okay on the phone, but are you really? I know how you like to pretend everything’s okay.”
He cast Lucien a sideways glance as if insinuating he knew more about Eve than Lucien did, which was probably true, but the action only made him hate Charlie more.
“I’m fine, really. Charlie, this is Lucien. Lucien, Charlie.”
Charlie turned to him. “Valium Vampire. Nice to finally meet you.”
“Come again?” Lucien leaned forward, arms crossed, body tense.
“Charlie,” Eve reprimanded.
Charlie looked at her innocently. “What?”
“What have you learned?” Eve asked pointedly.
Charlie opened a folder. “Michael just sent this over. Do either of you recognize any of these men or vampires—I can’t tell what they are by the pictures.”
Eve looked them over and shook her head. She handed it to Lucien. Three men stood against a brick building, looking as if they had nowhere to be. They had an unnatural stillness to them that even a photo could capture. They tried to appear human-like, but Lucien could tell by their stances, almost statuesque, that they were vampires. “They are definitely vampires. Who are they?”
“Don’t you recognize any of them?” Charlie asked.
“No, should I?”
“I just assumed your type all knew each other.”
“Do you know all of
your
type?” Lucien countered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Why don’t you go find someone with a Narcissistic Disorder and ask them what it means.”
“What do these vampires have to do with anything?” Eve interrupted, casting them both an angry glare.
Charlie turned his attention to her. “Michael said they were also invited to the vampire meeting. They captured one of them and forced him to tell them who was in charge." A shadow passed over his face and he swallowed hard. "It was the Dark Prince."
Eve gently placed her hand on his forearm. "We’ll get him, I promise."
Lucien looked from Eve to Charlie, at their serious expressions. Clearly there was a history between Charlie and this Dark Prince, but Lucien didn’t want to know anything about it. His only concern was for Eve.
"And what does this Dark Prince want?" Lucien asked.
Charlie stretched his hands from their tight fists. "I guess he’s planning something big. He instructed them to start turning humans as quickly as possible.”
“How long ago was this?”
“About ten days.”
Lucien frowned. “And you just found out?”
“Yes.”
“What have you been doing about it?”
“All of our offices are on full alert. We’ve sent out dozens of teams to track down any vampires who might be turning humans, but it’s difficult to predict where they’re going to strike.”
“Why does the ’Dark Prince’ want more vampires?” Eve asked.
“We’re not sure, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
“When’s the meeting?” Eve asked again.
“Michael thinks soon. He says vampires are flocking to Ireland from all over.”
Lucien could care less about a dumb vampire convention. “What does any of this have to do with Eve?”
“Well the meeting is in Ireland,” Charlie said, “and the vampires who attacked us in New York were from Ireland. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
“But what do they want with Eve?” he demanded, his voice louder than he intended. A couple sitting standing in line turned his direction.
Charlie shrugged and kept his voice low. “Eve’s a powerful witch—”
“Can you use another term, please?” Eve interrupted.
“Eve’s a powerful, magical
being
. Is that better?”
“Not really.”
“Anyway,” Lucien encouraged, wanting the conversation to stay focused on helping Eve. Something didn’t feel right, and it knotted his stomach.
Charlie rolled his eyes and took a long sip from his Styrofoam cup. “
Anyway
, they must want Eve because of her abilities.”
“But who even knows about them?” Lucien asked Eve.
Eve tied a knot into a long string of torn napkin. “I’ve been thinking about
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
John O'Riley
Brenda Sinclair
Christopher George
Stephen Lloyd Jones
Karl Iagnemma
Celya Bowers
Jill Gregory
Aria Cunningham