been both healer and coavenger when Sailor had fallen ill to the Celebrity Virus, then had brought justice to its perpetrator—since the plague’s spread had been intentional. Alessande knew what she was doing when it came to dealing with the world’s—and the Otherworld’s—evils.
So she really didn’t understand why Brodie was so upset with her. Brodie knew her, knew she was capable of handling herself when the going got tough. As for the vampire cop—well, he was a vampire, and she didn’t expect a hell of a lot out of any vampire.
“Honestly, I knew what I was doing,” Alessande insisted.
Jonquil barked as if in agreement.
“This is the kind of situation the police need to handle,” Sailor said.
“The police? Oh, Sailor, come on. We both know that, in situations where Others are involved, the police are all but helpless.”
“That’s why Others are encouraged to join law enforcement,” Sailor said. “Whether you want to believe it or not, Brodie and Mark were anything but helpless at the cemetery.”
“I don’t care,” Alessande said. “We have to be involved when it comes to our world, Sailor. You know that. And even if they did manage to arrest a number of cult members, we still don’t know who’s behind it all. Someone is at work out there doing something far more vicious than merely creating a cult, and they have to be an Other. I believe it’s either a shapeshifter or a vampire, which is why it’s not such a great thing for a vampire to be working on this. I mean, seriously, a vampire policeman is really something of an oxymoron!”
“Oh, Alessande, honestly, that isn’t true,” Sailor said. Her eyes were wide as she stared past Alessande, who swung around quickly in her seat to find Rhiannon Gryffald had arrived, standing with her hands on her hips, watching Alessande.
She winced.
No, of course it wasn’t true, and she knew it. She didn’t understand her own behavior right now—she was usually cool, collected and serene.
It was the situation.
And maybe even the fact that she had almost died, but she had to remain in denial or give up on her ultimate goal.
And now, just as she had spoken carelessly, Rhiannon had walked in.
Rhiannon Gryffald was the oldest of the three cousins, and though she had not particularly wanted to come to L.A. when her father had headed off to form the international council, she had been the first to embrace her life as a Keeper—the vampire Keeper for the Valley. And she was very much in love with Brodie.
Thankfully, Brodie was an Other—Alessande’s kind, Elven—so there was no awkwardness in trying to explain the Otherworld and Rhiannon’s role in it to him. He was a great guy and a good cop, and Alessande was fond of him—just as she was fond of the entire Gryffald family. But Rhiannon was quick, maybe too quick, to defend the basic decency of the Valley’s vampire population—and quick to take offense if they were accused of misdeeds with no proof.
“I’m sorry,” Alessande murmured.
“Vampires get a bad rap,” Rhiannon said. She tossed back a length of auburn hair. “I knocked,” she told her cousin. “I guess you didn’t hear me—over the rant.”
“Rhiannon,” Alessande said, “really, I’m sorry. It’s just that Brodie’s partner behaved as if I was some kind of idiot with no idea what I was doing.”
Rhiannon arched a brow. “You were about to be a sacrifice—if I heard correctly.”
“I would have teleported at the right time,” Alessande insisted stubbornly. “But first I would have figured out who’s behind the cult and the killings. Never mind. I’m not trying to be argumentative or cast aspersions on anyone. But this is ridiculous. When we left the police station, I agreed to come here to talk with Sailor, as my Keeper, but if no one’s going to take me seriously, then forgive me, but I really should be leaving.”
She’d come straight here—from seemingly endless hours of police paperwork. From questions that she answered as best she could when there was no true answer to some of them, or no answer she could give in the world of men. She’d been very careful, trying to be forthright without giving away any information that would make the human employees of the police department suspicious.
And worse, her car was at the impound lot. She’d had to ride with Brodie and Mark, and she was stuck here until she could ease her way out of the conversation and get someone to drive her home.
She spoke in an even tone to Rhiannon. “Forgive me. This— It’s senseless,” she said quietly. “The fact that you’re Keepers makes you responsible for dangerous situations, but it doesn’t preclude the rest of us from acting when those we care about are threatened. I really would like to just go home now, if you don’t mind.”
“Alessande,” Sailor protested gently. “We’re not attacking you—really.”
“No, I don’t mean to attack,” Rhiannon said softly. “If it seems like we are, it’s because we’re frightened— frightened for you.”
At that moment Barrie Gryffald, Keeper of the Valley shapeshifters, burst into the house. “I heard what happened! Oh, my God! Alessande—you’re all right?”
“I’m fine, Barrie, thank you,” Alessande said.
“But you set yourself up—were you able to find out anything about Regina?”
“Regina?” Rhiannon asked.
Alessande lowered her head for a moment. She looked up at Barrie and shook her head slowly. “No. I’d hoped I’d be taken wherever she might be and that...”
“And that you could save her,” Barrie finished.
“She’s innocent and young and...she disappeared two nights ago now. I’m afraid. The longer she’s missing...”
Regina Johnson was eighteen and on her own. She’d come to L.A. straight out of a foster home in San Francisco. Alessande had met her when Regina had agreed to play a minor role in a fantasy movie being filmed at a small studio run by one of Alessande’s friends. That was a negative about being Elven, at least in Alessande’s mind. Many in the Elven community flocked to L.A. because they had excellent prospects for success in the movies. Elven tended to be blond, blue-eyed, statuesque and filled with a natural charm that the camera seemed to love. Elven who didn’t work
“All right, yes, I did—do—want to save her. But that’s simply part of it. Okay, most of it,” Alessande said in a rush. “But it’s not only Regina. She was just the last to disappear, so there’s still hope for her. And I feel so bad for her. Growing up, she didn’t even know that she was Elven, didn’t know that there was a whole community of Others just like her, that she was normal...and she comes here, settles in, starts to work—and disappears.”
“You felt bad for an orphan because
“Yes,” Alessande admitted. Her situation hadn’t been quite as bad. She had never known her own father, but she had a brother two years younger from her mother’s second marriage; his father and their mother had been with them until dying in an accident when Alessande was seven and Conner five. After that they had been adopted by Elven parents and had grown up in a family where they were loved and understood. That had been back in Northern Scotland, many years ago. Her brother was still dear to her, but he’d remained behind in the Old World when she’d left in the middle of World War II, unable to stay behind after the love of her life had been killed during the invasion of Normandy. She loved her brother dearly, and one of them traveled back and forth every few years to visit. Her adoptive parents were still overseas as well, having chosen to retire to Cork, in Ireland. She saw them as often as she could.
Regina had not had the benefit of a brother or loving adoptive parents. She’d thought there was something seriously wrong with her for most of her life. Alessande had met her soon after she’d discovered what she was and had wanted to make the world right for her.
Then...
Then she’d been kidnapped—right when being kidnapped seemed to mean showing up dead just a few weeks later.
“The point is,” Alessande said, “Regina was the third young woman to disappear—and the other two were apparently held somewhere for weeks before they were dumped.”
“We all understand trying to save a friend,” Barrie said. She walked over to the sofa in front of the fire and
