Chapter 16

Scarlett drifted off for a few minutes, jolting awake when Jesse pulled off the freeway. He followed Beatrice’s directions to Ariadne’s house, which qualified as at least a mansion, if not a palace. Four stories tall and made of deep-red brick, it stood out even on a street that was lousy with mansions. Every house on that Orange County street had a gate, but Ariadne’s was the only one that was standing open.

Jesse stood by, a little amused, while Scarlett rang the bell and then jogged a few steps back. A vampire opened the door, and he tried not to gasp. Beatrice had appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties, which sort of fit with the way Scarlett had described her and Dashiell. But this girl appeared to be twenty at the most, although her outfit may have affected his estimate. She’d gone completely goth: black hair, black lipstick, tiny gold nose ring, and sort of a black layered look, with tights, a short skirt, and at least three shirts. She looked like someone that vice would arrest on Hollywood Boulevard.

She looked them up and down and motioned them closer. “Hello,” the vampire said, twitching a bit. Jesse realized after a second that she was switching over to humanity. She turned to look at Scarlett. “I’m Ariadne, as you must know. You must be Scarlett Bernard. Great pants.”

“Uh, thanks,” Scarlett said, sounding a little nervous. “You’ve heard of me?”

“Sure.” Ariadne shrugged. “They’re so rare, your kind. Who’s your friend?” She nodded toward Jesse.

“Sorry, this is Officer Jesse Cruz. I’m sort of helping him with a problem.”

Jesse stepped forward, unsure if he should reach out for a handshake. He didn’t really want to touch this woman, human or not, he decided, so he kept his hands by his side. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I was wondering if we might have a few minutes of your time?”

“Of course,” Ariadne said, smiling genially. “Please come in.”

She led them deeper into the house. It was overdecorated, like his parents’, but where their house always smelled of spices, lilies, and dog, this one stank of age and decay. It looked like something straight out of Dickens. But although the furnishings were old and uncared-for, Jesse recognized them as very expensive. If Ariadne had this much money, why was she answering the door herself? Shouldn’t a vampire who was this rich and powerful have a legion of servants?

The three of them finally reached a Victorian-style sitting room, and Ariadne gestured to two elaborate blue silk armchairs, perching herself on the edge of the opposite matching couch. As if reading Jesse’s mind, she said, “You’ll have to excuse my lack of proper hospitality. My maid is on an errand, and I’m afraid I’m between butlers right now.” She smiled slyly, displaying a mouthful of sharp little teeth.

She was seriously giving Jesse the creeps, and that was as a human. He glanced at Scarlett, but she was just looking at him expectantly. His cue.

“Ma’am,” Jesse began, “I’m investigating several murders that took place in La Brea Park a few nights ago. Did you hear about that?”

“Oh, yes, I get all the papers,” Ariadne said happily. “I understand that it was quite the bloodbath.” She licked her lips, just like Gregory.

Jesse thought of the scene in the park and tried not to shudder. “Did you know the victims?”

Ariadne gazed pensively at the ceiling for a moment, frowning. “Let’s see...Joanna and I were friends, of course. I was terribly sad to hear that she had passed.” It was such a perfectly normal thing to say about a dead person, but sounded so strange coming out of her black-lipsticked mouth. “I never thought much of her boyfriend, Demetri. Oh, and everyone knew Abraham, of course.”

“Can you think of a reason why anyone would want to harm any of them?”

“Why, my dear boy, of course I can. Can’t you?” she said demurely, looking up at him through her eyelashes. When Jesse remained stone-faced, she sighed. “Fine. Take all the fun out of it.” Her eyes turned to Scarlett. “How much do you know, Miss Bernard, about our internal structure—or lack thereof?”

“Almost nothing,” Scarlett answered cautiously.

“As I imagined. Most vampires, including Dashiell”—the name was said with a hint of scornful hissing—“prefer to keep any of our history from the humans, even those in our employ.” Ariadne rolled her eyes a little. “But I’ve always found their need for secrecy a touch excessive. Who on earth would believe you? Besides, it is so easy to control humans’ minds. Well, most humans.” She licked her lips again and gazed over at Jesse.

He couldn’t help a little involuntary shiver, but managed to resist scooting closer to Scarlett, his protection.

“I’m assuming your young man is privy to our world, if he is accompanying you?”

Scarlett nodded.

“Well, then this will be educational for both of you.” She smoothed her black layers down as though they were the finest of gowns.

“Once, vampires had a governing council, a consortium, which made important decisions on behalf of all vampires. It was this consortium that decided that we would remain a secret from the humans. When the New World was discovered, however”—she gestured vaguely to the room—“the world became too big for a single source of authority to manage, and the consortium fell. There are now precious few vampires old enough to remember it at all. Without it, we took to governing ourselves.” Her eyes darkened. “For decades, vampires fought over territory, both here and in the older countries.