A Perfect Blood (The Hollows #10)(45)
Author: Kim Harrison

Apparently my "show" was enough for a "tell," and Nina turned her attention to Ivy, saying, "Borrowing Nina this long isn’t healthy. I’m feeling a great lack in myself, a longing. I’ve had to almost double my blood consumption to combat it. Feeling her emotion, even filtered through my thoughts, has taxed my ability to maintain my balance."

It went with what Ivy had said earlier, and I shivered when Nina’s eyes suddenly became a hungry-vampire black and her reclining posture became a threat.

"I am quite hungry," she said casually. "But it’s not for blood. I want to feel the sun on my face, not feel it through Nina. It grows harder to not give up and simply . . . rise into the sunlight. It might be worth ending it all for that exquisite moment of joy." Her eyes fixed on mine. "What do you think?"

I put my palms on the counter, wanting to inch away from her. "I think you need to stay where you are, in the dark."

The undead vampire thought about that for a moment, then nodded, all the rising tension washing out in a soft sigh. "Perhaps you’re correct," Nina said, and I breathed easier when she looked across the room to Glenn, peering up at Jenks, who was standing in a heating duct. "This Detective Glenn. My information says he’s been working with you for some time. Do you find him . . . trustworthy? Unbiased?"

I appreciated the change of topic, and I eased when she shifted her position so we were more side to side than facing each other. Unbiased. What he/she meant was unprejudiced. It was an understandable question. "I’ve worked with him off and on for a couple of years," I said, remembering Jenks pixing the man for all but kidnapping me that first day. I chuckled, then explained, "He wasn’t afraid of me when we met. He still isn’t, but he learned respect quickly."

Nina made a small sound of agreement. "Respect can’t always save you. He’s been with a skilled vampire," she said, her eyes on Glenn in a way that made me feel decidedly protective. "A dead one, by the look of it."

Concerned, I brought my knees back up to my chin. It was cold down here. "Glenn? No. He’s dating Ivy. He knows better than to get involved with a dead vampire."

"Her?"

I frowned at the disbelief in Nina’s voice, and brought my attention from where Ivy and Glenn were discussing something with Jenks. Jenks wasn’t happy, and red dust was pooling under him. "Yes, her," I said. Ivy’s old master had made Ivy into something just this side of the undead, while still living, to satisfy his own depraved longings. "And you will leave her alone," I added, "or I’ll track you down, Mr. Ohem-whatever-your-name-is, and I and my little pixy friend will do something permanent."

Nina smiled ingratiatingly, and my face burned. I fingered the charmed silver on my wrist, feeling my tension rise. Would I take it off to save Ivy? Probably, though it would mess up my life. Nina suddenly sobered. "You are serious," she said, her brown eyes wide. "Then I apologize. I will leave her alone."

"Good," I said tightly, unkinking my fingers from around my shins. Why is he being so chummy? It was almost as if yesterday hadn’t happened.

Ivy, too, had smelled my anger, and she swung her hair from her face and looked at me, her gaze flicking questioningly to Nina. I gave her a sour bunny-eared kiss-kiss to tell her we were okay, and she said something to Jenks, who then laughed like wind chimes.

"She knows you’re talking about her," Nina said, sounding almost wistful.

"Yup." I didn’t want to think about how close a tie we had for her to be able to do that. Ignorance was bliss.

Jenks darted up and down like a yo-yo, and I tossed my nasty, snarled hair off my shoulder as he approached, but it was my knee he landed on. His wings looked gray with cold, and they were rattling. They’d been getting progressively louder the longer he stayed down here.

"You okay?" I said as he landed, huffing a little. "Want them to turn up the heat?"

"Nah, I’m okay," he said, but he sat down to take advantage of the heat coming up off my knee. "The people who strung up that witch in the park were here, all right. The air ducts are closed, but you can tell they were opened recently and the filters changed. Hardly a day’s worth of dust on them. The ductwork has been cleaned, too. Only a pixy could tell." He glanced at Nina, listening intently. "Or one of those optic lines, maybe.

"And the computers?" the pixy added, his wings shivering to up his core temperature. "I got into the history files of the ones they didn’t take. All of them say they haven’t been used recently, but the trash was wiped last Thursday, so it’s my guess that that’s when they left."

Nina tapped her fingers and pushed herself away from the counter. "The day before they dumped the man in the park."

Jenks nodded. He looked about as cold as I felt, and I promised myself I’d make cookies tonight to get the kitchen warm and cozy for him. "I don’t even know why they used them," Jenks said. "They’re so old that a laptop would have more power."

"Not the same programs, though," I said, wondering if he’d accept the unused tissue I had jammed in my shoulder bag as a blanket.

"Right," Jenks said. Arms wrapped around himself, he looked up at me, an odd look of both revulsion and attraction on his face. "The curator said the computers down here were for doing genetic stuff."

I nodded. "Helpful when you’re making witches capable of invoking demon magic," I said. God! What were they doing? This was crazy. Who would want to be like me? My life sucked.

"Like you," Jenks said, his voice thick with warning.

"Yes, like me," I said, then sighed. "I’ll be fine, Jenks." I glanced at Nina, who had heard my theory in the coffeehouse about what these wackos were doing. "They know better than to go after me, or they would’ve done it by now."

"Maybe they would have except for Wayde," he said. "He’s a lot better at this than you give him credit for. You need to get off his case."

"I know. I apologized," I said, and he made a satisfied noise.

"You need to stay away from Ivy, too, Mr. Walkie-Talkie Man," Jenks said suddenly.

My head came up to see Jenks standing, still on my knee, with his hands on his hips and staring at Nina. "Ah, Jenks?"

Nina slowly slouched until she was reclining against the counter again, her attention on the FIB as they began packing up their gear. On a man, her posture would have looked casual and attractive, but on Nina, it was untidy and at odds with her expensive pantsuit. "I know. I apologized," she said, mimicking me to sound mocking.