Goose flesh spread across my arms and an unpleasant tingle ran down my spine. Everything I knew about vampire masters I’d learned from Remy and that was just enough to scare the bejesus out of me. Masters are old and powerful with powers far beyond any normal vampire. You can’t just stake a master, beheading is the only way to kill one. The most frightening thing about them is not their physical strength but their mental prowess. Only a Master can command other vampires and they literally create a small army of vampires to serve them and make them nearly invincible. Because of that, Masters used to live as openly as other vampires but fear of them drove hunters to start killing them off one by one a few hundred years ago. The Masters who survived went into hiding and now it is rare to even hear of one. A Master’s identity is their most closely guarded secret.

The waitress returned with David’s coffee. As soon as she left he said, “I see you know what that means. If Madeline somehow found out the identity or location of a Master, he would stop at nothing to find her, especially considering what she is.”

“You know what she is?”

He nodded gravely. “I wasn’t supposed to hear any of this but I knew something big was going down because my father did not scare easily. I hid upstairs while Madeline was there. Before she left, she said she was going to see Daniel – your father – to warn him. I saw in her aura that Daniel had no idea what she was.”

I felt a stab of pain in my chest at the mention of my dad. “What happened next?”

“After Madeline left, my father panicked and sent me to my grandparents’ house for a week. I never saw Madeline again and two days later your father was killed.”

My throat tightened and I swallowed dryly. “What about your father?” I asked hoarsely. “Did you ever ask him about what you overheard?”

Pain darkened his eyes. “My father was murdered on the same day as yours.”

A heavy silence fell over the table as we shared each other’s sorrow and pain. All these years I’d carried my grief alone because I knew no one could understand what I had been through. Now I sat across from someone who had suffered as much as I had.

“We used to own a laundromat. One of the employees found him and it was… pretty bad. They wouldn’t let me see him and my grandparents had him cremated.” He took a shaky breath. “My mom died when I was little so I lived with my grandparents after my father died. I never told anyone about Madeline. I was afraid they would find out and come after me too.”

I found my voice at last. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it must have been for you.”

“You do know, don’t you?” he said sadly. “What about you? You were so young when it happened. Where did you end up?”

“An uncle took me in.” I was still reluctant to give up my personal information but it was no use lying to an Emote as good as David.

“I bet that was rough. My grandparents are good people but it was hard after…”

I nodded. “I was pretty messed up after my dad died and it took me a long time to learn to deal with it. I don’t think it would have mattered where I went because nothing could have changed what I went through.”

“True.” David sipped his coffee and made a face. “I see you didn’t pick this place for the coffee.”

“The milkshakes are good.” I toyed with my cup lid. “Thanks for telling me all this. I see why you were so spooked at the Attic. You have even more reason than I do to be scared of vampires.”

“I doubt that.” He added more sugar to his cup and stirred it thoughtfully. “I heard the police found you with the… with your father’s body. Is that true?”

“I found him.”

“Jesus,” he rasped.

I made sure no one was close enough to hear us. “I’ve always known what killed my dad but I never understood why they went after him. I guess I know why now.”

David nodded and stared out the window for a minute before his eyes returned to me. “Are you like Madeline?”

“I’m nothing like her.”

He held up his hands. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant, are you Mohiri? I heard my father call her that. I tried to find out what I could about them but they are very secretive. All I’ve been able to learn is they are some kind of warrior race and very deadly.”

“I know about them,” I admitted. “But I am no warrior, trust me.” He nodded in acceptance and I remembered that my aura would tell him if I lied.

“Madeline left us when I was two so I wouldn’t even know her if she walked up to me.” A vague memory surfaced of a beautiful blond woman in a worn picture in my dad’s wallet.

“You don’t look like her. I never would have guessed you were her daughter. Her hair was so blond it almost looked white and she was tall with blue eyes.”

“That’s something, I guess,” I muttered.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Back then I was terrified that they’d realize my father had a kid and track me down. I used to wonder what happened to Daniel Grey’s daughter and I hoped they didn’t come back for you.”

“What would vampires want with a kid?” A shiver ran through me at the thought of facing something like Eli when I was eight.

“They’re monsters,” was his reply. I rubbed my arms to ward off the chill.

“You have nothing to worry about now though. No one who saw you would ever think you’re related to Madeline. If they ever did come back, they’d look for someone blond and –”