Venom (Page 37)

"You’ve been checking up on me, detective."

Bria stared at me. "Just doing my job, Ms. Blanco. Just doing my job. Which is why I want to ask you some questions about your attack at the community college the other night."

I gritted my teeth, my admiration for Bria’s tenacity warring with my own frustration. Now was not the time for her to be darkening my doorstep asking questions that I wasn’t going to answer-ever.

"There’s nothing to report. I fell down. End of story. Can I offer you a piece of cake before you go, detective?"

Since I wasn’t giving up any information, Bria decided to switch tactics.

"Are you afraid of someone?" she asked in a softer tone. "Would it help if we spoke privately, Ms. Blanco?"

I looked at her. "The only person I’m afraid of is my cook, Detective Coolidge. And that’s only because she puts too much salt in her macaroni salad. I told you before, and I’m telling you again. I fell down that night at the community college-repeatedly. Now, why don’t you go out there on the mean streets of Ashland and help someone who really needs it? Because I’m doing just fine."

My tone was harsher than I would have liked it to be for my first real face-to-face meeting with the sister I hadn’t seen in seventeen years. But she wasn’t going to take no for an answer, any more than I would have in her situation. This was the way it had to be right now. I hated to be rude to my own sister, but I had things I needed to do if I had any chance of taking care of Elliot Slater tonight. The sooner I killed the giant, the sooner I could move on to other things-like figuring out how Bria fit into my life and if I could ever really be a part of hers.

"Is it your foster brother?" Bria asked, turning her cold gaze to Finn. "Is he the one who beat you? The one you’re afraid of?"

I laughed. "Finn? Beat me? Hardly. He’d stab himself in the eye before he ever laid a hand on me."

Finn gave Bria another charming smile. "I’m thoughtful that way, detective."

She stared at him another moment. Her eyes flicked to me, then to Roslyn Phillips. The vamp huddled in a booth in the back of the restaurant, pretending to be interested in her cake. Roslyn was a better actress than I’d thought. I might have believed my chocolate-chip pound cake was the best she’d ever had, if I hadn’t known she was merely picking at it while listening to our every word.

"You know, a lot of people in Ashland don’t seem to remember things that happened to them," Bria said. "Beatings, assaults, intimidations."

"Must be something in the water," I said in a dry tone. "Some chemical that promotes memory loss."

Bria looked at me, and I gave her a level gaze. She returned the stare. Blue eyes on gray. Both as cold and unyielding as they could be.

"Fine. If that’s the way you want to play it, I’ll take your kind suggestion and go help someone who might actually appreciate it." Bria reached into her jacket and drew out a small business card. "But if you fall down again and jog your memory about what really happened that night, give me a call. Day or night. I’ll take care of everything. I promise. No one will know you talked to me."

Maybe it was the sincerity in her voice. Or the fact that she seemed so serious about helping people and making a difference. But instead of another dry remark, I merely nodded and took the card from her, trying to end our meeting at least on a neutral note, trying to salvage something good from this.

Our fingers brushed. For a second, the cold caress of Bria’s Ice magic touched my skin. Baby sister’s magic radiated off her body the same way that Mab Monroe’s Fire power did, although the sensation was much weaker. Bria’s power felt soothing to me, like a cool washcloth on a feverish forehead. It was nothing like the hot, pricking sensation of Mab’s magic.

Bria frowned at the contact, as though it bothered her in some way, but she didn’t say anything. I wondered if she’d felt my own Ice magic or even my Stone power. Some elementals literally leaked magic, which meant that other elementals like me could sense their power even when they weren’t embracing or using it. Some magic escaped in drips and drabs, while others like Mab Monroe’s was a slow, constant burn. My elemental magic was self-contained, unless I did something with it, used it in some way. Still, I wondered if Bria had felt something, sensed something about my magic that was so similar to her own power. After all, we’d both gotten our Ice magic from the same source-our mother.

Bria nodded to me and Finn. She stared at Roslyn a moment, then turned on her boot heel and headed for the front door. The bell chimed once more, signaling her exit.

"That went rather well, don’t you think?" Finn asked after the door had closed behind her.

"What part? You hitting on her? Or me telling her to stay out of my business?"

Finn considered my question. "Well, the two of you didn’t come to actual blows. And nobody got arrested. That’s always a bonus."

"Yeah," I replied, watching Bria stick her hands in her jacket pockets and walk down the street. "But she knows we’re hiding something, and I don’t think she’ll let it go until she finds out exactly what it is."

Once it was apparent that Bria wasn’t coming back, Roslyn Phillips took her previous seat at the counter next to Finn.

"What was that all about?" the vamp asked.

I snorted. "Please. Like you didn’t hear every word. I know you have enhanced hearing, Roslyn. Most vamps do."

She shrugged. "One of the benefits of drinking blood. Makes some of your senses really come alive."

Vampires were just like elementals in that some were stronger than others, and the blood they drank often had different effects on them, depending on their own power level and whose vein they were chugging from in the first place. A regular pint of O-positive from a normal human would give any vamp a little buzz, enough to sharpen their hearing and improve their eyesight. Give a strong vamp access to a Fire elemental’s blood, and, well, that’s when you got vampires who were as tough as giants and dwarves-with flames dripping from their fangs to boot. And of course, vampires could be elementals themselves, if they had the inherent magic flowing through their veins, instead of siphoning the ability out of whomever’s blood they were drinking.

There weren’t many things that turned my stomach, but the thought of sucking down someone else’s blood-hot and fresh from his neck or cold and frosty in a glass-was more than enough to do it. Despite whatever extra juice it might give me. But I had other things to think about. Like the fact it was closing in on four o’clock, and I had a giant to stalk and kill this evening.

"Back to our previous conversation," I said. "Roslyn, I want you to do exactly what Elliot Slater wants you to tonight. Go out with him to the event on the Delta Queen. I know it’s going to be hard, but do you think you can do that?"