Blood Magic by Laken Cane

Chapter Thirteen

“Holy shit,” I whispered, suddenly cold. “How the hell did you get my phone number?”

The alpha was just checking in, and he wanted to remind me about the Halloween night festivities at Shadowfield. As though I would forget that. I texted him back quickly, on autopilot as I thought about Remy Simon.

I’ll be there. And Jared…I went out last night to the woods near my place, and I shifted. The moon called me, even though she wasn’t full. It was amazing.

He texted me back as I was rereading Remy’s text.

I’m proud of you. You should have called me. I would have kept you company.And though he didn’t type it in, I know he was thinking, I would have kept you safe.

Jared didn’t have a lot of faith in my wolf just yet. Understandable, I guess. And finally, I took a deep breath and concentrated on Simon’s text.

I want to talk to you. Call me. Don’t make me chase you down.

“Shit,” I said. I didn’t know why I was so wary of him. I don’t know why he scared me. I just know he did. And I was most definitely going to make him chase me down.

I dropped my phone into my pocket, grabbed my keys, and kissed Ash goodbye. It was time to go to work. I also needed to dive back into the whole vampire shading thing and work on finding Paul Ferguson’s wife. I hoped she wasn’t dead—or worse, turned—but I needed to find out. I would call him to give him an update later, after I talked to Brenda Ferguson’s mother.

I took a box of donuts into work with me which would, I hoped, put Max in a better mood. I only ate three of them before I got there. Donuts put me in a better mood, too.

When I got to work, a man set in front of Max’s desk while Max took his information. They both stood when I walked in.

“Kait,” Max said, “you’re just in time. We’ve had a very busy morning. This man would like to talk to you about his deceased father.”

I smiled at the man, curious. “How can I help you, Mr.…”

He returned my smile and held out his hand for me to shake. He was a man who could easily get lost in the crowd. Not bad looking but not super good-looking, either. Just average in all ways. He did have lovely green eyes and a nice smile. “Ray Christian. It’s good to meet you, Ms. Silver. I wondered if you were able to contact certain people who had passed. Mr. Pepper wasn’t sure.”

I shot Max a quick look. He knew I didn’t conjure deceased people and speak to them for clients. When I saw spirits, it was because I accidentally stumbled upon them. I had no idea how to “call” people who’d crossed over. Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t want to tell Ray Christian that, though. “No, I’m sorry. That’s not in my skill set, unfortunately.”

He nodded. “I understand. Thanks for being honest. I’ve had a couple of people claim that they could contact them, but after they took my money…” He gave a self-deprecating shrug, and then his gaze landed on the box of donuts. “Hey, that’s from my favorite bakery. I eat there often.”

I placed the box on Max’s desk. “Help yourself, Mr. Christian. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.” I gave Joe a nod as I passed him, then sat down behind my desk and picked up the phone. I pulled Ferguson’s info up on my computer and found Cheryl Smith’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Mrs. Smith, my name is Kait Silver. I’ve been hired to look into your daughter Brenda’s disappearance. I wondered if I could visit and ask you some questions.”

“Oh I know who you are. Paul’s a fucking idiot. He thinks he can throw money at some voodoo witch and take the suspicion off him. I know what happened to Brenda. He killed her and buried her somewhere. I’ve told the cops. And if you come sniffing around here, I’ll call them on you, too.” She hung up.

I sighed. I needed to talk to the vampire I’d dug up, but I couldn’t see him until the sun was gone. I didn’t want to revisit the county master, but it was likely going to come to that. I wanted to solve Brenda Ferguson’s disappearance.

There was something I could do as I waited for the vampires to wake up. If the vampires had killed Brenda, more likely than not she was buried on Frederick Axton’s property. And if they had killed her, chances were good she’d be staying close to the house where she’d died. Being killed by a vampire was one sure way of finding oneself unable to cross over. She could very well be wandering the county master’s property, waiting for someone to tell her what was going on.

Not likely, but there was enough of a possibility that I decided to visit Axton’s property while he and his coven slept. He wouldn’t be there—vampires, especially important ones, slept away from their daytime dwellings and rotated their sleeping places out constantly. When they were asleep, they were helpless, and they were forced to be very careful.

But I didn’t need to see Axton. I just needed to look around this property. I had no doubt that his human guards would have something to say about that, but all I could do was try. Investigating vampires was a son of a bitch.

Max stuck his head into my office. “Did you hear the latest about Jakeston’s serial killer?”

I shook my head. “What happened?”

“They found another victim.” He shook his head. “He doesn’t even try to hide them. He wants us to find the bodies. He wants everyone to be afraid.”

“He wants everyone talking about him, too,” I said. “Asshole.” The detective hadn’t mentioned that they’d found another victim.

“They’re all small, young, and blonde,” Max said. “They look like Lucy, Kait. Make sure she’s careful.”

I put a hand to my chest. “I hadn’t realized,” I said. “But you’re right. They do resemble Lucy.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. Lucy had an appointment with Kassandra to get her tattoo at three o’clock. I’d go with her, and I would tell her to be careful. I hated bringing something else up that was going to scare her. She had enough to worry about with the demon.

He took a deep breath. “Okay. So what are we doing today? Do you need someone to go with you? Because Joe would be happy to do that.”

I laughed. “Did you find me some information on Remy Simon?”

“Um, yeah?”

“So where is it?” I asked.

“It’s on your computer under the file named Remy Simon,” he said. “He is a very interesting man. Quite a badass.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “And he wants to talk to me. He found my phone number somehow, Max.”

He snorted. “And you are surprised by that?”

“Well, yeah. I thought it would take him a minute.”

“So are you going to call him?”

“Hell no, I’m not going to call him. If he wants to talk to me, he’ll have to do as he threatened and chase me down.”

“He can do that,” Max said. “But I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

“It’s probably a terrible thing,” I said, “but I don’t know what to do about it.”

Joe stepped into the room. “I’ll be with you, and if I’m not with you, call me. I don’t care what he is, or how badass Max thinks he is.” He scowled at me as though I was the one who had said Simon was badass. “I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”

Max grinned and sauntered from the room.

“He’s a brat,” Joe muttered. Then he looked at me. “Wherever you go today, I’m going with you.”

“You can tag along if you want,” I said. “I’m not afraid of Remy Simon. I can handle him.”

“You flinch a little bit every time you say his name,” he told me. There was something dark in his eyes that made me wonder exactly what Joe Patrick had lived through. And I knew he wasn’t wrong. I could tell myself all day long that Simon didn’t scare me, and I’d be lying every single time. Frustrating but true.

I picked up the thin folders Max placed on my desk and read through them quickly. Both were clients needing me to do some good old-fashioned house cleaning. I was happy to do something that was relaxing in comparison with visiting the vampires and worrying about Remy Simon.

I called both numbers and scheduled appointments, and then I called Lucy. “Meet me here at two-thirty,” I told her. “I’ll go with you to get your tattoo.”

She didn’t argue, which surprised me. She seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that she was going to get a new tattoo, and scared or not, she knew it was for the best.

I had a feeling that by the time I was finished with everything else it would be dark, and I hoped the vampire Joe and I had brought out of the ground would find me. I didn’t want to go to Axton’s house looking for the girl so she could lead me to him, but I would if I had to. Axton was screwing with the humans in a bad way, and I would need to take him out—master or not.

He knew something, and if the girl was telling the truth, the previously buried vampire was not pleased with Axton. He wanted him out, but he needed some help to make it happen. He wasn’t the only one.

But I had no idea where to find him. Surely he wouldn’t go back to the master who buried him in the first place. No, he’d be hiding out somewhere. I was sure he would know how to find me. He was a vampire, and they had their ways. He’d find me.

Just as Remy Simon would find me.

And I’d have to be ready for both of them.