Page 71 of Night of the Vampire

"It was," he told me. "Just apparently not from any of them. At least, not that she knows of. And she seems convinced none of them would do anything like that without her knowing about it."

"If it wasn't my aunt or any of the others, then who did this to Kenya?"

"That's what we need to find out," he said. "But I don't think it will be possible before I lose her." His eyes caught mine, and his were dark with loss. "I have no idea where to start even."

That idea I had began to take on more shape. "Maybe I can help in a different way." Walking over to the closet, I pulled out my shoes and coat and put them on. Then grabbed the leash for Wiggles.

"Where are we going?" Killian asked as he shrugged into his sweater.

"To see my aunt."

"I'm not allowed in that part of town," he said as he held the door open for us.

"You are if you're with me."

Chapter 24

Killian

The back of my neck tingled as I pulled up to Judy Moss's home in the Garden District. This time, I pulled right into her drive alongside the house. As I got out of the car and walked around to assist Lizzy, I heard the slam of a screen door.

"I let you off easy the first time, Killian. But this is twice now you've come around here. You know our deal."

Dammit. She did know I’d been here.

Lizzy looked up at me, a question in her eyes.

"I was looking for you," I told her. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Leave him alone, Aunt Jude," Lizzy told her as she took my hand and allowed me to help her out of the car. "He's here with us."

Opening the back door, I lifted Wiggles to the ground so he wouldn't hurt himself jumping out.

The high priestess stood on her back porch wearing a loose, blue robe with a flowered night gown beneath it and fluffy slippers. It would be funny if not for the dense cloud of magic lingering in the air. I lifted my hands in front of me in a gesture of peace.

"I mean you no harm, Judy."

Her eyes shifted back and forth between the Lizzy and I. "I don't like this."

"There's nothing you can do about it," I responded.

Lizzy looked up at me sharply.

"She knows about us," I told her.

Before she could say anything about my sharing with her family, Judy said, "We'll see about that. But for now, you might as well come in before someone sees you."

As we walked into her kitchen, I glanced around, somewhat unbelieving I was in the home of the high priestess. Whenever we would meet before it would always be on neutral ground, and always only when absolutely necessary. And now, here we were, twice in one night. Once in my territory and once in hers.

Her house was small, but neat and homey. "Tell me what you want and then get the hell out of my home," she told me.

"Aunt Judy!"

"You," she told Lizzy, "can stay."

I raised a hand. "I would like it noted that you were treated with much more respect when you invaded my club."

"Hmph."