Page 273 of Sigils & Spells

A few weeks ago, Alessandro had found her feeding on people without their permission in a homeless encampment, telling them it would improve their health. She had been at Fangsters for two weeks, and I had had little interaction with her—on account of always being snowed under paperwork.

I took a moment to study Claudia. Her chubby cheeks had a youthful glow, and her crystal-blue eyes dared me to speak to her, like teenage eyes around all the realms do. Overall, she didn’t give an evil or even menacing vibe. To look at her, you would never guess that she had ever done anything worse than eat too much cake, which puzzled me. Being plump was rare for a vampire. Didn’t their high metabolism keep them thin? Maybe it was optional. I’d have to ask Onyx about that.

Onyx. I swallowed.

Since the last time I saw her she had dyed her short hair black. It had been a lovely shade of pink, and I had no freaking idea what her natural color was, but then again, I’m not sure dead people have a natural color. Anyway, she had gelled her hair to stand on end, and wore a leather dog collar. I sniffed, to let her know I could smell drugs on her, and gave her a prim all-business smile.

She sneered at Ice, “You’re just a gopher on ’roids. Go find yourself someone else to rat out.”

Ice snarled at her and then looked at me. “I’ll stand outside the door. Call me, if you need me, Ms. Rebel.”

“Thank you, Ice.”

As the door closed behind him, I motioned to Claudia to sit in the empty chair Gavin had vacated. He stood by the window.

René turned his full attention to Claudia. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“Let me guess—someone complained about me. Someone is always complaining about me.” She grumbled. “The residences are crammed AF. There’s no bloody privacy in this place. It’s like a prison.”

Not for the first time, I wished I could see the vampire’s lair. Leaning forward, I got right in her face. “Why were you not in your coffin at sunset the last two evenings?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Hah.” She leaned back. “Is that what this is about?”

“Yes. There’s a Fang Hunter on the loose, and we need to account for where everyone slept the night he attacked Xiu.”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard about him, the guy who woke up short a fang.” She huffed. “Well, it wasn’t me. You can’t possibly think it was me.” She shriveled up her nose and turned to René. “C’est moi?”

“Where were you?” he asked in a lighter voice, as if he were just making conversation.

Given his soft French accent, I would have told him anything, but Claudia just shrugged in a cold mind-your-effen-business way.

After a couple beats, she huffed and confessed. “Okay, I’ll tell you. I lay with Harrison.”

René arched a trimmed brow. “And if I asked her, she would confirm this?”

“I don’t see why not. There’s no law against co-casketing is there?” She glanced at me and back at René. “Don’t tell me there’s a stupid Fangster rule about where you rest.”

I felt totally beyond my depth. Co-casketing? I’d never heard of such a thing. Gavin hadn’t moved a muscle.

René firmed his jaw. “No, of course not. It’s just not something …”

“That you new vampires do?” Claudia laughed. “A little too intimate?”

“Um,” he muttered.

“Listen, sonny, when you’ve been dead for more than a century, you’ll understand.” She looked at me. “The loneliness gets to you, and it’s nice to fall into the deathly state, in the arms of another.”

“But the smell!” said René. Sweat popped out on his forehead.

“Intimate. You obviously missed the word, René. It is something one does with a lover.” She sighed. “It’s been decades since I lay with Harrison, but it felt right.”

“So,” I said, trying to move the discussion back to more pressing matters than dead bodies wrapped in each other’s arms. “You have no idea who the Fang Hunter is.”

“None.” Her face drew long. “But if I catch him, he or she will be missing more than their teeth.”

René cleared his throat. “I’ll talk with Harrison.”

Claudia shrugged and looked at her perfectly polished black fingernails.

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