The chill got deeper. "How do you know I talked to a reporter this morning?"
Her sudden smile was anything but pleasant. "I did warn you that we intended to keep track of your every move."
But how? Cazadors were vampires, and no vampire, no matter how old, could stand the sun between noon and one o'clock. Although some—like Uncle Quinn and Hunter herself—could walk around at any other time, thanks to their age.
And if a Cazador had been following me, why hadn't I sensed it? At the very least, I should have been able to smell his presence, even in the human-drenched confines of the café.
Unless… Could the dream walker Azriel had mentioned have been a Cazador? There were Cazadors capable of astral travel—Hunter herself had told me that. And an astral-traveling vampire would not be restricted by the noonday sun, because it was only their flesh that burned. Their spirit—soul—did not.
Shit. We were going to have to be very careful about what we said when that traveler was near. Especially if we wanted to ensure that the keys didn't fall into the council's hands.
"If you know anything about my history with the reporter I talked to, then you'll realize I wouldn't want to tell him anything I didn't have to."
Her smile lightened. The same could not be said for the look in her eyes. "Yes, he did gain himself something of a reputation after the rather nice story he did on your mother. I must admit to some surprise that you'd even meet with him again."
To call it a "nice story" was something of a misnomer, given that it had become a staple for gossip mags for several weeks. "If you know about the meeting, then you'll undoubtedly know the reasons behind it. Can we get back to the reason for this call?"
She did so. "As I've mentioned, we can find no real connection between the victims besides the club and the manner of their deaths, no apparent motive for the murders, and no trace evidence to suggest who or what might be behind them."
A chill ran through me as images of Mom's murder ran through my mind again. My mouth dry, I asked, "And just how were they killed?"
"They were eaten."
Eaten? Good lord, I did not want to go after something that would eat vampire flesh. "I can't imagine a vampire sitting around letting someone munch on him."
"They didn't. Whatever this thing is, it scratched them first. We found traces of venom in the wounds and further analysis revealed that it contained powerful inhibitors."
I frowned. "But vampires don't actually need to breathe." It was more an instinctive reflex left over from the time before they'd been turned. "And I've never heard of a poison capable of killing a vamp."