampire dentist/doctor/chemist, had developed a formula to revitalize the human blood they received from the human-run funeral home. When he’d first arrived in Vamptown, Damon hadn’t believed their claims that it was better than fresh, with additional calcium for healthy bones, teeth, and fangs. Doc had filtered out all the impurities. No germs, diseases, or viruses. Not that it mattered, since vamps were immortal. But no one went looking for sickness. Even vamps.
Daniella’s family was unaware of the side business being run by the vamps, thanks to compelling when required.
But Daniella knew. Not the details, as she’d said. She knew enough, which was fine by Damon. Any additional info was on a need-to-know basis only.
Daniella eyed the empty plate in front of Nick. “Weren’t you supposed to save me some?”
“Let me make it up to you.” Nick reached up and pulled Daniella closer to kiss her with unabashed passion. She tumbled onto his lap with a laugh.
Damon had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at their public display of affection. He refused to imagine tugging Zoe onto his lap and kissing her. Instead he kept his mind on business.
“I know Zoe’s grandmother is a friend of yours,” Damon told Nick. “But there are red flags showing up on their very first day. First they use magic to block the video camera feed, and then Zoe brings up the funeral home. Did she ask you why we could tolerate daylight?” he asked Daniella.
“No. I think your hostility toward her threw her a bit,” Daniella admitted.
“Good.” Damon wanted her thrown. He wanted her thrown right out of Vamptown.
“I liked her,” Daniella stated. “It was nice having someone a little unusual to talk to.”
“You mean not human?” Damon said.
“The fact that she’s a witch doesn’t mean she’s not human,” Daniella said. “Does it?” She turned to Nick for confirmation.
Nick shrugged. “It’s a bit of a gray area. I’m no expert on it.”
“My point exactly,” Damon said.
“And you are an expert on witches?” Daniella asked him.
“I’m an expert on how devious they can be.” A century and a half ago, shortly after he was turned, Damon had ended up in New Orleans after the war. Eve Delacroix had been a dark-eyed beauty with a reputation for driving men beyond the edge of reason. But Damon wasn’t a man any longer. He was an immortal vampire and a Demon Hunter, turned by powerful vampire Demon Hunter Simon Howell himself.
Simon had told Damon that he’d chosen him from the bloodied battlefield in rural Pennsylvania because of his courage in battle. Despite having been shot several times in the arm and shoulders, Damon had kept moving forward until his leg was nearly blown off and he’d collapsed. He was stubborn that way. He wasn’t one to give up easily.
Damon had done the same thing with Eve. He’d been sure that he was the one who could win her. He hadn’t known she was a witch at first, but even when he discovered that fact he hadn’t been in any way unsure of his ultimate success.
She had been a hot seductress, well versed in the erotic arts and acts. But she ended up betraying him in the worst possible way.
So, no, Damon didn’t like witches. Didn’t trust them. Didn’t want them around.
Daniella reluctantly hopped up from Nick’s lap. “I’ve got to get back to work. I really didn’t get the feeling that Zoe is devious.”
Before Damon could make a scathing reply, they were joined by Neville Rickerbacher, Vamptown’s resident vamp super-nerd. He was a computer genius and a stock market whiz. Damon knew that Neville and his elite team made most of the money that kept Vamptown going using shrewd investments. Neville was also in charge of the neighborhood’s surveillance system.
“The cameras are back online,” Neville told them. “But they are now broadcasting Animal Planet. Here, look.” He showed them his tablet.
Damon’s growl made Neville shiver nervously. “Wait, now it’s back to normal. Nope, back to Animal Planet.”
“Still think she’s not going to be any trouble?” Damon asked Nick. “I gave her half an hour to get the cameras going again, and this is her response.”
“Zoe admitted she spelled the cameras?” Nick said.
“Her grandmother did it,” Damon said.
“Well, that’s another matter entirely,” Nick said.
“Why?” Damon said. “What difference does it make which witch made trouble?”
“Come on, Damon. In the big picture, how bad is this minor thing? After all, Irma didn’t know that the cameras were ours. Give her and Zoe a chance.”
“How many chances do you plan on giving her?” Damon demanded.
“As many as it takes,” Nick said.
Damon had no intention of being that generous.
“You couldn’t have put up the protective spell sooner?” Zoe asked Bella. “As in when Damon pushed us against the wall?”
“No, I couldn’t, because it’s been decades since I’d been in such close contact with a man. You have no idea what that’s like. I couldn’t resist having that hot vampire body pressed against me. It felt sooo good,” Bella purred.
“You’ve been a familiar long enough to know what your job is.” Zoe shoved her dark hair away from her face in exasperation. “You’re supposed to help me, protect and guide me.”
Bella yawned daintily before replying, “He didn’t kill you so what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that you didn’t have my back.”
“The wall was at your back. He was against your front. And I threatened him later in the conversation. Vampires value their private parts,” Bella said.
“How do you even know a spell like that? Most familiars—”
“We’ve already established that I am not like most familiars,” Bella interrupted her to say. “As for the spell, we had Russian vampires at court who could get nasty and I had to use it once or twice.”
“I need your help,” Gram called from the back bedroom.
Zoe entered the room to find several spell books spread out on the bed.
“I can’t remember how to undo the spell I did on the cameras.” Gram sounded flustered.
“It’s not in the family Book of Spells?”
Gram shook her head. “Just the standard one, which I tried.” She opened the well-worn old book and recited the spell again.
“Are you sure that didn’t work?” Zoe said.
Gram nodded. “It’s not specific enough. Maybe it’s in here.” She reached for a thin calfskin volume with gilded edges. “I don’t remember seeing this one before.”
“Gram, wait!”
But she’d already opened the book. A rush of cold dank air hit them along with a howl.
Zoe helped Gram immediately snap the book shut.
“That didn’t sound good,” Gram said.
“That definitely didn’t sound good,” Zoe agreed. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she inhaled the smell of must and magic. Dark magic. Dangerous magic. “What just happened?”
