Willard answered. “What do you want, Thorvald? It’s late, and if you’re not working on my vampire problem, I’m not that interested in talking to you.”
“I’m wounded. As it so happens, my gig for Weber may be linked to your problem. He was attacked last night by a vampire controlling a bunch of hounds.”
“Yes, you sent me that very terse report at midnight with promises that you’d give me more details today. They didn’t come. I was filled in by a reporter who was there.”
“Sorry, I was distracted by Zav kidnapping me today.”
Now Zav was poking into my desk drawers. He pulled out the slightly damaged poster of himself, and I rolled my eyes. I should have thrown that away after the dark elves mutilated it.
“This has been perforated,” he informed me. “I will get you a new one.”
“Good. I’m sure elven princesses can’t sleep at night without pictures of dragons on the walls.”
“What are you talking about, Thorvald?”
I didn’t know if Willard referred to the kidnapping or the princess comment or both. “It’s been an eventful day. Are you expecting Freysha in the office tomorrow?”
“Yes. Why?”
Zav wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
“I need you to give her my address and tell her she’s living here for now.”
“Care to unpack that?” Willard’s cat yowled in the background, probably wondering why her owner was on the phone instead of attending her every need.
“I made a deal with her father. She’s going to teach me her magic in exchange for a place to stay that doesn’t involve washing in a fountain with a goblin.”
“There is insufficient food in this storage box for a guest,” Zav said over his shoulder.
“I know. I’ll go shopping.”
“Who’s her father?” Willard asked.
“King Eireth.”
“Isn’t that your father?”
“Yup. I met him today on the main elven home world.”
Willard paused, though Maggie was still audible prowling and complaining somewhere in her apartment. “You better come to the office tomorrow morning too.”
“I’ll see what I can do. I’ve got to find Dimitri first.” My phone beeped with another call. “That might be him now. Tell Freysha if I get there late.”
Willard swore by way of a goodbye.
The incoming call wasn’t Dimitri; it was Nin.
“Val, do you know where Dimitri is?” she asked.
I groaned. “I was hoping you did.”
“Tam said he never came to the coffee shop today. He called her at lunchtime and asked her to do the best she could and close early if she needed to. He said he was looking for a friend and had a lead. Is it Zoltan?”
“Yeah, I think so. What lead?”
“I do not know,” Nin said. “He did not answer his phone when I called.”
“He hasn’t answered my calls either. Do you know where he’s staying?”
“Tam said his van has been parked near the shop all day. I believe he is saving money and still living in it.”
Ugh. He paid to lease the building for his business. Couldn’t he stay in a back room?
“I’ll go check out his van,” I said.
“I will meet you there.”
“You don’t need to come. I’ll handle it. He’s gotten involved with missing vampires—more than one.”
“Is that worse than being involved with vampires who are present?”
“Probably.”
I hung up as Zav wandered out of the bathroom holding a purple razor. “What is this? There is a blade, but it is too small to be a weapon.” He turned it upside down and frowned at it.
“It’s for shaving your legs.”
Zav’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“Humans like smooth, hairless legs.”
He bent forward and hiked up the hem of his robe, revealing that the white socks he’d chosen rose almost to his knees. My dragon was not a natural at fashion. Maybe I could turn him over to Amber to take to the mall someday.
Zav prodded his robustly populated dark leg hair. “This instrument seems insufficient for the task.”
“It’s not for you. Guys don’t shave their legs. Women do. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea. It’s a human cultural thing.” I pointed at his neatly trimmed beard. “You must shave your face, or at least trim yourself. Your beard and mustache are always the same length.”
“This form that I assumed did not come with long facial hair.”
“It doesn’t grow?”
“No.”
That explained why his haircut and beard were always perfect.
“Should it? Perhaps I could figure out how to make that happen.”
“Don’t. If you don’t have to shave anything or cut your hair, it’s a blessing. Put my razor away please.” I texted Dimitri and told him that if he didn’t call me immediately, I would raid his van and sell all of his quirky 80s sci-fi paraphernalia.
My phone rang, a number I didn’t recognize popping up. My stomach lurched. Maybe someone had kidnapped Dimitri and was calling with a ransom request.
“Yeah?” I answered warily.
“Val?”
“Mom?”
“Of course. You don’t recognize my voice?”
“I don’t recognize the number. I was expecting a kidnapper demanding a ransom.”
“I see your life is still odd,” she said.
Zav walked out of the bathroom again, this time holding the plunger. “What does this do?”
“You have no idea, Mom.” I waved for Zav to take it back into the bathroom. “It’s for unplugging the toilet.”
“The toilet?” he asked.
“Yes. You must have encountered toilets during your time here on Earth. I’ve seen you eat, and digestion happens for all species.”
“Yes, digestion happens, but I fail to see why you would use a sanitation system that needs unplugging so frequently that there is a tool for it.”
“Because we don’t have magic and have to make do.” Once again, I made a shooing motion. This time, he went back inside.
“I see I was correct to reserve a room at a hotel,” my mother said.
“A hotel? You’re traveling?”
“I’m in your city. A regular instructor canceled at a Search and Rescue conference I’ve attended up here before, and I was invited up to give a talk and do some demonstrations with Rocket. I thought it would be nice to see you and Amber again this summer.”
The hum of my vibrating toothbrush came from the bathroom. At least I hoped that was the toothbrush he’d found.
“That does sound nice, Mom.” I walked across the living room to rescue my things from my nosy dragon. What did my bathroom appurtenances have to do with whether my apartment was suitable for a princess anyway? “How long will you be in town? I’ve got a bodyguard gig right now, Zoltan the alchemist is missing, and Dimitri may be in trouble, so I’m a little busy.”
“And you have a houseguest?”
Zav was indeed holding my vibrating toothbrush and examining it from all angles. I took it from him, turned it off, placed it back in the charger, and clasped his hand. Though he appeared bemused, he let me lead him back to the living room and park him on the couch.
“He isn’t staying, but I am expecting someone tomorrow. Zav is helping me make sure my apartment is up to snuff.”
“Zav… is the dragon? The good one?”
“The good one.”
He was busy examining the coasters on the coffee table and didn’t seem to hear my encomium.
“I’m at the Extended Stay in Northgate,” Mom said.
“Posh.”
“Do you want to meet for breakfast tomorrow?”
I was tempted to say no, but it would be rude not to see my mother when she’d driven all the way up here. And she was an early bird. She would want to eat at seven or eight. Nobody should need me that early.
“Sure, breakfast is fine.”
“What’s going on with Dimitri?”
“I’m going to go look for him now.”
“Do you need to track him? Do you want help?”
“He was last seen in Fremont, so I don’t think regular tracking skills will suffice. I’ve got Sindari and Zav, but I’ll let you know if I need someone less magical and more earthy.”
“Hm.” She didn’t sound like she approved of my dismissal, maybe because Dimitri had been her roommate for months before I’d ever met him.
“I’ll make sure he’s okay. If you see Amber, ask her for a cupcake.”
“I don’t eat sweets.”
“Ask her for the story of how we got the cupcakes.”
“That I will do.”
“Good. I’ll check in with you later.” When I hung up, I found Zav poking through the copy of Seattle Met that I perused when I was painting my toenails. It had been stuck down between the frame and one of the cushions. “Are you really snooping this much because Freysha is coming or is this an excuse to root through my belongings?”
“Is it important that she learn seventy-eight ways to make the most of a Seattle summer?” He held up the article.
“If she’s going to live here, it is.” I was glad I didn’t have any copies of Cosmo hanging around the apartment, or he’d be learning about his sex horoscope and games for the bedroom. “Will you come with me to look for Dimitri? Is there any chance you can snap your fingers and tell me where he is?”
I doubted that, because Zav needed me to help him research the criminals hiding here on Earth, but a girl could hope.
“Is he wearing any magical items? I could detect such things from a distance.”
“I don’t think so. He’s probably wearing the same thing he was wearing when you walked in the coffee the shop the other day. Especially if he’s been living in his van.” I hoped he had access to a laundromat and clean underwear.