Page 44 of The Night Firm

With everything going on, it takes a moment for Mary's last words to register.

"Are dying wishes considered reliable?" I ask.

Elal nods. "Generally. We can tell if someone's spirit is too broken to make sense. Why do you ask?"

"Because Mary only has one child. So why was her wish that her babies—plural—be saved?"

Chapter 11: The Crime Scene

He who dares not graspthe thorn should never crave the rose. ~ Anne Bronte

The cold airof the rainy evening hits me as we exit the mausoleum. The gargoyles, Okura and Akuro, do not come to life to greet us again, but I feel Okura's eyes on me as we walk away, and I swear she winks at me.

"What do you think it means?" I ask, referring to the final wish of Mary Dracule.

Sebastian shrugs. "Perhaps she had a child in the past no one knew about? We'll have to look into it. Maybe something at the crime scene will give us a clue."

Lily greets us with a cheery smile when we return to the carriage. "Aren't they amazing?" she says, gushingly.

"The gargoyles or the Ifrits?" I ask.

She considers. "Well, both, but mostly I meant the Ifrits. The gargoyles don't talk much."

"I've never met an Ifrit before," I say, which is true of all of them actually. First dryad, vampire, Ifrit and gargoyle. And whatever Matilda is.

"They're fun. You should come clubbing with us sometime. They know the best spots for partying."

Sebastian huffs at that, and this time I'm on the side of the boring vampire. "That's probably not my scene," I say diplomatically.

We climb into the carriage and Lily guides us over cobbled paths towards Dracula's place.

The tightly packed town becomes more spread out the longer we drive, turning into farmland and then larger estates.

The carriage comes to a stop, and I look out the window and see a Spanish-style villa sprawled out over acres of beautiful land with a view to kill for. "This is incredible," I say. "Clearly Dracula lives on the right side of the tracks."

"Tracks?" Sebastian asks.

"It's an expression. He's rich."

"Vampires get very good at acquiring wealth," he says.

"I assume that applies to you as well?" I say, thinking about their freaking castle and cars and all the things.

"Yes," he says simply.

"Then why do you still work as lawyers? You could just retire on your wealth, couldn't you?"

"We could. But even vampires need purpose. Being immortal is a long time to live, and for that life to have meaning, we need work that fulfills us and makes a difference."

"That makes sense," I say. "But why law? Specifically, why defense?"

"The paranormal legal system can be finicky. Dragons are generally decent judges, since they are considered wise and long-lived even by our community standards. But their perspective can get skewed as a result and they can be overly harsh in their judgements. It's our job to make sure our clients get a fair trial. That they aren't unnecessarily punished beyond what is reasonable for the crime they committed, or, if innocent, that they are not punished at all."

"And Dracula? Do you really believe he's innocent?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I don't know. I don't think he would kill Mary, but then again, I can't be sure I'm being impartial when it comes to him. As I'm sure you've gathered, our history with him is complicated."

"Yeah, that is pretty clear."