“I’m Josh.”

“You’re American.”

He laughed, and she could see his fangs gleam in his mouth. They were visible, but not fully extended. He was interested, but not coming on too strong. Nice.

“I am. Guessed that from the accent, did you?”

“Sorry. It’s nice to meet you, Josh. I’m Brigid. I don’t think I’ve ever met an American vampire before. I had…” She shook her head with a smile. “I don’t know what I was expecting, actually. A cowboy, maybe? Sorry.”

He laughed a little. “Well, American vampires mostly keep to themselves. Keep the Wild West safe for damsels. Drink buffalo blood and bed Indian maidens, that kind of thing.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re joking, right?”

Josh laughed again. “Yes. I’m joking. And I’m from Baltimore, not the Wild West.”

“Oh.” She could feel herself blushing. “I think I know where that is. On the East Coast?”

“You are correct. And you’re from here.”

“Guess that from the accent, did you?”

He sipped his champagne. “I did. And it’s a lovely one.”

“The tourists always think so. Sorry, my aunt loves old western movies from America. So I grew up thinking all American men sounded like John Wayne.” Josh burst into laughter and Brigid took a sip of champagne before she continued. “Imagine my surprise when I moved to Dublin and met the tourists.”

“I hope we weren’t too much of a shock to the young Irish lass.”

She frowned. “Did you just call me a lass?”

“I did. And a lovely one, too.”

He had kind eyes, she thought, but there was an edge of hunger there that marked him as a young one. She wondered whom he belonged to. He wouldn’t be far from his sire, if she was guessing correctly.

“Well, thanks. And who…” She trailed off, hoping he would offer the connection she was curious about.

“I’m in Dublin on business with my sire. He’s the host tonight.”

“Oh, the Italian fellow?”

Josh nodded. “Yes. I work in his organization.”

Well, that was a nice non-answer. What organization was he talking about? Brigid had the feeling that this Lorenzo was trying to keep a low profile for more than personal privacy reasons. She’d have to keep an ear out and see if anything seemed worth reporting to Murphy.

“And you?” Josh asked. “Who did you come with?”

“I came with Axel.” She gestured across the room. Axel was standing with his arm around Emily, but was watching Brigid, as well. “The tall one over—”

“Oh, yeah, I know Axel. He’s a good guy. Hangs out with me and my friends sometimes.”

“You know Axel? How long have you been in Dublin?”

“A few months. He hangs with us at our building over by the river sometimes. It’s kind of our after-hours place.”

She smiled. “What, like a pub?”

Josh shrugged. “More like a private club. It’s no big deal. Humans hang, too. I think the girl he’s with, Amelia—”

“Emily,” she said. “Her name’s Emily. She’s a good friend of mine; that’s why I came.”

“That’s cool. Yeah, she’s been there. It’s fun. We just listen to music. Hang out.” Josh’s eyes dropped to her neck, and Brigid could see the fangs grow longer in his mouth.

Drink blood from stupid girls you find. She rolled her eyes. “Well, that sounds like a… cool place, Josh.”

“The next time Axel and Emily come, you should go along.”

Not likely. “Sure, maybe.”

Josh put one arm against the wall and leaned closer to her. He sipped his champagne, so she did too. “So what do you do, Brigid? Are you a student?”

Her mouth lifted at the corner in amusement. “No. I work for Murphy.”

That surprised him. “Murphy? So…” He laughed a little. “What do you do? Computer work or something?” It was the most common job for a human employed by a vampire. Almost all city leaders kept a staff of humans whose sole responsibility was dealing with the technology the immortals couldn’t touch. The technology that was slowly taking over the modern world was completely out of their reach.

“Computer work,” she murmured. “Yes, something like that. I do a lot of work on computers.”

“That’s cool.”

It wasn’t a secret that Brigid worked for Murphy’s security team. In fact, most immortal residents of Dublin were aware of it, along with her relationship to Ioan and Deirdre. But if the young American was ignorant of her connections, it wasn’t her job to enlighten him. Josh was just about to say something else when another, slightly older, vampire sped to his side in a blur and grabbed his arm.

Josh looked over with a smile. “Sean, this is Brigid—”

“Lorenzo needs you.” The dark-haired Irish vampire with the frigid blue eyes looked her up and down. “Who’s this? She looks good.”

“Brigid. She’s a friend of Axel’s.” Josh lowered his voice. “And she works for Murphy.” He turned back to Brigid. “I need to go. It was nice meeting you. You should come with Axel and your friend sometime.”

Brigid lifted her glass of champagne. “Nice to meet you, too, Josh.” She deliberately ignored the invitation.