Page 81 of Deadly Deception
The vamp who’d handed her the gun answered, “It is indeed, my queen.”
“Sheriff!” I recognized Officer Witkowski’s voice as he ran into the room, sliding to his knees next to Sheriff Henson. “Shit, shit, shit,” Witkowski said on repeat while his hands fluttered around Henson’s wounded shoulder until he finally slammed hishands down on the wound, pressing hard. Henson grunted but didn’t make much more of a protest.
Queen Millicent stared down at Henson’s bloody body and licked her lips, her eyes fathomless pools of black. Slowly crimson took over and her fangs dropped. Elongated talons eased from the tips of her fingers. Rolling her head back and forth, Millicent’s neck popped with the strain of transformation.
“Officer, if you’d be so kind as to remove the bleeding human from the room, I’d be most grateful. I’m afraid the scent of his blood is rather…distracting.” Millicent’s grin was anything but childish.
Bless Witkowski’s heart, he glanced towards Franklin and me, and his questioning eyes said it all.
“Go,” I answered the unasked question. “Get Henson out of here.”
Witkowski gave a single, firm nod before saying, “Sorry, Sherriff.” Without another word, Witkowski maneuvered Henson’s body over his shoulder and hauled him out of the house in a fireman’s carry.
I vaguely wondered what had become of the guards at the front of the house, the ones who’d taken Franklin and Henson’s weapons, our phones, and some of Pops’s charms. I didn’t have to wonder long.
Millicent wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from her forehead and said, “If we hadn’t snacked on the guys at the door, I don’t believe I could have controlled myself.”
“Nor I,” Nick answered dutifully.
Clapping her taloned hands together, Millicent’s attention turned our direction. “A necromancer. How fascinating.” Her grin showed off her lethal teeth. “And a sane one at that.” Millicent thankfully ignored Franklin, and seemed content with that singular statement thrown my direction. With eerie calm, Millicent’s head turned with exaggerated slowness, thegrin stretching her cheeks widening. “Now, down to business.” Millicent took a step forward, her footfalls muffled by Vanja’s scattered ashes. Staring down, Millicent’s eyes widened, and happy laughter filled the room. “Is that Vanja?” She pointed at the ash-strewn floor.
I nodded and answered, “What’s left of him.”
With child-like vigor, Millicent jumped up and down, displacing more of the ashes and kicking up little dust motes. Franklin and I both covered our noses and mouths. Neither one of us wanted to inhale the burnt remnants of Vanja’s earthly body.
With a final kick, Millicent leaped onto the island counter. The move was effortless, and she landed on her bottom, legs kicking back and forth with abandon. “Hi, I’m Millicent, Queen of the Midwest vampire nest. And you are?”
Millicent cocked her head to the side, her long, pale blond hair shifting off her shoulder.
Tabitha had long since shifted until she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Aurelia. I doubted Tabitha knew she was so close to a djinn. Considering Tabitha never once looked that direction and Millicent was completely ignoring Aurelia’s presence, I could only surmise Aurelia was still keeping to herself. One thing that was on full display, at least to me, was Aurelia’s obvious pleasure. Her deep Caribbean-blue eyes were lit with an inner fire, and her stance was one of eager anticipation.
Sara and Jay didn’t look nearly as joyful. Sara’s gaze was wary and calculating. I could see the fear there. She was valiantly masking it, but if I could see it, then no doubt Millicent could smell it.
As for Jay… He just looked pissed. Weapon pointed at the floor, Jay’s fingers constantly clutched and released his hold onthe gun. His eyes darted from Millicent to Nick and occasionally strayed back to Sara.
“It’s rude not to answer.” Millicent’s tone left no doubt as to what she thought of those who wererude.
Sara cleared her throat and answered first. “Sara.” She didn’t give a surname, and Millicent didn’t ask.
“And you?”
She looked at Jay and he answered with an irritated, “Jay.”
“Interesting.” Millicent tapped her finger to her lips while she stared at the ceiling. All the while her feet kicked back and forth, her heels slamming into the side of the island. The sound grated, and I could see a tick form in Sara’s temple. “You see, I was under the impression that one of you fancied yourself Vanja Velchev.” Millicent’s soft laughter was in sharp contrast to her laser-focused, crimson eyes. “When I heard that, I told Nick that couldn’t be possible. Isn’t that what I said, Nick?”
“It is, my queen.”
“Yes, I believe I said those very words. Because, you see, Vanja’s dead. I killed him myself. So there’s no way Vanja could still be out causing trouble. You see my conundrum, don’t you?”
It was a rhetorical question. Sara remained silent while Jay huffed and said, “Who gives a shit if you killed him or not? It’s just a name. A useful one. It gets everybody’s panties in a twist. The name’s a means to an end, nothing more. Why the hell do you care? And why the fuck are you even here?”
“Shit,” Franklin murmured. “Does this guy have a death wish?”
“Apparently,” I answered.
Millicent’s body stilled, her kicking feet going deathly silent. “Why?” A shiver ran down my spine at the coldness in her tone. “Whydo I care?” Millicent slid from the counter, her footsteps measured as she drew closer to Jay. Her head barely came to his navel. Head tilted back, Millicent stared up at him. Jay had tobend his neck to look at her. He held his weapon across his chest, his fingers now gripping tight enough for his knuckles to blanch.
Rocking back on her heels, Millicent said, “It’s the principle of the thing,Jay. Vanja was my kill, and I took great pleasure in his death. There is no more Vanja, and that is because of me. It is because of my will and my wish.” Without another word, and moving too fast for my eyes to track, Millicent leaped into the air, her talons slicing through Jay’s neck, nearly decapitating him.
