Crimson Death by Laurell K. Hamilton Page A

“Well, that, too, but weird isn’t always bad.”
    I smiled. “No. No, it’s not; in fact, sometimes weird is exactly what you need.”
    â€œI’m a vampire and you’re a necromancer. I think weird is where we start.”
    I laughed then, and debated how much of the case in Ireland I could share with him. One of the side effects he had from being my vampire servant was that if I told him not to tell anyone else what I told him, he couldn’t. He couldn’t seem to disobey a direct order from me, which wasn’t typical for human servants. It certainly wasn’t how I was with Jean-Claude.
    â€œYou’re thinking something that’s made you very serious.”
    â€œIf I told you that there were vampires in Ireland that were taking victims and making no effort to hide them, what would you say?”
    â€œI’d say it’s not the work of the vampire that made me. She would never be so careless hiding bodies.”
    â€œI’m not sure how many we have dead so far; the others just wander the streets or take themselves to a hospital with complete amnesia about how they got hurt.”
    It was his turn to look serious. “She would never let people wander around like that. It would attract far too much attention. How many victims so far?”
    â€œAt least half a dozen.”
    â€œShe would kill a vampire of her kiss that was so careless.”
    â€œSo you’re saying it’s not your old group?”
    He shook his head. “No, Anita, She-Who-Made-Me would never risk the humans knowing about us.”
    â€œEven in modern times when more countries are making you legal?”
    â€œShe’s one of the old ones who don’t believe the new attitudes will last. She said that staying hidden was the only true safety from the plague of humanity.”
    â€œShe called us a plague, really?”
    He nodded. “She didn’t seem to like humans much. If she could have fed off something else and stayed alive as a vampire, I think she would have done so.”
    â€œA vampire that tries to feed on animals starts to rot,” I said.
    â€œI remember what Sabine looked like,” Damian said, and shuddered. It had been worth a shudder or two.
    â€œYeah, and once a vampire gets damaged like that there’s no healing it, so you guys have to feed on humans.”
    â€œShe enjoyed tormenting humans and having sex with us if it suited her, but she didn’t seem to actually like us, or maybe she didn’t truly like anyone.”
    The timer on my phone sounded. I turned off the alarm and stood up. “Jean-Claude made me promise not to be late tonight, but is there anything you can tell me about vampires in Ireland that might help explain what’s happening?”
    â€œThe only thing I can think of is that her power is finally fading enough that she has lost control of some of her vampires and they are mad with power now,” he said, standing too.
    â€œWhy would she suddenly start to lose power after all this time?”
    â€œI do not know. She was very in control of them when I left Ireland five years ago.”
    â€œCould it be vampires from out of the country that she doesn’t control?”
    â€œIt is possible, I suppose.”
    â€œBut you don’t believe it,” I said.
    â€œNo, I don’t. She-Who-Made-Me is very covetous of her power and control. She would not allow some upstart vampires to come as near to her as Dublin and make her existence difficult without making their existence impossible.”
    â€œYou mean she’d kill them.”
    â€œOh yes, but you need to go. I will think upon what I know about my old mistress and her retinue, but this has to be someone or something new in Ireland. Within her fortress she was mad and capricious, but outside it she was very disciplined. Whatever is doing this doesn’t seem very disciplined. In fact, I’d say it was new vampires learning how