Page 48 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

her. Now he was doing the concentrated look thing on the dark-haired woman.

Her gaze shifted from him to Cassius, who had already moved to take Decker’s spot.

The woman now had a guard on either side of her again, but Lucian was no longer in front of her. Instead, Abril stood there,

her hand resting on the back of the chair Lucian had been occupying. Feeling uncomfortable, she took in the woman’s gaze,

noting that a cruel smile had begun to pull at her lips as she peered back.

Suspecting she was trying to freak her out, Abril raised her chin and said calmly, “Damn, those nanos do good work.” She let her gaze scrape with distaste over the other woman’s young and healthy appearance.

“It’s just a shame the scientists didn’t upload the meaning and value of morality to the nanos alongside those maps of the female and male body at their peak.

They could have programmed them to destroy monsters like you if you became their host.”

Abril saw the confusion that crossed the woman’s face in response to her words, and her eyebrows rose slightly. “You have

no idea what I’m talking about when I say nanos, do you?”

The woman glanced sharply at her, and then away, her expression angry.

“Not feeling like talking?” Abril asked.

“Just get your stakes and crosses and get it over with,” she growled, vibrating with fury.

“Wow, you really don’t have a clue,” Abril said with amazement, and then told her, “Crosses won’t do a thing to you, Mrs.

Foley.”

The woman glanced at her sharply. “How do you know my name? You are human. You couldn’t possibly read my thoughts like they

can.”

“I don’t know your name,” Abril said with a shrug. “At least not all of it. What is your first name?”

Her mouth tightened, and she remained silent. It was Lucian who said, “Diane Elizabeth Foley,” as he returned to join them,

having apparently finished his phone call.

Abril removed her hand from his chair as he settled in it again, her gaze returning to Diane Foley as she wondered what the

woman thought she was if she had no idea about nanos.

“She thinks she is a vampire, of course,” Lucian said, answering her unspoken question.

Abril glanced at him with a start. “But she was out in daylight with Kim the other day. Surely she must realize—”

“She does not,” Lucian assured her, not even bothering to let her finish the thought. “She found out sunlight would not kill

her when one of her victims escaped and ran outside. Mrs. Foley instinctively gave chase. It was only once she had recaptured

her victim and was dragging her back to the house that she realized she was outside in full sunlight and not bursting into

flames. The only explanation she could come up with for it was that she was a young vampire. She thought perhaps only the

ancient ones burst into flames in daylight and she would be safe for a while. Still, she was cautious every time she went

outside during the daytime and avoided it as much as possible. However, there are times when she cannot avoid it, like when

she accompanied your neighbor Kim over here so that she could put a halt to the excavation taking place.”

Abril turned on him sharply. “The excavator—?”

“Is not broken,” he finished, interrupting her. “She simply controlled the operator of the excavator to make him turn it off

and believe it was broken, and then controlled the site supervisor to make him think they would have to halt work for the

rest of the day and bring a repairman in the next morning. She intended to remove the skeletons both inside and out that night.

She knew the deaths would be traced back to herself and her husband if the bodies were found and wanted to protect both of

their families from the scandal that would erupt with the discovery.”

“Of course, Lilith put paid to her plans by digging up those bones in the afternoon, and you calling the police. Once they showed up, her plan changed. She would not bother with the immortal’s remains and was only interested in removing her husband.

She knew she could no longer save their families from the scandal, but she wanted her husband with her. ”

Abril had noted the brief confusion that flickered on Diane’s face when Lucian said the word immortal, and supposed she shouldn’t

be surprised the woman had no idea what she was. There had been no one to tell her. Or train her. It was almost enough to

make her feel sorry for the woman, except that Diane had apparently killed a butt load of people over the years, and hadn’t

stopped even when she’d figured out she didn’t need to drink her victims dry, and that taking in that amount of blood was

bad for her. She’d apparently simply kept them as cows for her to milk of blood as she wished. But she hadn’t had the basic

decency of a farmer who kept their cows healthy and well. Instead, she’d kept them chained in her basement, probably terrified,

underfed if fed at all, and miserable.

“Tell her the rest, Crispin. I cannot be bothered,” Lucian said, sounding as disgusted as she felt.