The Darkness Calls (The Transfigured Ones 1)

Talan shrugged and said, “I couldn’t tell you for certain. I’d have to have her social security number. If she were a resident alien it would be even harder to track. Her name is rather distinct. She basically called Lilly my ‘nighttime snack’ and then proceeded to be incredibly rude to her simply for being human. Would you really put that behavior past her?”

“To be fair, my friend, dating humans isn’t exactly mainstream for us. I will admit it caught me by surprise, too.”

Conceding the point, Talan agreed, “It’s not one of my more well thought-out plans, but love rarely is, I’m told. Are you disgusted by the fact that I’m dating a human?”

“No, no, nothing like that. There’s just a whole pack of problems that come along with that. It’s not necessarily something I’d sign on for. To each his own, though.”

“Well,” he said, trying to bring the conversation back around to the original point.

Colette seemed not only shocked but disgusted by the idea. Based on what you know of her, do you really feel this is something so unbelievable?”

Talan watched as a range of emotions played over Stefano’s face. Disbelief, anger, realization, shock, disgust. It was plain as day. In that moment, he genuinely felt for the man.

“It adds up,” Stefano admitted. “When we were in the car, Lilly talked about being from Kansas. Colette said something nasty about it. I hadn’t even realized she’d spent time in the States. We had talked about the places we’d gone. You know, pillow talk. I asked her about it that night and she dodged my question. Of all of the women in Toronto, invariably I end up with the crazy bitch who slaughters people for fun.”

“I’m more sorry than I can say that I had to deliver the news. When Lilly told me, I offered to look into it. I thought I’d be able to say that she was mistaken. What are the odds?”

He looked a little ill when he softly said, “Apparently better than either of us thought. I’m so sorry. I would never—”

“Not your fault,” Talan repeated.

Stefano kept talking as if Talan hadn’t spoken. “I called her out on her nasty behavior, and she basically turned it around to say that Lilly had been baiting her.”

Before Talan could jump in and comment, Stefano added, “I was there. I saw what happened. She continually attacked Lilly. It was entirely unprovoked. Lilly is a sweet girl, by the way. She seems good for you.”

“She is,” Talan agreed, smiling. “I need to ask you something on a professional level. Do you think we have any recourse to have the investigation into her family’s murders reopened? Voice identification can be a long shot, right?”

Sighing, Stefano said, “That’s when it’s on tape. So, with this alone, there would be no recourse. It would depend on the physical evidence at the scene. If they have any real trace evidence, then it may be worth a shot. I can make some inquiries tomorrow if you’d like. I don’t know how forthcoming they’d be to a Canadian attorney, but it’s the least I can do. I was beginning to realize that she was a little mercenary, but that she could do that...”

“It’s too much of a coincidence to believe otherwise.”

“I know,” Stefano said as he stood up. Gesturing effusively with his hands he said, “It’s that kind of behavior that sets us back by decades, Talan. That’s why the barriers between the Transfigured and humans still exist. You know that I’m a huge champion of keeping a fair and equal balance, right?”

Unable to argue with any of that, Talan just nodded. “I know you are. You demonstrate it through your actions on a regular basis. You’re not to blame here. You didn’t do this. She did.”

“She killed for sport. I was fucking a murderer,” he spat, disgusted.

Pity written all over his face, Talan said, “It’s not your fault. They’re her crimes. Realistically, should we really have to ask the average person we date if they’re into sport killing? Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“I knew there was something wrong with her. She was very cold.”

“She wasn’t friendly,” Talan agreed.

Stefano frowned and added, “I enjoyed not being alone. Perhaps I should choose my companions with more care going forward.”

“I’m sorry,” Talan said, feeling genuinely regretful. “It’s not the type of news I enjoy delivering.”

“She took off in a fit the other night. If she comes back around I’m clearly going to break it off. It was bad when she was unpleasant, but this literally makes me ill.”

“I trust that you’ll keep this part of it to yourself. I don’t want to spook her into leaving before we figure out what we can do.”

“Of course. I’ll do anything I can to help.”

Talan wrote down names, dates, and the specific location of the murders. He’d managed to dig that up himself through old records. He hadn’t wanted to drag the information from Lilly. She’d been shattered enough last night.

After Stefano took his leave, Talan sat down at his desk again. That had gone better than he’d expected. He couldn’t help but feel for the man, though. He’d been horrified. Hard to blame him, either. He hadn’t really dated in a long time, but he’d never thought to ask his dates their stance on sport killing. Both relieved and exhausted, he shut down his computer for the evening.

He knew Lilly was waiting to hear back from him about his talks with Lachlan and Stefano. He was disappointed that he didn’t have much in the way of good news to deliver. He wondered, for her sake, if there would ever be any resolution.