“So, you heard about the murders,” Brennan said. Sure, fuck it, right to business. “I’m guessing you heard about Dom?”
“Right, the poor kid. Can’t say I didn’t know she had it in her.” He sighed. “It’s a brutal life out there, but it’s hard to see people you care about choose a path you don’t agree with.”
Travis dug through the pockets of his coat, his overalls, and patted down his chest, before finally finding a joint tucked behind his ear.
“Aha!”
“Nice,” said Cole.
Travis lit the joint with a flick of his fingers and Cole gasped as Travis inhaled deeply, the bitter smell slowly permeating the air.
Brennan tried to stay on track. “You weren’t surprised? I know you were kinda friends.”
“Oh, sure, we were friends for a little while. A fleeting moment, in the grand scheme of things, maybe, but a few months. Or, weeks? Or years—what day is it today?”
“December third,” Cole said, but Brennan knew asking Travis about timelines was a lost cause.
“Did she tell you anything?” Brennan pushed.
“Yeah,” Travis said. “I saw her the night before she skipped town.”
“The day of the murders?”
“Which murders?”
Brennan bit down a growl of frustration. “The murders. Here. At Pike’s Point.”
“Right! Not that day, the night before. She seems lost, really, it’s sad.” He extended the joint to Brennan. “You want some?”
“Uh, no,” Brennan said, “but did—”
“Oh, I will if you don’t mind!” Cole reached across Brennan to pluck it from Travis.
“Did Dom say where she was going? What she wanted? Did she mention the vampire ball, or what she had planned?”
Travis perked up. “The vampire ball?”
Did he not know?
“There was a flyer at Dom’s place with a note to me. I’m not sure what she might be planning, but that many humans and vampires together seems like a bad mix. She didn’t say where she was.”
“Man, I haven’t been to the annual ball in decades! That brings back memories. I used to dress to the nines with Shea, up until the vampire ball of 1928, when—”
“She didn’t mention it?” Brennan asked.
“No, she didn’t,” Travis said. “Though, in hindsight, I suppose I mentioned it. I was telling her about Shea, actually. The vampire ball of 1928 happens to be where she died.”
“What happened?”
“Well, you see, I can’tjusttell the story of the vampire ball of 1928, not without telling you about Shea herself, so that you can understand.”
“Okay, fine,” Brennan said through gritted teeth. “Just tell us what you told Dom.”
“Okay,” Travis said. “Shea was wild and free. Like a wild horse. Untamable. From another time, ethereal.”
Is this really relevant?Brennan wanted to ask, but Cole leaned forward in his seat with interest, and one hand absently reached for Brennan’s shoulder, soothing without even realizing it. So he bit his tongue. The glow of the campfire flickered, casting shadows across Travis’s face. That’s when Brennan realized that, as Travis spoke, the golden glow of the campfire danced and flickered, and slowly curled into the undeniable shape of a woman’s silhouette with wild hair.
“She was almost a thousand when I first met her as a little baby human,” Travis said. “I must have been your age, even.” The fire shifted, and the delicate tendrils of orange formed mirror silhouettes of a manand woman. “She was fearless and spontaneous and laughed freely, didn’t take anything too seriously. I was pretty serious back then, so naturally we fell in love.”
