up the act anymore and they have to ditch their regular life. They usually join a nest. Safety in numbers, right? Nested vampires hunt nightly and hide during the day. They can blend in with the masses, usually to make hunting easier, and they’ll live like that for a long time. Old vamps are easy to find and exterminate because they’ve lost all ability to reason, but nested vamps are problematic. Hard to identify, difficult to catch.”
“Do you think the ones I fought this morning were nested vampires?”
“I guarantee it. Thing is … their behavior is weird. Going out during the day, for starters. They’re weaker in daylight. Why take that risk? But what really bothers me is their methodical search of the house. Nested vamps care about three things: survival, comfort, and their next blood fix. They aren’t long-term thinkers.”
I shifted in my chair. “So you don’t know why they’d be involved in Demonica?”
She braced her elbows on the bar, hands fisted under her chin. “This is the weirdest occurrence yet in a string of weird vampire occurrences over the last four or five weeks. I’ve never been as busy with exterminations as I have this past month. Increased vampire activity throughout downtown, and way more new vamps than I’ve ever seen before.” Her expression closed. “I really hate exterminating new vamps.”
“Do vampires have any interest in … money?”
“Money?”
“Like, acquiring something very valuable to sell.”
She gave me an odd look. “Nested vampires are still human enough to see a profitable opportunity and take it, but like I said, I’ve never known them to plan more than a few days in advance.”
Searching for Uncle Jack in order to claim the Athanas Grimoire and sell it was a lot of steps to take for creatures that didn’t plan ahead.
“Clearly, there’s something interesting happening.” Zora’s eyes flashed with excitement. “I think it might be time to go scouting.”
Interesting was not the word I’d choose. “What do you mean, scouting?”
“There are only so many places where a large vampire nest can settle in for an extended stay. The guilds around here routinely flush them out, but I think we might be overdue for the next round. You in?”
“In? In for what?”
“In for some vampire hunting!” She grinned like she’d just offered me a basket of delicious goodies. “You and your demon are more than a match for a few bloodsuckers.”
“Uh …”
She laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll get a good team together. Do you have a champion?”
I’d told the Grand Grimoire that Amalia was my champion, but we’d abandoned that farce when we joined the Crow and Hammer. “No …”
“I’ve never championed for a contractor before. We can partner up.”
“But—” My shoulders drooped at her eager expression. “Sure. That’d be great.”
“Awesome. I’ll schedule a team and send you a message with the details.” She hopped to her feet. “A contractor on a vamp hunt! I can’t wait to see you in action.”
I grabbed her wrist as she stepped away. “Zora, I’m not—”
With a flash of chagrin, I cut myself off. How could I tell her I wasn’t combat experienced? She’d never believe it, especially since Zylas and I were semi-famous now for killing the unbound demon on Halloween.
My hand slipped off her arm and I smiled weakly. “Keep me posted.”
“You bet.” She strolled across the bar, calling a loud farewell to Ramsey on her way out.
I slumped in despair. Vampires like that first one? Sure, no problem. Or even like the second one. We could handle that.
But what if we found an entire nest of super-strong, super-fast vampires like the last two?
I puffed out a breath. Did I really have a choice? If I didn’t go, I’d have no chance of finding out why the vampires were searching for Uncle Jack—and no chance to stop them from reaching my uncle, and my grimoire, before I did.
Chapter Nine
“There’s a good kitty,” I cooed. “This is a yummy treat.”
The black kitten cautiously stretched her neck out, whiskers twitching as she sniffed intently. She inched toward the morsel of deli chicken I held between the bars and her pink tongue poked out, licking it.
“Good girl, Socks.”
She licked more enthusiastically, then pulled the chicken from my fingers and gobbled it down. Smiling, I ripped off another strip and stuck it through the bars. Bite by bite, I coaxed her to eat the entire slice. I breathed a happy sigh as she licked her chops and looked up with eager green eyes.
“That’s all for now,” I told her. “You don’t