"What are you reading now, Gin?"
I held up the cover where she could see it. "Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. For my next literature class."
"I approve. That's one of my favorites."
I arched an eyebrow. "I didn't know you liked to read, Roslyn. Why, we'll have to start ourselves a little book club."
The vampire chuckled, showing off her small, perfect fangs. "Oh, I doubt I could keep up with you when it comes to that."
I used one of the day's credit card receipts to mark my place in the book. "So what will it be?"
Roslyn ordered her usual grilled cheese and water. Despite her protests, I also gave her some of the chocolate chip cookies I'd baked fresh that morning. We talked back and forth over the counter while I helped Sophia fix her food. Roslyn sank her teeth into the grilled cheese with relish, and she even ate two of the cookies.
Finally, the vamp finished her food and pushed her empty plates away, then met my eyes. "Xavier told me what happened last night on the Delta Queen."
I nodded. I'd expected nothing less; she and Xavier had been a couple for some time now.
She stared off into space, a thoughtful look on her face. "You know, it doesn't surprise me that Salina finally came back to town."
I frowned. "You know Salina Dubois?"
Roslyn hesitated. "No, not Salina. But I knew her father, Benedict. Once Xavier told me what happened and that you were involved, I thought I'd come by and tell you what I knew about him. Salina's mother died when she was young, and Benedict was often . . . eager for female company. I was one of his favorites for years, right up until I started Northern Aggression."
Before she'd opened her nightclub, Roslyn had spent years working as a hooker in Southtown, like so many other vampires in Ashland did. All vamps needed blood to live, but lots of them also got a high off having sex or even other people's emotions. For those folks, doing the deed gave them the same sort of enhanced senses, increased strength, and quickened reflexes that other vamps got from downing a pint of O-positive. Thus, the number of vampires involved in Ashland's skin trade. Why not get laid, paid, and powered up all at the same time? And since vamps could walk around in the sunlight just like the rest of us, you didn't even have to wait until dark to get your freak on. All you had to do was walk down the Southtown streets any time - day or night - and you'd find at least one vampire hooker looking for a client, and her pimp waiting in the wings to beat you to death if you didn't pay up promptly for services rendered.
"So what can you tell me about Benedict?"
Roslyn shrugged. "Other than his sexual preferences, not much. He was just another wiseguy who thought he was stronger than he really was. An Ice elemental."
"At least until Mab put him in his place for that mistake."
Roslyn nodded. "That she did."
I asked the vamp a few more questions about Benedict, but she didn't know anything else about the old mob boss. Still, I appreciated her coming by, and I gave her my thanks.
She nodded. "So what are you going to do now? About Salina?"
"It's . . . complicated."
She grinned. "Most things are when it comes to you, Gin. But I'm a good listener, if you need someone to talk to."
This was the second time today someone had offered me her ear, which was something of a new experience for me. Assassins aren't naturally in the habit of spilling their guts to just anyone, and Fletcher had always taught me to keep my emotions bottled up tight. Hell, I'd never even had a real girlfriend before, someone I could talk to about such things. Oh, I knew I could tell Jo-Jo anything, but she was more like a mother to me than anything else. Sophia would listen to what I had to say, but she wouldn't say much in return. Sure, Bria was my sister, but we were still getting to know each other, still working on our relationship. The truth was that Roslyn was the closest thing I had to a female confidant, so I told her about all the bombshells that had been dropped on me last night, including the fact that Salina had been Owen's fiancee.
When I finished, Roslyn let out a soft whistle.
I grimaced. "Now you sound like Finn. All he did was whistle last night. You'd have thought there was a train in the room - one that just kept running over me. Splat, splat, splat."
Roslyn let out a soft laugh before her face turned serious once more. "I don't know what to tell you to do about Owen, but you need to be careful with Salina. I know you've been up against a lot of dangerous folks, but she's something else, Gin."
First Kincaid, then Eva and Bria, and now Roslyn. It seemed like everyone was on the Salina-is-dangerous bandwagon but Owen.
"How so? Besides the fact that she uses her water magic to come up with new and creative ways to very painfully kill people?"
Roslyn raised her eyebrows. "Well, there's her history with Owen. Anybody would feel a little threatened by that. But don't let Salina get in your head. If she does that, she's halfway to getting what she wants."
I shrugged. I couldn't deny that I was worried about Owen's past with Salina, but Roslyn was right. I needed to be calm and in control of my emotions now more than ever.
The vamp hesitated. "As to why else I think you should be careful around her, well, it's hard to explain exactly. Just more of a feeling I had about her. From what I remember, Salina had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. Benedict would have done anything for her, as would every other man around her."
I grinned. "I could say the same thing about you. You bat your eyes, and men get all weak-kneed and tonguetied. Women too. Crook your finger at them, and half of them keel over from shock and awe."
Roslyn smiled at my compliment, but she shook her head. "Maybe, but I don't use it like Salina did. She knew how beautiful she was, and she used it to get exactly what she wanted exactly when she wanted it. But on the rare occasions that didn't happen, she became . . . cruel. I remember seeing her out in the gardens at the Dubois estate one time. The gardener had been pruning the roses, and he accidentally cut one branch too many. Salina saw him, of course, and she went over to talk to him. She never raised her voice, and she never said anything that was unkind - on the surface, anyway - but by the time she was done, the poor man was in tears. He apologized to her over and over again, like it was all his fault that she was so disappointed in him. And all because he hadn't trimmed the roses back exactly the way she'd wanted. Like I said, just . . . cruel."
Cruel. It was such a simple word, but I thought it described Salina perfectly, given what I'd seen her do to Antonio. Elemental magic was never a fun way to die, but having all the water pulled out of your body and your eyes popped out of your skull for an extra thrill, well, that was a little extreme - even by Ashland standards, where elemental duels were common.