anything back yet—not from HR or Jerome.” He frowned slightly, clearly not liking the lack of communication. Underneath that, I also sensed another emotion in him—nervousness. “I’ve got something else for you. Can we talk somewhere . . . kind of private? Is there a Sbarro or Orange Julius around here?”
I scoffed. “Not in this mall. There’s a sandwich place we can go to.”
“Sandwich place” wasn’t entirely accurate. They also sold gourmet soups and salads, all of which were made fresh and packed with enough prissy ingredients to make Ian happy. Hugh and I snagged a table, my appearance gaining the attention of some children there with their parents. I ignored them as I leaned toward Hugh.
“What’s up, then, if not the phantom transfer?”
He eyed the watchers uneasily and took several moments to begin speaking. “I was calling around today, trying to work connections and see if I could find out anything about you. Like I said, I couldn’t. But I got caught up on all sorts of other gossip.”
I was kind of surprised Hellish gossip was what he wanted to discuss, more surprised still that it had apparently warranted him coming in person. If he’d heard a rumor about a mutual friend, it seemed like a phone call would’ve sufficed to pass the news. Even e-mail or text.
“Do you remember Milton?” he asked.
“Milton?” I stared blankly. The name meant nothing to me.
“Nosferatu,” he prompted.
Still nothing, and then—
“Oh. Yeah. Him. The vampire.” A month or so ago, Milton had visited on vacation, much to Cody and Peter’s dismay. Vampires were territorial and didn’t like outsiders, although Cody had been able to use Milton’s presence to impress his macabre loving girlfriend, Gabrielle. Or so I’d heard. “I never actually saw him. I just knew he was in town.”
“Yup, and it turns out last week, he was in Boulder.”
“So?”
“So, first of all, it’s weird that he’d have two ‘vacations’ in that short time. I mean, you know how it is for vampires. You know how it is for all of us.”
It was true. Hell didn’t like to give us vacations very often. When your employers owned your soul, they really didn’t feel any need to make your life pleasant. That wasn’t to say we didn’t occasionally get time off, but it certainly wasn’t a priority for Hell. The business of souls never rested. For vampires, this was doubly true because they didn’t like to leave their territory. They also had various complications with traveling, say, like with sunlight.
“Okay, so, it’s weird. How does that affect us?”
Hugh dropped his voice low. “When he was in Boulder, a local dark shaman died under mysterious circumstances.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “And you think Milton was involved ?”
“Well, like I said, I had time to make some calls and do some research today. And it turns out that even though he’s based in Raleigh, Milton travels an awful lot for a vampire—and every place he goes, some mortal in the supernatural community ends up dead.”
“You’re saying he’s an assassin,” I said, intrigued but still not seeing the point. As part of “the great game” we all played, angels and demons weren’t supposed to directly influence mortal lives. That’s where lesser immortals came in, with our offers of sin and temptation. Now, we weren’t really supposed to kill either, as far as the game went, and we certainly weren’t supposed to do it on behalf of a greater immortal’s instructions. We all knew it happened, however, and Milton wasn’t the first assassin I’d heard of taking out inconvenient mortals.
“Exactly,” said Hugh. He frowned. “He goes to places, and people disappear.”
“How does that affect us?”
Hugh sighed. “Georgina, he was here .”
“Yeah, but nobody—” I gasped, freezing a moment in shock. “Erik . . .”
The world reeled around me for a moment. I was no longer in an elite mall’s food court but instead was
I scoffed. “Not in this mall. There’s a sandwich place we can go to.”
“Sandwich place” wasn’t entirely accurate. They also sold gourmet soups and salads, all of which were made fresh and packed with enough prissy ingredients to make Ian happy. Hugh and I snagged a table, my appearance gaining the attention of some children there with their parents. I ignored them as I leaned toward Hugh.
“What’s up, then, if not the phantom transfer?”
He eyed the watchers uneasily and took several moments to begin speaking. “I was calling around today, trying to work connections and see if I could find out anything about you. Like I said, I couldn’t. But I got caught up on all sorts of other gossip.”
I was kind of surprised Hellish gossip was what he wanted to discuss, more surprised still that it had apparently warranted him coming in person. If he’d heard a rumor about a mutual friend, it seemed like a phone call would’ve sufficed to pass the news. Even e-mail or text.
“Do you remember Milton?” he asked.
“Milton?” I stared blankly. The name meant nothing to me.
“Nosferatu,” he prompted.
Still nothing, and then—
“Oh. Yeah. Him. The vampire.” A month or so ago, Milton had visited on vacation, much to Cody and Peter’s dismay. Vampires were territorial and didn’t like outsiders, although Cody had been able to use Milton’s presence to impress his macabre loving girlfriend, Gabrielle. Or so I’d heard. “I never actually saw him. I just knew he was in town.”
“Yup, and it turns out last week, he was in Boulder.”
“So?”
“So, first of all, it’s weird that he’d have two ‘vacations’ in that short time. I mean, you know how it is for vampires. You know how it is for all of us.”
It was true. Hell didn’t like to give us vacations very often. When your employers owned your soul, they really didn’t feel any need to make your life pleasant. That wasn’t to say we didn’t occasionally get time off, but it certainly wasn’t a priority for Hell. The business of souls never rested. For vampires, this was doubly true because they didn’t like to leave their territory. They also had various complications with traveling, say, like with sunlight.
“Okay, so, it’s weird. How does that affect us?”
Hugh dropped his voice low. “When he was in Boulder, a local dark shaman died under mysterious circumstances.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “And you think Milton was involved ?”
“Well, like I said, I had time to make some calls and do some research today. And it turns out that even though he’s based in Raleigh, Milton travels an awful lot for a vampire—and every place he goes, some mortal in the supernatural community ends up dead.”
“You’re saying he’s an assassin,” I said, intrigued but still not seeing the point. As part of “the great game” we all played, angels and demons weren’t supposed to directly influence mortal lives. That’s where lesser immortals came in, with our offers of sin and temptation. Now, we weren’t really supposed to kill either, as far as the game went, and we certainly weren’t supposed to do it on behalf of a greater immortal’s instructions. We all knew it happened, however, and Milton wasn’t the first assassin I’d heard of taking out inconvenient mortals.
“Exactly,” said Hugh. He frowned. “He goes to places, and people disappear.”
“How does that affect us?”
Hugh sighed. “Georgina, he was here .”
“Yeah, but nobody—” I gasped, freezing a moment in shock. “Erik . . .”
The world reeled around me for a moment. I was no longer in an elite mall’s food court but instead was
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