we followed the waitress through the maze of tables to the back, where we found Marion hunched over her desk, patiently adding up a column of numbers.
Her face was placid, calm—and I wondered just how the coyote shifters dealt with death. They followed the Great Trickster, and where he walked, danger always followed.
As soon as we entered the room, she popped her head up and gave us a half smile, rising to greet us. She motioned for us to sit down and we did so, Camille and I in the chairs in front of her desk, Chase taking a side seat as he once again pulled out his notebook.
“I dug through everything I could think of, but I’m afraid I don’t have very much for you. Except…perhaps one thing and I don’t know whether it’s going to help or not.” Marion wasn’t one to stand on ceremony.
“What’s that?” Chase asked, taking his cue from her.
“Trixie has a new boyfriend. He’s a vampire. Trixie’s always had a thing for the bloodsucker set. I disapproved, and our parents disapproved, but she was a grown woman and we couldn’t do anything about it.”
“That’s hard,” Camille said, and I knew she was thinking about Trillian and our reaction to him when she first started dating him.
“Yes, it causes a lot of stress and we knew that if we said anything, she’d just hide the relationship. So we…tolerated him. Anyway, they went out clubbing not long ago and Trixie came in the next day, upset. She told me the whole evening, a group of Bryan’s friends—Bryan is her boyfriend’s name—kept badgering her for information on the coyote shifters in the area. So much so that she got uncomfortable and left.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Let me guess, the name of the club was the Energy Exchange?”
Marion shifted in her seat, a worried line creasing her brow. “Yeah, how did you know?”
“Exo Reed was contacted by a group from there. They were trying to schedule a convention or conference or something at the Halcyon. And we think that the group was headed by Van and Jaycee, the sorcerers who were working with the Koyanni to produce the Wolf Briar.”
One beat. Two…and then Marion said, “Okay, but why the fuck are the Koyanni getting mixed up with the vampires, then?”
“We think the Koyanni have gotten themselves involved with a very powerful necromancer, who is also connected withthe sorcerers—at least with Van and Jaycee. Now, some vampires hang around necromancers, at least back in Otherworld they do. It could be that Bryan was trying to cadge information out of Trixie to give to them. They’re probably paying him something. My bet is he’s one of their toadies—a rogue, not connected with the local vamp groups. They probably singled him out and formed some connection, whether paid or through blackmail. How long did you say Trixie has been seeing him?”
“A few weeks. She was so excited. As I said, she’s got a real thing for the vamp set.” Marion began to rifle through her desk.
“How many people knew she liked vampires?” It occurred to me that if it was common knowledge that Trixie liked vamps, it would be easy to orchestrate a meeting between her and Bryan.
“Too many. She frequented several chat rooms, but mainly the one called Fang Girl Wannabes.” Marion shook her head. “Trixie was always too open. She never learned that it was dangerous to give too much away. She even used her own name online. But why would they kill her? Was she targeted?”
“We don’t know that yet. But there has to be some connection there, if they were badgering her for information.” I glanced over at Camille. “We’re going to have to dig deep into that damned club.”
Marion found what she was looking for in her desk and tossed it across the desk. “Trixie left this in the break room last week.”
I picked up the matchbook. The cover had a logo of a green flaming wheel with an X in the center of it, against a black background. Across it, in white lettering, it read, The
Her face was placid, calm—and I wondered just how the coyote shifters dealt with death. They followed the Great Trickster, and where he walked, danger always followed.
As soon as we entered the room, she popped her head up and gave us a half smile, rising to greet us. She motioned for us to sit down and we did so, Camille and I in the chairs in front of her desk, Chase taking a side seat as he once again pulled out his notebook.
“I dug through everything I could think of, but I’m afraid I don’t have very much for you. Except…perhaps one thing and I don’t know whether it’s going to help or not.” Marion wasn’t one to stand on ceremony.
“What’s that?” Chase asked, taking his cue from her.
“Trixie has a new boyfriend. He’s a vampire. Trixie’s always had a thing for the bloodsucker set. I disapproved, and our parents disapproved, but she was a grown woman and we couldn’t do anything about it.”
“That’s hard,” Camille said, and I knew she was thinking about Trillian and our reaction to him when she first started dating him.
“Yes, it causes a lot of stress and we knew that if we said anything, she’d just hide the relationship. So we…tolerated him. Anyway, they went out clubbing not long ago and Trixie came in the next day, upset. She told me the whole evening, a group of Bryan’s friends—Bryan is her boyfriend’s name—kept badgering her for information on the coyote shifters in the area. So much so that she got uncomfortable and left.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “Let me guess, the name of the club was the Energy Exchange?”
Marion shifted in her seat, a worried line creasing her brow. “Yeah, how did you know?”
“Exo Reed was contacted by a group from there. They were trying to schedule a convention or conference or something at the Halcyon. And we think that the group was headed by Van and Jaycee, the sorcerers who were working with the Koyanni to produce the Wolf Briar.”
One beat. Two…and then Marion said, “Okay, but why the fuck are the Koyanni getting mixed up with the vampires, then?”
“We think the Koyanni have gotten themselves involved with a very powerful necromancer, who is also connected withthe sorcerers—at least with Van and Jaycee. Now, some vampires hang around necromancers, at least back in Otherworld they do. It could be that Bryan was trying to cadge information out of Trixie to give to them. They’re probably paying him something. My bet is he’s one of their toadies—a rogue, not connected with the local vamp groups. They probably singled him out and formed some connection, whether paid or through blackmail. How long did you say Trixie has been seeing him?”
“A few weeks. She was so excited. As I said, she’s got a real thing for the vamp set.” Marion began to rifle through her desk.
“How many people knew she liked vampires?” It occurred to me that if it was common knowledge that Trixie liked vamps, it would be easy to orchestrate a meeting between her and Bryan.
“Too many. She frequented several chat rooms, but mainly the one called Fang Girl Wannabes.” Marion shook her head. “Trixie was always too open. She never learned that it was dangerous to give too much away. She even used her own name online. But why would they kill her? Was she targeted?”
“We don’t know that yet. But there has to be some connection there, if they were badgering her for information.” I glanced over at Camille. “We’re going to have to dig deep into that damned club.”
Marion found what she was looking for in her desk and tossed it across the desk. “Trixie left this in the break room last week.”
I picked up the matchbook. The cover had a logo of a green flaming wheel with an X in the center of it, against a black background. Across it, in white lettering, it read, The
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