Thirty-two

TJ arrived at Carmilla’s antique shop and found a sign on the door: CLOSED FOR LUNCH. She cupped her hands around her face and leaned close to the glass door, peering inside. The lights were on in a back room, so she knocked on the door loudly several times, hoping Carmilla was still there.

After a few moments, she saw a dark figure move from the back room toward the door. Carmilla looked out the window, saw it was TJ, and unlocked the door.

“I’m just having some tea and biscuits in the kitchen. Would you like some?”

“Yes, I could use some, thank you,” TJ replied, and followed Carmilla as she wound her way through the antiques and into the room where they’d talked before.

While Carmilla poured a cup of tea for TJ, she spoke over her shoulder. “I was just thinking of calling you, dear.” She handed the cup to TJ. “Sugar and lemon, right?”

TJ nodded and took a sip of the delicious brew.

Carmilla sat down at the table across from TJ so they could talk face to face. “I’ve spoken with my friends on the Council. They agree with me that Roger is in town, as you suspect. He probably is the creature known locally as the Ripper, and they have agreed to keep a sharp lookout for him and to let me know if they locate him.”

Carmilla paused, as if thinking about how to say something. Finally, she looked up, a frown on her face. “I must tell you, however, there is some disagreement among my colleagues about the wisdom of going ahead with your research on finding a way to reverse the process of Transformation.”

“And have you changed your mind?” TJ asked, wondering if Carmilla was still an ally, or had she switched sides since their last meeting.

“Oh, my dear, I couldn’t agree with you more. In fact, if such a treatment is discovered, I will be one of the first to avail myself of it, as will many of my friends.” She hesitated again. “However, there are a few—how shall I put it—traditionalists on the Council who are against it, and we might have a difficult job convincing them it is in everyone’s best interests to proceed.”

TJ ran her finger around the rim of her cup, trying to decide how to tell Carmilla what Chief Boudreaux had discovered. “Carmilla, you told me before that you and your friends on the Council all practice nonlethal feedings. Are you sure of that?”

Carmilla looked surprised at the question. “Of course. Why do you ask?”

“When my friends and I first came to town, two of us approached chief of detectives, William Boudreaux, and explained how we suspected a serial killer from Houston, named Roger Niemann, was in town and could be responsible for the Ripper killings.

“Well, Chief Boudreaux called us yesterday and told us some very disturbing news.”

“About the Ripper?” Carmilla asked.

“No. He said he had information that there have been more murders, as many as fifteen or so, that have occurred in a small town east of here named Liberty. Young men and women have been disappearing at an alarming rate over there, and the chief is convinced they’ve all been killed.”

“Has he found any bodies?” Carmilla asked, a worried frown on her face.

“No,” TJ answered, “and that’s why he doesn’t think they’re being done by the Ripper, who leaves his bodies in plain sight when he’s done with them.”

Carmilla stared at TJ for a moment, and then she got up to fuss with the teapot, fixing herself another cup of tea. She asked over her shoulder, “Are you telling me this because you feel either I or one of my council members is responsible for these murders?”

TJ shook her head as Carmilla returned to sit at the table. “Not one of your members, Carmilla. Several.”

“What?”

“There are simply too many people missing for it to be the work of just one person. I know from my association with Roger that you—that is, we—only need to feed once every week or so. These people have all disappeared over the course of just a couple of weeks. That is far too many to be the work of just one Vampyre. There must be more involved.”

Carmilla had a stricken look on her face.

TJ put out her hand and touched Carmilla’s. “Of course, it could be the work of Vampyres not associated with your Council. Perhaps there are some living here who aren’t known to you and your friends.”

Carmilla considered this for a moment, and then she slowly shook her head. “No . . . no, that’s not possible. There might be one, or even two wild ones in the area, but I doubt even that many could be here and be actively hunting without one of us on the Council knowing about it.”

“Wild ones?” TJ asked, not being familiar with the term.

“That’s what we call renegades, Vampyres who are not associated with our organizations across the country,” Carmilla explained. “They do occur, but invariably, because of our mental connections with one another, they are known about. That is how my aunt’s Council in Houston found Roger, who was a renegade there.”

“Then, if several Vampyres are hunting and killing people in the area, they must be from your Council?” TJ asked.

Carmilla remembered the strange looks that passed between Michael Morpheus and some others on her Council and slowly nodded. “I’m afraid so.” She looked up at TJ. “I might even have an idea who it could be.”

“The police have a description of a man who was seen in the area of the missing people,” TJ said, watching Carmilla’s eyes closely as she spoke. “He is tall and thin, with black hair he wears back in a ponytail, and he has a gold stud in his left ear.”

Carmilla’s lips turned white and TJ knew she recognized the description. “You know who this is, don’t you?” TJ asked.

“Yes, I do,” Carmilla answered in a tight voice. “And I think I know who his accomplices are.”

“You must stop them, Carmilla,” TJ said.

“Oh, I will, TJ. But if the one I suspect is behind this, I must be very careful. He is immensely powerful and must have the support of some of my Council members to be acting so openly in defiance of my orders concerning nonlethal feedings.”

Carmilla got to her feet, a distracted look on her face. “Now I must get to work. I’ve got to think about this and decide how best to handle it. Can you show yourself out, my dear?” Her mind was clearly elsewhere.

“Of course,” TJ said. She walked to the front door and looked back as she opened it. Carmilla was sitting once more at the table, staring off as if deep in thought.

TJ left the antique shop and walked along the street, looking for a taxi to take her to the apartment Roger had arranged for them.

Across and down the street, Sarah Kenyon and Adeline Ducayne were sitting by the window of a small café. Sarah touched Adeline’s arm to get her attention and pointed. “There’s the half-breed bitch now,” she said, indicating TJ as she exited Carmilla’s shop.

Adeline put some money on the table and they hurriedly left the café. They got into Sarah’s car parked outside.

“But she’s not the one Michael wants,” Adeline said.

“No, but we’ll follow her and perhaps she’ll lead us to where they’re staying,” Sarah said grimly. “Once we know that, it’ll be a simple matter to watch and wait until the other one shows up.”

TJ finally hailed a cab and got in. As it took off, Sarah pulled out into the street behind it.

Adeline looked over at her, excitement in her eyes. “Do you think Michael will let us perform the Rite of Transformation?”

“Does the thought of sinking your fangs into her friend excite you so much, darling?” Sarah asked, an edge of jealousy in her voice.

“Only if you’re there to share her with me, my angel,” Adeline answered, reaching across to run her hand along Sarah’s leg.

Sarah smiled and moved her thigh under Adeline’s touch. “Then I’ll be sure and ask Michael when the time comes.”