Page 22 of Blood & Ice

“It seems like I’ve lost most of my luster,” Lorcan said cheerfully, as a vampire woman named Adrian flipped him the bird. “Wanda will be thrilled. She hated how many female admirers I had with my previous clan.”

“Now you only have one beautiful woman hanging off you,” William drawled. “However will you cope?”

“I’m certain your sister will help me assuage the heartache,” Lorcan said, winking at William. He nimbly dodged the elbow William aimed at his rib and laughed.

“Hush,” I said.

On any other day, the banter would have been reassuring. I’d used gallows humor as a coping mechanism for most of my career, so I couldn’t bitch when someone else did so as well. It was a little reassuring when the men at your back could bark out a defiant laugh while staring humanity’s worst tendencies and appetites in the face. Right now, it was just a distraction. Any little detail could be useful in unraveling the mystery surrounding Vivian’s death.

We ascended the staircase to the second floor, turned, and then followed Cici Pleasant into a corner office that overlookedpart of the grounds. The wisteria trees outside swayed in the wind, a splash of pale color against the star-spangled night. The office itself wasn’t anything to write home about. Unlike the distinguished and pretentious Rupert, Cici seemed to opt for utility. You could have plucked the grey carpet, oak desk, and floor-to-ceiling windows out of any CFOs office.

Cici directed the three of us to sit in the padded chairs opposite the desk before taking a seat herself. The shine of her leather riding gloves under the office lights was almost distracting as she drummed her fingers against the wood.

“So,” she said slowly. “How may I assist you, your highness?”

Chapter Eleven

Taliyah

I opened my mouth, fishing around for any of the very reasonable opening statements I’d been prepared to make.

There was something about Cici Pleasant that threw me off, and it wasn’t the entirely inappropriate name she’d chosen for herself. I had a feeling it had been pulled straight from a soap opera and plastered onto fake documents. Forged papers were a necessity in the monster world, no matter how uncomfortable that made the law officer in me. There were some things humans just couldn’t be allowed to know, and the existence of vampirism was one of them.

Cici raised an elegant finger and wagged it at me, forestalling any conversation starter I might have whipped out. “Now, before you start talking, I wanted to make a few things clear. The only reason I allowed you into my home is due to your title, Princess Olwen. Haven Hollow and its community are no friends of or to my clan. Since you invoked your royal lineage, I expect this matter has something to do with Winter.”

My jaw snapped shut and my tongue tried to glue itself to the roof of my mouth. I was realizing, far too late, that I might have made a miscalculation in coming here. Invoking Olwen’s name always made me want to spit, but in matters of politics, it usually cut through all the red tape and got me closer to the damn point. People were usually intimidated by me enough to let me get away with it.

But not Cici Pleasant. With just a handful of sentences, she’d utterly neutered my plan of attack, leaving me floundering. Cici watched the indecision play out over my face with a smirk before prompting, “Well?”

“It... may have something to do with the Winter court,” I hedged.

“May?” Cici repeated, narrowing her eyes. “You decided to contact me on a suspicion that one of my vampiresmayhave wronged someone in your court?”

I felt heat rising up the back of my neck, shame and impotent fury battling for dominance in my head. Cici had me, and she knew it. I was in a corner, and anything other than a fabrication would conceal my true reasons for being here. I’d been caught with my metaphorical pants down and in that moment, I hated her for it.

William rescued me, clearing his throat to draw Cici’s attention. She turned toward him, her neck swiveling like a malfunctioning marionette. It looked utterly inhuman, and I fought back a shudder. I’d gotten used to a lot of weirdness from the Hollow, but I was beginning to realize there was always going to be stuff out there that shocked or disturbed me. This vampire was among them.

“Princess Olwen has appointed herself a guardian of the Hollow, so any crime that goes on in this region is under her purview, Miss Pleasant. Additionally, my clan is closely allied with Winter. We have pledged our service in her defense if she is ever attacked and in return, we enjoy her protection. I’d say that makes anything we’re forced to deal with a Winter problem.”

I could have kissed William. He’d said what he had with a smile and so much blithe confidence that evenIbelieved it.

Cici raised a brow. “Is that so?”

“It is,” I answered.

What he’d said was technically true. I had a duty as their police chief to protect them, which meant the Winter court was involved. My enemies had attacked the Hollow more than once, and every vampire available had taken to the streets to slay my enemies. There had been no formal bargain struck between us, but if I survived Aurea, I would be sure to remedy the situation. I owed everyone on the Council my life more than once over. Theydeserved whatever help I could give them now and in the future.

Cici pursed her lips but accepted the explanation. She reached inside her desk, those large, disconcerting eyes fixed on us as she pulled out a short, ivory-handled blade, polish, and a cloth. A sharp scent wafted over to us, and I wrinkled my nose. She started cleaning the shining steel of the blade while we watched.

“And what is your grievance with me and mine,Mr. Depraysie?” Cici asked, poorly concealing the distaste she had for the name. Wanda had caused them no end of trouble, so it wasn’t shocking the name left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

“There’s been a murder,” Lorcan supplied. “A Jane Doe was found dead of exsanguination, and with clear signs she was fed on before death. When a vampire begins killing like that, it’s because they’ve developed a taste for it. I don’t have to tell you how disastrous it would be if the humans discovered our existence.”

Which, again, was true. They were working with an incomplete picture, but they were selling the hell out of it.

Cici scowled. “And what does that have to do with my clan? If the body had been found in Portland, I would have been alerted. I have a vampire mortician on the payroll.”

Now that was interesting. I knew most of the medical examiners that worked for the city. Had one of them been among the undead and I’d been too human to realize it at the time? Or was this vampire employed at any of the myriad funeral homes in Portland?

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