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CHAPTER TEN

Stuart was at his desk when I knocked on the door. He was waiting for me—the dispatcher had pinged him that I was in the building and wanting to see him.

He stood, looking lean and tall in his uniform, and so very official. “Maisy, what a pleasure. Have a seat, please.” He motioned to the chair opposite his desk.

Stuart’s office was small, a little cluttered, but it looked very utilitarian. Everything was positioned for the best use of the space, and there seemed nothing to interrupt the flow of business. The only thing that seemed remotely out of place were the three pictures on his desk. One was of a woman about his age, the second was a picture of Moonrise Waterfall—a waterfall in the Moonrise Preserve. It was tucked up in the corner of a high, narrow hike, accessible only by foot, and it was one of our pride and joys on the island. The third picture was a picture of a woman with two children. I recognized the woman as Stuart’s sister.

“Are those your nephews?” I asked, pointing at the photo.

“How did you guess?”

“I remember your sister and what she looked like,” I said. “So, I’m assuming those are her kids? They look like twins.”

“They are—identical twins. The boys are seven now. She and Jeff—her husband—live over on the peninsula now.”

“Did they move to Whisper Hollow?” I asked, shuddering.

“No, actually. They live in a cabin in the forest, closer to Port Angeles. He’s a park ranger, and they live close to his post.” Stuart leaned back, smiling. “Those boys sure keep her on her toes.”

“I bet they do,” I said. “Listen, Stuart, I have a dilemma I need to talk over with you.”

He leaned forward. “Whatever I can do to help, Maisy. What’s wrong?”

I laid everything out for him, down to showing him the video that Denise had recorded for me. “I’m not sure whether there’s anything to worry about. That’s why I came to you. I’ve been in a situation before where I chose not to contact the police and a friend was seriously injured. She had told me not to talk to the cops, but now…Denise gave me permission to come to you. I think she’s concerned too, especially since this involves a vampire.”

Stuart let out a sigh. “This isn’t the best timing. Vampires are up in arms—or should I say, up in fangs—over the groups attempting to strip them of their rights. But I’m glad you came to me. I’d be worried too, if I were Denise. Let me take a full report, and I’ll keep it off the record, until we know whether there’s more to worry about. If Zandre accepts the situation, then good enough. If not, then we’ll be able to get the ball rolling.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I guess that’s about it. Thank you for listening, Stuart.” I gathered up my purse and tablet.

“Let me know what Zandre says. We are walking a thin line here, given he’s connected to the governing body of the Pacific Northwest Vampire Collective. But regardless of that fact, I’d feel a lot easier if you told me he’s found his soulmate and has forgotten about…” He glanced at his notes. “Denise Rober.”

I was halfway to the door when a thought struck me. “Hey,” I said, turning. “I’d like to invite you and your girlfriend over to dinner some time.”

“I’ll talk to her and get back to you,” Stuart said. “See you later.”

As I sat in my car, wondering what to do next, a ping sounded from my phone. I checked it and saw that a message had forwarded from my shop’s number. It was a client who wanted to book a reading for late afternoon. I texted back a reply, scheduling a three o’clock appointment. Then, deciding I could use another hit of caffeine and a brownie, I headed for the nearest espresso stand.

* * *

My afternoon reading showed up five minutes early, looking eager. He was human, and he was carrying a notebook. He was somewhere near college age, and he had that intense intellectual feel to him that some college boys had.

“Hi, I’m Derrick,” he said, shaking my hand before sitting down. “I’m so looking forward to this. It’s my birthday present to myself.”

I grinned. “I’m Maisy, and happy birthday! I hope that the reading lives up to your expectations. So, have you ever had your cards read before?”

“I have, but it’s been awhile.”

“So what can I do for you?” I picked up my cards and began to shuffle them.

“I’d like to know what to expect during the coming year. A birthday reading, so to speak.” He opened his notebook.

I handed him the cards and asked him to shuffle five times. As I began to lay out the cards, I found myself pulled into the reading—which, thankfully, showed a pretty good year in store for Derrick—and I forgot all about Zandre and Denise for the hour.

* * *

I was just packing up my purse to head home when I got a call from Astra.

“Did you see the breaking news?” she asked.

“No. I’ve been answering emails for the past couple of hours. What’s going on?”

“The woman you were talking about—Denise Rober?”

“What about her? I talked to her this morning.”

“Well,” my aunt said, “she’s dead.”

I froze. “How could that be? I talked to her this morning, shortly before noon. How could she be dead ?”

“She was hit by a car, saving a little girl from the preschool. The girl ran out into the street in front of a car that was speeding through the area, and Denise managed to toss the girl out of the way but she couldn’t move fast enough. The car hit her, breaking her neck. She died instantly, the coroner said.”

I slowly lowered myself back into my chair. “I can’t believe it. She was so… Who was the driver?”

“Some drunken teenager taking a joy ride in his father’s sports car. The kid had drunk a bottle of whiskey, then decided to go for a spin. He’s fifteen, doesn’t even have his license yet. He was thrown from the car during the accident but he wasn’t hurt. That figures…the drunk ones always walk away and leave their victims dead or maimed.”

My aunt was part of a group lobbying to change the drunk driver laws to include stronger punishments. I didn’t blame her.

“Oh, man. I liked Denise. She’s…she was…” I stopped, suddenly thinking about Dan. My gut clenched and I bent my head, trying to breathe through the sudden trigger. This is about Denise, I thought. Focus on Denise . A moment later, I pulled out of the looming anxiety attack, breathing normally again.

Truth was, I didn’t know what Denise was like, except that I liked her, and then I thought about her wife. “Accident, or do they think he did it deliberately?”

“It was no accident, given the kid had a choice to drink and drive. He could have chosen to call a cab or a friend, but as far as whether he intentionally killed her, I’d say no.”

I realized that Zandre couldn’t be out in the daylight. And truly, he would have had no reason to target Denise, since I hadn’t talked to him yet about her note.

As I armed the security codes and locked the door, it suddenly hit me—Denise was dead. I’d had one conversation with her, and suddenly, she was out of my life forever. We weren’t friends, but she’d been nice, and I’d liked her, and now…she was needlessly gone.

I pressed my lips together as I headed for my car. If the little girl hadn’t gone running into the street, if somebody else had caught the kid before she left the sidewalk, if Denise had managed to roll out of the way a split second earlier…

Everything was so transient. And each moment offered a multitude of paths going forward. One step, and we forever altered our future. And every step was that one step. Every choice we made, every choice others made, it was all mutable, and there were thousands of potential futures. Some loomed more likely, but there were outliers that could come blowing through. And that’s what I felt had happened with Denise. She was looking at a bright future, a long life with her wife and family. And the dominos had stacked in such a way that she was an unlikely target.

As I pulled out of my parking space, I was hyperaware of the pedestrians around me. I didn’t ever want to be the reason for someone else losing their fragile hold on this thing we called life.

* * *

I stopped at the Fish House and ordered a bowl of clam chowder, an order of fish and chips, and decided to eat there, rather than in my car. By the time I was eating, the sun had set, and I decided to call Zandre. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I wanted to make sure he was aware of what happened.

He answered on the second ring. “Maisy, hello.”

“Hey. Listen, I have to tell you something. It’s rather upsetting, so I suggest you sit down.”

There was a brief silence on the other end, then he said, “I take it you talked to Denise?”

“I did. I’m sorry, but I’m just going to rip off the bandage. Denise is gay, married, and had no clue about who you are, or what you’re talking about.” I paused, taking a breath before I dropped the bigger bomb.

“I see,” he said.

“Zandre, there’s more, and you’re going to find this out sooner or later. Earlier this afternoon, a few hours after I met with her, she saw a child run into the street in front of a car. She followed. She managed to save the little kid, but she couldn’t get out of the way in time. The car hit her. She’s dead.”

“Dead?”

I couldn’t read how he felt. “Yes, I’m sorry. The accident broke her neck, and she died instantly.”

Again, there was silence.

“Zandre, are you there?” The lack of his breathing was disconcerting. Vampires didn’t breathe, or if they did, it was so slowly that nobody noticed. And right now, he was still as the grave itself.

“She’s dead,” he finally said. “And so this is it.”

“I’m so sorry. There’s not much I can say…”

“Well, you’re right about that. There’s nothing really to say. I let her slip away. I’ve lost her.” He sounded so beat down that I almost felt sorry for him, except he was being melodramatic, in my eyes.

“Zandre, you never really had her. You were in love with a fantasy. With a concept . I’m truly sorry about Denise—she was a nice lady. But you’re going to have to let go of the idea that she was here for you. If you truly want happiness, I can most likely find you a mate, but I can’t if you aren’t willing to open up to someone else.”

More silence.

After a moment, Zandre said, “You’re right. I know it. I suppose I missed Eugenia so much that I talked myself into the idea that she would return for me. We promised we’d be together forever. This was before I was turned.” He paused, then added, “You don’t know what it means, to face an immortal future. Oh, I can make a choice to walk into the sun, but seriously, people relish the idea of living forever, until they actually find that they are. A series of unending days, weeks, years, centuries…it’s terrifying.”

I could feel the barriers slipping, and the real Zandre peeking out. “It must be. I don’t know if I could handle it.”

“Most vampires I know who are over a thousand…they change. They’re no longer human—or whatever they were to begin with. They become something else, distant from emotion. Either they’re exceptionally philosophical, or they’re ruthless. I don’t want to become either one, although by that point, who knows what I’ll be feeling. Having a partner can keep you in touch with your humanity.”

“That’s why you prefer a nonvampire?” I’d wondered about that.

“Right. Losing them hurts, but even pain is better than numbness.” He cleared his throat. “All right, let’s find my mate, Maisy. And thank you—you’ve made me seriously think about my life and what I want.” He sounded much warmer now, than he had at the beginning of the conversation. “I’m glad I decided to sign up for your service.”

And, surprising myself, I said, “I’m glad you did, too.”

* * *

After eating dinner, I headed to class. Tonight was cryptozoology, and I was finding it incredibly interesting. In fact, so much that I planned on taking a second class next semester, although the teacher kind of put me off. I wasn’t sure why, but he annoyed me.

I hadn’t heard of most of the creatures discussed, though some from urban legend were stock stories that everybody knew about but few people really encountered.

As I slid into a chair at one of the long tables and opened my laptop to take notes, the teacher—Jason Willows—was setting up his computer’s projection screen. The school had the latest in technology, and what had once been an overhead projector when I was young was now a computer program that projected onto a screen at the front of the class.

“Tonight, we’re going to talk about wild spaces. These are both wild spaces ruled by the Fae and interdimensional portals that can be found all over the world. They’re natural portals, not created, and every shadow town has at least one or two of them. Tonight, we’re going to discuss one found right here in Midnight Point, and on Sunday, we’ll be taking a field trip there.”

He clicked on the screen, bringing up a picture of a chain-link fence barring off some overgrown property. “This is Hollow Hill, and you can see that the city has cordoned off the area. I have permission to lead you inside.”

I froze. Hollow Hill was well known, though most people avoided it like the plague. I thought that it might be haunted, though I’d never looked into it that much—especially since I hadn’t been around town for a long time.

All I knew was that it was a dangerous place. When I was a child, my aunts had threatened me with a whipping if I even set foot near it. I’d obeyed, given they seldom gave out threats of corporal punishment, and when they did, I knew they were serious.

“Hollow Hill was a portal long before settlers came to the area, and a number of people over the years have vanished, never to be seen again. We’re going to discuss where those people might have gone, other phenomena seen around the area, and then on Sunday, we’ll go take a look for ourselves.”

As Jason Willows continued to discuss what we knew about the local ecology and what effect that might have on the wild place, my mind wandered.

I found myself tuning him out as my mind turned toward Saturday night and my initiation into the Dark Moon Society. By the time class was over, I realized I had taken barely any notes and had only gotten the gist of instructions about the field trip. Deciding I’d just have to bite the bullet and talk to him later, I quickly gathered my books and laptop and left the school.