The sentinels would have to be notified, and they would quarantine the area to perform their own investigation. Grave dirt was a common resource, but a necessary one. Necromancers observed a code of etiquette when gathering supplies to ensure the person who came after them could also collect.
The pattern grew as I made my search, and the piecemeal design it created bothered me.
“There are just enough gaps to convince me it’s intentional,” I told Linus when I rejoined him. “I can’t spot any correlation between the birth dates, death dates, or names of the deceased.”
“I don’t see any connections, either.” And that tweaked him as much as it concerned me.
We kept an eye out as we crossed to the portion of the cemetery still in use. Cletus joined us, sticking close to me, his cloak tickling my arm.
“This is where I was when Cletus informed me of your guest.” He indicated a grave topped with freshly tilled soil. “I’ve waited all week for this funeral. The next freshest grave ought to be over there.” He pointed toward a small hill riddled with plastic flowers. “The woman died in a car accident nine days ago.”
A dull ache, a kinship with the dead, throbbed in me. “You passed on her because of me.”
“I wanted this field trip to be as painless as possible.” He set out toward the new plot, its fresh sod green and vibrant against the wilting roses overflowing the vase at the base of the headstone. “I wouldn’t have told you how she died, but you would have found out when you started cross-referencing the graves.”
“Mom died a long time ago.” I acknowledged his small kindness with a smile. “I can handle this.”
We drifted apart, each of us taking an opposite corner of the lawn. Working toward one another, we mapped out the disturbed graves. The ones on this side of the cemetery all fell in the nine to sixteen day range, according to the dates on the headstones. The light rain from this week had tamped down the fresh dirt, making the job of identifying them that much easier.
Carrying my phone jammed with evidence, I waited on Linus to join me beside a mausoleum guarded by an angel with tousled curls. His tunic slipped off one dipped shoulder while his hem rose up his muscular thigh into the danger zone. The symbolism of the wide sword gripped in his hand was plain.
I ran my finger along the dull edge of the blade. “Promise you won’t bury me under a phallic symbol.”
Linus jerked midstride, snapping his attention to the angel. “Statistically, women outlive men.”
“You just volunteered to proofread my will.” I ambled down to join him. “You’re welcome.”
“I can do that,” he agreed, still pondering the figure. “Though I’m not an attorney.”
“Give it time,” I kidded, leading the way toward the exit. “You will be. What’s another four years?”
“Nothing in the span of our lives.” He fell in step with me. “What about you?”
“I’m not interested in law school. I have a healthy disrespect for the system that wouldn’t translate well.” I noticed him staring and understood. “Oh, you’re asking what I want to be when I grow up.”
“You had your heart set on college,” he pointed out. “What did you want to study?”
The truth left me vulnerable next to him. “Anything. Everything. I was hungry to prove myself to Maud.”
Low Society members often went on to become doctors or nurses. Lawyers were a popular option too. Accountants. Research and development, which Linus dabbled in with his inventions on a scale nonpractitioners could only dream about achieving. Any field earmarked as useful by Society standards, any career that made them valuable commodities, was the goal.
Assistants made bank depending on their specializations, but Maud had trained me with a common specialty that required little talent and less magic in the blood. Any hope I had of distinguishing myself would have come from accolades lavished on me by the outside world.
“Amelie is taking online classes.” He studied my reaction, testing the edges of a tender wound with careful fingers. “You could do the same if you’re not interested in attending on campus.”
“I’ll think about it. Maybe when things die down I can audit a class, get a feel for it.”
“Test your limits.” His mouth drew to one side before he hit me with more teacher logic. “How else will you discover what they are?”
“You could just tell me?” We reached the sidewalk and stood there under the moon. “You’re pushing me pretty hard. You’ve got to have a goal in mind. A finish line you’re nudging me toward with all this.”
“I can’t do this for you.” The softness in his tone implied he would if he could, even if he abhorred cheating. “You have to make some discoveries on your own.”
I clucked my tongue at him. “And here I thought that’s why you earned the big bucks.”
“I won’t always be here,” he reminded me, chin lowered, eyes downcast.
And just like that, I made my first discovery.
I didn’t want him to go.
Five
Hood rolled up to the curb less than five minutes after Linus texted him for a pickup, and we piled in.
“I ran the perimeter.” He tapped out a rhythm on the wheel. “You had company.”
“Boaz.” I strapped in with a shrug. “He came to warn me to clean up my mess on the Cora Ann.”
“No, not him.” His gaze speared the darkness through the windshield. “Vampires. Two that I counted.”
“You’ve encountered your share of vampires in your line of work.” Linus folded himself into his seat and sealed the door behind him. “Do you recognize their clan?”
“Addax and Mercia. And before you ask, no. The archer belonged to neither.”
“Mercia.” I plumbed my memory for where I had heard the name. “Their heritor was at the estate when the Elite extracted me.” After Volkov abducted me from Woolworth House and stashed me at the sprawling country manner staffed by the master’s mixed-clan support network. “He took his own life before they could question him.”
“Mercia is an old clan. They’ve fallen on hard times in recent years, but their bloodline is ancient.” Linus considered the rest. “Addax is new blood by vampire standards. Their clan is only six or seven centuries old. They’re wealthy and influential among made vampires. They keep a hand in human politics. That’s how they fill their coffers and their ranks.”
Humans had no idea how many of their movers and shakers wore high collars to conceal bite marks.
“Most old vampires snub new blood.” The same as the High Society turned up their noses at mingling with the Low Society. A vampire with the clout the master was tossing around made me think Last Seed. Those were the ones to watch, the ones with the longevity to spin the deadliest webs. “The master is either supremely tolerant for a vampire his age, assuming he is an ancient, or he’s smart enough to fake it until he reclaims his position.”
“Smart is worse,” Hood tossed in. “It means he’s adaptable.”
“Ancients can’t amputate their core values.” Linus ran his thumb across his bottom lip. “Until we gain an audience with him, we can’t peg his age. There are always aspirants hungrier than those who came before them.”
Hook cranked his whole body around and shot Linus an incredulous glare. “Gain an audience?”
“I was thinking…” Cold light blossomed in his eyes as they met mine. “What do you say to a ball?”
I recoiled so fast, I smacked the back of my head against the glass. “Are you serious?”
Darkness swirled in his irises. “The Society expected you to revel in the change in your circumstances.”
“I enjoy a party as much as the next girl.” A blatant lie made obvious by the dryness of my tone and the history between us. “I regret the gossipmongers were deprived of juicy morsels, but I was a tad busy with surviving to celebrate my good fortune with one hundred of my nearest frenemies. The drugs would have made deciding on a theme and selecting refreshments, let alone organizing a guest list, rather difficult.”
Full black swallowed his gaze from edge to edge at the reminder of why such frivolity had been impossible. “This is an opportunity to show your enemies why they should fear you.”
“You’ve put some thought into this.” I shifted on the seat, uncomfortable beneath his intense scrutiny. “I won’t invite those people into my home.” Her new wards might not allow the mass trespass in any case. “Woolly isn’t in any shape for a soirée, and I won’t have her mocked where she can hear.” Oscar was another matter. The High Society wouldn’t pay him much attention, but a few might file that information away, and I didn’t want to give them more ammunition to use against me. But Linus knew all that and would have made allowances. “Where did you plan on making this statement?”
“The Lawson manor.” Blue peeked from behind the darkness. “Gather your allies. Create a safe environment. Make your stand.”
“Your mother…” I laughed out loud. “Who am I kidding? She would eat up the chance to stir controversy.”
“The current seat of the reigning Grande Dame is the most secure location of any Society holding. She’s family, and she publicly championed your release. She’s shown a marked interest in you, and while she didn’t campaign with your name on her lips, your exoneration is the unspoken promise of her platform.” The points kept hitting, but he built his case with care not to corner me. “A ball at her home, in your honor, will cement the ties between the Lawson and Woolworth families in the eyes of the Society.”
“How you can make so much sense while your sales pitch sounds like a warning astounds me.”
“Maud was her sister. Their ties were public and close.” He selected his words with care. “You don’t have to go that route. You aren’t required to declare yourself her supporter. You could make the Woolworth name neutral.”