Chapter 13
Thirteen
VAUGHN
It’s been two days since the evening at Night Crawlers, and I’ve been losing my mind.
Who was that vampire girl pretending to be human?
I want to look for her, but I know it isn’t safe.
She’s probably a spy for Tatiana. Why else would she be concealing what she is?
I can’t go out sniffing for trouble when the entire gang is in Ellnesari.
If shit hits the fan, I’m cooked. There’s no one to come to the rescue.
And I don’t want to confess to the High Witch that my cover was blown.
The only good thing that came out of that disastrous evening was Annabelle discovering my secret. It’s good to be able to talk to someone. It’s like the load I’ve been carrying around since my change isn’t as heavy.
I’m lying on the couch, playing toss and catch with a baseball, when Gerard, the jack-of-all-trades human who works for Lucca, comes looking for me.
“Will you be feeding tonight?”
His job, among other things, is to provide us with willing blood donors. I should feed, but I’m not really hungry or in the mood to be near anyone.
“No, not tonight.”
He arches a brow. “It isn’t wise to go without nourishment for too long, especially in your first year as a vampire.”
“Yeah, I know. I had my fill a couple of nights ago. I’m okay,” I lie.
“All right. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
It never occurred to me that Gerard could help me find the mystery vampire girl. I sit up. “Actually, yes. I need help locating someone.”
He pulls a small notepad and a pen from his jacket pocket. “I can certainly help you with that.”
Man, he looks like a detective from black-and-white movies, his pen poised to jot down notes.
“I met her at Night Crawlers two nights ago. At first, I thought she was human, but it turns out, she was a vampire pretending to be human, just like me.”
Gerard’s eyebrows shoot up, almost meeting his hairline. “I see. What did she look like?”
“She was Caucasian with long blue-teal hair, and she had the most beautiful lavender-colored eyes I’ve ever seen.”
He keeps writing as he asks, “How did you find out she wasn’t human?”
I scratch the back of my head. “Eh… she bit me.”
Gerard pauses and lifts his face from his notepad. “Did she attack you?”
“Sort of? I mean, I thought the guy she was with had bad intentions, so I followed them to a dark alley and interrupted what I thought was a harassment in progress, when in fact I interrupted her meal.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, the guy was a total asshole. Spiked her drink. So after I scared him away, she tried to make a meal out of me. Don’t get me wrong. I could have totally fended her off, but she caught me by surprise, and then… well, you know what vampire bites do…”
I don’t feel like telling him that I got turned on. He can guess that’s what happened.
“Did she stop feeding once she realized you weren’t human?”
I nod. “She did. Then my sister showed up, and that’s when the mystery vampire girl took off. I know I didn’t give you a lot of information to go on.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Her description doesn’t match any of the young females living in Salem. Without a name…”
“Wait. I know her name. It’s Sophie.”
“Any last name perchance?”
“No, I just got her first name. And she had a British accent.”
“That would explain why I don’t know who she is. If she just arrived in Salem, then I haven’t met her yet. Now, the most important question—do you think she was a Blueblood?”
“Uh… I don’t know. Honestly, I haven’t met that many vampires who aren’t Bluebloods. How would I be able to tell?”
“They feel more powerful. It’s quite obvious.”
I rub my chin. “But she was masking her vampiric nature during most of our interaction. When she attacked me, well… I wasn’t really focused on that.”
“Right.” Gerard closes his notepad. “Let’s hope she’s just a regular vampire.”
“Because if she’s a Blueblood vampire, that would be bad?” I squint.
“Yes, very bad. I don’t claim to know all Blueblood vampires who exist, but I know most who have pledged alliance to King Raphael. If she’s a Blueblood, there’s a high chance she’s on Tatiana’s side.”
My stomach twists painfully. It’d be my luck to bump into a vampire from the enemy’s side.
“One more reason to find her, then. Why was she disguised?”
“Yes, I agree we must locate her. I’ll try my best to retrieve that information for when Master Lucca returns. I don’t advise you taking this task on your own.”
“What if you have a lead and he’s not back home yet? We can’t let the lead go cold.”
“It’d be more detrimental to King Raphael if you were captured and tortured for information. Think about that. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
I slouch against the couch and grumble, “No, that’s it. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
He turns on his heel and leaves me to drown in my funk.
So much for telling him about the mystery vampire girl.
I bet what happened to me will be the first thing he’ll report to Lucca and the others when they return.
I can already hear the reprimanding from Lucca and Ronan, and the mocking from Saxon.
I grab my phone to see if I got a text from Annabelle or anyone else I used to know from my previous life. Just then, it rings, scaring the crap out of me. I don’t recognize the phone number, but I still answer it.
“Hello?”
“Vaughn? It’s Isadora Leal.”
Shit. The High Witch is calling me. Did she find out about my royal fuckup? Man, did Gerard rat me out already?
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask, nonchalant.
What’s up? This is the High Witch, dumbass.
“Sorry. Forget I said that,” I amend quickly. “How can I help you?”
“I need a favor. I must leave town for a couple of days, and I’m not keen about leaving Niko alone. Do you think you can keep an eye on her at night?”
“You want me to babysit your daughter?”
“Not babysit. She’d hate that. She’s involved with Troy Tanner, a rogue mage, and I don’t trust my daughter to not get into shenanigans with that boy.”
“So… if I’m not babysitting, what am I doing, then?”
“Keep an eye on the house, and if she leaves, follow her.”
I rub my face, guessing where this is going. “You want me to spy on your daughter?”
“Yes.”
Man, the woman is cold, but I get it. “No problem. I can do that.”
“Oh, thank you. Can you start tonight?”
“Sure can.” I get on my feet. “I’ll be at your house in ten.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
Spying on the High Witch’s daughter was not on my bingo card this year, but it beats staying cooped up in the house, worrying that I may have developed a tiny bit of a crush on the enemy.