41 Are You Alright? (1/2)

Cirdan was waiting for them rather impatiently because they arrived nearly fifteen minutes late but was all smiles once he saw they were looking at him. ”Welcome back Miss Gardner! I assume this is the vampire friend you spoke of?”

”Yes,” Ruby said simply. ”We need to set up an account for him and deposit some checks.”

Greed glinted in his eyes. He was remembering the check she deposited earlier and was hoping for more like that. Today would be his lucky day.

Cirdan led them back to his office and began asking the same sorts of questions he had earlier when Ruby was setting up her account. Ash was reluctant to answer any of them.

”Tell me…do you keep your clients confidential?” he asked. ”I can't make an account here if someone is able to find out I'm a customer.”

A tic burst on the elf's forehead. He was obviously insulted. ”Client secrecy is our top priority, sir. Your personal information will be safe with us. Please place your right index finger on the pad and tell answer the questions so we can get started.”

Ash frowned but did as he was told. ”My name is Ash Mayhew. I'm a vampire and am six hundred eighty-two years old. My phone number is 702-283-7099 and I live in a castle at the edge of a redwood forest not far from the Oregon/California border. It doesn't have a human address number.”

Cirdan's professionalism slipped once again. ”…did you say Mayhew? As in the Mayhew coven?”

The vampire's glare grew so ferocious that he shut up immediately and got back to work after apologizing. The air in the office was horribly tense after that and Ruby realized she knew absolutely nothing about vampire politics.

Witch covens were named after something distinctive about the area they resided in rather than the city because borders changed over time. The one back home was commonly referred to as the witches' coven but to non-locals it was the Redwood Coven.

It appeared that vampire covens were named after their members. Was everyone in that coven a Mayhew as well or was Ash special somehow?

If he was important in that coven, why would he consider it an enemy now? Ruby didn't understand. She kept her mouth shut until they needed her. She was added as an authorized user on the account too so checks with her name could be deposited in it.

Once the checks were deposited it seemed like Cirdan was happy to see them go. His business-like smile was incredibly strained as he waved them off and thanked them for choosing Elite Financial Solutions.

”Are you alright?” Ruby asked hesitantly once they were outside.

”No,” Ash growled.

”Do you want to talk about it?”

”Also no.”