I considered his answer before asking, “Why me? We both know Tymon is more qualified.”
“Yes, but Tamara didn’t ask for Tymon, she asked for you.”
“Why do you have humans in your seethe?” I wasn’t trying to be annoying; I actually wanted to know.
His brow arched. “Has Tymon taught you nothing about our culture?”
I thought of the stack of books sitting on my coffee table. Tymon had given them to me right after I joined PHD. I was supposed to study them. “I seemed to have skipped the part on vampire living. Please, humor me.”
He let out a sigh. “To simplify it, a seethe is like an extended family. At the head is the master or mistress. The rest of the seethe is comprised of both vampires and humans. The role each person plays in the seethe, depends on how it’s structured. For example, I currently have ten vampires and twenty or so humans in my seethe.”
“And their roles are?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“That depends. We have security, household staff, and nourishers, just to name a few.”
“What are nourishers?”
His lips pursed in irritation. “If you’d read your literature, you would know this.” We’d already established that I hadn’t done my homework. Now, he was just being annoying. When he realized he wasn’t going to get a rise out of me, he gave in and answered my question. “A vampire cannot feed from another vampire as our blood no longer holds the nutrients to provide proper nourishment. Human blood is essential to our survival.”
I pictured a harem of human women, all dressed in robes and lounging in a den of iniquity, while waiting with bated breath for their lord and master to call upon them. “So what? You have a bunch of humans just sitting around your house waiting for you to drop a fang?” The moment the words slipped from my lips, I wanted to take them back. Zack Wylde wasn’t my enemy, but if I didn’t watch myself, I could easily become his.
Long, masculine fingers drummed against the top of his desk. “Is it me, or is it all vampires you have a problem with?”
“You are aware that Lenora Moreau killed my partner, aren’t you?” I snapped back at him.
His lip curled. “Yes, I heard about that. I’m sorry for your loss. If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly did Lenora do?”
My brow shot up. He knew full well what she did. “Didn’t you read your literature?”
He smiled. “I seem to have skipped that chapter. Please, humor me.”
I leaned forward and stabbed him with an icy glare. “The bitch used a little girl to lure three cops into a dark alleyway. It was the perfect ruse. After all, who would suspect a child vampire? She tranced my partner and the other cop—with her voice. I managed to stop Mick from going after her but couldn’t reach the other cop. It was a trap. Lenora was on the ground, pretending to be hurt, while the little girl hid behind the dumpsters. The officer, who was down on one knee beside Lenora, wasn’t moving. The little vamp had him tranced, this time with her stare. Lenora somehow got inside my head. It was ten shades of fucked up. By the time I managed to get rid of her, it was too late.” My words faded to silence. The rest hurt to remember. Swallowing back the pain, I said, “We should never have been in that alley. I did everything wrong, and because of me, my partner is now dead.” His look of sympathy gutted me, and I had to glance away.
“No, Diana, your partner died because of Lenora, not you.”
My eyes snapped back to his. “You’re right. So tell me, as head of the SVO, why in the hell is she still alive? Why are you allowing her to turn children into vampires and terrorize innocent people? Why in the hell aren’t you stopping her?”
His jaw tensed. Evidently, Mr. Wylde didn’t like to be questioned. Well, tough shit because I wanted answers. “We’re working on it,” he clipped in a terse, uncompromising tone.
Not hard enough. I could tell from his stiff posture he was done. “Well, fair warning, if I ever see the bitch again, I’m ashing her ass.”
A moment passed before he responded. “Your warning is duly noted. Can I make a suggestion, though?”
“Knock yourself out.”
“As you pointed out, I’m head of the SVO. I hold this position for a reason; because no one else can take it from me. Do you understand what that means?” Before I could respond, he said, “Only one person has come close to taking it from me, and that is Lenora Moreau. You may be a good cop, Miss Duvail, but your humanity is a weakness. Lenora is a morally corrupt vampire who does not believe that societal rules apply to her. She will do everything in her power to exploit that weakness. My advice is to tread carefully.”
I threw his words back at him. “Your warning is duly noted,” and then asked, “So, about tonight, what would you like me to do?”
“I would like for you to question Anya and Naya—to try to get them to open up to you, and hopefully gain some insight as to what happened the night Tamara went missing.”
“Can’t you just compel them to talk?” His eyes flashed red. It was a scary, pissed-off-monster red—a glaring indicator that I’d hit at least a dozen nerves. Fear rattled inside my chest as
