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her boobs. She caught my eye and yanked her shirt down a little lower. “Like what you see, fang-girl? They may not be perky but they’re all mine.”
    Mildly horrified, but also insanely amused, I let loose with a laugh. “I swing that way but I’m spoken for. At least as far as women go.”
    Bette snorted, then pulled her cigarette out of her mouth and tamped it out in the ashtray next to her. She sobered. “Shimmer said that she was meeting a new friend for coffee. This was . . . oh . . . five . . . six days ago. I didn’t think anything of it. That’s the only thing that stands out in my mind. She said that she met him online. She also told me that she was going to break up with Carter. She liked him, but they didn’t have enough in common.”
    â€œWas she angry at Carter at that point?” If she had been angry, then the mood shift had begun before Carter had suspected.
    But Bette shook her head. “No. In fact, she seemed sadly resigned to it. Said they just weren’t compatible but that she had learned a lot about herself from the brief time they’d been together.”
    â€œDid she mention the name of the man she was going to meet?” Alex moved forward, a troubled look on his face.
    Bette squinted, concentrating. After a minute, she looked up. “Actually, she did. Julian.”
    â€œ
Julian?
”
    I stared at Alex. We had spoken at the same time.
    Before I could open my mouth, Alex leaned over Bette’s desk. “Julian? Why didn’t you tell me this before? Are you certain?”
    Okay,
this
was interesting.
    Bette frowned, worrying a nail with her teeth. “Yeah, sugar plum. Julian.” Then she paused, a look of recognition crossing her face and she clapped her hand to her mouth. “
Oh no
. You don’t think . . .”
    â€œYeah, I
do
think. I knew he was on this side of the pond, and I knew he’d come looking for me sooner or later. Ten to one, it’s him. Damn it! He’s using Shimmer to get to me and now she’s caught in the crossfire.” Without missing a beat, Alex slammed his fist into the wall, shaking the room and leaving a lovely hole where the drywall had been.
    â€œCare to let us in on the secret?” I caught his eye. He looked ready to spit nails and I could sense his inner predator rising.
    â€œJulian’s an old enemy.” Alex’s gaze never left mine. “He’s a vampire, and he’s a sorcerer. Two hundred years ago, he swore he’d track me down and make me pay. It looks like he’s decided to collect.”

Chapter 4
    Camille sank to one of the seats. Delilah joined her. I stared at Alex and Bette. Bette lit up another cigarette and both Delilah and Camille coughed.
    I turned to Alex. “We happen to be on the trail of a group of rogue vampires. They’re turning people right and left. We have reason to believe that they may be connected with a vampire named Julian. He’s supposedly set up an underground nightclub. We just found out about this today.”
    â€œOh, for fuck’s sake. That would be just like him.” Alex shook his head, grimacing.
    I leaned against the counter. “So. We seem to have a problem.”
    This put a whole new spin on matters. If Shimmer had gotten herself involved with a rogue vamp, it could only mean trouble. Vampire glamour worked on just about any species. If Shimmer was already stressed out and weakened, then she’d be more vulnerable.
    â€œUnderstatement of the year, love.”
    â€œSo tell us, why does Julian have it in for you? What did you do?” I knew better than to accept a brush-off and a plea of innocence. Alex was a likable sort, but I doubted he’d ever seen an innocent a day in his life.
    He flashed us a boyish grin. “Two hundred years ago, I had an affair with Julian’s wife and turned her when she asked me to. Then, she kicked me to