The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires

I slumped across the table we had commandeered in the corner of the pub upon returning to town, my forehead in my hands. Theo sat next to me, looking wistfully at someone a few tables away who was sipping a whisky and soda. "No one tried to seduce me except Theo, and I seduced him right back. Oh, wait, you mean Gabriel the cherub?"

"That's the fellow." Sarah added his name to the list, tapped the pen on her lips for a moment while she thought, and added the names of the trial proctors I'd had to date. "Who else have you met?"

"Sarah, you can't list everyone I've run across," I protested.

"Don't be silly; that's how it works. Let's see, so far we have you and Theo, included for thoroughness, a Guardian, three trial proctors, one demon, and the prince of hell. Anyone else?"

I sighed. "There is no cast of characters you can run down, you know."

"Yuh-huh. If you didn't murder Hope, and I agree that's highly unlikely, then someone you've met must have."

The barmaid walked past with a tray holding two glasses of wine and a couple of mixed drinks. Theo's gaze watched the drink tray with an avidity that bespoke a hunger of a different sort than we'd fulfilled before meeting with Sarah.

"This is not one of your books, Sarah. This is real life, my life, and there's no earthly reason to believe that whoever killed Hope is someone I've met."

The pub owner walked behind the bar and set a pint glass beneath a Guinness tap, the thick blackish-brown liquid slowly filling the glass. Theo moaned softly to himself.

"Would you like me to get you a beverage?" I asked him.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. It took some doing, but he managed to drag his eyes off the pub owner and turn them to me, shaking his head. "Christian said I shouldn't until I'm used to the new diet."

I rubbed the leg that pressed against mine, enjoying the flex of his thigh muscles as much as I knew he was.

"Interesting," Sarah said, watching Theo for a moment before making another note. "Can't drink anything but blood. Very interesting."

"Portia's right," he said, ignoring Sarah's note-taking to frown at the tabletop. "We don't know that the person who killed Hope is someone we've encountered in the last few days. We don't even know when or where or how Hope died. For that matter, we don't know if she's really dead. No one has found her body. What we need is solid information, upon which we can base an investigation."

My heart swelled with delight. I love it when you are logical.

I'm always logical!

Not always, but when you are, it makes my toes curl.

He gave me a mental eye roll that had me giggling to myself.

"I suppose," Sarah admitted, pulling my attention back to the matter at hand.

"I agree, it makes sense. Who can we go to in order to get that info?"

Theo averted his eyes as the barmaid walked past with a large martini. "Most of the people who would have access to that information are in the Court of Divine Blood. But with the ban in place, they are out of reach to us."

"I thought only Portia was banned?" Sarah asked.

"Technically, she was, but I am her champion, and thus represent her. The ban extends to me, as well."

"Assuming Hope was killed outside of the Court, there has to be someone out here who we could ask." I looked at Theo. "This is all new to me, so I'm less than helpful when it comes to naming names. Is there someone outside the Court you can think of who we can talk to?"

His eyes lightened, taking on a wary cast.

"What?" I asked him.

"There is a potential source of information," he said slowly.

"Oh? Who?"

"It's not someone you're going to want to see again."

I thought back over the people I'd met in the last few days, and shook my head. "Oh, no. I will not go to hell and see Bael again."

"Not Bael," Theo said, his fingers stroking mine.

"The demon then, what's his name—Nefere. He's almost as bad as Bael."

Theo shook his head. "Not Nefere."

A cold, sick feel crept out of my belly and slipped into my veins. "Sweet mother of reason, you don't mean…you can't mean…please tell me you don't mean them, Theo."

"I'm sorry, sweetling. The Hashmallim are the only ones who we can approach."

"No."

"They are more or less the security force of the Court, which gives them the power to come and go as they please. All we have to do is convince one to speak with us outside of the Court."

"Absolutely not."

"They seldom come to the mortal world, but if we can—"

"No!"

He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "I won't leave you alone with them this time."

"I know you're not, because I'm not going to be anywhere near them."

"The Hashmallim? Those creepy guys that Portia said are made up of silhouettes?" Sarah's eyes widened, a look of delight brightening her face. "Oh, I can't wait to meet them! I have so many questions! Like, why were they chasing us that day we met?"

Theo cleared his throat and studied his hands for a moment. "They weren't actually…er…chasing you."