“What’s wrong?” Ben said, reading the anxiety in my expression.

“He’s not answering.”

“Who?” Evan said. “Who are you calling?”

“The Master of Las Vegas.”

Brenda narrowed her gaze and looked confused. “You mean that cult was headed up by a vampire, and she isn’t the Master of Las Vegas?”

“I think something weird’s going on,” I said.

Evan laughed. “She says this now?”

I’d noticed lately how my baseline for weird had shifted a bit. Werewolves and bounty hunters of the supernatural were normal. A borderline BDSM stage show starring a millennia-old vampire with a set that doubled as a temple for rituals of human sacrifice? That was weird.

“What do we do about it?” Ben said.

“Nothing,” Evan said.

“Nothing?” That woman had tried to kill me, and I didn’t like the thought of her running loose. But what the heck were we supposed to do about it?

“Not our bailiwick,” Brenda said, shrugging. “You can’t expect us to go after something that powerful just because it’s the right thing to do.”

“We only have your word that she’s a vampire,” Evan said. “Are you sure about that?”

“I smelled her.”

Brenda said, “If there’s a different Master here, I’m betting she isn’t even a vampire. Look—we took care of that gang. They’re not going to be sacrificing anybody anytime soon. Until she shows herself again—if she does—there’s nothing we can do.”

“Personally, I’m thinking she’s one of the five bodies we took out.” Evan gestured to the hotel driveway, where the first of the gurneys, carrying a body in a black plastic bag, was being brought out. Once again, I wondered who it was.

“I might be able to get a copy of the police report by tomorrow,” Ben said. “Can you wait that long?”

“Sure,” I said. “Assuming she doesn’t kill us all in our sleep.”

“You’re really a jumpy one,” Brenda said.

“Can you blame me?”

Ben took hold of my hand under the table and squeezed. Chill out. Don’t freak. She was just trying to get to me—it was her job.

“What do you want to do?” he said.

“I think I want to go see Dom. We have a little time—we can get over there before sunrise.”

“Then let’s go.” He pushed his chair out. “Thanks for the drinks, and the help, and the save. I’ll send you a check.”

He shook hands with Evan and Brenda over the table. “Tell Cormac I said hi,” Brenda said.

“He’ll laugh his ass off when I tell him that.”

“Good,” she said. “He probably needs a good laugh these days.”

“Real interesting meeting you, Kitty,” Evan said.

I smirked. “Not nice, or good, or a pleasure—”

“I’ll say it was a pleasure,” Brenda said. “I haven’t had this much fun at a gun show in years.” She grinned, and for some reason I thought about a snake getting ready to strike.

Tags: Carrie Vaughn Kitty Norville Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net