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RUEN DIDN’T GET A CHANCE to knock when we reached the door. A lackey opened it and stepped aside to let us in. All of the guards had been male so far. Their eyes were watchful and their faces were carefully blank, hiding their emotions.
“Follow me,” the tall, thickly set bloodsucker said as we stepped into the foyer.
I barely had time to glance around at the herringbone wooden floor and antique furniture as we were led to a parlor. Lady Galantine was seated on a delicate chaise longue. It was ice blue, with silver leaves embedded in it. The antique sofa matched the other pieces that were arranged in front of an unlit fireplace.
Our hostess sat with her ankles crossed and her knees primly pressed together. She wore a sleek dark red dress that clung to her slender form. Lady Galantine was the epitome of class, with a thin face and a nose that was a tad too long. Her dark brown hair was fashioned into a chignon. She was reading a book and was pretending she didn’t know we were there.
“Your guests have arrived, my lady,” our guide said, then bowed deeply.
Lady Galantine deigned to look up and gave us a fake smile. “You may go,” she said to her minion without looking at him. She waited for him to back out of the room and close the door before she spoke again. “I’m glad Lord Gilden was able to send two of his servants to assist me with my small problem so quickly.” Her accent was snobby and British.
I bristled at being called a servant and Ruen glared at me in warning. “It will be our pleasure to aid you, Lady Galantine,” he said diplomatically. “May I ask what you require our assistance with?”
She didn’t offer us a seat, so we had to stand there subserviently. “Three of my newest fledglings have disappeared,” she said. “I require you to locate them for me.”
Ruen flicked a look at me that reflected his puzzlement. I just shrugged, since he’d told me to keep my mouth shut. “I’m not sure I understand, my lady,” he said. “As their master, you should be able to sense where they are.”
“I’m aware of that,” she snapped and rose to her feet. Even in four-inch red stilettoes, she was shorter than me. I’d worn boots with a two-inch heel, which was shorter than the heels I usually wore. I felt smug that I could look down at her, even though her hair made her technically six inches taller than I was.
She stalked over to a window that overlooked the front yard. Her dress was short enough to put her skinny thighs on display. I grudgingly had to admit that most men would find her attractive, if they were into bony women. It was hard to say how old she’d been when she’d been turned. If I had to guess, I’d say early forties.
Staring at the brightly lit driveway for a minute, she turned to face us again. “I lost my connection to my fledglings last night.”
“Someone must have killed them,” Ruen figured.
Lady Galantine shook her head in denial. “I would have felt it if they’d died.”
“What happened to them, then?” I asked.
She glared at me for daring to speak, then focused on Ruen. “I believe a rival stole them from me and I want them back.”
“Do you have any suspects, my lady?”
“Several,” she said darkly. “But I can’t accuse them openly. You’ll need to track my fledglings down discreetly.”
“Lord Gilden has magic users on his staff,” Ruen said. “We should be able to locate your servants if we can obtain samples of their hair.”
She wrinkled her nose in distaste, but seemed resigned that we’d have to use a witch or a wizard for assistance. “Do whatever you must, but don’t tell them who hired you. Once you’ve located my fledglings, you will rescue them and bring them here.”
“It could cause diplomatic problems if we have to rescue them from another powerful master, my lady,” Ruen pointed out.
“Kill them if you have to,” she said in a hard tone. “Get this done tonight,” she ordered us, then turned her back in dismissal. “One of my servants will escort you to my fledglings’ bedroom,” she added without turning around.
Ruen grabbed me by the arm when I opened my mouth to make a cutting remark about her attitude. He held his fist up threateningly and scowled at me horribly. It was an empty threat, since he was restricted from hurting anyone when he was in our dimension.
The vampire who’d led us to the parlor opened the door to let us out. We followed him down a long hallway to a staircase. We climbed up to the third floor and I sensed it was teeming with the undead. Ruen frowned when he overheard whispered conversations. I’d grill him about it later. For now, I strode along at his side to a bedroom at the end of the hallway.
Our escort opened the door and gestured for us to enter, then crossed his arms to wait. Ruen entered first and I followed him inside. Three single beds were crammed into the bedroom. Clothes were squashed into a closet that had been left open. Instead of being black, the beautiful dresses came in a variety of colors.
Ruen slapped my hand when I reached out to touch one of the dresses. “We aren’t here to fondle the fabric, Ms. Sterling,” he snapped.
I rolled my eyes at him and crossed to a dresser. A quick look inside told me the girls were all the same size. “They must share their clothes,” I murmured. The shoes lined up in the closet were all the same size as well.
Ruen ignored me and began searching the beds for strands of hair.
“This might help,” I said, holding up a hairbrush that rested on the dresser. Blonde, dark brown and red strands were mixed in together.
“Give it to me,” my sidekick said in annoyance and snatched it out of my hand. He clearly had something up his butt tonight, but I couldn’t query him about what was wrong. It would have to wait until we’d left the grand estate.
“Are you done?” our guide asked stonily when we exited from the bedroom.
“We have what we need,” Ruen confirmed, tucking the brush into his pocket.
The vampire led us back to the front door and let us out. I waited until we were a few blocks away from the property before speaking. “What the hell is up with you tonight?” I demanded.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said curtly.
“You’re acting like you haven’t fed in a week,” I said with a frown. “I know you can’t be starving, because you drank blood before you picked me up.”
He cut a look at me and clamped his lips shut. It was obvious he wasn’t going to fill me in, so I subsided into sulky silence.
Ruen drove to the twenty-story skyscraper where he lived and worked. He pulled into the spot reserved for him in the underground parking area. Instead of taking the elevator to the nineteenth floor where Drake’s office was, we stopped at the tenth floor.
I felt magic even before the door slid open. Spells were being cast in the offices on this floor. I didn’t know what the witches and wizards were doing, since the doors were closed and there were no windows to peer through.
My partner took a few hallways and stopped at a door. None of them had names or numbers on them. He knocked and a muffled response came from inside. Opening the door, Ruen shoved me inside first, then entered behind me.
