As I parked next to her car where she had left it in the parking lot near the French Pair, I turned to her. “I suppose I’d better go home and talk to Aegis. I doubt you want to be there for the fireworks I envision.”
Sandy hesitated. “Are you sure you want to be alone? I can’t help but think…” She paused again, obviously uncomfortable.
“What is it? Out with it.”
“He’s a vampire, Maddy. You remember what they’re like? Even with the good ones, one misstep, one flare-up, and they can drain you before you blink. Or break your neck. Or worse— Do what they did to Tom—”
“Stop. I don’t want to go there. I really don’t.”
“I’ll shut up about that subject, but face it. You are going to tell him you’ve been checking up on him. On his ex-girlfriend. Given all the weirdness that’s happened today, are you sure that you want to be alone?” She lightly touched my arm. “Remember, Rose was murdered in your yard. Somebody’s out to get you and we both know that we’re thinking it might be Rachel. Ralph may have been getting the hair from your brush for her, but we both know that he’s not really a killer.”
I pressed my lips shut, staring out the window as the snow began to fall again, silent and in thick flakes. “I know. I agree that Rachel may have it in for me.” I stopped again, processing the flood of thoughts cascading through my brain. Finally, I shrugged. “Come over, then. Delia is going to want to talk to Aegis tonight, she said, so it’s not like it’s going to be a private evening. Maybe it’s best if we put everything out on the table.”
“I’ll follow you over.” Sandy slipped out of the car, shutting the door and motioning for me to lock it.
I locked the doors and waited till she was safely in hers, then started the engine again. With Sandy on my heels, I eased out of the parking lot and cautiously headed for home. I wasn’t looking forward to the conversations that awaited me there.
THE LIGHTS WERE on when I got home, and I shivered, waiting for Sandy to pull in behind me. Together we headed for the kitchen door, through the yard where I had found Rose. The snow was lightly covering over the spot where she had been lying, and as we passed by, both Sandy and I paused, staring at the ground.
“We need to talk to her parents. And the coven needs to meet to discuss how we want to handle the Cord Cutting ceremony and if we want to open to a new member. Linda has to have heard by now.” I steeled myself, glancing up at the Bewitching Bedlam. “I hate to say this—it sounds so crass, but I just realized what a mess this could make with our opening. Come to the B&B and get murdered… Damn it, why does everything have to get muddled like this?” The full weight of what had happened and the potential ramifications were hitting home. “Now I wonder, maybe Ralph did do this. It could hurt my business really bad.”
“I didn’t think about that, either.”
“Well, let’s go. No use putting this off any longer.” I strode ahead and unlocked the door into the kitchen.
Aegis was sitting there, in the rocking chair. As he saw me, he leapt to his feet.
“Where were you? Why didn’t you leave a note? I’ve been worried sick about whether you were okay or lying dead in some alley!” He grabbed me, kissing me soundly, and then pushing me back by my shoulders. “Don’t you scare me like that again!”
I stared at him, my fears beginning to melt. “You heard about Rose, then?”
“Heard about her? The sheriff called and told me she’s on her way out to talk to me about the dead woman found in my yard. I panicked, thinking maybe it was you, but then she mentioned Rose’s name. What were you thinking, not leaving a note?” His eyes were filled with concern, and Bubba came bouncing up onto the counter beside him.
“You could have asked Bubba—” I started to say, but Aegis wrapped me in his arms, kissing me again. I searched his eyes as I came up for air, questioning him—looking for anything that might say he was putting on a show, but saw nothing but concern and love in his face.
“You know I can’t speak cjinn all that well.” He glanced over at Sandy. “I’m supposing you came with her to make sure I didn’t do anything particularly nasty.” His tone was sour, but he smiled to take the sting off his words.
“Do you blame me for worrying?” Sandy dropped into a chair and crossed her legs. “How about a drink?”
“Help yourself,” Aegis said, nodding toward the refrigerator. “There’s wine. And no, I suppose I don’t. I was worried enough for the both of us.” He let go of me and I slipped out of my coat.
“Pour me a glass too, Sandy.” I draped my coat over the back of a chair and dropped into the rocking chair. “How long till Delia gets here?”
“She should be here within the hour. She called about twenty minutes ago. I had been up for about half an hour. I couldn’t find you anywhere, and then I went outside and saw that the yard looked like it had been excavated—at least the snow had. I had no clue of what was going down until she called me.” Over his shoulder, he added, “Ralph killed her, Delia said?”
I hesitated, wondering how to bring up Rachel. Sandy did it for me.
“We need to talk about Rachel, Aegis. She’s in town, and we found out today that she’s the woman who Ralph says paid him to retrieve some of Maddy’s hair.”
Aegis froze, then turned around very slowly. His eyes were luminous, glowing with a crimson tint. He silently moved to the kitchen island where he hoisted himself onto the counter, sitting very still.
“How do you know about Rachel?”
I let out a long breath. “Someone sent me this anonymous text yesterday.” I held out my phone. “Franny saw it and identified the woman as your ex-girlfriend, a vampire named Rachel. I showed it to Ralph and he said it was the woman who paid him to gather my hair. We went out to Essie’s this evening and she verified that Rachel is back in town and looking to get you back. She said Rachel is trouble.” I held his gaze, trying to read his mood.
Aegis glanced over at Sandy. “I assume you’re here to make sure I don’t go all fang-banger on her?” His tone was snide, but she didn’t flinch.
“You got it. Aegis, I like you but you need to get it through your thick skull. We don’t know you that well. Regardless of the fact that you’re fucking my friend—that you two have made a love connection—the reality remains that we don’t know your background or what you have done over the past…what…couple thousand years? Three thousand?” She shrugged. “If you think I’m going to let Maddy walk into potential danger alone, then you must not think I’m much of a friend.”
He stared at her for a moment, then turned back to me. “Sandy’s right, you know. You can’t let your feelings for me cloud your vision. Essie’s right. Rachel is dangerous and she’s no fool. She’s also off the wall fucking crazy and she’s been stalking me for years.”
I was torn, not wanting to cross-examine him in front of Sandy. But we had passed the point of diplomacy. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know she was here until last week. I was trying to figure out how to tell you about her when things began to happen. When I went out to check on the noise that startled Bubba the other night, I smelled her. I realized she was hanging around the house and it scared me because she’s never forgiven me for breaking up with her. I’d forgotten that we posed for that painting. And I forgot that Franny knew about Rachel.”
I wanted to ask him the most important question of all. Well, it really wasn’t the most important, but to my heart it was. But Aegis took one look at my face and slid off the counter, walking carefully over to me. He tipped my chin up, so I was looking into his eyes.
“I don’t love her anymore. I don’t know if I ever really did. And the last thing I want is for her to be part of my life again. She’s crazy and dangerous and if I had had any clue what kind of sociopath she was, I would never have taken up with her in the first place. Since I met you, Maudlin Gallowglass, there hasn’t been another woman who could turn my head. Nor do I expect there will be.” There was such conviction in his voice that I couldn’t help but believe him.