Slayer(77)

“First of all, he’s not my demon,” I snap. “If anything, he was Honora’s. And second of all, Cosmina’s been dead awhile, probably since before Doug got free. Maybe it was the fighting pit people.” Cosmina knew they were dangerous. They’d already proven as much. Why didn’t we force her to come with us then? Protect her?

It would have been against her will, though. I don’t know that we could have. She’d been a Slayer a lot longer than me.

And now she’s dead.

Artemis steps around a fallen lamp, her boots crunching brightly in the glass. “You don’t know Doug’s not a killer. And there was definitely a struggle.”

“This wasn’t Doug,” I repeat, but I’m distracted.

Cosmina was probably asleep when she was attacked. And there are no marks on her. It’s too much like Bradford Smythe. I want Eve’s other theory to be true—the one where I dreamed Bradford’s death because my super Slayer senses clued me in that he was sick—but the similarities are too much to discount. Which makes two dead bodies. But what do Bradford and Cosmina have in common? Or rather, what did they?

“Why do you think Mom decided we needed to help Cosmina right now? And only wanted to send Leo?” I ask. “Doesn’t it seem suspicious that Mom wanted to track down Cosmina specifically? The one Slayer we secretly already knew?”

“And who was already dead.” Artemis frowns, staring at the body. “Where did Mom get her information?”

“She had a book full of addresses. She must have taken her Slayer database off the computer.”

“It is weird,” Artemis says. I fight back the deeply inappropriate elation I feel that she agrees with me. “And why send Leo? Why didn’t she come herself?”

“She could be helping take care of Bradford’s body,” Leo says. It’s generous of him. But it doesn’t seem right.

“She was going somewhere. When we ran into her and she told you to do this. Remember? She had a bag. I don’t think it was anything to do with Bradford.”

“Don’t jump to any conclusions,” Leo says. “You don’t have all the information. I—”

“Looks like I don’t need an invitation anymore.” A vampire steps across the door’s threshold, grinning. Before we can react, she jumps at Leo, going straight for his neck. He ducks under her lunge, twists, and throws her against the wall.

She lands in a heap, then stands, laughing. “Whoops. Should have gone for the scrawny one first.” She winks at me.

Artemis pulls out a stake, doing a super-intimidating move where she spins it over the back of her hand and catches it again. I spent a whole summer when I was fourteen trying to learn it. Emphasis on “trying.”

“Who sent you?” Artemis demands.

The vampire bares her teeth at us. “No one sent me. I was here to pick up Cosmina.”

“Someone sent you to get the body?” I ask, horrified.

“I didn’t know she was a body. We’ve been working together to eliminate the zompire problem in the city.” She shakes her head. “I can’t believe she’s dead.”

I know she has no soul, but apparently she somehow managed to care about Cosmina. There were cases—rare—of vampires who worked around their demonic natures. Most of them dated Buffy, actually.

The vampire’s face goes back to normal. It’s a plain face. Unremarkable. Wistful, even, as she stares at Cosmina’s body. “We had one nest left to clear, and then we were done. We would have cleaned up all of Dublin.” She looks devastated.

I don’t really know how to comfort a vampire. I had never considered a scenario in which a vampire would need comforting.

“Were you two close?” I try tentatively.

She gives me a withering glare. “Are you touched? She was my reward. She didn’t know, of course, but when we were done with this nest, I was going to drain her. I’ve been looking forward to it for months! Someone beat me—and they didn’t even take her blood, which makes it all the worse. All cold and clotted now. Sticks in the teeth. What a waste.” She pauses, tilting her head to the side for a few moments. She takes a deep breath, then her eyes light up and she smiles sweetly. “Hey, since you’re here, maybe you could help me?”

Leo steps between us. Artemis holds up a cross and forces the vampire against the wall. I’m left standing in the middle of the room. They don’t need to protect me, but they can’t help themselves.

The vamp snarls at Artemis. “You’re a little girl with some toys and a few desperate tricks.”

Artemis punches her, hard.

“Stop it!” I shout. We already have all the weapons and the upper hand. Something about adding extra violence on top makes my stomach turn.

Artemis looks at me with as much derision as the vampire had. “She was going to kill Cosmina. She’d have already killed you if we weren’t here. And she’s going to tell me what she knows before I stake her.”

That’s not fair. I wouldn’t have been dead if Artemis wasn’t here. It’s like she wants me to be weak, to prove to both of us that I still need her to protect me. Or that she’s still better than me.

The vampire laughs. “Darling, you’re not going to kill me. I know where the last zompire nest in Dublin is. If I don’t clear them out, they’ll spread.”