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"Lie down. You lost a lot of blood. Lucas, could you "
He stepped through the cabin door bearing a large glass and a carton of juice.
"Perfect," I said. "Thanks."
As I helped Jaime drink some of the juice, Benicio asked whether we thought a blood transfusion
should be arranged. Cassandra said it wasn't necessary, that the amount of blood Jaime lost would replace
itself without intervention. She'd know, I guess, so we took her word for it. When Jaime finished the juice
she lay down and closed her eyes.
"They aren't supposed to do that," she mumbled.
"Do what?" I asked.
She yawned. "Kill the messenger."
Another half-yawn, then Jaime's face went slack. I put my fingers to her neck. Her pulse was
steady. I pulled the blanket up over her and turned to the others.
"She's right," I said, keeping my voice low. "No matter how upset the ghost might be, it makes no
sense to try to kill Jaime. She's the only one it has any hope of communicating with."
"Unless it knew she wouldn't die," Lucas said. "If so, then one could construe it as a message of
sorts, telling us that it not only knows of Cassandra, but recognizes her by sight and knows that a vampire
can stop blood flow."
"It's a vampire," Cassandra said.
"Not necessarily," I said. "It knew that you could stop the bleeding any supernatural who's studied
vamps knows that. As for the bite marks, they were probably intentionally vampirelike, to drive home its
point about you."
"They weren't vampirelike. They were vampire."
"But "
"I know the bite of a vampire, Paige. I also know that there is one in this room besides me. I've
been around long enough that I can recognize my own kind faster than you can recognize a sorcerer."
"If our ghost is or was a vampire, that would explain why it can't make contact with Jaime,"
Lucas said. "It's trying to do the impossible."
I gave a slow nod. "Meaning that necromancers never hear from dead vampires, not because they
don't exist, but because wherever they exist, they're beyond contact. So now we probably know one thing
about our ghost. That's a start."
"Two things," Jaime murmured, her eyes still closed. "It's a vamp and it's a she."
Cassandra, Lucas, and I exchanged a look.
"Natasha," I whispered. "She's not missing. She's dead."
The Curse of Clear Vision
"When Edward attacked Dana, he said he was doing it for someone," I said. "Someone she heard
as 'Nasha.'" I looked at Benicio. "Something stopped the Nasts from putting an office in Cincinnati. A
problem that needed to be cleared up first. Would a local pair of serial-killing vampire immortality questers
count?"
He gave a slow nod. "A Cabal always investigates the local supernaturals before building a new
office. If they have minor concerns, they usually persuade the offenders to relocate. But in a case such as
this, on this scale, particularly one that involves vampires . . . the solution would be a permanent one."
"Kill them."
"Let me make some phone calls," Benicio said. "Before we jump to any conclusions."
"So now you think the Nasts will tell you the truth?"
"No, but with this much detail to prompt their memories, I know people who will."
***
A half-hour later Benicio confirmed our suspicions. The Nast Cabal had learned of Edward and
Natasha's murderous hobby, and decided they wouldn't make good neighbors. According to Benicio's
sources, the original plan had been to kill both, but the vampires had outwitted several assassins and fled the
country. Unwilling to accept failure so easily, the Cabal sent out one last hit man, who'd managed to behead
Natasha. The Nasts then made a mistake. They decided not to spend any more money chasing Edward
around the globe. By killing his mate, they'd taught him a lesson he'd not soon forget. And he hadn't.
"They killed Natasha, and he wants revenge," I said. "Understandable . . . when it comes to
attacking the Nasts. But what do the other Cabals have to do with it?"
Lucas looked at his father. "A vampire asked for a private meeting with you in July. The Nasts
executed Natasha at the end of August. Presumably, if several assassination attempts had been made, the
Nasts had been chasing the pair for at least a month. I would say that the timing of that request wasn't
coincidental."
"Edward wanted to speak to the Cortez CEO?" I said. "But why?"
"Presumably to request sanctuary," Lucas said. "That's not uncommon. If you are pursued by one
Cabal, the best place to go for help is to another Cabal. If the Boyds and St. Clouds were being honest with
us, I suspect they'd admit to similar requests."
"In other words, he went to each of the Cabals for help, and they each turned him down, wouldn't
even find out what he wanted. And that pissed him off enough to start killing their kids? This doesn't make
sense."
"No," Cassandra said, her first words since we'd begun. "It wouldn't. Not to you."
She moved to the window and opened the blind. For a moment, she just stared outside. Then she
turned back toward us.
"You have to see this from a vampire's point of view. Do I think such a slight is grounds for killing
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