Marie stood up and dusted her knees off. She visited two more bars after that but the vampires were from Westfall both times. Worse, they had no new information to give. Marie picked the bar that would be her last stop for tonight. If nothing new came up, she would just head back to her house after this. No sense spending any more time on this when the result would end up being the same.
She wandered around until she found another bar. This one was only half filled. Marie chose a booth towards the back. She surveyed the room. There were already several vampires here but none that weren’t in a group or already with someone. If she waited, one of the vampires in the group might separate and go solo but it was also just as likely that they never separate and she just wasted her time. Marie was thinking of just calling it a night when a lone vampire walked through the door. Unfortunately, the vampire was someone familiar.
Adrian spotted her almost immediately and headed over. He slid into the booth and leaned forward as if they had agreed to meet.
“This doesn’t seem like a place you would enjoy." His polite mask was in place and his tone was almost friendly.
“What do you want?” There was no point asking why he was here.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“No.” They must have crossed paths out there somewhere. Even if he had someone following her, they would have been affected by the spell as well.
“Taking a break?”
“I don’t drink.”
“Did you find something new?”
“No.” Marie stood up and he followed.
“Giving up on your meeting?
“There is no meeting.” Marie picked a direction at random and until she came to an alley. She turned down the alleyway and continued walking. Her plan was to keep going until she found something familiar or he led the way.
“Where are you going?”
“To the house.”
“This is the wrong direction.”
“Then lead the way.” Marie stopped and faced him, waiting for him to lead.
“Lost?” He stopped next to her, his skeptical gaze swept over her.
“I can show you the way.” Another vampire came from an adjoining side alley and blocked off their way forward. His long hair was wild and tangled around his face. His shirt and jeans were both ripped and the bottom of one pant leg was stained.
“Leave.” Adrian stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the other vampire.
“She doesn’t look like she likes you.” She leaned to the side and peered at the other man. The vampire frowned as he glowered at Adrian. “I could show you a good time.” He gave her a smile that showed teeth and took a step forward. Adrian took a step forward as well. At this point, she just wanted to go home. Marie stepped around Adrian and touched the vampire briefly before walking past him. The vampire collapsed.
“What did you do?” Adrian’s voice was sharp as he knelt by the vampire.
“Used a spell. He’ll be unconscious for about ten minutes.” It wasn’t like he was part of Stone Oak. Why did Adrian care if she knocked out another vampire?
“Is this what you’ve been doing to every vampire you come across?” Adrian narrowed his eyes at her. It wasn’t like she killed anyone. Marie crossed her arms. “Answer the question.”
“Did you want to fight?”
“No.” The vampire groaned a little and flipped onto his back. “We should go before he wakes up.” Adrian led the way back to the main street and from there back to her house.
She opened the back door and went over to the coffee maker. She started it up as Adrian leaned his back against the counter and crossed his arms. Was she going to have to deal with him for the rest of the night?
“Why were you out there?”
“I was gathering information.”
“What kind of information?”
“I was trying to contact Bel Meade.”
“Why?”
“To see the body.” The coffee maker beeped and she turned and poured a cup for the both of them.
“There wouldn’t be anything left.”
“Is Noah that old or do you know something for sure?” She handed a cup to him before leaning against the counter. It was better to just answer his questions. She didn’t need him following her to the study.
“I haven’t seen the body either but what would it be able to tell you?” Marie briefly pressed her lips together as she contemplated whether or not to tell him. Since it concerned the circle, she might as well tell him.
“Noah wasn’t killed to summon the demon.” Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know that?”
“The death used to summon the demon was old. A couple of months old.” Marie had a passive ability that was able to give her vague information about whether someone had died in the area and how long ago it was. It was useful since demons dealt in death. This death had felt old.
“Is that when the demon was summoned?”
“No. They just used the death that was hanging around. Death leaves behind energy that can be used to summon demons but only recent death can be used. Eventually, the energy fades away.”
“Someone else died to summon the demon. So why was Noah there?”
“That’s why I want to see the body.”
“Did you get anything from the vampires you questioned?”
“No. They just said the same things. That Bel Meade hadn’t been seen downtown and Westfall was taking advantage.”
“How did you know if what they told you was true?”
“I used a truth spell. It changes colors according to what someone says.” Marie held her hand out in front of her and cast the spell. A small golden flame swayed on her palm. She raised her hand slightly so he could get a better look.
“My name is Mark.” The flame turned red for a moment before going back to gold. “My name is Adrian.” The flame turned blue. “Blue for truth and red for lies.” He stared at the flame as he spoke. Again the flame went blue. “Does it work on you?”
“Why would it?” She closed her hand around the flame, extinguishing it. Adrian studied her for a moment before narrowing his eyes. He sipped his coffee but didn’t say anything. Marie didn’t wait around and went back to her study, closing the door behind her.
She leaned against the door of her study and sipped her coffee. Hmm. Her mistake ended up providing her with information. Not information she wanted but it was something to keep in mind. The truth spell was supposed to be visible only to her. She had forgotten to make it visible to him when she had cast the spell. Her only thought was to hurry up and show him so she could get back to work.
But he had seen it change color.
There was only one explanation for that.
Magic sight.
Adrian could see magic. It was probably how he got around the barrier at the apartment. If he knew where the barrier ended then he could go around it. Tonight hadn’t been a waste after all.
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