“I thought he’d never leave,” I said, which drew a laugh from Connie. I didn’t want him to be upset, because it was such an unpleasant thing to witness. I needed everyone to keep their emotions in check so we could get down to business.
“Ha! I no longer hate you quite as much as the others,” Connie mumbled. “I still can’t wait to be rid of you, though.”
That made sense. I nodded.“Mr. Fluffikins, are we ready to begin the debriefing?”
The cat rose to all fours and began to pace up and down the table in his classic war general stride.“The long vacant storefront at the corner of Main and Grand downtown has recently been purchased by one Vanessa Vane. A vampire.”
“Just one vampire? That doesn’t seem like much of a problem to me.” I couldn’t believe that all of this fuss was about a single vampire moving to town.
“Where one settles, there will be more,” Connie said with a snarl, apparently having already made her mind up about this new resident.
Fluffikins strode back toward us, blinking slowly.“Before now, Connie was the only vampire in Beech Grove. Due to their long lives and extreme wealth, vampires are quite territorial. It’s possible that Ms. Vane purchased property in town without realizing this area has already been claimed by Connie, but it’s also possible she wishes to start a dispute. And if that’s the case, the rest of her coven will be arriving soon.”
“Okay, so what do you need us to do?” I asked, not quite understanding.
“As a lone vampire, Connie looks weak, but with your help, she’ll appear more official. It means the newcomers will be less likely to make a play for the area.”
“So what? We pay this new vampire a visit and nicely ask for her to leave?” This seemed far too simple, but both of my companions nodded emphatically in response.
“Exactly,” they said.
I tapped my fingers on the table, growing impatient with them both.“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Then you’ll really get to see what those new powers of yours can do,” Connie remarked with a sinister smile.
My curiosity sparked to life once more. I’d heard the expression about curiosity killing the cat many times before, but it seemed the saying was much more apt when it came to vampires. Rather than blood, I thirsted for knowledge, understanding. And presumably wealth, though I hadn’t yet felt the avarice come to life within me.
Fluffikins purred with delight.“So are we all clear on the mission here?”
Yeah, about as clear as mud.
I bit my lip to keep from speaking. More out of self-preservation than any obligation to respect the boss cat. It looked like this job could go one of two ways. It could be the easiest one yet, or it could throw me straight into the middle of a violent vampire war…
And I honestly couldn’t say which I preferred.
9
Fluffikins dismissed us from the board room, which meant it was time for Connie and me to find and confront this new vampire named Vanessa Vane.
“You look ridiculous,” Connie informed me as we walked side-by-side down the hall. “Like you need to be attached to a leash and led around on all fours.”
I brought a hand to my breast plate and ran my fingers over the scrolling metalwork.“Too much?” I asked.
“It’s a fine accessory, I suppose, but it doesn’t fit the outfit. A quick trip to my closet should have you looking like more of a respectable vampire, though.”
I remembered Connie dressing me up as a phony psychic for my last assignment. That walk-in closet of hers went so far back, I couldn’t see the end of it. Then again, Connie always looked like she’d stepped right out of a fashion magazine with her confident and put-together ensembles. I’d recognized a few designer pieces here and there, too, giving me no doubt everything she wore was painfully expensive.
Imagining the finery she’d put me in got me all twitchy with excitement now. Oh, so I could still feel some things. Vampires loved power and wealth, and according to Connie and Fluffikins, that was also how they now fed. Parker’s kiss had meant nothing to me even though I knew it should have, but the prospect of playing dress-up had me all kinds of giddy.
What a strange new world I found myself in.
I tried to remind myself that this change was temporary. That I didn’t have to guilt myself about not caring about Parker while I was equipped with vampire magic. But honestly, I much preferred focusing on the makeover ahead. How expensive an outfit would Connie put me in? I bet it would be more valuable than my entire wardrobe back home combined. I’d be so fancy, so deserving of admiration and respect. I could hardly wait!
Connie wasted no time in selecting a crushed red velvet blouse with bell sleeves and a pair of black pin-stripe pants from her closet and handing both to me.“If you’re going to wear that ridiculous armor, we might as well make it work with your ensemble.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste at my current attire.
“It’s my vampire armor, to protect me from getting staked in the heart,” I explained. Shouldn’t she know this already?
She let out a sarcastic laugh.“Is that what Fluffikins told you?”
“Um, yeah. Are you saying he was lying? What does it—?”
“No time for questions. Get dressed, and let’s go.” She returned to the walk-in to give me some privacy and returned a few minutes later with a black leather corset in hand.
I eyed it—and her—skeptically.
“It completes the look,” she said, helping me into it.
As Connie’s hands wrapped around my waist to place the corset, I realized that we now wore the same crushed red velvet fabric. “Is there a reason we match?”
“No, not match,” she corrected with a disgusted growl. “We coordinate.”
“Fine.” Working with her would be mentally exhausting. In fact, it already was. “Is there a reason we coordinate?”
She rolled her eyes.“Coven colors. Makes this little farce appear more official. Now, no more questions. With any luck, this Vanessa Vane will be a clueless coward and go running with her tail between her legs the moment we show up.”
“Do you really think it will be that easy?” I asked as she yanked the straps on my corset as tight as they would go.
“No,” she said, startling me with the abruptness of her response. “You’ve had two assignments with us now. Was either of them easy?”
“Fair point. Um, so how are we getting downtown?” I asked as she locked her office behind us.
“Well, we’ll change into our bat forms and fly there, of course.”
“Really?” I squeaked.
“No. Now stop asking stupid questions, and let’s go.” She moved quickly down the halls, but I had no trouble keeping up. We left the PTA headquarters, but instead of heading to the parking lot, we moved toward the woods.
As soon as we passed the tree line, Connie shifted into high gear. Together we moved through the forest so fast, it was as if we were flying. My new vampire magic removed all limits from what my body could do, it seemed. Not even wind resistance was an issue as we cut through the air and across the land.
In hardly any time at all, we reached the other side of the vast forest, and Connie slowed herself to an appropriate pace.
“That was amazing!” I cried, jumping into the air and pumping my fist.
“We move without restriction only when human eyes aren’t near,” she informed me, and for the first time I realized it took incredible effort to walk at this comparative snail’s pace now that I knew how fast my magical body could move.
“What else can we do?” I asked, falling into step at her side.
“There is no we, and you’ll do well to remember that.”
“Vampires, I mean.”
“You are not a vampire. You merely have one’s magic.”
I growled in frustration.“You know what I’m getting at. Just tell me.”
Connie stopped walking and turned to face me with a stony expression.“I owe you nothing. If you have questions, find the answers for yourself. We’re almost to Vanessa Vane’s building. When we get there, I don’t want to hear a peep out of you. In fact, it would be great not to hear any more peeps out of you before then. Just shut up, look tough, and let me handle everything.”