I was flabbergasted.
Before I could work up a good response, though, a cultured tenor voice rang out over the music. “Scarlett Bernard!”
I stood up to see the crowd part and the DJ turn down the speakers, as if choreographed. A vampire stepped out of the throng of people, having taken another entrance to the rooftop.
Jeez, did he climb the friggin’ fire escape?
“Hello, Gregory,” I said evenly.
He made his way toward us, his large, regal nose seeming to lead his entire body through the crowd. That nose always makes Gregory look like a snob, which works out really well with his personality. As did the honest-to-goodness smoking jacket he was wearing over dark slacks and one of those blousy pirate-type shirts.
Cruz had stood up, too. I felt the vampire enter my space and saw his white face come back to life. Gregory is the kind of vampire who makes a fuss about proving he isn’t afraid of me, which probably means that he is. He didn’t stop strutting toward me, but there were a few gasps around us as he lost his glow and some of his grace. None of his manners, though.
“Darling,” he said, kissing my cheek, “you should have let me know you were coming. I would have warned the sheep.” He waved a hand toward the human servants milling about the rooftop.
They were whispering among themselves, looking at me jealously. Talking to the master! Oooh!
Gregory looked closely at me, examining my bruises. “My dear, what happened to you?”
“I hit one of Dashiell’s guys with my face,” I said lightly.
Gregory’s voice had been calm, but now he looked annoyed to see me. Like being on a hot streak at the roulette table and then having the cooler walk up and bum you out.
“Excuse me, this is my friend, Officer Jesse Cruz. Jesse, this is Gregory. He owns this building.”
Cruz stepped forward and offered his hand, which Gregory stared at, probably trying to remember what to do. Vampires don’t really go in for friendly touching. He reached out and allowed Cruz to shake, looking as if he’d just seen a talking dog.
“Please, come and sit down for a moment,” Gregory said, in a voice that left no room for any other options. Without waiting for a response, he turned and took off toward a far table, away from the crowd. I allowed him to lead us along, shooting Cruz a look first that said, Tread lightly. He nodded back at me: I’ll follow your lead.
“Gregory,” I said once we were seated, “Officer Cruz is investigating those murders in La Brea Park.”
“Oh?” Gregory delicately raised his eyebrows. “And does Dashiell know about the policeman’s activities, or is that what happened to your eye?”
“He knows. I was hoping maybe we could ask you a couple of questions.”
“All right, then,” he replied, leaning back in his chair and gesturing at me to begin. “Fire away.”
“Did you know that the three victims were vampires?”
Despite his current humanity, Gregory gave me a look that had sex and evil and amusement all tied up in it. “I had heard that, Miss Scarlett. Bad news travels fast in our circles, as you well know by now. I had assumed that perhaps you were connected to the murders.” He looked pleasantly from me to Cruz. “You didn’t come here to kill me, too, did you?”
“No. And I wasn’t involved in the La Brea Park thing, either.”
“If you say so.”
I didn’t like that everyone seemed to think I was capable of what had happened in that clearing, but I would worry about that later. I glanced at Cruz, who picked up his cue.
“Did you know the victims?” he asked.
Gregory frowned. “Abraham I knew, of course. Most of the vampires in LA know of Abraham. I’d seen the other two around occasionally, but I don’t think we’d ever spoken.” He looked disdainful. “Those two were very reckless. Joanna, especially. She liked to drink from children.”
Cruz’s eyes bugged out, and I saw him struggling not to comment on that. Almost all vampires refrain from feeding off kids. There’s no sport or sex to it, unless you’re extremely sick in the head, and those vampires don’t last long in a shadowy society that depends on discretion. But it does happen.
“Can you think of anyone who might want to harm any of them?” I jumped in before Cruz’s head exploded.
“I have no idea why someone would want to kill the couple, other than just general annoyance. They fancied themselves a modern-day Sid and Nancy, so perhaps they just irritated the wrong people. I heard that the scene of the crime was quite grisly”—I thought I saw Gregory lick his lips a little—“so perhaps it was witches. Some of their spells require quite the sacrifice.”
Hmm. I hadn’t even thought of that. I’d never heard of witch magic involving that kind of darkness, but maybe it was worth asking Kirsten.
“And Abraham?” Cruz asked.
Gregory tapped his fingers to his lower lip, looking thoughtful. “Abraham is a different matter. Taking him out of the picture hurts Dashiell, so it could be any one of Dashiell’s enemies. Another vampire, wanting to take over some territory. The wolves, if Dashiell’s diplomacy has been less than ideal.”
I remembered Hugo putting the silver handcuffs on Eli, and thought that Dashiell’s diplomacy with the wolves was pretty goddamned far from ideal.
“Gregory, we’d like to talk to the three vampires’ human servants. Do you have any idea where we can find them?” I asked.