Either she was an übervamp, a thousand years old or better, or she was that lesser demon Matty and his fellow priests had been hunting. Of course, thus far they’d been so busy doing the sibling arguing thing that I didn’t think they’d even gotten around to investigating. I’d had a chance to meet the entire DeLuca clan one Christmas when Bruno and I were still engaged. They’d argue long and loud, but it never kept them from getting the job done, and it wouldn’t keep them from uniting against anything or anyone that went after another family member. It was a perfect example of the classic “nobody picks on my brother but me” attitude you find in so many big families, and it had made me wistful for my own sister.

I paid for my purchases, but my mind was elsewhere. Something about the magazine picture was nagging at me. Actually several things, but whether it was stress, lack of sleep, or something else entirely, I couldn’t seem to bludgeon my brain into coughing up the answer.

Scowling, my hat pulled down to my ears, I stepped out of the air-conditioned comfort of the store into the heat of a full-blown argument that ground to an abrupt and awkward halt when they saw me. Gee, think they were talking about me?

I decided to pretend I hadn’t noticed. Smiling, I turned to the elder of the two. “Hey, Matty. Long time no see. So, is she the demon and do you think she’ll come back here?”

Matty turned, glaring with enough heat that I expected to burst into flames at any second. His chocolate brown eyes had darkened to black, and there was a dangerous flush creeping up his neck. Still, Mama DeLuca raised her boys to be gentlemen. He responded politely—through gritted teeth. “Hello, Celia. We were discussing that very thing.”

Didn’t anyone ever tell you lying’s a sin, Father?

“Really? What did you come up with?”

Matty started to say something negative, but Bruno talked over him, earning an even blacker look than the one I’d been given. Brave man that he is, he ignored it. “She’s not a demon. Just a very old and dangerous bat. But why do you think she’ll come back?”

It was a good question. Logically, she shouldn’t. There was an entire world of victims out there, a veritable buffet. But I’d bet money she’d be back here tonight, waiting for those protections to fail.

“Celia?” No, the DeLuca boys weren’t impatient. Not at all.

I tried to explain what I’d been thinking. “She hated that she couldn’t get to him. Almost as if it were a personal affront. And she didn’t like that Edgar ordered her back. I can’t swear to it, but I’d bet she’ll be back, if for no other reason than to prove he doesn’t control her.” Petty, maybe even stupid. But while vamps may not keep their memories, they do keep their basic personality traits. I was betting Ms. Übervamp had been quite the bitch back in the day.

“You sure about the demon thing?”

“Positive.” Matteo smiled, a baring of teeth. Reaching into the pocket of his black uniform trousers, he pulled out a little car that was very similar to the one I’d lost, except this one had a crucifix emblazoned on its tiny little hood.

I whistled, impressed. I’d looked at one of those the other day. It had been so far out of my price range.

“So what’s the plan? She’s not what you’re after, but she is a serious threat. Even if we put the barrier back up, she bespelled the kid last night as if there was no barrier. She might do it again.”

Bruno looked at his brother “Matty?”

Matty sighed. “We can’t afford to take anyone off of the main hunt. But if she got her hooks into the kid deep enough, she’ll be able to call him. I can’t take that risk. I’ll stay and deal with this.”

“Not alone you won’t.” That wasn’t diplomatic. Yes, he’d hunted bats professionally. But he hadn’t met her. I had. One person was so not going to take this one down.

“Excuse me?” Matty puffed himself up to his full height and would gladly have launched into me, but Bruno stepped between us.

“She didn’t mean it like that, Matt. And it’s an old bat. You yourself have said that any bat over two hundred needs at least a two-person team.”

Matty glared at me over his brother’s shoulder, but he didn’t argue, so Bruno continued. “Besides, it’s been a while since we worked together.”

Oh, Lord. Male bonding. Male family bonding. I had to put a stop to this before I drowned in testosterone. “Is Matty a mage, too?”

“Yessss.” Bruno drew the word out slowly. It was a subtle way of telling me that while Matty was a mage, he wasn’t in Bruno’s league. No surprise there, few are.

“I’m only ranked at a six.” Matty spoke calmly, but the flush was still there and his jaw was thrust out just a little more aggressively than I would’ve liked.

“Six is enough to do a trip wire, isn’t it?” I turned to Bruno for confirmation. I thought I remembered my lessons correctly, but my last class in the paranormal had been a long damned time ago.

He grinned, flashing deep dimples and showing a lot of white teeth. “Yes it is, you clever girl.”

Matty looked from one to the other of us. He was bright enough to know that he’d missed something, but he didn’t share enough of the same background and education to know exactly what. I could tell it irritated him, but beneath the frustrated anger there was a glimmer of comprehension. Until that moment I think he’d figured I was just arm candy that his brother had been infatuated with. Our being able to finish each other’s thoughts, however, meant there was more to our relationship than Matty had originally thought. And while his figuring that out didn’t change a damned thing, it did make me feel a little bit better. Because dammit, I’m not eye candy.

“Care to enlighten me?” He looked from Bruno to me, impatient for either of us to elaborate.

Bruno gave me the nod, so I started to explain.

“Either one of you could just put up the barrier. But if you do, she’ll sense it. And she’ll go somewhere else for tonight’s kill, and we might lose her.”

“I know that.” He scowled.

“But we don’t dare leave them unprotected knowing that she’s singled this place out, and that kid in particular.”

He was losing patience, but I wanted to make sure that we all were on the same page about the plan. If he wanted to be pissy, fine, but better safe than sorry. There was no room for error here. Not with lives at stake.

“So, we set up an invisible boundary line, a magical trip wire as it were. When she crosses over, it signals both of you and you each raise a perimeter—one in front of her, one behind. Trapped between them, she’ll be pinned down enough that we can take her out with minimal risk.”

I watched him rolling the plan over in his mind, looking for flaws. Honestly, I was surprised it wasn’t one of the standard plans used by the order, but then again, maybe they didn’t get a lot of mages. It wouldn’t surprise me. The church doesn’t pay nearly as well as the private sector, and while the militant orders only ask for a five-year stint, they still require abstinence for the duration. Not too many people are interested in that lifestyle anymore.

The plan wasn’t perfect by any means. First, it assumed she would come here, tonight. I thought she would. But I wasn’t a clairvoyant. I was basing the whole idea on a hunch and my personal experience of human nature. I’d bet money the vamp would strike here tonight—but not a lot of money.

Too, it would take a coordinated effort. And with both Bruno and Matty tied up working the spell, I’d have to to take her out. Not that I couldn’t do it. I’ve done for more than a few bats in my time, after all. Silver bullets and holy water to wound her enough to move in for a kill, then a stake, and beheading with an axe. Messy and gross, but effective. Of course, now that I had my spiffy new knives, it might be easier to use them for the kill. I’d still do the staking and beheading, after, and I’d still make sure the authorities took the body and the head to separate crematoria and spread the ashes over running water. Paranoid? Maybe. But I didn’t like taking chances. I particularly wasn’t going to take chances with a creature as old and powerful as this one.

“It could actually work.” There was an unflattering amount of surprise in Matty’s voice. Being a grown-up, I ignored it.

“Can you think of anything better?” Bruno challenged him.

Matty sighed. “No.” He made the concession with ill grace, but I appreciated his honesty.

“Between the three of us, we can handle one vampire.” Bruno sounded supremely confident.

Talk about your famous last words.

18

I should’ve been exhausted. God knows it had been a rough couple of days and I’d had too little sleep. But I was wired and jumpy, too tired to sleep. So I dropped Bruno off at his hotel, promising to pick him up well before sunset. The rest of the afternoon I spent running errands: visiting the attorney about Vicki’s funeral arrangements, seeing Isaac about making a replacement jacket and having it delivered ASAP. Dawna had texted me several times—about Bruno mostly, although she did send word that Gwendolyn Talbert had called me back.

That was one call I needed to return. I pulled off into a shady parking lot to dial.

“Hello.”

“Gwen? It’s me.”

“Celia! It’s good to hear your voice.” She paused. “I was so sorry to hear about Vicki. How are you holding up?”

“Not well,” I admitted. “Did you get my message?”

“Yes, and I can’t say how sorry I am that I can’t help you. When I retired I let my certification lapse. But I’ve got a few names for you. They’re really excellent. And if you’d be willing to try an inpatient stay—”

“No.”

She sighed. “I know you don’t like the idea. But admitting you need help is not a failure.”

“I’m not locking myself up, Gwen. Particularly not now. Not if I can help it.”