any at Birchwoods. Unless Bruno had hidden a couple in my car when he’d brought it over, I was going to have to do without.
I took a couple extra minutes to do my makeup. My friend Dawna did some extensive online shopping in the short period between my being bitten and her becoming disabled trying to find colors that don’t make me look like a clown. I ended up with a really minimalist palette that leans toward stark, cool colors. It’s made me understand the whole “vampires in black” thing. There just aren’t many colors that look good when you’re undead.
By the time the food arrived I looked presentable. I even had a cute little purse to go with the outfit. When I’m working, I just slip my wallet and phone into the pockets of my jacket, but I was feeling girly today. Seeing Ren looking so flawless had pricked my vanity a little, much as I hated to admit it.
I wolfed down the warm, buttery, maple-flavored slushy, suddenly sorry I hadn’t asked for two. It seemed hard to believe there was actually nutrition in it. Even better, the “meat protein” the chef had chosen was a maplewood beef sausage that went perfectly with my “waffle.” It tasted like real food and I’d have paid money for it in any restaurant, even before the attack.
I was ready to dive out the door when a nurse stopped by with a syringe and a tray of tubes. “What’s this for?”
“Your treating physician said we needed to test your blood to see if you were linked magically to anyone.”
We’d talked about that in therapy. I was confident my vampire sire was dead. King Dahlmar had taken care of that as an advance payment for helping him with his son and the demon. I was grateful enough to have my sire dead that I’d wrapped my body around the unconscious prince to protect him while a seriously ticked-off demon sliced and diced me. But there were still questions about other vamps and sirens and heaven only knows what. Yeah, I wanted to know who I was “linked” to. “Oh, right. Can you make it quick? I need to get going.”
“Do my best.”
It probably only felt like he drew as much as the bloodmobile would. Still, I managed not to complain. I am trying very hard to be a cooperative patient . . . with limited success. But I am trying. Several tubes later I was able to grab the Wadjeti and dive out the door.
As the gate to the facility swung closed behind the back bumper of my Miata I felt a surge of pure joy.
First stop—the university and a meeting with Warren Landingham. He was my favorite professor in college and had earned the affectionate nickname El Jefe. He’s one of the top experts in the world on all things paranormal. And if he doesn’t know the answers, he’s bound to know someone who does. I couldn’t wait to show him the Wadjeti and the curse mark and to find out what had been going on with my friends during my absence. As Kevin and Emma’s father, he generally stays pretty well in the loop in our little circle of friends.
I turned onto Ocean View, windows down so that I could feel the early-morning breeze blow through, hear the sounds and smell the scents of the ocean.
It was going to be a busy day. There were a lot of things I needed to do and one or two others I wanted to. Top of the latter list was attending the reading of Vicki’s Will. Jeff had actually suggested (strongly) I
Vicki’s mother is fairly ruthless and a little unscrupulous. I worried that if I didn’t attend the reading, things could mysteriously . . . happen to the original Will. Yeah, it sucks to be that paranoid, but my own mom is no prize, so I have low expectations. Such were my none-too-pleasant musings when my cell phone rang. Swearing, I tried to keep my eyes on the road and the steering wheel steady with my left hand while I rummaged in my purse with my right.
I managed to get my hands on the phone without doing anything unfortunate and flicked it open, hitting the buttons to answer and put it on speaker. “Celia here.”
“Oh good, I caught you.”
I recognized Warren’s voice immediately. He wasn’t the first person I’d called about Ren’s little gift. I’d tried to ring Bruno the moment I was outside the facility’s cell phone–jamming range, but he didn’t answer. I really hoped to get his take on it. Even more important, I had a couple of questions about the death curse and the mark on my palm. Like why hadn’t anyone noticed it before this and, oh, I dunno, maybe, how the hell can we get rid of it? But with the time difference on the East Coast, he was probably already at work, doing something where he couldn’t take calls. I’d left a voice mail. Even if he didn’t get back to me today, I was pretty sure he’d be at my hearing tomorrow. Then I’d called Warren.
Now, I couldn’t help but smile. “What’s up?”
“I called a friend of mine over at UCLA. If you can put off your visit to the campus until four, I’ve arranged a videoconference call with her. She’s very interested to see your Wadjeti. If it’s as old and as powerful as you say, she’d like to arrange to come up and see it in person. She seemed astonished that you’d have such a thing.”
“Why?”
“Apparently, while there are a number of imitation, mass-manufactured sets that have hit the market in the past few years, there are only two complete ancient Wadjeti on hand. One is on display in the Smithsonian. The other’s in a museum in Cairo.”
“That’s a Wadjeti all right. Used correctly they’re extremely accurate tools for divination.”
Which meant it would be pretty much useless to me. “As soon as your friend has had her look at it, I’m locking it up in the safe. It’s got enough juice that my hand’s still tingling and it knocked Ren flat on her ass.” I continued, “Did you have any luck on the curse?”
“Possibly. Dr. Sloan agreed to come by the office and take a look at you while you’re here. He seemed pretty skeptical. Said that if you’d had it long and the curse was that strong, one of us surely would’ve noticed it back when you were a student.”
“Unless it got put on me after.” I checked the mirror and changed lanes. If I wasn’t going straight to the university, I might as well stop by the office before the Will reading. I wanted to check on Dawna, my secretary and friend, and there were no doubt plenty of messages and other things to take care of. I’d also be able to put Ren’s gift behind wards until it was time to head for the university. Maybe I was being overly cautious, but better safe than sorry.
“Always a possibility.” Warren agreed. “Aaron has class until four fifteen, but he said he’d stop by my office right after.”
“I really appreciate all of this, Warren.”
He laughed. “I don’t mind. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to seeing the artifact. And curses are always fascinating.”
“Particularly to the cursee.” My voice practically dripped sarcasm.
Warren knows me too well to be offended. He laughed and said, “Just be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you before you can get here.”
“Your lips to God’s ear.” I hit the end button on the phone.
I felt better. Oh, I was still worried, but Warren was on the job. If there was a way out from under this, he’d find it. In the meantime, it was a beautiful day in sunny Cali. I wasn’t locked up. Things could definitely be worse.
Even thinking something like that is tempting fate. But hey, no risk, no gain.
After only a few minutes on the freeway I turned off and went tooling through the older section of the city. I felt the familiar sharp tingle as I passed over the wards around the parking lot of the building where I have my offices, pulled into my usual parking spot, and hopped out of the car.
My offices are on the third floor of an old Queen Anne–style Victorian mansion. It’s a beautiful building, perfectly tended. I took a deep breath, soaking in the scent of flowering shrubs and stately old palms. But I discovered the careful order was only surface deep. Because when I stepped through the door I learned a new definition of chaos.
