She snapped her fingers in dismay.
“Anyway, if he knew you better, I have no doubt he would’ve asked you instead. He seems to have me confused with someone far more appealing.”
Kami patted her concealed dagger. “Ah, well. His loss. I have my special companion right here.”
“And I have a half dozen special companions waiting for me at my flat. I don’t need Romeo or anyone else.”
Kami shook her head. “You and those animals. No wonder there’s no room for a man. He wouldn’t even have a spot to sit on the sofa.”
“There’s plenty of room as long as I don’t sit there, too.”
Kami stopped when we reached the corner. “I need to head back to my flat.”
“Now?” It wasn’t even five o’clock. It seemed early for Kami to ditch work.
She mumbled something unintelligible.
I cupped a hand next to my ear. “What was that?”
“I have to get changed.”
My eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. All this talk about Romeo and you already have a date? How do you keep managing to meet men?”
“You meet them, too. You just don’t show any interest in them.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of pack headquarters. “Case in point.”
“Who is this guy?”
“Not to worry, boss. He’s been fully vetted.”
I folded my arms. “You sure about that? Because the last time you went out with someone, you thought he was handy with a sword and it turned out to be a butter knife.”
Kami’s cheeks turned pink. “This one is a repairman.”
“What does he repair?”
She lifted her chin and a note of pride slipped into her voice. “Anything, really. Refrigerator. Hoover. He’s multi-talented.”
My mouth dropped open. “I can’t believe it. This is a second date!”
She lowered her eyes to the pavement. “Third, technically.”
I punched her arm. “Kamikaze Marwin, you’ve been holding out on me.”
“Can you blame me? I was mortified after the last time. I want to wait and see whether this one’s a keeper before I mention anything.”
“Sounds like he might be.”
“I was going to decide after tonight. He’s taking me for sushi.”
I tapped my foot. “Name?”
“Charles.”
“Not Charlie or Chuck?”
She shook her head. “He prefers Charles.”
“Human?”
“Yeah.” She hugged herself, rubbing her arms in the process. “I wish he wasn’t, but you can’t help what someone is.”
We agreed on that score. “Presumably he makes a living.”
Her head bobbed enthusiastically. “Definitely. Nobody wants to get rid of their machines. Too hard to replace. His work is in high demand.”
Made sense. “When do I get to meet him?”
She smiled. “I’ll let you know tomorrow. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Kami and I parted ways at the intersection. I couldn’t be angry with her for holding out on me when I was keeping secrets of my own. As much as I hated to lie to my best friend, protecting her was more important than confiding in her. After all, a deceived friend was preferable to a dead one.
5
Britannia Day meant a parade through the city and more vampires than I cared to count. My best course of action was to keep to my section of the city today and avoid the crowds. Actually my best course of action was to stay home until tomorrow, but that wasn’t an option when I had work to do.
The library was only a short stroll from my flat, which made it a convenient place to seek refuge, as well as information on berserkers in Devon. It was open every day of the year, holiday or not.
I entered the building and inhaled the scent of leather-bound books. I felt as comfortable among the stacks of books as I did in the armory among the weapons. It helped that I was a known entity to the three head librarians. Pedro Gutierrez was the one most willing to assist me. According to him, Adelaide and Garrison were wary of me. When Adelaide saw me approach, she had a tendency to duck behind the counter. That was probably because of the time I presented her with the head of an amorak and asked her to identify its country of origin. In my defense, I didn’t have my camera with me to take a photo and I offered to clean and disinfect the counter afterward. I could be considerate when it suited me.
“Good morning, Pedro.”
The librarian glanced up from the book on the counter. “Miss Hayes. I do hope you’re here with more research questions. I haven’t had any as interesting as your last inquiries.”
Pedro had been instrumental in helping me uncover information in my search for Princess Davina. I hadn’t shared the details of that assignment with him, but it wasn’t the thrill of the chase that energized him, it was the acquisition of knowledge he didn’t previously possess.
“You’re in luck. I have a new client and I need to see everything you have on the subject of berserker werewolves and an estate called Albemarle in Devon.”
His face registered a combination of surprise and curiosity. “Fascinating. I know we have a selection of books on aberrant species. If you’ll follow me.”
He came out from behind the counter and guided me to a Reading Room where he directed me to an empty desk away from the other patrons. He knew I liked my space.
“Make yourself at home and I’ll be back in a jiffy.” He motioned to a stack of books on a table behind me. “There are resources out in honor of Britannia Day if you care to peruse them while I locate your books.”
“Thank you.”
I leafed through the historical accounts of the Battle of Britannia while Pedro went in search of my requests. Queen Britannia had been the most formidable vampire in recorded history and it still seemed incredible that she was dead. Paranoid and ruthless, it was she who decided the dhampir were a threat to the future of vampires and demanded our execution. Her goal was to maintain pure vampire bloodlines, so she discouraged relationships between vampires and other species through tax credits and other means. Human-vampire unions were particularly distasteful to her because she viewed one species as superior to the other. If it had been solely up to Britannia, humans would have been sent to slaughterhouses as food for vampires. According to insider accounts, it was King Casek who convinced her that tribute centers were preferable to slaughterhouses from a public relations standpoint as well as the fact that human blood tasted better when it was uncoerced. I had no idea whether the latter was true since I’d never tasted it. Although I was half vampire, I didn’t inherit the need or desire for human blood.
I paged through book after book, scanning the entries about the events of this day twenty years ago. The writeup of the battle’s tragic events were exactly the same in every book. The queen’s sacrifice turned the tide of the battle and allowed House Lewis to successfully defend the territory against House Duncan’s attack. The ferocious vampire queen who cared nothing for humans died the most noble of deaths—in defense of her subjects.