“Get your hands off her.” Man, Leo was being awfully growly.
I looked up and saw both men flashing each other murderous glares. I rolled my eyes yet again as I shrugged off Vance’s arm. “Stop, you two. Just stop. We have more important goals at hand than measuring dicks.”
Vance smirked at my choice of words as Leo’s perfectly poised mask was back in place. “You’re right, my dear.”
“Tell me more about this meeting with the witches,” Vance said. “It’s tonight, right?”
“Yes,” Leo confirmed.
“So, what’s the plan? Where’s the meeting point?” Leo opened his mouth to respond but Vance cut him off. “And don’t think for a second I won’t be there.”
“We’re meeting at an old cemetery, behind a cathedral just outside Dublin.” Leo glared. “I don’t like the idea of bringing Karli out in the open past sundown after what happened last night, but we don’t really have a choice. The witches only agreed to meet if I bring her along so they can verify her heritage. If she’s not there, we will not be granted another chance.”
“Whoa, bac
k up,” Vance said. “What happened last night?”
Ah crap, I thought. He’s going to be pissed because I, once again, failed to mention that I was in grave danger. “Uh…remember the UV light?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Well, it came out when I was being attacked in an alley across town.” I tensed, preparing myself mentally for his freak out. “By Maria.”
“WHAT THE FUCK?” he bellowed. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Calm down, Detective,” Leo said. “As you can see, she’s fine.”
“Fuck you, Vampire.”
Leo’s fangs extended. “Don’t push me.”
Vance stood with his fists clenched. “Are you threatening me?”
All right, I’d had enough. “Jesus Christ! Vance, sit down. Leo, put your damn fangs away! Can’t you two get along for two goddamn seconds so we can focus on the important stuff? I’m so sick of this! If you cannot call a truce, I will figure this out by myself! You two can go fuck yourselves!” I was so pissed I could hardly see straight.
“Uh, Karli…” Vance stammered.
“What?” I said through clenched teeth.
He pointed to the rattling glass on the table. “Look.”
The water swirled violently in a clockwise direction. It rose past the rim of the glass and formed a mini tornado. Droplets sprayed my face, and my anger dissolved into shock as everything set in. A second later, the spinning stopped and the water crashed onto the table. “Oh, shit.”
Vance was awestruck. He trailed his finger through the small puddle. “Karli, that was amazing.”
Leo, clearly disturbed, grabbed a towel and began cleaning up the mess. “My love, perhaps we should get back on subject. You were about to explain what happened with Maria.”
I told Vance about my constant feeling of being followed around town, the multiple run-ins with Connor and who we suspected he really was, and Maria’s subsequent attack. He asked follow up questions here and there, but for the most part, just listened with rapt attention.
“So…Maria’s dead?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. How would you feel if she was?”
He thought about it for a moment and looked at Leo. “Can you give us a minute?”
I used my eyes to wordlessly plead with him for some privacy. He seemed to get the hint. “My love, I need to make some calls. I’ll be in the other room if you need me.”
“Thank you, Leo.”