Page 18 of How to Stake a Vampire
“You know our clients’ information is confidential, Pete,” she croaked.
“I know,” Pete mumbled while Bethany and Steve patted his back sympathetically and helped him reattach his limb. “I’m sorry. I crumbled under the pressure of the interrogation.”
Ghouls were nowhere near as scary as I thought they’d be. Bar their unhealthy obsession with brain muffins, they were actually pretty nice.
I finally recovered from the shocking revelation that Bean Me Up’s vampire barista was somehow connected to the Tremaines. “Did Virgil act funny in any way while he was here?”
“Not really,” Steve said.
“He looked distracted,” Bethany contributed. “And he kept looking at our client board.”
I stared. “Client board?”
Bethany left the room and returned with a clipboard that looked like a wine cellar inventory. Instead of vintages, it listed blood types and donors.
“We like to let our customers know the options we have available, so we keep these lists in the withdrawal rooms,” Gladys explained at my pinched look.
The pieces were starting to form a picture I didn’t like.
Virgil being at the blood bank the night it was robbed and being related to the Tremaines weren’t the only things I was concerned about.
Ellie was working at Bean Me Up and Virgil was her boss.
“We’ll need a record of everything that was taken,” Barney said in a hard voice.
We left Eternal Reserves and made our way across town to Sycamore Grove.
Bean Me Up looked the same as it had three weeks ago, when I’d first stumbled across Amberford’s supernatural community. The only difference was that there were more macramé plants and crystals in the windows and someone had added the wordsand Clean Fun!to the board sign on the sidewalk that saidEthically Sourced Coffee and Good Vibes.
I recognized Ellie’s handwriting.
“Do you think she’ll make me one of those dog-friendly drinks she always talks about?” Bo said in a voice full of hope as we approached the entrance.
“You know what happened the last time you had coffee, right?” I reminded him.
“Technically, I don’t have any recollection of that incident,” my dog sassed. “Also, that was human coffee. This is supernatural coffee.”
“I hardly think that’s going to be any better.”
The bell above the door jingled when Gavin pushed it open.
The interior was busier than I remembered, the usual mix of supernatural creatures and oblivious humans scattered across the vintage tables and chairs of the café in a pre-lunch rush.
Ellie spotted us from behind the counter. She beamed and waved enthusiastically, nearly knocking over a stack of cups in the process. Though she looked frazzled and sported what appeared to be coffee stains in her hair, my best friend looked happy.
“Perfect timing,” she said excitedly as I approached. “I was just about to make a new batch of—” She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Didi, Gavin, and Barney behind me. Her smile faded a little. “Oh. Hi. Are you here for the, um, special drinks?”
I noticed Bo staring at a couple of the tables.
The vampires sitting there looked tired. Not just tired, but drained, like they hadn’t fed properly in days.
Barney frowned at them faintly.
“Actually, we’re here on business,” Didi told Ellie. “Is Virgil around?”
“He’s in the back doing inventory,” Ellie said uncertainly. “Do you want me to get him?”
Gavin’s nostrils smoked a little as he stared at my best friend.
