Demetrius (5 page)

Her father might actually buy that. “Fine. How did we meet?” Calli maneuvered through Freemont’s streets. Demetrius’ facility was several miles out of town so she and Ophelia were using the drive to fabricate a story.

“What do you do for fun?”

“As far as my father knows, nothing.”

“Girl, you are twenty-four damn years old. Why the hell is your father dictating your every move?”

I ask myself that every day.
“It’s a long story.”

Ophelia gave an
mmm-hmm
and stared out the window.

“How about the library?” Calli offered. “I go there sometimes in the winter. When it gets darker earlier I can get there before they close.”

“Try not to get too wild.” Ophelia sounded so patronizing, Calli wanted to dump her out of the car yelling “tuck and roll!”

“I do other stuff, but it’s nothing my father knows about or would approve of. Why I keep it secret from him, and why he’d care if he knew, is my business.”

“Let me be the first to give you a head’s up. If your father really is possessed by a demon, then we need to know your business.”

“Until then, keep your judgment to yourself, Ophelia.”

Calli felt those shrewd gold eyes fall back on her. “Judging others has kept me alive. It’s kept my team alive. So this is it: we met at the library, two vampires who like to read old human shit, and we got to talking. You don’t go out much, I’m new to town, we hit it off. We got to discussing books and you want to show me what you have at home. Good enough?”

“What’s your last name?”

“For now, it’ll be Johnson.”

“That’s not a very vampire last name.”

“No, it’s a blend-into-society last name. My very vampire last name would make your dad suspicious. We should also use a different first name. Ophelia is too distinct. How about Lia?”

“Nice to meet you Lia Johnson.” Calli glanced over and saw Ophelia’s lips quirk. There was hope for this “friendship” yet.

“Backatcha, Callista.”

“Oh, you can call me Calli.”

“Done. Is this it?” Ophelia sat forward and Calli wondered if she’d say anything about the condition of her house. “Not what I expected.”

“Yes.” Calli didn’t elaborate or make excuses; she knew the state of disrepair became more obvious as each year passed.

She pulled into the garage, cringing. Ophelia looked down the expanse of empty space, briefly resting on her father’s Rolls, then looking back at Calli.

“Are you sure you’re being upfront?”

“My father might’ve been on the council, but when my mother ran off, she took all of our funds. Since Demetrius took over, we’ve had little income.” Calli shrugged, her resentment toward the handsome male rose back to a simmer.

It was easy to blame him; even easier after she’d met him.

“Your family’s financial state is something we should know about. It could be the motivation behind your father seeking demonic assistance.”

“We’ve been broke for years. My father never recovered from my mother leaving him.”

“Calli.” Ophelia had the same tone as TV detectives. “Your father lost his job last year. Your mother left how many years ago?”

“Seventeen.” Seventeen next week on her birthday to be exact.

“So for all those years, he had a hell of an income, even if your mom wiped him out when she left. Where did it all go?”

Calli shrugged, uncomfortable airing her family’s dirty laundry. “We had servants for a few years, but eventually my father whittled it down to one who attempted to keep up with maintenance. We had to let him go a few years back.”

“Okaaay. But council members had whole teams of staff working for them and still had enough money to send their kids to fancy private schools, throw elaborate parties, rub it in others’ faces. But I’m gettin’ the impression, you didn’t grow up like that?”

Calli shook her head. She’d accepted her life, was proud of all she’d accomplished, but hearing it pointed out…stung.

“We need to find out where that money went.”

“Agreed.” Calli couldn’t let pride interfere; she’d been naïve in these matters for too long.

“Tomorrow night, come back to headquarters to meet with Demetrius. You can dig up whatever you can on your family’s expenses and we’ll go over our findings from tonight.”

A kaleidoscope of butterflies went crazy in Calli’s stomach at the mention of Demetrius’ name. “Can’t I just work with you?”

She was more comfortable with Ophelia than the egotistical vampire who kept her hormones unstable.

“I get it, you hold a grudge against D, but he’s not evil. He
is
helping you.”

She was going to ignore that. “We’d better get inside before my father gets suspicious.” Calli grabbed her purse and hit the button for the garage door.
Please shut, please shut
.

It sounded like there were no less than eight screws loose, but the door shut on its own, salvaging some of Calli’s pride.

Calli opened the door into the house and jumped.

Her father stood on the other side of the foyer, watching her with those black eyes.

“Father! I was just coming to let you know I brought a friend over. This is Lia Johnson.” After getting to know Ophelia better during the drive, she felt more genuine talking about her. Less chance that her father would sense deception.

The black eyes slid off Calli to look behind her.

“Hey, Mister A,” Ophelia said cheerfully.

Calli forced a chipper smile to her face. “Since we met at the library, and I gushed about my collection, I invited her over.”

Displeasure rippled over her father’s face. Ophelia drew up next to her and her father scanned her new friend’s body. There was a very male interest in their depths, and it would’ve been embarrassing if it didn’t feel so dirty and so unlike her father.

“Lia and I will head to my room first, and then I’ll show her the library.”

“Welcome, Lia.” He lingered on her name. Calli wanted to throw up a little in her mouth.

“Father, do you need anything?”

The look he gave her said, yes, he needed much, and it was in Calli’s best interest not to find out. Finally, he stepped aside so Calli and Ophelia could pass.

When they entered her room, Calli sagged against the door. Ophelia was smart enough not to speak her thoughts, lest her father overhear, but the look she gave her said it all.

Creepy
, Ophelia mouthed.

Calli nodded emphatically. “Let me show you my favorite books.” She went to her bookshelf and grabbed them. She didn’t trust that thing outside her room to not spy on them.

Chapter Five

Demetrius tapped his desktop impatiently, waiting for Ophelia and Callista. It had bugged the shit out of him that he couldn’t be the one to accompany Callista to her home. He wanted to think it was because he was a control freak, and his gut told him that Edgar Augustus was an important key to figuring out their demon dilemma. Yes, he would think that. His feelings had nothing to do with the gorgeous blonde possessing amazing eyes.

“Hey, D. She’s not here yet?” Ophelia strode into his office and plopped into a chair. “That’s right, she said she’d drive somewhere and flash here.”

“Do you want to update me on anything else?”

Demetrius had met Ophelia as soon as she’d returned early this morning. The female was frustratingly tight-lipped. All she said was “dude’s not right” and “Calli will try to get finance documents” and that they’d meet with him tonight.

He’d had plans to find someone to feed on tonight. It’d been a while, and even though he didn’t fancy luring a blood meal in, he had to make himself do it before he weakened. Going a little longer without feeding wouldn’t hurt him, even though his craving magnified once Ophelia mentioned
her
name. And that was ridiculous. It was only true mates who couldn’t stick their fangs (or anything else, poor bastards) into another body before the bond was complete. Callista wasn’t his true mate, so his blood craving wouldn’t be fazed by her presence or absence.

His phone rang and he tapped the answer button. “Yeah.”

“Callista Augustus here to see you, Master.” Betty’s voice was brusque, professional. She must’ve watched an episode of Mad Men recently. The television show set in 1960s New York was always touted around the office. Demetrius suspected that decade had been her favorite out of her long life.

“Send her in.” Demetrius cut the connection.

He smelled her coming before he saw her. Wildflowers in bloom. Did she have a special lotion fit for a vampire’s sensitive smell? He didn’t think so. She should be the high-maintenance type, but he hadn’t seen evidence of it yet.

The last time she was in his office, she had a sexy expensive appeal. Tonight, she was dressed in worn jeans that hugged her rounded hips all the way down to her shapely ankles. The ballet flats she wore were black while her cashmere sweater was mint green. She looked lovely.

“Callista,” he acknowledged.

Her guarded expression switched to indignation at the sound of his voice. Yeah, he got that. He was annoyed how his body reacted to her presence. Or the thought of her presence. Or her scent. Or the way her scent had lingered in his office for hours in way that made him not leave until damn near noon, making him short of sleep and cranky.

She sat in the chair next to Ophelia across from him.

“Something’s going on with her dad,” Ophelia started right in. “I was able to meet him. He didn’t offer to shake hands or anything, but I felt like he wanted to consume me whole. Calli, what did you think?”

Callista blushed slightly and it was damn adorable. “Yes, it was very inappropriate.”

“His eyes are black. Like, does this Malachim even want to hide the fact that he’s using ol’ Edgar as a puppet? I mean, I’ve never met someone who was possessed, but I bet that I did last night.”

“Then, when we went to the library,” Callista’s stunning eyes met his, “I could tell he’d been in there and rearranged books. There were new gaps on the shelves. I made a list of the titles that I can remember.”

“Yeah, all that was left were old encyclopedias and genre novels. Calli, did you get any of the financials?”

“What’s this about money?” Demetrius asked as Callista nodded.

Callista dropped her gaze. “I was always told mother left us and took all of our money. I thought that’s why we couldn’t afford what other council families could, but Ophelia helped open my eyes. I always helped around the house, left all the paperwork to my father, so I just assumed… I trusted him.”

Her helpless shrug twanged one of his heartstrings. Dammit, he had a soft spot for those who got taken advantage of. It was why he was where he was at; why the Vampire Council had to come to an end. He didn’t need to feel any more protective around her.

“I think her dad’s been up to something with the funds. Calli said she was homeschooled, and they only had one servant while she was growing up. Other than that, she was banned from associating with anyone.”

Demetrius frowned and tried to catch Callista’s gaze, but her eyes were remained downcast, avoiding him. “I don’t believe in coincidences. Why did your mother leave?”

Her blue eyes flicked up to him, filled with sadness. “I heard them fighting. I think it was about me. They disagreed about something and she was gone the next morning.”

He glanced at Ophelia, who, by the crease in her brow, had the same questions he did. “And you’ve never heard from her since?”

She shook her head, and he saw the little girl who didn’t understand why her mother never came back.

“So what do you have?” His heart went out to her. His own parents were cold, unfeeling bastards to everyone else but him…and his sister. If he were to wake up one day and one was gone for seemingly no reason, it’d be hard to understand even as an adult.

Drawing a phone out of her purse, she clicked through it and then set it on his desk. “I took pictures. There were several locked cabinets I couldn’t get into, but I snapped a shot of everything I thought might mean something. Father’s old school. Everything’s on ledgers, not on a computer.”

Demetrius grabbed the phone and paged through photos. The clarity was surprisingly good. He tried enlarging several of them, pleased that he could make out Edgar’s boxy numbers.

“You’ll see that before my father’s income was cut off, he made consistently large payments to a private bank.”

Just glancing through, he saw what she was talking about. He handed the phone back to her. “Send them to me so I can study them.”

The phone got tossed onto his desk. “Keep it. I can’t afford a service plan. All it’s good for is taking pictures.”

His fingers snapped up the phone. It was still warm from her,
and
he got to keep it. “We’ll look into it, find the owners of the account, and maybe that will tell us what he was paying for. In the meantime, you need to go home and keep acting normal, Callista.”