Cat Adams - Blood Song

seat belt and got out of the car. He was moving slowly, with an unnatural stiffness that spoke of the pain

he was trying to hide.

That made me frown. “No. Why?” I climbed out as wel . As I shoved the door closed I caught a

glimpse of my reflection in the car window. Gibson was right. I looked awful. Somewhere during the

course of the morning I’d lost the ponytail holder, and my hair was hanging loose. Raking my hands

through the tangled mass didn’t help much, and nothing was going to make the dark circles under my

reddened eyes any less obvious.

Ah wel . There was nothing I could do to change things right now, so there was no point in dwel ing on

it.

Gibson waited patiently for me to join him on the steps onto the wide front porch. I touched my finger

to the porch swing to set it moving. I do it every time I walk by, and have no idea why. Maybe just as a

counterpoint to the other furniture. It wouldn’t do any good to push the wicker chairs. They were

permanently affixed to the floor.

He graciously held open the door for me, so I stepped into the muted shadows of the lobby. It took a

minute for my eyes to adjust to the relative darkness, so I heard Dawna’s gasp before I saw her.

“Celia … Oh my God. ” Dawna’s eyes are large and doelike under normal circumstances. Now they

were the size of plates. Her jaw dropped open. “What’s happened to you? I mean, Kevin said you’d

been attacked last night, but ohmigod you have fangs and your skin … ” The words tumbled out in a

breathless rush. She was swaying on her feet enough that Gibson rushed forward to help her into the

nearest chair—the little rol ing number behind the reception counter.

“I got attacked by bats. One of them was a master, and he started to turn me, but the cavalry arrived

before he could finish the job. I’m not a bat. I’m not going to be a bat.”

“But you look—, ” she was whispering.

“Like something that should be staked and beheaded.” It came out more bitter than I had intended it

to, and she flinched, tears fil ing her eyes. Crap . “I’m sorry, Dawna. I didn’t mean—”

She shook her head. “It’s al right. Real y. I mean, I can’t even imagine—” She stopped, evidently at a

loss for words, which was so not Dawna. I love her like a sister, but she can and wil talk your ear off

given half a chance. Which we didn’t have time for right now.

“This is Detective Gibson.” Gibson turned from where he was examining the elegant impressionist

print hanging above a fireplace framed by built-in bookcases on the far side of the room. I continued,

“He’s investigating an incident from last night. He’s going to need copies of some of the phone

records… .” The sentence trickled to a halt as she shook her head.

“Hel o, Detective.” She rose, extending her hand as he approached, and I got a better look at her.

She was wearing a classic silk suit in navy with a crimson blouse. The skirt was short enough to show

an excel ent pair of legs, made to look longer by a set of heels I wouldn’t have attempted. Stil , she

looked good. Then again, she always does, and without resorting to any magic. Just good genetics and

an eye for how to make the most of her assets.

She ral ied enough to put on her best professional demeanor, but I could tel she’d had quite a shock. I

was sorry about that, and wished to hel I’d taken the time to cal ahead. Then again, Kevin had warned

her and that hadn’t done any good.

“I’m sorry Celia, I’d normal y be happy to help the detective. But my computer crashed this morning.

Al the computer files; al the bil ing; everything … just gone. ”

Oh, crap. Wel , that sucked. Big-time. But while she obviously wasn’t happy, she wasn’t throwing a fit.

Maybe seeing me put it into perspective.

“Oh, Lord. I hope you’ve backed up.”

She sighed. “The backups are wiped, too. Must have been some sort of freak electric surge.”

I cringed in sympathy. I keep hard copies of everything, in addition to my flash drive, but some of the

others don’t. It was going to be a monumental task to re-create al of the records from scratch. At least

I could give her one bit of good news. “Wel , if it makes you feel any better, I’ve got al my stuff backed

up onto a memory stick and my laptop is in my safe. It’l save you having to re-create my stuff at least.”

“That’s something, I suppose.” She sighed and turned to face me, her expression worried. “Are you

sure you’re okay? A pair of federal agents were in here earlier looking for you. They said you’d been

hurt last night, made me check to make sure you weren’t unconscious in your office. That’s why I cal ed

Kevin. He usual y knows where you are.”

Federal agents? I glanced at Gibson, but if he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He just continued to

take in the decor with a seemingly innocent face. But what happened? I knew now, but I didn’t want to

talk about it. The memories were stil too raw. So I brushed it off by turning to Gibson. “That was awful y

quick. Think your people cal ed them?”

“Possible.” His voice held a trace of doubt, which I shared. The wheels of federal justice seldom rol

that quickly. Thorough, yes. God, yes. But quick ? Not so much. Then again, we were dealing with

foreign royalty—the threat of a major diplomatic incident might have been just enough to light a fire

under them. But who, before me, might have told them about the prince? That’s the only reason I could

think the Feds would be involved, and if they’d heard about it from Alex, they would have known I was at

the station. I turned back to Dawna. “Are they stil here?”

“No, but you only missed them by a couple of minutes. They left a card. You’re supposed to cal .” She

arched an elegant eyebrow. “And Birchwoods left an urgent message. But if I were you I’d cal Kevin

first. He’s about to blow a gasket. Swear to God he’s cal ed at least ten times.”

I sighed. He’d said to cal and I’d flat forgotten. He was probably pissed beyond measure. I was sort

of surprised he wasn’t waiting in the next room. “Cal him back. Tel him I’m helping the cops with their

investigation and I’l get back with him as soon as I break free.”

“He’s not going to like that.”

Of course he wasn’t. But he’d have to live with it, because I needed to cooperate with the police to get

the police to cooperate with me.

“Do you want me to cal the agents, tel them you’re here?”

I glanced over at Gibson, who was shaking his head no. I didn’t blame him. A jurisdictional pissing

contest would do nothing but slow him down. I’d give them whatever information they wanted. But I liked

Gibson, so he’d get first dibs.

“Not yet. Let me finish with the detective first.”

“Al right. Is there anything I can get the two of you? I can start a fresh pot of coffee if you like.”

“No need to go to any trouble.” Gibson gave her a charming smile. “I don’t intend to stay that long.”

“Oh, it’s no bother.” She blushed. It looked good on her. Until that instant it hadn’t occurred to me that

she and Gibson had been eyeing each other. Leave it to Dawna. My world was going to hel , the office

was in shambles, and yet somehow she’d managed to find an eligible man. I swear she’s got radar. Or