Page 32 of Discovery of the Vampire
Lizzy also stood, placing a hand on Judy's arm. “I’d like you to meet with her. Hear her story. She might be able to help us, give us some more insight into what that thing is after, and maybe we can help her in the process. She was running from him when she arrived.”
"We know what he's after," Alice said quietly from the couch. "He wants his family. He wants me and Alex."
Lizzy turned to look at her. "Maybe there's more to it than that. There's got to be a reason he wants this book so badly."
Judy shook her head. "I don't know, Lizzy.Brujasare unpredictable." She raised her blue eyes to Lizzy's. "I don't want you around her."
Lizzy rolled her eyes. “You haven't even met her. And hernameis Esme. And she's a victim here, too," Lizzy argued. "She's lost herentirefamily. Herhome. She came to New Orleans for a fresh start, and now she's being hunted by the same monster that's after Alex and Alice."
I could see the conflict on Judy's face. She was always cautious when it came to outsiders, but Lizzy had a point. If this Esme had information that could help us, we needed to hear it.
"Please, Aunt Judy," Lizzy pleaded quietly. "Just meet with her. If you don't think she can be trusted, we'll figure something else out. But we have to explore every option to protect Alex and Alice."
Judy sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Alright," she conceded after a long moment. "Fine. We'll come to the shop tomorrow after you close and hear what she has to say."
"Thank you," she told her.
Judy studied her for a long moment, but said nothing.
"I'm going to go check on Kenya," Alex announced, standing up from the table. "Make sure she's okay. Then I'll go find Killian and see if the vampires are willing to help us."
"Alex, wait—" Alice started, but he was already heading for the door.
Judy sighed. "Let him go, Alice. He needs to feel like he's doing something."
Alice slumped back against the couch, looking defeated. I put an arm around her shoulders.
"It's going to be okay," I told her quietly, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "We’ll get through this. We always have before."
She managed a small smile. "I'm scared," she whispered.
"I know," I told her. "So am I."
I hugged her closer, silently vowing to do whatever I could to keep my family safe from the threat of the djinn. We were the Moss witches, and we wouldn't go down without a fight.
14
BROGAN
"You're being an ass. You know that, right?"
I glared at Elias. I was sitting at the bar waiting for Kenya so I could walk her home since her mate, Alex, had some kind of witchy shit to take care of. Esme hadn't come back tonight, and I guess I wasn't as good at hiding my feelings about it as I thought I was. "You don't know anything about what's going on, so maybe keep your fucking mouth shut."
"I know you're being an ass.” He shot me another look. “Did you enjoy that blonde tonight?”
Heat crept up the back of my neck when I remembered my embarrassing attempts to feed from the woman who’d bought a private dance from me. After the third one, I’d given up and adjusted her memories. “Nothing happened with the blonde.”
“Esme didn’t know that. The poor woman was in tears when she left here." Finished with counting the cash in the register, he shut the drawer and took it back to Kenya.
Crying? She was crying? But I shook my head before I could start feeling any kind of way about it. I had a feeling Esme didn't cry. And she sure as hell wouldn't be crying over me. She didn't give a shit about me. She was using me, usingus, for whatever master plan she had to fight the thing that murdered her family.
If that was even true.
Elias came back from the office. "Believe what you want, but I know what I saw. That girl's got it bad for you."
I scoffed. "She's got it bad for something, but it ain't me. She's using us to get what she wants."
"And what exactly is it that she wants?"
