Page 91 of Silver Claw

“Last night,” I began, “I went to a client’s house to take care of what I thought was a demon attached to their child. It wasn’t a demon, Bastien. It was a ghost. A vampire ghost.”

For a second, there were no sounds. As Bastien tried to process what I was telling him, Farrow became so still in the back seat that it was like she’d managed to slip out of the car without me noticing.

“You are serious,” Bastien said, finally. Then, “You are sure?”

“I am,” I told him. “He’s in a spirit trap in my house. He will fade, in time, and cease to exist. But he was there, Bastien. He was feeding from the little girl. He bit me, and I felt it.”

He stiffened. “He bit you? Show me.”

I didn’t bother telling him there was nothing to see. The residual vampire magic in Zach had felt it, and Bastien was a powerful master. He would feel it, as well.

“We might stay here, when we die?” Farrow asked.

“We do not end,” Bastien murmured, his fingers probing the invisible bitemark on my shoulder. “I feel him.” Then his fingers became caressing. “You are not hurt?”

“No.” I pulled my shirt back over my shoulder. “I have to go to work.”

There was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. A spark of something that decades of horror had smothered but somehow not killed. And when he smiled at me before leaving the car, that smile lit up his face—for just an instant, but I saw it. For the first time since I’d known him, he was genuinely…happy.

“As is almost always the case,” he said, leaning forward to look through the open doorway at me, “you have given us something that cannot be repaid. You save us, Kait Silver, even when you don’t mean to. Thank you.”

I sat there for a few minutes after they were gone, wondering exactly when things had begun to change between me and the vampires. Between me and Bastien. I’d saved his life. That had been the beginning of an unexpected bond.

Finally, I started the car. “You’re welcome, Bastien,” I whispered, then sped down the highway, rushing headlong into whatever the rest of the night had waiting for me.

Chapter Thirty-Five

The night began screwing up when I was halfway to the office.

I called Joe to let him know I was on my way in and to see how busy a night it was.

“The waiting room is full of people who have appointments—not a walk-in in sight,” he told me.

And still, I wasn’t there to see them.

“How pissed is Max?” I asked.

“You know Max,” he said. “He’s going to yell when you get here, but he’s decided he likes being bossy and loud, so we just have to let it run its course.”

I laughed. “Should I stop and get him some pastries?”

“Lord no,” he said. “You can ask Gracie Dawn to pick some up after you get here. These people are restless tonight, Kait. Three of them already walked out, and one piece of work picked a fight with an old man before I had to kick his ass and send him on his way.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” I assured him.

“You told Bastien about the vampire ghost?”

“I did.” I smiled. “He was…happy, Joe.” Then my phone beeped, and I glanced down to see Rick’s name on the screen. “I have another call coming in. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

But it wasn’t Rick. It was Beth, calling from his phone. “Kait,” she said, her voice high and worried. “I didn’t know if I should call you or—”

“What’s wrong, Beth? Where’s Rick?”

“I turned his phone off and put something in his drink to help him sleep. He didn’t look well, and I was worried.”

“Is heokay,Beth?”

My heart was pounding so hard it hurt my chest, and I was abruptly terrified that she was going to tell me Rick had died in his sleep.