Page 27 of Bent Out of Shade
When I got back to my sedan, I made more notes. Why go into hiding when she was supposed to leave the next day, and especially when her fiancé was a rich vampire who could have arranged for protection and gotten her on an earlier flight? I closed my notes app. Unless whatever had occurred had been so quick that she didn’t have time to call for help.
Unfortunately, when I drove by the restaurant where she’d held the staff dinner, it didn’t have its own lot. Patrons parked on the streets, which they wouldn’t have footage of. There was no way to tell if she’d been approached by anyone on her way to her car, nor could I access any cab or ride share records to see if she’d taken one home.
My gut churned queasily. The timing of Sabrina’s disappearance after incarcerating Paxton Craig combined with these gangland killings made it unlikely that she’d been targeted because of Vincenzo. She was a young woman who’d taken down a powerful man and had gotten mere hours to celebrate her achievements before she’d been retaliated against.
I’d do everything in my power to find her alive, but even if I did, she’d been gone long enough to have experienced terrible things. Would they fuel her quest as an agent of justice, or would this incident break her?
Scared as I was to be the bearer of bad news, I had to prepare Vincenzo for the worst. He was her loved one first and a vampire second in this case and that’s how I’d treat him.
It was late afternoon so he might be asleep, but given how powerful BatXoha was, he might not. Despite bracing myself to make the call, it went straight to voice mail, so I simply asked him to phone back.
I drove home contemplating my next move.
Harry called as I was unlocking my door, following up on my request to meet with a supernatural being in Northern British Columbia who might have intel on the murders of Mom, Dad, and McMurtry. He’d found a raven shifter, not a gargoyle.
I fumbled my keys, catching them at the last second. Raven shifters and I had a complicated history, usually where I got information I desperately needed at a cost I later regretted. The games they play weren’t just shooting space aliens and battleships, they were with destiny, bringing something into existence that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. It wasn’t worth the risk. I’d take the amulet to Nav.
But even if Nav confirmed the amulet was demonic in nature, what were the chances of it narrowing down who killed the Lonestar and my parents? Could I really afford to discount that lead?
I unclenched my death grip on the keys. “I won’t play games with raven shifters.”
“Relax, luv,” Harry said in his broad English accent. “I already sorted that. Nora agreed to accept a gift in lieu of a game. Straight trade.”
It couldn’t be this easy.
“What does she want?” I stepped into my dim foyer and flicked on the lights.
“She’s keen on this specific poison ring that recently resurfaced on the collector scene.”
I quickly calculated how much I had available on my credit card, hoping the ring wasn’t outrageously priced. “Where do I buy it?”
There was a long pause. Harry cleared his throat. “Um…”
I rolled my eyes. Called it. “Who do I steal it from?”
“Here’s the thing.”
“Nope. Nothing good has ever followed those words.”
“It’s Giulia,” Harry said.
I tossed my keys harder than I intended into the bowl that Jude had made me to house them, then quickly checked that I hadn’t cracked it. The last time I’d seen the cat gargoyle, I’d destroyed her sweet if impossible fantasy of a happily ever after with Laurent. I’d also perhaps implied that he’d used me for sex and didn’t want a relationship. That he was, in fact, incapable of them.
In my defense, the relationship part had been true at the time.
“Miri?”
“I’ll figure it out. How do I get hold of Nora if I get the ring?”
He gave me her work address, explaining that she’d recently moved to Vancouver. “She’s got a background in mythology and folklore. You’ll like her.”
I kicked off my shoes. “A veritable font of knowledge.”
“Right?” Harry completely missed my sarcasm.
Would it help or totally kibosh my cause to bring Laurent with me on my visit to Giulia? Sadly, I didn’t come to any conclusion.
Somehow, I’d missed a text from Sadie saying she’d met up with Tovah and her friends after school, but she’d be home by dinner. She sent a second message that her phone was dying and not to worry if I couldn’t get hold of her.
