Page 62 of Throwing Shade
“Yes?”
“I used to be boring old Lindsey Douglas, but then I got made and I took on the name of the estrie who’d founded our line.”
“What’s an estrie?”
“Estries are the female demons that turn Ohrists into vampires. Duh.” Lindsey punched my shoulder, sending us over the yellow line.
I jerked the wheel sharply back. “Cool. So an estrie made you?”
That earned me a huff. “I said they only start the line. No one’s seen an estrie in like a few hundred years. Ohrists hunted them all down.” She rolled her eyes. “They hate anyone different.”
“Weren’t you an Ohrist before you became a vampire?”
“Nope. Vampires haven’t turned Ohrists in ages because the Lonestars got all pissy.” She flapped a hand. “We have to stick to Sapiens.”
My stomach twisted. Could I lock Sadie in her room? She was safe from dybbuks who needed a magic host but not vamps.
“Sapiens bond better once we’re turned anyways,” Lindsey said. “Like me and my bestie. He’s a newbie, but it’s like we’ve known each other forever.” She snickered. “Guess we will. Anyway, estries start a line but after that vamps continue it. Still, we all take the name of the founding estrie as ours.”
“And your estrie’s name is BatKian?” Weird name.
“Her name is Kian. That becomes our last name with ‘Bat,’ which is Hebrew for ‘daughter of,’ because to estries, all their children are daughters. Now that’s girl power.”
I nodded, driving smoothly through a green light. The world was a lot scarier than I’d previously realized, sure, but so was studying deep sea creatures. Demons and estries, female lineage, I wanted to read a book on this. “That’s actually really amazing.”
“Right?” She patted my shoulder.
“How do vampires feel about others with magic?” I asked. Now that we had some common ground, maybe I could turn this to my advantage. Or at the very least, walk into Blood Alley with a little more knowledge of where Jude, Laurent, and I stood.
Lindsey shrugged. “We don’t really care about anyone until they get in our way. It’s Ohrists that have a stick up their ass about who should or should not have magic.” She snickered. “Doesn’t matter how much they hate us, under cover of night, they crave what only we can give them.”
I listened to her with only one ear. Even if Harry had told the vamps we were coming, why would they be upset about that? I planned to rescue Jude so she could go back to work for them.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel. “What’s this about?”
“Pizza!”
“Huh?” I glanced in the rear-view mirror.
“Pull over. I love trying new places. Hurry up.” The vamp reached forward and yanked the wheel to the right, almost colliding with another vehicle that was pulling out of a spot. She rolled down the window and gave the driver the finger.
I jerked the car out of the way, thankful for my quick reflexes honed while accompanying Sadie on her practice drives. Even when we were parallel-parked safely, I sat there gripping the wheel, breathing heavily and trying to calm my fast-beating heart. Did Lindsey really want pizza, or did she just want to frighten her prey before eating me?
“Yo!” Lindsey rapped on my window and I jumped. “Get out. Can’t have you taking off.”
I stepped onto the sidewalk. “I think they’re closing up.”
“No time to lose.” She hauled me off, practically lifting me off my feet, and dragged me into the alley.
Nothing good ever happened in an alley. I sighed, but couldn’t break her grip.
A pimply-faced employee stepped out of the pizzeria’s back door with a bulging green garbage bag, headed for the dumpster, an unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Delilah rose up to grab Lindsey, but my shadow’s fingers closed on thin air as the bloodsucker blurred forward in a burst of speed and seized the hapless young man.
The vamp pressed him up against the brick wall, leaning into his pelvis, and bit his neck.
He sagged in her hold, the trash and cigarette falling to the ground. In a state of bleary response, he looked much younger, maybe only as old as Sadie.
