Page 34 of Blood Magic

I put a hand to my chest. “I hadn’t realized,” I said. “But you’re right. They do resemble Lucy.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. Lucy had an appointment with Kassandra to get her tattoo at three o’clock. I’d go with her, and I would tell her to be careful. I hated bringing something else up that was going to scare her. She had enough to worry about with the demon.

He took a deep breath. “Okay. So what are we doing today? Do you need someone to go with you? Because Joe would be happy to do that.”

I laughed. “Did you find me some information on Remy Simon?”

“Um, yeah?”

“So where is it?” I asked.

“It’s on your computer under the file named Remy Simon,” he said. “He is a very interesting man. Quite a badass.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “And he wants to talk to me. He found my phone number somehow, Max.”

He snorted. “And you are surprised by that?”

“Well, yeah. I thought it would take him a minute.”

“So are you going to call him?”

“Hell no, I’m not going to call him. If he wants to talk to me, he’ll have to do as he threatened and chase me down.”

“He can do that,” Max said. “But I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

“It’s probably a terrible thing,” I said, “but I don’t know what to do about it.”

Joe stepped into the room. “I’ll be with you, and if I’m not with you, call me. I don’t care what he is, or how badass Max thinks he is.” He scowled at me as though I was the one who had said Simon was badass. “I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”

Max grinned and sauntered from the room.

“He’s a brat,” Joe muttered. Then he looked at me. “Wherever you go today, I’m going with you.”

“You can tag along if you want,” I said. “I’m not afraid of Remy Simon. I can handle him.”

“You flinch a little bit every time you say his name,” he told me. There was something dark in his eyes that made me wonder exactly what Joe Patrick had lived through. And I knew he wasn’t wrong. I could tell myself all day long that Simon didn’t scare me, and I’d be lying every single time. Frustrating but true.

I picked up the thin folders Max placed on my desk and read through them quickly. Both were clients needing me to do some good old-fashioned house cleaning. I was happy to do something that was relaxing in comparison with visiting the vampires and worrying about Remy Simon.

I called both numbers and scheduled appointments, and then I called Lucy. “Meet me here at two-thirty,” I told her. “I’ll go with you to get your tattoo.”

She didn’t argue, which surprised me. She seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that she was going to get a new tattoo, and scared or not, she knew it was for the best.

I had a feeling that by the time I was finished with everything else it would be dark, and I hoped the vampire Joe and I had brought out of the ground would find me. I didn’t want to go to Axton’s house looking for the girl so she could lead me to him, but I would if I had to. Axton was screwing with the humans in a bad way, and I would need to take him out—master or not.

He knew something, and if the girl was telling the truth, the previously buried vampire was not pleased with Axton. He wanted him out, but he needed some help to make it happen. He wasn’t the only one.

But I had no idea where to find him. Surely he wouldn’t go back to the master who buried him in the first place. No, he’d be hiding out somewhere. I was sure he would know how to find me. He was a vampire, and they had their ways. He’d find me.

Just as Remy Simon would find me.

And I’d have to be ready for both of them.