done any combat jobs.”
She frowned, deep lines framing her lips.
“I’m sorry I misled you,” I mumbled, my gaze dropping to my half-empty glass of potion. I took another gulp.
“I see,” she said after a long pause. “The responsibility is still mine, but … thank you for telling me.” Another uncomfortable pause. “Now I’m even more shocked that you survived tonight.”
Suppressing a wince, I downed the rest of my potion and set the glass aside. Popcorn. So wrong. “I got lucky.”
“How did you find your way out?”
I silently panicked, casting around for a plausible explanation. “The vampires had lights set up. I followed the lights to an exit.”
“You said you killed four. Do you think there are others?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t sure where my conviction came from, but it was strong. “I think there are a lot more.”
“Hmm.” She gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. “If you’re right … We sweep the drains every couple of months for new nests. How could a large nest have formed in a few weeks?” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Too many vampires too quickly … and their behavior … I don’t get it.”
“Oh! I forgot.” I slid a hand into my sweatpants pocket and pulled out the flip phone. “I took this from a vampire. It got a bit damp, but I think it’s okay.”
She picked it off my palm. “Okay, now I’m freaked out.”
“Huh? Why?”
The display lit up as she flipped the phone open. “Vampires steal things they need—clothes, food if they haven’t transitioned to an all-blood diet yet, and other essentials—but a phone? I’ve only seen new vamps who haven’t broken away from society using phones.”
She pressed a few keys. I leaned over to see what she was doing, wishing I hadn’t lost my glasses. Maybe I should get one of those straps old ladies used to hang their eyeglasses around their necks.
Zora pulled up the phone’s call history. One number repeated over and over, with only a few others scattered throughout the list. We exchanged a look, then she selected the predominant number and pressed the call button. The speaker began to ring. One … two … three …
The line clicked.
“Report,” a male voice barked.
Zora snapped the phone shut, ending the call.
“Well,” she said slowly, “that’s ominous.”
I nodded. “I’m guessing vampires’ lack of organization means they don’t normally report to each other.”
“Nests appear to have a loose pecking order, but you’re correct. They don’t normally answer to anyone.” Her hand tightened around the phone. “I’ll take this home so Felix can start working on it immediately.”
My brow crinkled. Felix was the guild’s third officer, but the rest of her sentence wasn’t making much sense.
She noticed my confusion and laughed. “I guess no one’s mentioned that Felix is my husband.”
“He … oh.” Her husband. Huh.
“He’s our tech expert. He can find out more about that phone number.” She slid the phone into her pocket. “Whatever’s going on with the vamps, it’s got me worried. They don’t normally act like this, and I want to get to the bottom of it before anyone else is bitten.” She pushed back from the table. “Do you need a ride?”
“Yes, please.”
Zora led me behind the bar and through the empty kitchen to the back door. Outside, rain poured down in sheets—the water that had nearly drowned us in the storm drains.
As I settled into the passenger seat of her black coupe, exhaustion permeated my bones. I felt hollowed out and wrung dry, and hopeless frustration kindled deep in my gut. I’d nearly died tonight, and what had I accomplished? All I had were more questions.
Were the vampires from the storm drains connected to the ones at Claude’s townhouse? What was their interest in Uncle Jack? How close to finding him were they? Where was Claude? Did he know vampires had searched his house, destroyed his belongings, and stolen his computer? Was he searching for Uncle Jack, or had he gone into hiding too?
As the wipers swept back and forth across the windshield, my mind whirred to the same beat. An image rose to the top of my churning thoughts: the letter my mother had written to Uncle Jack, every word in her loopy script emblazoned in my memory.
I know now that I was wrong about many things. I’m only just beginning to realize how wrong.
What had she been wrong about?
You know what’s coming for us, what will happen if they find us.
What had been coming for them? Who had she been afraid of?
I don’t know what