Yasmine Galenorn - Autumn Whispers

Albert, on the other hand, had been turned before he’d had a chance to shape up. He had a tidy beer belly on him. He sported a ponytail, too, though apparently he had just started balding when he’d been turned, so his hairline was receding. Last time we’d met him, he reminded me of the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons . But this time, he seemed to have moderated his atttitude and had an almost pleasant look on his face.

They flashed us toothy grins. Their vampiric nature gave them an appealing feel and it flashed through my mind that they might actually be fun to hang out with; then I nixed that thought because even though I’d accepted my sister being a vampire, cozying up to the fangy set wasn’t a good idea in general. Their glamour was all too easy to misuse and abuse.

“Hey guys,” Menolly said. “How’s it hanging?”

“Long and hard.” Albert snorted as I blushed, but then his laugh slid away and a worried look filled his frost-colored eyes. “We have a problem.”

“What’s going on?” I pulled out my notebook and a pen. I always ended up typing our notes anyway, so I had finally put claim to the function of secretary for the three of us.

Tad blinked, his gaze coming to rest on my face. I recognized his expression. It was the same fear I’d felt when I was worried about one of my sisters. He leaned forward, lowering his voice.

“One of our friends has vanished. We’re really worried about her.” He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, taking out a snapshot of a girl. She looked a little goth, a little geek, and was pretty in an odd sort of way. And then, as I looked closer, I knew what made her look strange. She was Fae—probably Earthside Fae.

“What’s her name? Are you sure she didn’t just go on vacation?” Always, always, get the mundane questions out of the way before chalking up a disappearance to foul play.

“Her name is Violet, and no, she didn’t go on vacation. We’re in the middle of deploying a new product. There’s no way she could get time off right now. She hasn’t come in to work the past two nights and I’m not going to be able to cover for her much longer. Albert dropped by her house when he left work this morning, before going home, but she didn’t answer the bell.”

Albert nodded. “I left a note on her door but I had to get home before the sun rose. When I dropped by again tonight before work, the note was still on the door, and still no answer. I have a key to her apartment—I feed her cat when she’s out of town. So, I decided to make sure she hadn’t fallen and hurt herself or something. There was no sign of her, and the cat was starving. I fed Tumpkins, and when I got to work, told Tad.”

Tad cleared his throat. “That’s when we decided to call you guys. We thought you might be able to find out what happened to her.”

I glanced at Menolly, then Camille. “Was anything out of place? Any of her things missing?”

Albert frowned, then shook his head. “I didn’t see her purse, but nothing else seemed amiss. Her bed was unmade and her nightgown was lying across the bottom. I glanced in her closet and there were two suitcases there. I suppose she could have grabbed a carry-on if she had to make a sudden trip, but she would have called me to take care of the cat.”

“We’re worried,” Tad added. “This isn’t like Violet. She’s conscientious about her work, and she knows we need her. And she adores that frickin’ cat. She would never let him go hungry if she could help it.”

Menolly frowned. “It does sound odd. When was the last time you talked to her?”

“Near daybreak, night before last. She was at work. Last night, she was a no-show, and tonight. We’re taking a long break here to come talk to you.” Albert played with his bottle of blood, pushing it around in circles, the concern still washing across his face.

Camille bit into one of the pretzels from the snack bowl. “She have a boyfriend? Parents in the area? And when she left work, did she mention any problems that she’d been having?”

At the word “boyfriend” a scowl raced across Tad’s face, but he shook it away. “She’s been seeing some guy—his name’s Tanne. He’s from Germany, a writer.”

“Got a last name for us?” I paused, pen waiting.

“Baum. Tanne Baum. Fir tree. Like the Christmas song. He’s one of the Black Forest woodland Fae.” Again, the grimace.

“You don’t like him, do you?” I grinned, having a feeling the sentiment wasn’t so much the Fae’s nature but . . .

Tad let out a snort. “ Like him? Not so much.”

Albert gave me the faintest of grins. “He’s jealous.”

Even though that was a no brainer, I affected a surprised look. Camille let out a faint snicker, and Menolly stared at the ceiling.

“Jealous? And . . . why are you jealous?” Stupid question, but I knew better than to say what I was thinking, which was “You’ve got the hots for her, right?”

Tad shifted uncomfortably. “I . . . When Brenda broke up with me, I thought that I wouldn’t ever find anybody I liked as much. But then Violet came to work in our group. I’ve never met anybody like her. She’s vibrant, and witty. She thinks differently than any woman I’ve ever known. I think . . . I think I’ve been falling in love with her.”

“Dude, you like her that much but you never asked her out?” Camille gave him a disgusted look.

“She’s seeing this Tanne guy . . .” He squirmed. “I don’t want to be responsible for breaking them up.”

“ So what? It’s not like they’re married, and besides, she’s Fae. The Fae aren’t monogamous by nature.” With a sigh, Camille bit into another pretzel. “Humans, even when they’re vampires, you guys are so uptight about sex. But, be that as it may, do you have Tanne’s phone number or address?”

Tad swallowed the last of his bottled blood and wiped his mouth, saying nothing. But Albert reached out, grabbed the notebook from me, and scribbled down both. When he handed it back, a wry smile on his face, I couldn’t help but like him a little more.

“We sort of did some checking on the guy. Just to make sure he was on the up and up.” Albert glanced at Tad. “Baum is what he says he is, that we know. He comes from the Black Forest and he’s . . .”

“What Albert is saying is that the guy is intense, but genuine. And Camille,” Tad said, looking straight at her, “if I thought I even had a chance of being part of her world in that way, even in a poly relationship, I’d jump for it. But I don’t think she’s into humans or vampires. When I’m around Violet, she treats me like . . . like a brilliant puppy dog. I’d have as much chance of bedding you as I would her.”

His tone was so sad that my heart went out to him. He was willing to share, he was willing to put his heart on a silver platter, but the object of his attention had no clue and now she was missing.

Camille must have sensed it too, because she reached across the table and rested her hand on his. “You don’t know that for sure, Tad. Don’t underestimate yourself. You need to ask her . . . once she shows up again. She might surprise you.”

Tad shrugged. “I guess. But mostly, right now, I just want to make sure she’s okay. Will you guys check into this? We’d go to the police but they don’t listen to vampires very much, and we want to keep this quiet until we know there’s a reason to get them involved.”

I glanced at Camille, who nodded. Menolly gave me the heads-up too and I turned back to Tad and Albert. “Sure. Give us what you have on her and we’ll take a look around. We should go over and have a look at her place.”

“I was going to take her cat home with me tonight, and leave another note for her. We can go now, if you like.” Albert pulled out a ring of keys that looked hefty enough to KO a bodybuilder. He dangled them from his index finger. The next thing I knew, he winked at me.