Even Vampires Get the Blues by Katie MacAlister Page B

distracted by the feelingof him so warm and solid behind me, but I firmly squelched the desire to turn around and run my hands over his chest again. “Finn was called away by some friends, so you met with Raul alone. . . . He said he’d brought someone who wanted to talk to you. . . . The other man had a monkey on his shoulder? A spider monkey?”
    â€œI didn’t ask him what sort it was,” Clare answered, tsking over some new atrocity to the dress. “But it was small, so I guess it could be. It had on the cutest little sailor suit.”
    â€œHuh.” If it was Beppo, then that would explain why the shopkeeper thought I was insane when I mentioned his monkey. But what was the man who was in Paen’s castle doing shooting Clare? I read further in the report. “You chatted, he asked you about a statue—”
    â€œStatue?” Paen asked, his voice rumbling close to my ear. Goose bumps ran down my arms at the nearness of it.
    â€œA bird statue,” Clare said, dabbing at the dress with a grubby bit of paper towel. “It’s all there in the report. He asked me where the statue of the golden bird was.”
    â€œAre you sure he said a bird statue?” Paen asked.
    â€œI thought the same thing,” Finn said quickly. “Clare said she was sure—it was a golden bird.”
    â€œA falcon.” Clare nodded. “I told him I didn’t know anything about any falcon statue, gold or otherwise. He snarled something rude that I won’t repeat, and told me I was lying, and that he would kill me if he had to in order to get it. I told him that wouldn’t do any good because I didn’t know wherethe statue was, but he shot me anyway, then both he and Raul ran away. I knew I was better off here than anywhere else, so even though Finn wanted to take me to the hospital, I called you instead.”
    â€œWhat do you mean you’re better off here?” I asked, confused why she would think a movie set out in the middle of the wilderness was the location of choice after a shooting.
    â€œIt’s nice here,” Clare said with a shrug. “It’s pretty country. I like the way it makes me feel.”
    I looked around. There wasn’t much to see in the darkness, the Lammermuir Hills being a remote and exposed area that was known for its wild beauty, sheep grazing, and grouse. I understood what it was she felt—this land was founded. . . . No, more than founded. It was a lodestone, a holy place to faeries and elves. I didn’t bother mentioning the fact to Clare, though. She had a soft, protective security blanket of denial wrapped around her that she clearly wasn’t going to shed until she was ready.
    â€œInteresting,” I said, glancing at Finn. “Do you have anything to add to Clare’s summary of events?”
    â€œOnly that I wish I’d been here to catch the bastard who shot her,” Finn said. “A friend of mine wanted my opinion on some weaponry, so I left Clare watching the filming.” He shot her a reproachful glance. “She was supposed to tell me when the fence came so I could be with her just in case of trouble, but I wasn’t of much help on the other side of the field. I heard the shots, and found Clare lying bloody on the ground. I couldn’t leave her to chase after the bastards, so I told Paen I needed his help.”
    â€œFinn told you he needed help?” I asked Paen. I’dbeen with him every minute since I had the phone call from Clare, and he hadn’t used a phone once. Which meant . . . “Oh. That sort of message. You’ve got mind-mail.”
    â€œYou asked me if my statue was of a hawk,” Paen said slowly, an abstracted frown on his face as he turned toward me. “A brass hawk or a falcon. Am I correct in assuming you know what this man was talking about?”
    â€œYeah, I think I do.” I nibbled my lip for a