Part 23 (1/2)

The first part of the day pa.s.sed slowly. William spent much of our downtime trying to get me to relate the story of dealing with the police over the break-in, but rather than make up lies, I told him I just wasn't up to talking about what happened. When he wasn't asking about that, he wanted more information about vampires.

”So,” he said, while polis.h.i.+ng the silver jewelry with a cloth, ”where do you find real vampires?”

I had the case open and was spraying window cleaner on the underside of the gla.s.s top. I ripped off a paper towel and started wiping. ”I found my first at an all-night cafe near Banning State Park.”

”In Minnesota?”

”Yeah,” I said, spritzing the top. ”I was visiting my folks, and, well, there's nothing to do in Finlayson, so I'd driven down to the casino in Hinckley to hang out with some old high school friends who were working there. Anyway, I stopped in the truck stop on the way home. For some reason the place was crowded. I ended up sitting at the counter next to him.” ”How did you know he was a vampire?”

”Honestly I didn't at first. We just started chatting and hitting it off, and when I found out he was from Minneapolis, too, I gave him my phone number.” In hindsight, that should have been a clue. I was ultra paranoid about giving out my number, but Parrish had worked his glamour on me... or maybe just his charm, since if he'd just wanted to lure me off for some tawdry s.e.x and a nip on the neck, he probably could have convinced me to take him out to the back of my car.

”So he was totally pa.s.sing as average?”

I nodded, though I knew Parrish would bristle at the idea of being referred to as average anything.

”So anyone could be a vampire.”

I wasn't sure where William was going with this. ”I guess. Why?”

He'd finished his work and waited for me to complete dusting the interior of the case. ”I want to find one,” he said, leaning back against the register.

”Why don't you ask Feather?”

”I did,” he said. ”We had a huge fight about it.”

”She didn't want to share her needle, eh?” I hadn't meant to say it, but the words slipped out.

Before I could apologize, William shrugged and said dejectedly, ”Yeah.”

William changed the subject shortly thereafter, and we didn't talk about vampires for the rest of the morning.

I'd just let William go for his lunch break when Matyas Von Traum walked into the store.

He stopped the moment he noticed me behind the counter, and he slowly replaced the scrying mirror he'd been examining. Matyas still courted the Euro-trash look with a burnt-orange silk s.h.i.+rt and black trousers. The bright color should have been gaudy on him, but something about the fabric brought out the vaguely golden cast to his skin and the deep blackness of his hair. Give the boy a bit of curl, tie a scarf over his head, add some gold hoop earrings, and he'd have looked stereotypically gypsy.

”If it isn't Daddy's Witch-for-hire. How nice to see you again,” he said, making it perfectly clear he felt it was anything but.

”What are you doing in my store?”

Matyas gestured at the arrangement of curios meaningfully. ”Browsing, I believe.”

”Maybe I can help you find something,” I said, trying to play the part of courteous store manager between gritted teeth. ”Did you have something specific in mind?”

”Actually, I'm looking for a vampire, about this tall,” he said, holding his palm out flat about three inchesover his head, ”looks a bit like me, only far less attractive, and he dresses like an auto mechanic.”

”That's a very popular item,” I said. ”Had a customer in earlier looking for the same thing.”

”Really?”

He managed to pull off ”surprised” convincingly. The man should have been an actor, because I suspected Matyas knew all about the Vatican's interest in Sebastian. Someone had to have told the agents to look for Sebastian at my place. Sebastian must have told Matyas his plans at some point.

”Yep,” I said, feigning interest in arranging the pens near the register. ”Actually, there was so much interest in that particular item last night that it was nearly pulled off the shelf permanently.”

”That would have been tragic,” Matyas said. ”I take it I could still get my hands on it for the right price?”

Lilith twitched restlessly across my stomach. I took a deep breath to contain my swelling anger.

”Depends. If you're purchasing for resale, it seems to me you stand to make a tidy profit. Maybe I want to be cut into the deal.”

He laughed. ”You want the Pope to perform an exorcism on your mother, too?”

I couldn't even begin to form a response to that. I was taken aback on so many levels, but mostly by Matyas's colossal stupidity. ”Do you really think that the Order is going to make good on a promise like that?”

A tiny crease appeared between his eyebrows.

Even though he hadn't said anything, I continued as if he had. ”Okay, you're right. Maybe they will. I mean, why would they lure a dhampyr to Rome on a false promise, especially one that'd be transporting his magically preserved Witch mother?”

Matyas stiffened slightly. ”My family is Catholic.”

”I'm sure that will spare you. I mean, clearly, they're taking Sebastian's Catholicism into consideration, right?”

He had no response.

”Doesn't matter,” I said. ”I'm not going to roll over on Sebastian.”

”No?” He returned his attention to the display of jeweled palm-sized mirrors. ”I'd hoped you were at least a little serious when we started negotiating price. Are you interested in money? Because I stand to inherit a lot of it.”

I wondered if there were estate laws dealing with people who were already dead, but I imagined if the government had any say in the matter, as long as you were making money and paying taxes, they'd consider you some sort of version of alive. No, get serious, Garnet. If the government knew about vampires they'd make sure inheritance laws favored the living and that they somehow got double-taxed for being dead.

”If not money, something else?” Matyas continued when I didn't respond. He turned to look at me.”How about a chance to be off the books? Clear your name with the Order? Surely a life unmolested holds some kind of appeal.”

I shook my head, though I had to admit that the idea of not being constantly hara.s.sed or chased from town to town for the rest of my life did interest me. ”I don't think you have that kind of power-”

I stopped myself. A picture was forming in my head. ”But Rosa does, doesn't she? She's your handler.

She's the mastermind behind this whole thing. Leader Guy isn't in charge at all, he's just the muscle.”

Matyas looked a little shocked that I knew Rosa by name, but he quickly composed himself. ”She's got the ear of people in power. She could smooth things out for you.”

”It's not worth Sebastian's life.”

Matyas put his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to stand opposite the register. There was a raised platform behind the counter, so I stood a few inches taller than him. He pulled his bangs away from his eyes and gave me what I imagined pa.s.sed for a sincere look for him. ”Let's get serious, Garnet.

You don't even knowmy father. How long have out two been going out? A month? A week? Days?”