The vampire territory looked gothic. It had many old buildings, which the humans thought of as being from the Victorian age, but we knew them as vampiric structures. The largest structure, which looked like a huge mausoleum, was where the vampire leader resided.
As with the lycans, the vampires were also led by a woman. The leader I had met during the case that had made me famous had been put to sleep; it was their way of keeping their leaders set in the old ways, not wanting their beliefs and customs altered by human influences, as had happened with most other races in the city. I hadn’t met yet the new leader yet, but had been told she was quite the good-looking one; in common with most vampires.
I parked in front of the building and was met by several vampires. I greeted them as I walked into the building. The inside had been redecorated to suit the tastes of the new leader. I sat down in the waiting hall. It was different this time. The first time I had come here I had been invited; now I was just sort of visiting.
It took a long time for me to be called into the room, but when it finally happened I wished I could shrink to the size of a pea and roll away. In front of me sat a girl I had known for some time now: Kendra.
She waved at me happily.
“Kendra, are you—”
I wanted to ask her if she was the leader, but she shushed me as she got up and yelled, “Mom, someone to see you.” Mom? Kendra was the daughter of the new vampire leader? She was a damphire, a daywalker, and now she turns out to be the daughter of the leader. This day could not get any worse; I had cheated on Fraza with the daughter of the vampire leader.
A tall, thin, silver-haired woman entered the room. Kendra smiled at her. “Always one for the big entrances,” she joked. Her mother gave her a stern look as she sat down on the large chair.
“So this is the woman you work for, Kendra?” she asked. Kendra nodded. “Well, yes, that is her Mom; but given her age I’d say the girl I am working for,” she replied with a big smile. I looked at the vampiric leader and she gave me an approving nod. “That is good to hear. I am glad my daughter is working for someone with your esteem.” That made me feel a bit better, knowing that she did not hate me; but still I felt bad for sleeping with Kendra.
The woman got up and walked to me, extending her hand. “My name is Kelsey. I am glad to make your acquaintance, Miss Duluc. Kendra speaks highly of you.” She shook my hand.
“It is a pleasure to meet you too. Kendra never mentioned that her mother was leader of the vampires.”
Kelsey smiled at me. “I understand. She doesn’t like to brag about her bloodline. Now, what can I do for you? I take it this is not a social call?”
I shook my head. “I wish it were. I need your help on a case I am working on. Six girls were killed, we caught the murderer and he was sentenced to death; we thought the case had over with his execution, but seconds before the switch was pulled, he told us about a seventh girl, and that it was up to me to stop her from being killed. Ever since then the dead guy has had us jumping through hoops with all these riddles that he had left. Now I’m tired of jumping through these hoops, and I need the vampires to help me search the city. You and the lycans are the biggest races in the city next to the elves, I don’t think I can count on their help; they still blame me for their leader’s death. With your help, we might be able to find this girl alive.”
“I see. Have the lycans agreed to help you?” she asked. I nodded. “Their leader, Risi, didn’t like it, but we got help from a rare kind of lycan who … convinced her,” I replied. “I have heard of that girl, she is a great special agent,” Kelsey said.
“That’s information I don’t need right now to be honest. What I want to know is can I count on your help with this? It is very important that this gets solved as soon as possible; I’ve already wasted too much time jumping through that jerk’s hoops.” I hated that I sounded like a spoiled child asking for ice cream.
Kelsey gave me an appraising look. “Kendra warned me you were straight to the point, and even though we do not like to work with the lycans, we will assist you,” she told me. I could have hugged her. Having the lycans was a good asset but having the vampires as well was nearly invaluable. It felt good to have all this help; we would find this girl soon enough, and when we did she would be alive and well.
“Thank you so much, Kelsey. You have no idea how much this is helping me,” I said.
She smiled at me and nodded. “You better get to work, then. No point in standing here when there is work to do.” She looked over at Kendra. “Kendra, hon, you need to get to your work too. Go now.”
Kendra stood up and looked at me. “Don’t worry, Tara, I will go to the office on my own.”
I nodded and thanked her. After last night I needed more time apart from her. I also knew I had to make amends with Petra; I needed more than ever. I had to go to her next; the next piece in the large trap that was being set to snare whoever was helping the murderer.

Next Chapter: Desperate measures