“Thanks. Milk and two sugars, please.”
Delia fixed my coffee, handing it to me when she was done. “So, what brings you here?”
“I wanted to find out how your talk with Linda went. Also, I wanted to ask about Ralph. I kind of want to see him, but I’m not sure if that would violate protocol.” Truth was, I wanted to snoop around as much as possible, but I wasn’t going to tell her that, nor was I going to mention the text I had gotten. Not yet.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Maddy.” Settling in at her desk, Delia blew on the steaming coffee, then took a slow sip. “Oh, I needed that.” She leaned back. “Okay, here’s the thing. I tried to talk to Linda, but she was evasive.”
“Evasive?”
“She really went out of her way to sidestep most of my questions. I wanted to get a feel for what was going on with the vampires and the coven. After all, the treaties were forged between Lena—the previous vampire queen—and Linda.”
“Right. And?”
“Linda wouldn’t talk about them. So I did a little digging. Now, I know you’re going to discuss this with Sandy but please, don’t let it reach any other ears. Especially anyone who might be involved in this mess.”
By her tone, I knew she had discovered something disturbing. “I promise. So what did you find?”
She held up one finger. “Wait.” Crossing to the door, she peeked out, then shut it carefully and came over to sit beside me. In low tones, she said, “We have a serious problem in town, Maddy. Since you’re on the Inner Court Council of the coven, you need to know, especially since I think Linda knows, but she won’t talk about it. But you can’t tell Aegis—at least not now.”
“Because he’s a vampire?”
“Right. So here’s what I managed to dig up. Essie has been chafing at the bit ever since she moved to town. As I said, the previous vampire queen of this region was named Lena. Apparently, she was dusted a few years back when her watch stopped on her and she didn’t make it home in time. I know that vampires are supposed to have some sort of internal chronometer, but apparently Lena’s was on the fritz that day. She didn’t realize it was near sunrise until it was too late.”
“Where did Lena live?”
“She lived here in Bedlam. She was out on the water fishing—don’t ask me, I gather it was a hobby of hers—when the sun started to rise. She tried to row to the docks, hoping to hide under it, but she didn’t make it in time. Whoosh—so much dust and ashes. Even worse, a group of school kids from Neverfall were there. Their teacher had taken them there for a sunrise lesson on water sprites. They saw the entire episode.”
Neverfall was a magical school for gifted students located on the other side of Bedlam Island. Children of all ages were sent to Neverfall from all over the country, and the academy had earned a stellar reputation among the elite magical circles.
I grimaced. “That must have been traumatic.”
“Well, yes, it was. And the school ended up soothing a lot of parents of upset youngsters, even though it had nothing to do with them. On the other hand, there were enough witnesses that we knew exactly what happened. Except…”
“Except what? There wasn’t anything suspicious, was there?”
“Maddy, think about it. Lena was in a boat. The motor gave out. Because she was out on running water, she couldn’t dive in and swim for cover.”
Vampires could travel over water, but they couldn’t swim. They also had to remain in their corporeal forms and couldn’t transform into mist or a bat or anything else until they were back on dry land. Which meant if Lena had gone out in a boat, then she couldn’t have returned to shore any other way than via the boat. And if the motor conked out near sunrise, she was shit out of luck.
I suddenly realized what Delia was getting at. “Did you examine the motor?”
“Yes. Somebody had deliberately disabled it. Even a cursory examination showed evidence that it had been rigged to work for a short period, then burn out. So why would Lena go out on a boat that had been tampered with near sunrise?” Delia shook her head. “Somebody wanted her dusted. We’ll never know why she was out there, but we can damned well bet that she was killed.”
“When did Essie take over?”
“A few days after Lena died. Essie moved to Bedlam, took the crown, and instituted a number of changes. Lena had been working with your coven to establish good grounds. Essie has been far more resistant. As I said, when I tried to bring up the treaties and Essie, Linda clammed up. But from everything I’ve discovered, I now believe that Essie’s doing her best to gain a foothold in Bedlam free from the coven’s oversight.”
“You mean the vampires want autonomy free from the treaty that Lena worked out.”
Delia shrugged, then leaned her elbows on the desk. “I can’t say for certain, but given what I know about Essie, I’m beginning to think so. And given the fact that we are pretty sure Lena was murdered and Essie swept in within days, I’m thinking she may have been behind it.”
I thought about it for a moment. If we couldn’t trust Essie, then we couldn’t trust that she didn’t know where Rachel was. But why would she warn me about Rachel if they were in cahoots? Then, a light bulb flashed. I snapped my fingers.
“Essie and Rachel seem to have some power control issues. My guess is that Rachel is after Essie’s throne, like Essie was after Lena’s throne. Essie wants to get rid of her so of course she’s going to warn me that Rachel is dangerous.”
“I was thinking over what you told me about your meeting with her. That’s when I remembered Lena’s death. When I told Linda everything I was thinking about, she seemed reluctant to go there. She briefly took Essie’s side and insisted that Rachel’s the real danger.”
“Either way, the vamps are looking to make inroads on Bedlam.” I shook my head. “Who do you put your bets on? Rachel or Essie being the main problem? Well, Rachel’s a problem for me, but I mean for Bedlam?”
Delia paused, then blew out a long stream of air. “I don’t know, but Rachel’s rogue. She’s not bound by the treaty. Though if she wrested control from Essie, she would ostensibly be, but I have a feeling she wouldn’t abide by it. Essie’s bound by a treaty she didn’t create, but she’s more subtle than Rachel.”
“So, on one hand, if Rachel ousts Essie, she’ll outright defy the treaty, while Essie may be working behind the scenes to dismantle it. No matter who’s in charge, Bedlam is in danger.”
With a nod, Delia added, “Remember, too—if the vamps are attempting to break the treaty, the only way to do that is to destroy your coven. Or at least, cripple it. The Moonrise Coven is the one group that was vested with controlling the vampires. Bedlam can make all the laws we want, but when a vampire doesn’t want to follow the rules, there isn’t much to force them to.”
“But there aren’t that many vamps on the island.” I really didn’t like the can of worms that we were opening.
“Essie is the vampire queen of the entire Pacific Northwest. Her nest—her court—may be here, but her reach extends throughout several states. Can you imagine the number of vamps that she can potentially call to her bidding?”
“And perhaps Rose’s murder—whether or not they thought it was me—was the first attack against the coven. Ralph’s feud with me was public. He was a convenient pawn.” With another headache looming, I let out a long sigh. “I’ll see if I can talk to Linda and get some answers. The Inner Court needs to prepare against more potential attacks. So, Rachel is after Aegis. She wants him back. But she may also be out for Essie’s crown. And Rachel—or Essie—or both—may be out to destroy the entire coven.”
With that lovely thought on my mind, I made my good-byes and headed out to finish my errands before meeting with Sandy. We had a lot to talk about, and I wasn’t looking forward to any of it. As I crossed the snow-covered parking lot, the morning took on a silvery gloom, and for the first time, I wondered if spring would really come again.
Chapter 9