Page 21 of Vampire's Vixen

My phone rang, then, interrupting our conversation. I picked it up and saw that the incoming call was from the preschool. “This is probably Denise.” I answered, returning to the booth.

“Hello? Maisy Tripwater here.”

“Hi, this is Denise Rober. I received a message to call this number?” She sounded curious, but wary.

“Oh, yes. Listen, is there a chance you could meet me for lunch? I have a delicate situation to discuss with you and I don’t feel like doing so over the phone would work. It’s regarding a man named Zandre, who thinks you may know him.”

She paused, then said, “I’ve never heard of anybody by that name. Just who are you?”

“I own a matchmaking and psychic reading service—Married At First Bite. Zandre is a client of mine. He seems to think there’s some connection between the two of you, and I feel like I need to talk to you about this, before he decides to take matters into his own hands.” I felt like I was walking a tightrope.

Another pause.

Then she said, “Can you meet me here, at the preschool? I’m on playground duty during lunch, but we can talk then, if you don’t mind keeping watch over a bunch of rowdy shifter kids with me.”

“That’s fine. Tell me where to meet you, and I’ll come at…what time is your lunch?”

“Eleven-thirty. Meet me on the playground. I have to go—my break’s over.”

“I’ll see you then,” I said, jotting down the time as she hung up.

“Well, for better or worse, at least I’m warning her about this. Though I have the feeling that Zandre’s going to be extremely disappointed by the outcome. I just hope his disappointment doesn’t trigger him to do something foolish.”

“Amen to that,” my aunt said. “Amen to that.”

By eleven-thirty, I was standing by the jungle gym on the playground of the Shifter Creek Preschool Academy. The school was private, located on an acre of land near the Waterman Shopping Center, the biggest mall on the island.

The school was single-story, and most of the acre was covered with lush grass, with only a few trees here and there. The entire campus was fenced, and there was a designated area for parents to pick up their children. The parking lot was off to the side.

I watched as the doors to the school opened and a host of tiny beings raced out. They were followed by two adults, one of whom I recognized as Denise from her picture. She glanced around the yard, then saw me and waved. I waved back, as she jogged over to meet me.

“Are you Maisy Tripwater?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes, and you’re Denise? Thank you so much for meeting me. I know this all sounds odd, but I really need to talk to you. Is there a place we can sit?”

“Sure, just let me tell my colleague that I’m going to be occupied for a few minutes, so she can watch the kids on her own.” She crossed to the other woman, who was talking to a little girl who was holding a broken flower and crying. Then, a moment later, Denise returned.

She led me over to one of the picnic tables in an area shaded by a big oak tree. There were a number of the tables, but the kids were mostly racing around the grass.

“The school seems nice,” I said. “Are they all shifters?” I nodded to the children.

“For the most part, yes. We occasionally have an outlier, but the school is primarily focused on helping shifters fit into society from an early age. We help them control their animal side.”

I didn’t know much about shifters when they were young, but it sounded important.

“So, what’s this all about?” Denise asked. “I don’t have too long—Nancy needs my help watching the kids.”

“I understand, and I appreciate you giving me some time. So, as I told you, I own a matchmaking service?—”

Denise cut me off. “I’m not in the market, if you’re drumming up business.”

“No, that’s not it at all,” I said, but that answered the big question for me. “Here’s the thing. I have a new client who…well…there’s no easy way to put this, but he’s convinced you’re the reincarnation of his late wife, and that you’ve come back to be with him again. He was madly in love with her, and she was killed.”

Denise stared at me, blinking slowly. “How old is this guy? Is he a shifter? Because otherwise, I’m probably a lot older than he is.”

I sighed. “That’s the thing. He’s a vampire. He’s well over two hundred. His wife was killed in a bank robbery in the 1800s. Her name was Eugenia. He saw your picture in the paper and he’s convinced that she reincarnated as you. And that…”

“That I’ve come back to be with him again?” Denise’s eyes widened, and she looked absolutely horrified. “No, absolutely not. In the first place, I’m married, and my wife wouldn’t take kindly to me falling for a man. In the second place, I’m gay. In the third, I’d never, not in a million years, fall for a vampire.”

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