Chapter Twelve

Instead of the ambush that I’d halfway been expecting, Wanda threw open a door and gestured to go inside. I hesitated. It was hard to see what was inside, and she was a complete stranger.

She went around me and flicked on a light. It was a normal office; the desk held a stack of paperwork and a computer. Beige walls, a landscape print on them. The room was the complete opposite of the brightly colored restaurant with its stripes, polka dots, and cartoon figures.

“Sometimes I just need a little beige, you know?” Wanda said.

“What’s this about?” I asked. The door had barely closed behind me, but I was antsy.

“Maybe I just wanted to meet the newest vampire queen,” she said.

“Doubtful,” I said. “Besides, I’m a striga vie, not a witch. Not a vampire. A striga vie.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” she said. “My friend is missing.”

“What’s that have to do with me?” I asked.

She grabbed a sticky note and a pen from the desk and scribbled down something before handing it to me.

“Lissa LaStrange, Las Vegas,” I read aloud. “Not much to go on.”

Wanda frowned. “I haven’t heard from her in a few weeks, and I’m worried. I’ve contacted the Paranormal Activities Committee, but I’m not getting anywhere.”

“She’s a witch?” I asked. “Or a vampire?” The only reasons I could think of that Wanda would think I could help.

Her mouth turned down. “Lissa’s a striga vie,” Wanda finally said. “At least she still was the last time I heard from her.”

I gaped at her. “A striga vie? I didn’t know there was another one living so close by.” Or at all.

“If you can call it living,” Wanda muttered.

“You don’t have a phone number for her? An address?” I persisted. I’d never met another striga vie, and the thought was making my heart pound in anticipation. I had so many questions for her. “What does she look like?”

“She’s average height,” Wanda replied. “Her hair is brown, and her eyes are an unusual amber.”

“Sure, that could make her easier to find,” I said, but I wasn’t hopeful. The description fit hundreds if not thousands of people. Except for the whole she’s-a-striga-vie-like-me part.

“Anything else?”

“The last I heard she was working at a hotel in Vegas,” Wanda said. “No cell. No address.” Striga vies were powerful, but if the myths were true, they were also a little unstable. I frowned at the idea of turning into someone like the striga vies I’d read about in the history books. Our history books, of course, not those for public consumption.

“What hotel?” I asked. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had to go on. My first priority was finding my mother, but I would love to spend a few minutes with another striga vie in the meantime.

“It’s The Bran,” she replied. “Your father’s hotel. He said he’d look for her, too, but I know he’s a very busy man.”

Now we were getting somewhere. “I can’t promise you I’ll find her,” I said. “But if I see anyone matching that description, I’ll let you know.”

The only other living striga vie worked for Mason Alicante. That couldn’t be a coincidence. I was going to have a conversation with my father.

When I got back to the table, most of our friends were watching Mr. Sheridan play pinball.

I wrapped my arm around my boyfriend. “Did he get the high score yet?” Mr. Sheridan was a wiz at pinball.

He turned and hugged me, then led me a few feet away where it was quieter.

“What did she say to you?” Vaughn asked.

I put my head on his shoulder. “She told me she knew of another striga vie.”

Vaughn sucked in a breath. “That’s pretty major.”

“And she’s in Vegas,” I said, then told him the rest of it.

He was quiet for a second, just absorbing everything. “We’ll find her,” he said. “I promise.”

I glanced up at him. “Making sure your dad stays safe is the priority.”

Vaughn nodded. “It is,” he said. “But finding another striga vie is pretty damn important, too.”

By the time Mr. Sheridan hit the top two, Mason still hadn’t returned.

“Did you see where Mason went?” I asked Thorn.

She shrugged. “He went to make a call, so he probably went outside where it isn’t so noisy.”

“Maybe we should go look for him?” I suggested. “He’s been gone a long time.”

She shrugged. “His phone calls always take a while.”

I couldn’t relax. Mason had told me he wanted to spend more time with me, get to know me. Would he really turn around and blow me off?

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered to Vaughn, who was laughing with his father about something.

I went in the direction I saw Mason go. He’d probably slipped out a side entrance. The side door led to the back alley of the restaurant. It looked like that was where the staff might park. But it was empty.

I stood and listened for a moment. Something was thumping along the ground. I followed the noise.

And there she was. Vanessa. She was dragging a man’s limp body away from the restaurant. I recognized the suit Mason was wearing.

“Stop!” I shouted. I ran toward them.

How had she gotten the drop on Mason Alicante, the Serpent King? He seemed invincible.

“If you won’t give me the ruby for your boyfriend’s father’s life,” she snarled, “maybe you’ll trade it for your own father’s life.”

She pulled Mason’s unconscious body to her and bared his neck. Her fangs flashed.

I used one of the moves Thorn had taught me and kicked her feet out from under her.

I stood over her, panting with my hands locked on her neck. “No, Vanessa, I’m not going to give you the Blood of Life ruby.”

“You’ll regret this,” she threatened. My hands squeezed tightly around her throat.

“Don’t threaten me, Vanessa,” I said. I held her by the throat with one hand and took out my drumstick. “This is your last chance,” I replied. “Leave me alone. Leave my family alone. Leave Las Vegas.”

“You don’t have the guts to kill your own mother,” she said.

“Don’t I?”

Mason wheezed out a breath. “Tansy, don’t…” I turned my head, only for a moment, and my mother was gone.