“Please tell me you’re drinking plenty of blood.” For someone in her weak physical state, her body definitely wouldn’t be able to keep up with the sun, lack of sleep, and no blood.
She swallowed and looked away, like she was ashamed. “Rhea was making me take intravenous infusions twice weekly. But my thirst has increased since I stopped sleeping,” she said. “I have been supplementing with bagged blood.”
I let out a relieved breath. When we’d gotten back to New York, it had been a struggle for weeks to get her to take any blood at all. If she’d told me she’d shunned blood, too, I’d be forced to go directly to Rhea with this information. But knowing she was at least taking care of herself in that regard allowed me a few extra days to convince her myself without bringing in the big guns.
“Is Orpheus going to send me away?” she whispered.
I hesitated and considered talking to her about the peace treaty and the ramifications if she didn’t have a prophecy. But even I wasn’t so insensitive not to know that would cause more harm than good. Instead, I took another approach.
“Of course he isn’t going to send you away. He’s just worried about you. We all are.” I moved my head until I captured her gaze and forced her to look into my eyes. “That’s why you have to start sleeping again. It’s not healthy to force your body to stay awake.”
She shied away, her breath escaping through her teeth in a hiss. “No! I can’t. I c-can’t. Sleep is bad.” She tugged at the hair with both hands. Large clumps pulled away between her knuckles. “Badbadbadbad.”
I reached out and tried to halt her obsessive grooming. “Maisie, stop.” For someone so emotionally fragile, she fought me off long enough to get a couple more handfuls. I finally managed to hold her against me and force her hands by her side. I turned to look at her and had a clear view of the bald spot just behind her ear. “You have to stop hurting yourself.” I closed my eyes against the stinging tears that threatened to fall.
She shook her head. “I’ll be better. I promise. Just don’t make me sleep.”
“Shh,” I said, rocking her. “I promise.” Fear for Maisie made my stomach turn. I’d rarely felt more impotent in my life.
“Sabina?” Maisie whispered, her face turned away from mine.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve missed you.”
Well, if that wasn’t just a knife to the gut. A flash of Maisie’s head bent over Adam as she sucked the lifeblood from his veins flashed through my head. Then the look on her face after she’d ripped our grandmother’s head from her body—her haunted eyes and blood-smeared mouth. I blinked away the memories and looked down at the broken wraith who used to be my happy sister. “I miss you, too.”
12
After talking to Maisie, I headed back to the apartment to meet up with Adam and Alexis. Orpheus and the Despina needed an update on our progress, and Adam and I were hoping they’d give us leave to interrogate Tiny Malone. Granted, the information Mistress Bianca gave us about him trying to recruit vampires wasn’t exactly the strongest lead, but it was better than sitting around waiting for Slade to find something else to share with us. Plus, after my talk with Maisie, I was kind of hoping things with Tiny went south. I needed an excuse to hit something. Hard.
When I entered, the scent of stewing meat and herbs wrapped around me like a shawl. I shook out the tension in my shoulders. “Honey, I’m home!”
“In the kitchen,” Giguhl called.
Just inside the doorway, I stopped to admire the scene waiting for me. Giguhl loomed over a bubbling pot on the stove. He wore an apron that read ANGEL IN THE KITCHEN, DEMON IN THE SACK.
“What’s for dinner?” I leaned around Giguhl’s back to peek inside the pot. He shrugged me off.
“Oh, no, you don’t. The last time you tried to help me cook you ended up ruining my coq au vin.”
I nudged him in the side for the reminder. “I thought PW was going to help you cook tonight.”
He stirred the pot with a little too much gusto. Red liquid splashed and sizzled on the burner. “She’s working at Vein.”
My eyes widened. “She’s singing again?”
He shook his head. “Waitressing. The nymphs have gone on strike until the murderer is found so Slade’s desperate for help. And Pussy’s determined to save up enough for her own place.”
The topic of PW moving out was a source of tension between Giguhl and me. When PW had first brought up the idea of renting an apartment in the Black Light District, she and Giguhl were determined to become roommates. But I’d had to put a kibosh on that plan. It’s not that I didn’t want him to live with PW. Honestly, part of me would love the chance for Adam and me to have the place to ourselves. But even though I’d love the demon to have more freedom, magic bound Giguhl to me as my minion. Not only did he need my permission to do almost everything, but he also had no income of his own. And I sure as hell couldn’t afford to pay partial rent for two apartments in New York.
To avoid having that argument with the demon again, I downplayed the chance that PW would be moving anytime soon. “Don’t worry, she won’t make much in tips tonight. Everyone’s probably still staying away from the scene of the crime until the killer’s found.”
He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “I told her she should tell him no. It’s not safe.”
“She’ll be fine. Slade will keep an eye on her.” I patted his arm. “Is Adam around?”
Giguhl perked up. “In the living room.” A mischievous smile spread on his black lips. “With a surprise.”
I rolled my eyes. A surprise was not something I needed. “Is it Alexis?”
“She’s running late.” Satisfied with the stew’s progress, the demon tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot. “This is an even better surprise.”
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and went to investigate. As I walked down the hall, the demon called after me, “Dinner will be ready in thirty!”
Closer to the door, the low, comforting rumble of Adam’s voice reached me. Every few seconds a higher feminine response echoed down the hall. Recognizing the voice, I sped up and burst through the door.
Three faces looked up at my entrance. Adam rose with a smile. “Red, look who the cat dragged in!”
“Hey, Georgia!” I grinned at the redheaded female who stood gracefully. After a quick, hard hug with her, I glanced at the female werewolf slouching on the couch. “Mac.”