Chapter Eleven
Taliyah
I opened my mouth, fishing around for any of the very reasonable opening statements I’d been prepared to make.
There was something about Cici Pleasant that threw me off, and it wasn’t the entirely inappropriate name she’d chosen for herself. I had a feeling it had been pulled straight from a soap opera and plastered onto fake documents. Forged papers were a necessity in the monster world, no matter how uncomfortable that made the law officer in me. There were some things humans just couldn’t be allowed to know, and the existence of vampirism was one of them.
Cici raised an elegant finger and wagged it at me, forestalling any conversation starter I might have whipped out. “Now, before you start talking, I wanted to make a few things clear. The only reason I allowed you into my home is due to your title, Princess Olwen. Haven Hollow and its community are no friends of or to my clan. Since you invoked your royal lineage, I expect this matter has something to do with Winter.”
My jaw snapped shut and my tongue tried to glue itself to the roof of my mouth. I was realizing, far too late, that I might have made a miscalculation in coming here. Invoking Olwen’s name always made me want to spit, but in matters of politics, it usually cut through all the red tape and got me closer to the damn point. People were usually intimidated by me enough to let me get away with it.
But not Cici Pleasant. With just a handful of sentences, she’d utterly neutered my plan of attack, leaving me floundering. Cici watched the indecision play out over my face with a smirk before prompting, “Well?”
“It... may have something to do with the Winter court,” I hedged.
“May?” Cici repeated, narrowing her eyes. “You decided to contact me on a suspicion that one of my vampires may have wronged someone in your court?”
I felt heat rising up the back of my neck, shame and impotent fury battling for dominance in my head. Cici had me, and she knew it. I was in a corner, and anything other than a fabrication would conceal my true reasons for being here. I’d been caught with my metaphorical pants down and in that moment, I hated her for it.
William rescued me, clearing his throat to draw Cici’s attention. She turned toward him, her neck swiveling like a malfunctioning marionette. It looked utterly inhuman, and I fought back a shudder. I’d gotten used to a lot of weirdness from the Hollow, but I was beginning to realize there was always going to be stuff out there that shocked or disturbed me. This vampire was among them.
“Princess Olwen has appointed herself a guardian of the Hollow, so any crime that goes on in this region is under her purview, Miss Pleasant. Additionally, my clan is closely allied with Winter. We have pledged our service in her defense if she is ever attacked and in return, we enjoy her protection. I’d say that makes anything we’re forced to deal with a Winter problem.”
I could have kissed William. He’d said what he had with a smile and so much blithe confidence that even I believed it.
Cici raised a brow. “Is that so?”
“It is,” I answered.
What he’d said was technically true. I had a duty as their police chief to protect them, which meant the Winter court was involved. My enemies had attacked the Hollow more than once, and every vampire available had taken to the streets to slay my enemies. There had been no formal bargain struck between us, but if I survived Aurea, I would be sure to remedy the situation. I owed everyone on the Council my life more than once over. They deserved whatever help I could give them now and in the future.
Cici pursed her lips but accepted the explanation. She reached inside her desk, those large, disconcerting eyes fixed on us as she pulled out a short, ivory-handled blade, polish, and a cloth. A sharp scent wafted over to us, and I wrinkled my nose. She started cleaning the shining steel of the blade while we watched.
“And what is your grievance with me and mine, Mr. Depraysie ?” Cici asked, poorly concealing the distaste she had for the name. Wanda had caused them no end of trouble, so it wasn’t shocking the name left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.
“There’s been a murder,” Lorcan supplied. “A Jane Doe was found dead of exsanguination, and with clear signs she was fed on before death. When a vampire begins killing like that, it’s because they’ve developed a taste for it. I don’t have to tell you how disastrous it would be if the humans discovered our existence.”
Which, again, was true. They were working with an incomplete picture, but they were selling the hell out of it.
Cici scowled. “And what does that have to do with my clan? If the body had been found in Portland, I would have been alerted. I have a vampire mortician on the payroll.”
Now that was interesting. I knew most of the medical examiners that worked for the city. Had one of them been among the undead and I’d been too human to realize it at the time? Or was this vampire employed at any of the myriad funeral homes in Portland?
“Scrying attempts have led us here,” I said.
William shot me a puzzled look. While he was technically a vampire now, he’d been a warlock once upon a time. He was a regular visitor in the Scapegrace sanctum house and had routine conversations with Wanda’s familiar, Hellcat. He would have heard if anyone in Scapegrace had done a spell for me. Except, perhaps, from Maverick.
Cici’s lip curled. “Accusations from witches. Very credible.”
“I trust my source,” I said quietly.
I might not credit Aurea with much, but I knew she wouldn’t lie about her daughter’s murder. She’d given me every scrap of evidence and resource she could find, and dumped it on my lap along with her ultimatum. She wouldn’t accuse the Portland clan when there were so many other scapegoats she could pursue closer to home.
“I need to know if any of your vampires have had trouble with control,” I said. “Or perhaps criminal records further back than my searches can find.”
Cici’s eyes went cold. “I haven’t signed any agreements with Haven Hollow, Princess Olwen, nor do I answer to the throne of Winter. I brought you here as a courtesy, and now I’m being accused of fostering a murderer.”
“Unless the bite radius matches your fangs, I’m not accusing you of anything,” I said on a shrug. “The reports actually lean toward a male. The bite radius was rather large. I’m just asking for your cooperation. Sheltering a killer will only come back to bite you. Literally.” She arched her brow at me and I continued. “The victim was sedated before being fed on and was left to rot somewhere out of the way when the deed was done. That’s premeditated murder. Anyone with a conscience would want justice to be served.”
Cici laid the blade flat on the desk, fixing each of us with a hard stare. Her fingers curled around the ivory handle as though she were contemplating which of us she should lunge toward. Eventually the tension in her shoulders eased and she slapped on a patently false smile.
“Of course I want that, Princess. I’ll have my personal assistant look into this. If you would be so kind as to leave your contact information with her, I’d be much obliged.”
“I was thinking I could take a look around—” I began.
“—I’m sorry, but that will be impossible,” she interrupted. “I have to think of my people’s privacy. You may search the premises when you come back with a warrant.” Then Cici stood up in another jerky motion and rounded the desk, offering me a hand and that infuriatingly fake smile. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Princess Olwen. I hope next time we meet under happier circumstances.”
She seized my hand when I didn’t move toward her, clasping my fingers hard enough that the tips of my fingers purpled. The oily polish she’d used on the blade clung to my hand when I pulled it back. I tried to rub it discreetly on my coat, but only managed to get a static shock for my trouble.
“I hope so too,” I said, distracted by the subtle pulse of a stitched rune on my coat. Mav had tooled the leather for maximum protection, but maybe it was on the fritz. I’d never had a sigil just appear in response to my touch.
“Goodbye,” Cici said brightly. “Be seeing you soon.”
“I really hope not,” I muttered under my breath.