She raised an eyebrow. "What, Lucian kept you up all night again, did he?"
"Up, down, in, out, and sideways," I replied with a grin.
She laughed. "If you could package and sell that man's stamina, we'd make a fortune."
Considering he put most werewolves to shame, we certainly would. My vid-phone rang, the sound sharp in the hushed confines of the small room. I reached into my purse and pulled it out. And my stomach sank.
It wasn't just anyone calling me. It was Madeline Hunter. I was tempted to let it go to voice mail, but that would only result in pissing her off. Never a good thing to do when you were talking about one of the most powerful vampires in Australia.
I pressed the ANSWER button, and her image flashed onto the small screen. "Madeline, how lovely to hear from you."
"Oh, I'm sure it is," she said, her green eyes as cool as her voice. "But this is not a social call."
"I didn't think it was."
"I imagine not." She shifted, revealing the panoramic view out the window behind her. Surprise rippled through me. She was ringing from her office at the Directorate, so something serious must have happened, given that I was working for the vampire council, not the Directorate. If Uncle Rhoan—who was one of the Directorate's top guardians and also something of a whiz at sniffing out unusual occurrences—got the slightest idea that I was, in any way, connected to Hunter or the Directorate, there'd be hell to pay. I had no doubt that both he and Aunt Riley—who was a consultant rather than an actual guardian these days—would even go as far as threatening Hunter herself. When it came to the safety of their pack—and they considered me one of theirs even if I wasn't by birth—nothing and no one with any sense got in their way.
Of course, being in the employ of the vampire council was actually far worse than the Directorate ever could be. At least the Directorate was governed by rules and regulations. For all intents and purposes, the council was not. It was a shadowy organization at the best of times, and a rule unto itself at the worst.
Hunter added, "A problem has come to my attention that I believe might benefit from your expertise."
"If it's a Directorate investigation, why would you think you'd need my help?" Hell, they had witches on the payroll who'd probably forgotten more than I actually knew about the gray fields.
"This will not become a full Directorate investigation, although guardians have performed discreet preliminary inquiries."
It wasn't like I had a choice about getting involved, but still, curiosity stirred. "Why restrict the Directorate like that? Does it involve the council again?"
"No. But it does involve a certain aspect of the vampire world that we have no wish to make more generally known."