Demigod Down (21 page)

…

I was early at Kass’s playing with Hannah and
her new my little ponies when Jane arrived.

“Grandma!” Hannah cried out, running to greet
her. “What’d you bring me?” Hannah asked, jumping up and down.

Leaning against the couch, I laughed as Kass
tried to explain why that wasn’t an appropriate thing to say to a
toddler.

“We have lots of time to make up for.” Jane
said pulling out a new toy.

Hannah jumped in excitement before making
Kass unpack it in the kitchen.

“Hello, Olivia,” she greeted me.

“Hi Jane,” I answered, smiling. “You are
going to spoil her.” I said.

“Probably.” She agreed with a shrug, “But
that is the joy of being a grandparent.”

Kass came back without Hannah and her purse.
“Ready to go?” The guys are taking Hannah fishing.”

“Yep.” I said, pushing off the floor
following her to her car. I let Jane have the passenger seat and I
could tell Kass was nervous with her, even though she was thus far
awesome.

“Tell me about your dress, Kass,” Jane said
as we pulled out of the driveway.

Kass sent her a single quick glance at Jane
before fidgeting in her seat.

“Have you picked out a dress?” Jane asked,
her eyes not leaving Kass who blew out a shaky breath.

Kass sent a look back at me in the rearview
mirror. I had no idea how to help, so I kept my mouth shut, which
didn’t happen very often.

“No,” Kass finally answered. “I haven’t
looked at dresses.”

“Oh dear girl why not?” Jane asked.

Kass shrugged and I felt her sadness before
she sucked in a shaky breath. “As foolish as it is, I was hoping my
mom would be coming into town,” Kass said, clearing her throat.

“Oh,” Jane said, casting a look back at
me.

I didn’t know much about Kass’s family life.
What I did know was that her mom had and possibly still had a drug
problem. She had left Kass to fend for herself when she was fifteen
years old and despite that or maybe because of that, Kass had not
only survived but thrived.

“Do you want me to find her, Kass?” I asked
gently from the backseat, leaning up to squeeze her shoulder
reassuringly.

“No,” Kass said pulling her tears back, “I
know where she is.”

I raised an eyebrow, opening my mouth to
voice my next question.

“And no, Olie,” she said with a half-laugh,
“I do not want you to drag her here either.”

I smiled, “The offer stands.”

“Would you like to look at dresses today?”
Jane offered.

“If we have time, yes, I’d love to.” Kass
stated as we pulled into the parking lot. She dried her eyes and
blew out a breath before giving us both a smile.

“Let’s get a look at Olie’s dress first,” she
said as we got out of the car.

“Sure.” I said, giving her a side hug, which
she leaned gratefully into.

We had the same exceptionally happy sales
lady as before, who was thrilled to hear we also wanted to look at
wedding dresses and mother of the groom dresses.

Standing on the stage, I turned as Jane
analyzed my dress. She pulled at the slit up my hip. “You are okay
with that much skin showing?” she asked.

“Yeah, it gives me room to kick in case I
have to throw down,” I answered her.

“You expect trouble?” Jane asked with a
raised eyebrow.

“Trouble follows Olie around just looking for
a prime opportunity to strike,” Kass said, sitting on a sofa.

“That’s pretty accurate,” I agreed.

Jane shrugged, pulling on the cross over top.
“It’s simple, yet elegant with a few key pieces of jewelry and a
new hair color, I think it’s stunning.”

Kass preened at her praise as I turned
around, smiling at her, “This the winner?” I asked.

“Yes, this is a winner,” she agreed.

Their excitement was contagious as I changed
back into my normal clothing and ordered my size.

“That’ll arrive in six to eight weeks,” the
grinning sales lady informed me.

“That’s not going to work. I need it in two
to three weeks,” I informed her.

She blinked at me rapidly, looking back down
at her papers, “I can put a rush on it, but it will cost
double.”

I managed not to voice my groan as I handed
over my credit card. Talk about a buzz kill. Slapping a forced
smile on my face, I went to Kass as she began pouring through
white, cream, and fluffy wedding dresses.

The saleswoman came over periodically to take
the current winners to her dressing room, which must have been
overflowing at this point.

When both Jane and Kass had finally exhausted
the reserves of the store, I took a seat on the couch, waiting for
each of them to wow me with their outfits.

Jane was out first in a tasteful and very
conservative pastel green dress with suit jacket. I wrinkled my
face in the mirror and she laughed. She said, “I feel far too old
in this one,” before heading into the changing room.

Kass came out next in a pure white, floor
length dress with a dropped waist, off the shoulders straps and
delicate bead work all over. “Wow!” I said, getting up to help her
on the stage. “You look amazing in that dress!” Indeed, her light
olive skin set was a perfect contrast to the white.

“Don’t let her change!” Jane demanded from
the dressing room.

“Let’s add a veil,” the saleswoman offered,
pulling out a beaded vail to tuck into Kass’s curly hair.

“Wow,” I said again. “Do you like it?” I
asked.

Kass smoothed down her dress as Jane made a
hasty exit, stopping in wonder.

“Oh darling,” she began taking Kass’s hands,
“You are a vision.”

Kass smiled, tears glistening in her eyes.
She said, “But it’s the first one.”

“I know, but it’s my favorite.” Jane said,
wiping a tear away. “I am so excited for you to marry my son.” She
whispered. “You are so wonderful with Hannah and I know you and
Darren will do well by our new grandbaby as well.”

Kass smiled giving a tearful, “Thank
you.”

I watched it all with a gentle smile.
“Alright dress number two from both of you,” I demanded. Their
emotions were sweet, but were making me uncomfortable.

Nothing Kass tried on even held a candle to
the first dress and I told her such repeatedly until at last she
tried it on again.

Jane had decided on a pale pink satin
sleeveless dress with delicate embroidering on the short jacket and
hem. We both sat while Kass tried on her dress again, glowing with
excitement as she exited the dressing room.

“You guys really like this one the best?” she
asked, stepping onto the platform turning around.

“You look radiant, dear,” Jane said, fluffing
out her train.

“Olie?” She asked, looking for me in the
mirror uncertainly.

I gave her a soft smile, going to stand in
front of her pulling the veil around her shoulders. “You always
look beautiful and radiant Kass,” I started, softly looking into
her bright brown eyes, “But this dress, like Darren make you happy
and for that reason alone I think it’s the one,” I told her
honestly.

She wrapped her arms around me, holding me
close while trying to fight back tears. “Thank you.”

“So does that mean we have a winner?” The
saleswoman asked hopefully.

“Yes, we will take it all, veil and jewelry,”
Jane said handing over her credit card.

“Jane – no you don’t have to do that,” Kass
said, reaching for her.

“I am well aware I don’t have to my dear, but
I want to,” Jane said, taking her hand. “Let’s get you changed. I
don’t know about you two, but I could eat a horse.”

Checking out took forever and at the mention
of food, I was salivating. Finally, we headed out without our
dresses as we all had fitting appointments where they would be
needed again.

We had just sat down with our sandwiches when
Blake called.

“Hey,” I greeted him, happy to hear from him,
but also ready for bad news.

“I need your help with missing vampires in
Oklahoma. Can you be at home in an hour?” He asked. The background
noise was loud and distracting.

“It will be tight, but I think I can do it,”
I told him warily.

“Great,” he said, ending the call. I looked
at my phone with too many emotions and thoughts swirling around my
head.

“Everything okay?” Kass asked, not having the
advantage of shifter hearing.

“Yeah, Blake asked me to tag along to
Oklahoma to investigate missing vampires,” I told her, stowing my
phone again.

Kass nodded, “This is your third time
there?”

“Yep, something isn’t right,” I muttered. It
didn’t take a brain surgeon to make that jump of logic.

I picked up my car from Kass’s, said goodbye
to everyone, and was packed before Blake rushed through the
door.

“Olie!” he called out.

“Up here,” I yelled back.

He cleared the steps with his vamp speed, “I
don’t plan on being there long,” he said, raising an eyebrow at my
full bag as I kissed him.

I shrugged. “You never know, I feel better
having my stuff with me,” I answered him as he threw a few things
into a small bag.

“You ready?” he asked, picking up my bag
easily.

“I think so. I just need to take some weapons
out of my car,” I answered, following him downstairs.

Opening up the back of my SUV, Blake
whistled. “Just a few weapons?” He asked.

I shrugged. “You never know what you are
going to need.”

“Maybe we should just take your vehicle.” He
laughed as I tossed him the keys.

Sliding into the passenger seat, Blake handed
me the files of the missing vamps. “How many went missing?” I
asked, shocked at the thickness of the files.

“Six, that we know of, one was from the
Centennial House,” He answered, pulling out of the drive.

“Any of the other houses coming out to
investigate?” I asked, opening the first file.

“Yes, they have already sent their liaisons
out, but he didn’t find anything,” he stated, adding under his
breath, “which isn’t surprising.”

“Why isn’t that surprising?” I asked,
skimming the information in the file.

“The Mason house isn’t known for their
ability to handle house matters well,” Blake answered. “In the last
ten years, there have been at least two Masters that I know
of.”

I whistled. “That’s a high number for
vampires,” I stated.

“I know, which is why we have to go babysit
them.” He grunted.

I shrugged, looking out the window as the
city fell away, “Honestly, I would be going back again, something
isn’t right in that damn state.”

I read the rest of the files on our way out
there. The vampires were exceptionally thorough with phone logs for
the last week along with interviews with familiars, who were the
more modern and well treated form of a pet. There were statements
from their banks, along with additional interviews with their house
members.

“Nothing seems out of the ordinary,” I
muttered, putting the files down rubbing my burning eyes.

“Agreed,” Blake growled.

“Why were they in Miami?” I asked.

“That I do not know, but I plan to find out,”
he informed me.

As we neared town, Blake asked me, “Check
into the hotel first or head to the scene of the
disappearance?”

“Hotel,” I stated confidently, “The last
thing you want to do is check in bloody or slimy or answer
questions from prying, nosey eyes.”

Blake cracked a smile and said, “You have
experience with all of those?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” I answered him.
“I had to convince the police I was a stunt woman for an upcoming
horror movie.”

Blake laughed and said, “I can’t believe they
bought that line.”

I smiled and said, “They wanted to believe
it, they were at the end of their shift and it didn’t take more
than a nudge to have them on their way.”

The hotel Blake stopped at was far nicer than
anything I was use. I whistled as we pulled up.

“We are doing this in vampire style,” he said
proudly before exiting the car.

I shook my head following him in as he took
care of the arrangements. The marble floor and delicate arch work
of the lobby were by far out of my price range, not to mention the
butlers who were looking for our luggage.

Blake sent me a look and I shook my head,
best to keep our limited belongings on us in case we needed a
change of clothing or a quick getaway, also learned that lesson the
hard way.

The sun had set and darkness hung in heavy
shadows between the limited street lights that disappeared
altogether as we drove from the hotel and to the site of the
disappearances.

“How did you find out about his location
again?” I asked the hairs on the back of my neck standing up with
unease as we excited my SUV. We moved to the back to gather
supplies.

“One of the missing vampires had it written
down in their phone and we were able to hack the app,” he answered,
taking inventory of my weapons collection.

I began by strapping throwing knives to my
thighs, followed by a double shoulder harness, and my guns loaded
with silver bullets. I rounded out the outfit with my favorite
dagger in the small of my back before I looked back up at
Blake.

He was watching me with humor, “Baby, I’ll
take care of you,” he teased, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I smiled up at him and said, “Never hurts to
be ready for the worst.” I informed him grabbing my head lamp and
flashlight.

He leaned down to capture my lips in a tender
kiss before closing the back of the SUV, pocketing the keys. His
demeanor changed to that of a predator in a quick movement and I
followed him, turning on just my headlamp and not the high powered
flashlight in my hand so I wouldn’t interfere with his night
vision.

“How far are we from Grove?” I asked Blake,
pushing through the thick, dense, undergrowth.