“It does seem a little too on the nose, doesn’t it? I wonder what she’s like?” I glanced around. “Rachel didn’t seem to be all that—” I froze at the sound of swishing from outside the door. Holding up my hand to forestall Sandy from saying anything, I said in a loud, clear voice, “We’ll just find out what we need to know and then be on our way.” I gave Sandy a studied look and she inclined her head to say she understood.
“What are you making for dinner tonight?”
“Making? Me? Nothing. But I think Aegis is frying up a chicken.” I cocked my head, straining to hear anything else.
A moment later the door opened and Essie, Queen of the Pacific Northwest Vampires, stepped through. She was wearing a long red and gold dress that looked like it was made out of a Persian rug. Her vibrant red hair was piled high on her head in an elaborate coif of swirls and curls. It must have taken hours to achieve that look, and I wondered if it was lacquered into place with a bottle of hairspray. Even the tendrils coiling down the sides of her face were motionless.
“Good evening, Ms. Gallowglass and Ms. Clauson. I am Essie Vanderbilt. How may I be of service?” She motioned to the sofa. “Please, sit. Would you like some tea? I can have one of my servants fetch you some.”
As she took her place in a black velvet wing chair, I sat on the sofa, Sandy sitting next to me. “No, thank you. I appreciate you seeing us on such short notice.”
She smiled, but there was no warmth behind those cool brown eyes or the rich crimson of her smiling lips. “Of course. Remember, it is the law of your coven that I be available if you have need to ask me questions. I cannot refuse.”
She was correct. The Moonrise Coven could make things extremely uncomfortable and unsafe for the local vampires if need be. But Linda continually reminded us that we should work with the vampires, but never, ever trust them. Of course, I was caught between a rock and a hard place when it came to Aegis, but I preferred to overlook that issue.
“I’ve come to ask you about a possible member of your nest. I need to know everything I can find out about her. Her name is Rachel. Here’s a picture of a painting that was done of her.” I held out my phone, the photo of the painting pulled up.
Essie glanced at it, a cool smile on her lips. “Ah yes, Rachel. She is, I believe, the ex-paramour of your boyfriend, Ms. Gallowglass?”
I tried not to blink or show any emotion. “Yeah, she is. Is she a part of your nest?”
“No. She’s not allowed in my nest. She’s a rogue, coming and going as she will, but not protected under rights of any treaties I make. She’s unwelcome in my court.” Strictly all business. With perhaps, a touch of warning behind the words.
Well, that was clear enough. No love lost between the two.
“Do you know if she’s currently on the island?” I caught Essie’s gaze and held it, even though I knew that wasn’t exactly the best idea.
Her eyes pierced my thoughts and I had the sudden feeling she could read right into me. After a brief pause, she said flatly, “Yes, she’s around. She asked for an audience, but I refused.”
“You refused to even talk to her? May I ask why?”
“I don’t like rogues, for one thing. Your boyfriend is also a rogue but he doesn’t cause trouble for the Fallen. Rachel, on the other hand, has been a problem in the past. A word of caution, Mad Maudlin.”
I must have looked startled because she let out a snort.
“Of course we know who you are. Who you were. When one of the most dangerous vampire hunters from the past shows up to live in our neighborhood, it pays to know all we can. I’m well aware of what you and your…friends…were capable of. Though that may be in the past, I advise you to watch out for Rachel. She’s aligned to no one but her own desires. And when she decides she wants something, she’s like a crazed rottweiler.”
Her dark eyes flashing, she leaned toward me, placing an icy hand on my own. “Rachel is obsessed with Aegis. I warn you because she’s likely to stop at nothing to win him back. And I do not want my nest indicted along with her. We have no truck with her.”
I studied Essie. Even though she was cooperating, it was obvious she wasn’t happy about doing so. There was something more there, though I doubted we could pry it out of Essie. But when she said Rachel’s name, there was a flash of ruthlessness there that I recognized. It was the ruthlessness when one talked about a hated rival. Essie reminded me of a snake in a cage—coiled and ready to strike if given the opportunity. But so far, she was smart enough to play by the rules.
“Thank you for your candor.”
“Have you been having problems with her?” Essie flashed another one of her cold smiles. “Perhaps we could help?”
I decided to forgo the offer. Something told me to keep quiet about Ralph trying to steal my hair, and Rachel putting him up to it. No sense in giving out any information that might be used as a weapon against me, and I had no doubt Essie could figure out how to twist it.
“Nothing to speak of.” Motioning to Sandy, I stood. “We won’t take up any more of your time. Again, thank you for your help.”
Essie’s eyes glittered as she stood, her long skirts swishing with every movement. “Any time you feel the need, drop in for a visit. And tell your beau that he’s welcome here in my nest. Aegis would be a feather in any nest’s cap.” She tilted her head to the side, a cunning look on her face, then glided out of the room.
Sandy was about to say something but I shook my head as the butler showed us out and walked us back to our car. “Thank you, Madame Gallowglass. Madame Clause. Both of you have a good evening.” He shut Sandy’s door for her, then stepped back on the sidewalk, shading his eyes to watch as we drove away.
I let out a soft breath as the house vanished behind us into the gloom of early dusk. “What kind of freaky-assed bitch is she? I felt like we were one second away from becoming dinner.”
“Yeah, she did seem ready to bite at any minute.”
“So, the rumors about Essie and Rachel not getting along seem true.”
“Yes, but she’d jump at having Aegis in her nest. You heard her. Aegis would be a feather in any nest’s cap… I wonder what makes him so special.” Sandy paused. “Not that he isn’t special. But—oh, you know what I mean.”
“I think because he has a record of leaving his victims alive, and he’s also got a lot of sex appeal and charm.”
“You’re right. He would be a good front man for them. You know, We’re not so scary after all. Look at the hunky guy. He may drink off you but he’ll leave you alive.”
“Good point. But I doubt that Essie could ever lure him into her court. For one thing, Aegis has been around a lot longer than she is. For another, he’s not so much into the goth look except when it comes to his leathers for the band.” Although I sounded confident, the truth was that I wasn’t so sure of myself. Given Aegis had entirely neglected to tell me about Rachel or that she was back in town—and I couldn’t help but believe that he knew she was around—it led me to wonder just what else I didn’t know about him.
“What now?” Sandy rested her forehead against the window, staring out into the gloom. “I’d rather not hang around her house. I don’t trust Essie any more than I trust a warlock.”
“You think she’s an oath breaker?”
“I think she skews the truth to suit her. And I know she was holding back something. You don’t hate somebody as much as she hates Rachel without a reason. I wish Linda would have given a lot more consideration to the possible dangers before writing up the treaties with her.”
I found myself agreeing with her. Essie was a slippery slope, and I wasn’t looking forward to any future dealings I had to have with her.
As I parked next to her car where she had left it in the parking lot near the French Pair, I turned to her. “I suppose I’d better go home and talk to Aegis. I doubt you want to be there for the fireworks I envision.”
Sandy hesitated. “Are you sure you want t
o be alone? I can’t help but think…” She paused again, obviously uncomfortable.
“What is it? Out with it.”
“He’s a vampire, Maddy. You remember what they’re like? Even with the good ones, one misstep, one flare-up, and they can drain you before you blink. Or break your neck. Or worse— Do what they did to Tom—”
“Stop. I don’t want to go there. I really don’t.”
“I’ll shut up about that subject, but face it. You are going to tell him you’ve been checking up on him. On his ex-girlfriend. Given all the weirdness that’s happened today, are you sure that you want to be alone?” She lightly touched my arm. “Remember, Rose was murdered in your yard. Somebody’s out to get you and we both know that we’re thinking it might be Rachel. Ralph may have been getting the hair from your brush for her, but we both know that he’s not really a killer.”
I pressed my lips shut, staring out the window as the snow began to fall again, silent and in thick flakes. “I know. I agree that Rachel may have it in for me.” I stopped again, processing the flood of thoughts cascading through my brain. Finally, I shrugged. “Come over, then. Delia is going to want to talk to Aegis tonight, she said, so it’s not like it’s going to be a private evening. Maybe it’s best if we put everything out on the table.”
“I’ll follow you over.” Sandy slipped out of the car, shutting the door and motioning for me to lock it.
I locked the doors and waited till she was safely in hers, then started the engine again. With Sandy on my heels, I eased out of the parking lot and cautiously headed for home. I wasn’t looking forward to the conversations that awaited me there.
THE LIGHTS WERE on when I got home, and I shivered, waiting for Sandy to pull in behind me. Together we headed for the kitchen door, through the yard where I had found Rose. The snow was lightly covering over the spot where she had been lying, and as we passed by, both Sandy and I paused, staring at the ground.
“We need to talk to her parents. And the coven needs to meet to discuss how we want to handle the Cord Cutting ceremony and if we want to open to a new member. Linda has to have heard by now.” I steeled myself, glancing up at the Bewitching Bedlam. “I hate to say this—it sounds so crass, but I just realized what a mess this could make with our opening. Come to the B&B and get murdered… Damn it, why does everything have to get muddled like this?” The full weight of what had happened and the potential ramifications were hitting home. “Now I wonder, maybe Ralph did do this. It could hurt my business really bad.”
“I didn’t think about that, either.”
“Well, let’s go. No use putting this off any longer.” I strode ahead and unlocked the door into the kitchen.
Aegis was sitting there, in the rocking chair. As he saw me, he leapt to his feet.
“Where were you? Why didn’t you leave a note? I’ve been worried sick about whether you were okay or lying dead in some alley!” He grabbed me, kissing me soundly, and then pushing me back by my shoulders. “Don’t you scare me like that again!”
I stared at him, my fears beginning to melt. “You heard about Rose, then?”
“Heard about her? The sheriff called and told me she’s on her way out to talk to me about the dead woman found in my yard. I panicked, thinking maybe it was you, but then she mentioned Rose’s name. What were you thinking, not leaving a note?” His eyes were filled with concern, and Bubba came bouncing up onto the counter beside him.
“You could have asked Bubba—” I started to say, but Aegis wrapped me in his arms, kissing me again. I searched his eyes as I came up for air, questioning him—looking for anything that might say he was putting on a show, but saw nothing but concern and love in his face.
“You know I can’t speak cjinn all that well.” He glanced over at Sandy. “I’m supposing you came with her to make sure I didn’t do anything particularly nasty.” His tone was sour, but he smiled to take the sting off his words.
“Do you blame me for worrying?” Sandy dropped into a chair and crossed her legs. “How about a drink?”
“Help yourself,” Aegis said, nodding toward the refrigerator. “There’s wine. And no, I suppose I don’t. I was worried enough for the both of us.” He let go of me and I slipped out of my coat.
“Pour me a glass too, Sandy.” I draped my coat over the back of a chair and dropped into the rocking chair. “How long till Delia gets here?”
“She should be here within the hour. She called about twenty minutes ago. I had been up for about half an hour. I couldn’t find you anywhere, and then I went outside and saw that the yard looked like it had been excavated—at least the snow had. I had no clue of what was going down until she called me.” Over his shoulder, he added, “Ralph killed her, Delia said?”
I hesitated, wondering how to bring up Rachel. Sandy did it for me.
“We need to talk about Rachel, Aegis. She’s in town, and we found out today that she’s the woman who Ralph says paid him to retrieve some of Maddy’s hair.”
Aegis froze, then turned around very slowly. His eyes were luminous, glowing with a crimson tint. He silently moved to the kitchen island where he hoisted himself onto the counter, sitting very still.
“How do you know about Rachel?”
I let out a long breath. “Someone sent me this anonymous text yesterday.” I held out my phone. “Franny saw it and identified the woman as your ex-girlfriend, a vampire named Rachel. I showed it to Ralph and he said it was the woman who paid him to gather my hair. We went out to Essie’s this evening and she verified that Rachel is back in town and looking to get you back. She said Rachel is trouble.” I held his gaze, trying to read his mood.
Aegis glanced over at Sandy. “I assume you’re here to make sure I don’t go all fang-banger on her?” His tone was snide, but she didn’t flinch.
“You got it. Aegis, I like you but you need to get it through your thick skull. We don’t know you that well. Regardless of the fact that you’re fucking my friend—that you two have made a love connection—the reality remains that we don’t know your background or what you have done over the past…what…couple thousand years? Three thousand?” She shrugged. “If you think I’m going to let Maddy walk into potential danger alone, then you must not think I’m much of a friend.”
He stared at her for a moment, then turned back to me. “Sandy’s right, you know. You can’t let your feelings for me cloud your vision. Essie’s right. Rachel is dangerous and she’s no fool. She’s also off the wall fucking crazy and she’s been stalking me for years.”
I was torn, not wanting to cross-examine him in front of Sandy. But we had passed the point of diplomacy. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know she was here until last week. I was trying to figure out how to tell you about her when things began to happen. When I went out to check on the noise that startled Bubba the other night, I smelled her. I realized she was hanging around the house and it scared me because she’s never forgiven me for breaking up with her. I’d forgotten that we posed for that painting. And I forgot that Franny knew about Rachel.”
I wanted to ask him the most important question of all. Well, it really wasn’t the most important, but to my heart it was. But Aegis took one look at my face and slid off the counter, walking carefully over to me. He tipped my chin up, so I was looking into his eyes.
“I don’t love her anymore. I don’t know if I ever really did. And the last thing I want is for her to be part of my life again. She’s crazy and dangerous and if I had had any clue what kind of sociopath she was, I would never have taken up with her in the first place. Since I met you, Maudlin Gallowglass, there hasn’t been another woman who could turn my head. Nor do I expect there will be.” There was such conviction in his voice that I couldn’t help but believe him.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” He looked confused. “I screwed up, I admit it. I should have known that Rachel might come looking for me one of these d
ays. I put you in danger with my silence.”
“For not making me ask. For not trying to make me feel like I have no right to know about her.” I remembered what Sandy had said. I had been Mad Maudlin, respected and feared. I held tight to that memory, straightening my shoulders. “Because if you had tried to brush me off…”
“You’d make me leave. I understand. But Maddy, do you really think Ralph killed Rose? He might be working in cahoots with Rachel, but I never pegged him for a killer. While Rose’s death is going to impact the business, I just can’t see him attacking your coven-mate.”
“There’s something that I don’t think Delia told you. Rose was wearing the same kind of coat I was. She has long dark hair. In the gloom…”
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “She could have been you. But wasn’t she killed today? In the sunlight?”
I shook my head. “She was killed last night when she left here. That’s why Delia wants to talk to you. When you came home—”
Sandy shifted. “What Delia’s going to ask you is how, when you returned home, you managed to miss Rose’s body.”
The doorbell rang then, and I broke away, going to answer. Delia was standing there, along with one of her deputies. I ushered them in.
“Aegis is waiting,” I said. “I have some more information that might have some bearing on the case.”
“Don’t you want to know if we caught Ralph?” Delia asked, following me back into the kitchen.
“I don’t think he did it—”
“He’s in jail, Maddy. He confessed. He said that he was tricked into it by the woman he keeps talking about, that she said she could help him destroy his competition.” She pulled out her notebook. “I just have some routine questions,” she added, turning to greet Aegis. “Hello—mighty fine band you have there. I caught your show last week at the Utopia. Good sound.”
“Thanks.” Aegis frowned. “You say Ralph confessed?”