Page 40 of Shadow Seeking

He shrugged. “Energy. I may be a vampire, but I’mnotunattuned and I’m also very observant. Before I was turned, I was psychic, and that’s continued and grown stronger over the years. Letty…is not a true follower of the Brim Fire. I doubt if most of the other members on there can tell, but I sense that her heart wasn’t in it.”

“When’s the last time she posted?” We already knew the answer but I wanted to see what Lazenti had to say.

He thought for a moment. “I’d say a week? Why?”

“Do you know if she has any enemies there? Anyone who might be trolling her, or who doesn’t like her?”

He finished his drink and raised his hand, motioning for the waitress. “Another, please. How about the rest of you?”

“Do they serve food here?” Orik asked.

“Yes, we do. Would you like a menu?” the waitress asked.

Orik scrunched up his face, then said, “Do you have cheeseburgers?”

“Yes, with fries or onion rings.”

“A cheese burger, double-patty, with fries. No pickles on it, just ketchup and mustard, please,” Orik said.

Dante asked for a bowl of soup, and—giving in—I ordered some calamari. Once the waitress left again, I turned back to Lazenti.

He tapped his fingers on the side of his glass. “Well, I don’t know if this counts, but there’s one guy in there who always argues with her on ethical issues that don’t pertain to the group. But he seems to be invested in making life difficult for a lot of people. In particular, he seems to engage Letty more than the rest. It was as though he suspects she won’t back up the thingsshe said. She argues with him some, but tries to ignore him more often than not.”

“Do you remember his name? Do the moderators or admins try to stop him?” Dante asked.

“That’s the thing…Terra224isone of the moderators. So, nobody can stop him other than the rest of the admins, and nobody seems to give a damn that he acts like an ass.” Lazenti shrugged, stopping as the waitress approached with his drink.

“Here we go. Your food will be ready in about five to ten minutes,” she said, setting down the vamp’s second drink, then disappearing as quickly as she’d arrived.

“So, a moderator’s giving her trouble. Do you have any idea who it is, in real life? Where he lives?” I smelled a steak going by and my stomach rumbled.

Lazenti paused for a moment and I thought he was going to refuse to answer. But then, he took another sip of the drink and set it down, seeming to have decided something. “Tell me what’s going on?”

I glanced at Dante, who nodded. “All right, as you know from working with us before, we own an investigations company. We were hired to investigate Letty Hargrove’s death.”

That brought a reaction.

“Letty’s dead?” The look on his face told me that either he was an incredible actor, or he had nothing to do with her demise.

“I guess you didn’t read about it on the news. Letty either jumped or was shoved out a window on the fourth floor of Windchime Magical Academy. Her sister doesn’t think she would be capable of suicide, and from what we’ve found so far, we don’t think she killed herself, either. We found evidence that she was involved with Brim Fire, which didn’t jive with her nature. Except that she taught an intensive course on demonology. Carson recognized your name in the forums on theDark Web. So, we are looking for as much information as we can find.”

I normally didn’t talk about cases, but I had the feeling that, if we didn’t try to find as much information as possible, we’d never figure out what happened to her.

Lazenti glanced around. “We can’t talk here, not the way we need to. Eat your food and we’ll go elsewhere. But I can’t be seen leaving with you. Give me an address and I’ll meet you there later.”

“Your word?” I asked.

“Sure, my word. Honor-bound. We’ll talk later.” He finished his drink.

I scribbled down an address. “If you don’t mind meeting in a graveyard?—”

“Is it consecrated ground?” Lazenti asked.

I shook my head. “Trust me, it’s not. It’s abandoned, overgrown, and pretty much left to the dead.” I paused, then added, “It’s where I buried my mother. I couldn’t afford anything else.”

Dante placed his hand on my shoulder. “Kyann?—”

“No, it’s all right. There aren’t any security cameras, there aren’t any guards. We’ll see you there in an hour. It’s on the Eastside. Can you make it?”

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