Page 95 of How to Stake a Vampire
WAITING FOR WORD
The Chamber of Commercefelt like a mausoleum the next morning. Exhausted Alliance members and their teams had been trickling in since dawn, all bearing the same news. There was no sign of Ludvik, no trace of Virgil, and no leads worth following.
I sat on the second-floor landing, nursing my third cup of coffee and watching the steady stream of exhausted Alliance members reporting their failures. Gregory paced by the windows, his usual composure fraying at the edges. Constantia sat rigidly on the leather sofa beside Victoria, her hands clenched so tightly around the cup in her lap it was a miracle it hadn’t shattered. Every few minutes, she would glance at her phone, hoping for news that never came.
Barney stood talking to Daria in a corner of the lobby, his expression darker than a thundercloud. He’d spent the night tracking down every vampire contact he had in three states, calling in favors and making threats with equal measure.
Unfortunately, it looked like he’d been right. Ludvik’s new abilities meant he could mask his presence easily. Add to that the wraith he had entrapped and I couldn’t help but feel we were fighting a losing battle.
“Anything?” Samuel appeared by my side, his hair still damp from a shower. He’d been out with Detective Johnson and the werewolf search teams all night and had used the bathing facilities in the building to freshen up.
“Nothing.” The word tasted bitter in my mouth. “Where’s Detective Johnson?”
“He went home to get some sleep.” He pulled me up to my feet and kissed my forehead. “We’ll find them.”
I swallowed and nodded. We headed downstairs.
Ellie sat cross-legged on the floor next to Bo, absently scratching behind his ears while staring at nothing. She’d been like that for hours, her new vampire senses stretched to their limits as she tried to detect any trace of Virgil’s scent. Though exhaustion showed in every line of her body, I could feel the coiled tension beneath it. She was ready to snap.
She looked up at our approach.
“He’s out there somewhere,” she told me wretchedly, her voice barely above a whisper. “I can feel it. And he’s scared.”
I sat down beside her. “Can you sense where?”
Ellie shook her head, frustration etched across her face. “It’s too faint. Like an echo of an echo.”
Bo whined and put a paw on her knee.
Samuel followed my gaze as I glanced at the large clock above the reception desk. He frowned.
We had less than twelve hours before the full moon rose.
“Where is Hugh?” I asked, partly to break the oppressive silence.
“He’s checking out the forest north of Amberford with Caroline and Kent.”
The sound of footsteps at the entrance made everyone tense, but it was only Titania arriving with a group of pixies I didn’t recognize. She looked as exhausted as the rest of us.
“Nothing in the Crossroads,” she reported to the lobby in general. “We checked every building, every basement, every abandoned lot. If he was there, he’s gone now.”
Gregory’s jaw clenched. “What about the warehouse district?”
“Cornelius and his people covered that last night,” Daria reported, coming over with Barney. “Also nothing.”
“The docks?” Constantia asked hopefully.
Amberford sat on the confluence of two rivers and had an extensive dock area.
“Melody’s teams searched there at dawn,” Titania replied tiredly, settling into an empty chair. “Same result.”
It felt like we were trapped in some kind of horrible loop. Question, negative answer, growing desperation, repeat.
Samuel’s phone rang. The sound cut through the room like a gunshot. Everyone’s attention snapped to him. He answered the call and put his phone on speaker, a muscle jumping in his jawline.
“Didi, please tell me you and Gavin have something.”
“We found him.” Didi’s voice was tight with exhaustion but carried a note of triumph that made my heart skip. “Mindy tracked the wraith’s energy signature to an abandoned mine about twenty miles west of town. Nigel’s with her.”
