“Can all vampires do that?” she asked. “The mind thing?”
Ash shrugged. “Some are better than others, but to a certain extent—yes.”
She was silent for a minute. “Is that how they stay secret? Of course it is. Is that what he’ll do to me? If you let me leave?”
“Probably.”
“Hey, don’t pull your punches, Ash. Tell it like it is.”
“Do you prefer lies?”
“Actually, I’m still trying to decide that one.”
As he watched her, she glanced across to where Christian was punching something into the computer and her hand went to her throat, her finger stroking down the vein. She’d said it felt good. Was she remembering? She better not get a hankering for vampires. If she wanted biting, then Ash would do it.
Christian straightened. “Faith?”
“Yes?”
“I’d like you to look at something.”
She rose to her feet and wobbled slightly, probably a combination of shock, painkillers, and whiskey. Ash got up, gripped her arm, and led her the few steps to the desk.
“Do you recognize him?” Christian asked.
Ash studied the screen. It showed a blond man, almost bland in appearance with pale blue eyes and thin lips.
“It’s him,” Faith whispered. “Who is he?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Christian replied. “He’s dead.”
“Dead? I thought you couldn’t die.”
“We can be killed. Just not easily.”
“Who killed him?”
“Piers.”
“But why?”
“Well, partly because he killed your mother.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Sit down, and I’ll explain a little of what we are.”
She took a step, turned back, grabbed the whiskey bottle from the desk, and took it with her. After pouring herself half a glass, she sat in the corner clutching it in her hand. Christian perched on the edge of the desk. Ash took the seat opposite her so he could watch her face.
“So what are you?” she said.
“This place is known as the Order of the Shadow Accords and one of the things we do here is police the supernatural world. There aren’t many rules, but we make sure they’re strictly adhered to. One of those rules is don’t bring attention to ourselves.”
“And he did that?”
“Yes. Your mother wasn’t the only human he murdered and left to be found. He was warned, he killed again, and so he was destroyed.”
“By Piers Lamont.”
“Yes, he heads up the Order.”
“He’s a vampire.”
“Yes.”
“Shit.”
Ash watched as she took another gulp of whiskey. She was going to be so drunk. He wasn’t sure that was a good thing or a bad thing. She glanced at the glass and frowned. “I don’t suppose there’s anything to eat around here. I haven’t eaten since…” She glanced at Ash. “Since last night.”
“I’ll go find you something,” Ryan said and strode out of the room. Faith turned her attention back to Christian.
“Did you know him? The man who murdered my mother?”
“His name was Pieter. He worked here for a while but he was an asshole. I sacked him. I should have killed him back then.”
She flinched, probably at the casual reference to killing. “Do you know why he killed her?”
“No. It was a mystery, because while he was an asshole, he wasn’t a total idiot. He wouldn’t have done it without a reason.”
Faith sat back and sipped her drink, obviously deep in thought. After a second her eyes narrowed as though she’d reached a conclusion she didn’t particularly like. “They had a file on my mother at MI13,” she said. “When I first saw it, it had a classification code ‘F.’ I looked that up, and it stands for fund-raiser.”
“What are you thinking?” Christian asked.
Ash saw where her mind was going. “How would a government department that researches the supernatural get funding, especially if no one believes in it?” he murmured.
Her gaze flashed to his. “Fucking hell. Those bastards paid someone to murder my mother to get a budget increase.”
Ryan came back at that moment and handed her a plate with a sandwich. She took it almost absently and started eating. “I can’t believe it. They’re government; they’re the good guys.”
She had an extremely naive view of who the good guys were, Ash realized. And no doubt, the bad guys as well. And he knew which category he would fall under.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s been dead all these years. And I can’t believe he was a vampire. So are there more of you?”
Christian nodded. “Most of the people who work at the Order are vampires.”
Her gaze darted to Ryan. “You’re not a vampire are you—it’s not compulsory is it?”
Ryan grinned baring his teeth, which were perfectly normal.