Meaning they'd recently fed, and were now sending the vibes out to the rest of the nest. Which explained the hum of excitement I'd felt downstairs.
I stopped when there was still a good ten feet between us. This close, Vinny's skin looked almost luminous, as if the richness of moon itself glowed from deep within her...
I blinked. Damn it, she was doing it again.
"Vinny," I warned softly.
She laughed - a rich sound that sent warm shivers up my spine - and unfurled her legs from the hem of her long dress. Her shoes were red and glittery, reminding me Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. "What can I do for you, Riley?"
"We've two dead women on our hands," I said without preamble. "Both died of unknown causes, and in both cases, there was an extreme aura of desire and lust lingering in the room."
"Meaning they had sex before they died." She paused, mirth sparkling in her chocolate eyes. "Lucky them. But why do I need to know about these deaths?"
"Because we suspect an emo vampire might be at large."
"And I have the only known nest in Melbourne."
"Exactly."
She rose unhurriedly, her movements grace itself. Her long skirt billowed briefly around her - a cloud of pale organza that seemed to catch the flickering sprays of rainbow light from the chandeliers and gleam like the inside of an oyster shell. Those same sprays of light danced across her skin, leaving a luminosity...
I dug my fingers into my palm, using the pain to battle the caress of her aura, however light it might be at the moment.
"It is a waste to kill a lover," she said softly, moving around me, her body so close I could feel the heat of her. "A dead lover is of no use to the nest."
"They are if they bequeath you their estate."
She laughed, and her breath stirred the hairs at the back of my neck. I forced myself to remain still, and she reappeared on my left side. Her skirt swirled around my leg. It felt as sweet as a caress.
I flexed my fingers and ignored the urge to get out of here.
"I can get that without killing them," she said. "All I have to do is ask."
"It's against the law to use your abilities for monetary gain, Vinny."
She laughed again and stopped in front of me. "Everyone who has bequeathed me their possessions or money has done so willingly. Just ask them."
"We have."
Something flickered in her eyes. Annoyance, perhaps. "Then you know I have done no wrong. So why are you here?"
"Are there any other emo vampires or nests in Melbourne? Nests that we don't know about?"
"No."
It was flatly said, and I could sense no lie in her words. Of course, Vinny was such an accomplished liar that I probably wouldn't. And while in any other situation I would have tried to read her mind, telepathy was useless in this place. This room acted like a big black hole when it came to psychic energy. There were no deadeners involved, nor did it appear to be any kind of natural psychic shield. It was just a hole. Or maybe it was more like a black hole, because it seemed to suck away any sort of mental resonance.
Jack had theorized that it had something to do with an emo's control over energy, but Vinny certainly wasn't about to confirm or deny that.
"Would you know if there was another emo or nest in the city?"
"Yes."
"Would you tell us if there was?"
She smiled. "Perhaps."
Meaning only if there was something in it for her. I stepped back into cooler air. "If you do hear anything, let us know."
"If I hear anything and let you know, I expect something for my troubles." She cocked her head slightly. "Why do you taste so tense?"
"It's the company, I'm afraid."
She waved the comment away. "That tension is all part of the fun of having you here. This is different." She considered me for a moment. "Your soul is weary. It fights, and yet it tires of the fight. There is a tension in you I have not felt before."
And wouldn't feel again, as long as I could figure out a way to get Kye safely out of my life. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She smiled again. "You lie, guardian, but I appreciate the effort. Its taste is sweet."
Great. Now she was feeding off my emotional output, no matter how little I was trying to put out there. "Time for me to go,"