Nightshifted (Edie Spence 1)

“Very. ”

“Mind if I ask what you did to annoy them?”

“Mind if I ask if you’re off the record?” I asked, because I thought I had to.

Paul took his hand back and I found that I missed the simple human contact. He crossed his arms and nodded. “Tell me things hypothetically. ”

“I might have killed a vampire to save a little girl. Technically there’s a chance I might have been under a compulsion at the time … but I don’t think they care about that so much. ” I didn’t either. What was it I’d told Meaty? That I’d have done it again? Knowing this, would I have? Now?

“Well, that’s clear-cut—you’re allowed to kill vampires in self-defense. He shouldn’t have been fighting you, you’re a clear noncombatant. ”

“It wasn’t exactly self-defense. I sort of—hypothetically—went to his home—lair? Lair. ” I reached and thumbed through a pile of pamphlets that turned out to be “Surviving Congestive Heart Failure” in three languages, one of which I’d never seen before. “She was there. I killed him,” I said, without looking in his eyes.

“Hypothetically,” he corrected.

“Hypothetically,” I agreed.

“She was in danger, yes?”

“Being held against her will, and worse. ”

Paul shook his head. “You’re still safe, then. The safety of the human outweighs the concerns of the vampires, according to the terms of the Consortium policy, at least inside County lines. You were still inside the County, weren’t you?”

It beat the hell out of me. “Maybe. But she, uh … wasn’t human. ”

Paul exhaled through pursed lips. “I see. Do you know where she is? Can she testify for you?”

“I have no idea. She ran off. She was in danger, I’m sure of it. ” I could go back to Mr. November’s house as soon as I finished here. But I was sure if I knew where he lived, so did they—I couldn’t expect to find any evidence supporting my side of things, and so what if I did? Dren said himself that I’d probably killed her—it was awfully hard to prove that I hadn’t, without her in the flesh, undead as it may be.

“It could have been entrapment. Someone else wanted him dead, compelled you, and then things went from there,” Paul suggested.

“I don’t think so. ” I sank my head into my hands. “I think I just made another big mistake. It’s got that feeling about it, you know?” Bitterness surged across my tongue and my heart was crawling up my throat. I knew what it felt like to make mistakes. I’d made tons of them before.

“Well, you still need representation, whatever the actual events. ”

“Can you do it?”

Paul snorted and shook his head. “I’m not qualified. But here—” He stood and walked to the back of his office and took the turn. I heard rummaging and the hum of a Xerox before he returned to me and handed me a slip of warm paper. “Call these names. Explain the situation but be circumspect till one of them swears to take the case. Make them swear explicitly—vampires love a loophole. ”

The paper had three names and phone numbers. All the vampire lawyers lived in better area codes than I did.

“And if none of them swear to?” I asked, folding the paper in half and putting it carefully into my pocket.

Paul smiled and shook his head again. “I’ve learned in my line of work that it’s best to cross bridges once you come to them. ”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I drove home as fast as I could. I got in the door, and forced myself to clean the cat box, change my clothes, and wash my face, before sitting down with my phone.

The first number was a wrong one—the people on the other end of the line didn’t seem to understand what I was asking, and when I tried to “hypothetically” explain they threatened to actually call the police.

The second had a pleasant-sounding secretary answer. “I’m sorry, Mr. Henrich’s docket is full,” she said, before hanging up.

I looked at the last one. “Please work. ” Minnie came up and rammed her head against my thigh. I dialed the last number and prayed.

It rang and rang. My stomach sank.

And then someone answered. The line went live, but with no sounds.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Do you know what time it is?” came the response.

I knew that voice. I was that voice. I was an idiot. Of course vampires slept during the day. “I’m sorry. I’ll call back—”

“I’m already up. What do you want?” the voice said, in an unhappy tone.