“That’s okay.” I stared at the dead woman. Twenty years old. She’d barely had a chance to live. I’d seen a lot of death, but for some reason the sight of Amanda lying there on the floor, her boyfriend weeping uncontrollably by her body, chilled me to the bone. I leaned against Curran, feeling the heat of his body seep through my T-shirt. I was so cold and I really needed his warmth.

CHAPTER 2

A caravan of black SUVs rolled into the parking lot, their enchanted water engines belching noise. Magic-powered cars didn’t move very fast and sounded like a rock avalanche hitting a speeding train, but they were better than nothing.

We watched the SUVs through the broken window, as they parked at the far end, killed the noise, and vomited people, vampires, and body bags. Ghastek emerged from the lead vehicle, ridiculously out of place in a black turtleneck and tailored dark pants. He came through the door, surveyed the scene for a second, and headed to us.

Curran’s eyes darkened. “I bet you a dollar he’s running over to assure me that we’re in no danger.”

“That’s a sucker’s bet.”

The Pack and the People existed in a very fragile state of peace. None of us wanted to do anything to jeopardize that.

The People were efficient, I gave them that. One crew went for the vampires, the other headed for the woman’s body, the third for the despondent journeyman. Two women and a man in business suits made a beeline for the booth where the owners sat.

Ghastek came close enough to be heard. “I want it to be clear: this was not an attempt to kill either of you. The journeymen weren’t supposed to be here and the guilty party will be harshly reprimanded.”

Curran shrugged. “Don’t worry, Ghastek. If this was an attempt, I know you’d bring more than two vampires.”

“What happened?” Ghastek asked.

“They were having dinner,” I told him. “They seemed happy together. The boy handed her a necklace and it choked her to death.”

“Just so I understand, Lawrence himself wasn’t personally injured?”

“No,” Curran said. “He’s in shock from watching his girlfriend die in front of him.”

Ghastek looked over the scene again, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here. “Once again, we’re dreadfully sorry for the inconvenience.”

“We’ll live,” Curran said.

One of the People stepped away from Amanda’s body. “The necklace adhered to her skin. There doesn’t appear to be any locking mechanism. It’s a solid band of gold.”

“Leave it,” Ghastek said. “We’ll remove it later.”

If I were them, I’d cut it off during tech and stick it into a hazmat container.