Zoe immediately started shaking her head. “No, you’re staying here with Rafael.”
Rafael cleared his throat, drawing Zoe’s eyes to his, and shook his head. “I have other things to attend to. There are other paranormals in this area and I’m familiar with some. I trust them, but it’s best if she doesn’t come with me, just in case.”
Zoe’s gaze darkened. “Why can’t you just stay here with her?”
“Because I am not her babysitter.” Rafael was firm. “I kept her safe last night. I will always keep her safe. My contacts here aren’t going to be thrilled if I show up with a child, no matter how magical she may be.”
Sami threw up her hands, her expression fierce. “I’m not a child! How many times do I have to tell you that? You know what? This is exactly why I no longer have a crush on you. I’m a woman and should be treated as such.”
Zoe’s lips quirked at her daughter’s response. When she looked at Aric, her grin only widened. “She gets that from me, too.”
“She definitely does,” Aric agreed. He seemed much more relaxed. “I’ll take her, but I know you won’t like that.”
Sami made a protesting sound. “Why not? I like meeting other wolves.”
“Please,” Aric said. “You don’t like the other wolves any more than your mother does. The only reason you want to come with me is because Gunner will be with me. I’m not an idiot.”
Sami’s mouth dropped open. “That’s so not true. It’s also mean. You’re a mean dad.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Aric waved his hand. “I think she should go with you, Zoe. I know you’re looking for remnants of vampires but you’re unlikely to find them during the day. Even if you do, she’ll be safest with you.”
“I don’t want to go with her,” Sami complained.
Zoe ignored the outburst. “Fine. I still want you texting regularly.”
He mock-saluted. “Yes, ma’am. You know how it stirs me up when you boss me around.”
SAMI WAS STILL POUTING WHEN I DIRECTED Zoe where to park. The kid ran hot and cold. Technically, that was probably a result of her age, but I found the kid’s mood swings dizzying.
“Here we are.” I inclined my head toward the shell of the house. Seeing it like this, under the bright light of the sun, reminded me what a thorough job I’d done when torching it. “There’s not much left.”
“So I can see.” Zoe killed the engine on the vehicle and hopped out, feigning patience while she waited for a sulky Sami to join her. “I don’t particularly enjoy the attitude,” she said to her daughter. “I know you wanted to go with your dad but it’s better this way.”
Sami rolled her eyes. “You guys need to stop treating me like a kid. I’m not a kid.”
“You’re fourteen, Sami. That essentially means you’re going to be the devil for another year or so. You’re nowhere near an adult.”
“Whatever.” Sami scuffed her foot on the ground and studied the house. “I don’t understand why we’re here. These vampires are dead.”
“Unless some of them escaped.” Zoe eyes were busy studying the ground. “What’s this?” She strolled forward, stopping when she reached the spot where a magical barrier had once been erected. She apparently recognized what she was looking at. “Who slapped this thing up?”
“That would be the female minion I mentioned.” I dragged a hand through my hair as I thought back to Emma. There had been something familiar about her, although I couldn’t say why I felt that way. She was very obviously dangerous. While where she’d fled after the initial fight was unknown, I had severe doubts that she’d left the area. I figured she would make her presence known when ready.
“Ah.” Zoe bobbed her head. “You said she was held against her will.”
“That’s the way with minions. The little one, Bixby, embraced his lot in life. Emma was actively working against her master. The thing is, she wasn’t working against him because she recognized he was dangerous. She only cared about herself.”
“Can you blame her?” Zoe watched as Sami studied the spot where the barrier used to be. “Do you see what this was?”
Sami nodded, her earlier annoyance forgotten. “It was a dome of some sort.”
“Pretty much,” Zoe agreed. “It was cast from inside the house to protect those inside.” She turned back to me. “Obviously you managed to get through it.”
I nodded. “A local witch helped me figure it out. I still don’t know how it worked. I sort of made myself fluid when slipping through. Oh, and invisible.”
She smirked. “We’ve used domes, mostly for the same reason. It’s interesting.” She rubbed her shoe against an invisible line. “Did the dome fall when you burned the house?”
That was a very good question. I hadn’t given it a lot of thought. “I don’t know. My team was held captive inside. I saved them, sent them out and then headed for the basement.”
Zoe nodded, her gaze keen as she studied the remnants of the house. “Tell me about this master. I’m not familiar with master vampires.”
“You’re extremely good friends with a vampire,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but he’s different.” Zoe fell into step with me as we walked toward the house. Her eyes periodically darted to Sami, but the teenager seemed to be content to watch and listen. It was a great relief given the whining in the vehicle during the whole drive. “Rafael is a born vampire.”
I stilled. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”
She nodded. “At one time, there were only born vampires. They diluted their ranks over the years. Now the made vampires outnumber the born vampires by a long shot. The bulk of my knowledge of vampires has been informed by Rafael, so his take on vampire politics might not be unbiased.”
“Uh-huh.” Zoe began to circle the house. I had no idea what she was doing, but she appeared intent. “May I ask how you met? All of you. It seems
