How to Rattle an Undead Couple - Hailey Edwards Page 0,14
run without being seen, and how they managed it without tripping the wards remained a puzzle with the simplest solution being it was an inside job.
“Yes, miss.” She smoothed her palms down her tidy apron. “Mr. Bartoli was quite agitated when he asked me to search her rooms.” She caught me noticing her fidgeting and fell still in the way only vampires can achieve. “There was no trace of her. Everything was as it had been when I helped her dress for the party at sunset.” She folded her hands at her navel, the picture of tranquility. “I wasn’t aware she was missing until Mr. Bartoli informed me.”
Curious about her twitchiness, I toed the line of rudeness. “Can I ask an impolite question?”
“Of course, miss.”
“Do you smell anything that doesn’t belong? Can you tell if anyone who shouldn’t be was in the house?”
The Grande Dame wore grapefruit essential oil in lieu of perfume, a scent I had associated with her since childhood. To this day, I couldn’t eat them. No matter how much sugar Linus heaped on them.
“I can try, miss.” She ducked her head. “I don’t mind.”
“Thank you.” I stepped aside to give her room. “There are gwyllgi on the grounds, but they don’t know the house or its mistress as well as you.”
The maid started, and her bottom lip trembled. “G-g-gwyllgi?”
“They’re harmless.” I flipped my hand at her. “Don’t worry about them.”
Only the guilty, or anyone holding food, needed to fear them.
“I—I—I was turned after a dog…” Her pupils enlarged, turning her eyes black and fathomless, and her fangs popped down. “Oh.” She clamped a hand over her mouth. “I apologize, miss.”
“It’s no problem.” I shut the door to encourage Hood and Lethe to remain on the other side of it. “I’ll ask them to shift before they join us. Will that be okay?”
A shudder rocked her, but she bobbed her head. “Where would you like me to start?”
“Let’s go to the last place you saw her and work back from there.”
“All right.” She lowered her hand after her canines returned to dull points. “Can you climb the stairs?”
“I’ll go with you,” Linus said as he emerged from the nearby library, one of three on this floor. “I’m more familiar with Mother’s rooms and the family wing.”
As much as I wanted to grump at him about being overprotective to make myself feel better, I couldn’t have made it up the staircase. It was one of those elaborate, winding creations you expected to see in a Southern manor. On the movie set version of one anyway. Tara come to life.
Plus, he hadn’t said I couldn’t go. He only volunteered himself to spare the ding to my pride.
“I’ll check with the gwyllgi,” I said magnanimously. “See what they’ve discovered.”
A hitch in his stride betrayed his wish for me to stay put until he returned, or at least wait to explore until one of the gwyllgi could escort me.
“I won’t go far,” I promised. “I’ll stay in sight of Marco.”
The stiffness in his gait loosened, and he smiled at me before gesturing for the maid to lead him on.
For the sake of his poor nerves, I waited until he disappeared from view to step onto the porch.
Marco had exited the vehicle, but he stood by his door, facing the house. He saw me and lifted one hand in greeting. I returned the wave but indicated he should stay put for now.
Within minutes, Lethe spotted me and ran up the steps, shifting as she climbed until she stood on two feet beside me.
“Well?” I scanned the yard. “Find anything?”
“She has a team of gwyllgi gardeners. I recognize their scent from Mom’s pack.”
“Why bring in gardeners from three hours away? There’s a pack right here.”
“Ah.” She lifted a finger. “But my pack is too young to specialize in anything but causing me headaches. Hers has an entire agricultural subset. Farmers, gardeners, landscapers, kids who mow lawns during the summer, the whole shebang.”
“Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing that.”
The Atlanta pack had a high percentage of Auburn University College of Agriculture graduates among its members.
“I’m hoping to branch out in the same directions, but we’re just not there yet.”
“Branch out.” I snorted. “Good one.”
Lethe just stared at me.
“Unless that wasn’t a joke.” I cleared my throat. “In which case, please continue.”
“The scents are embedded in the area, but they aren’t fresh. I would peg her last lawn service at five or six days ago.”
Chances were good the Grande Dame wanted to