Neck Deep In Vampires (A BBW Urban Fantasy) by Georgette St. Clair Read Free Book Online Page B

wondered if I could get away wit h bringing this matter to Simon’s attention.  Would it be enough cause for him to break his vow, and take direct action? Would it get me out of having to kill Andreas myself?
                  I was afraid that even this latest offense wouldn’t be enough.  The family bond of loyalty was incredibly strong, as was their deathbed promise to their mother, who always held out hope for Andreas’ redemption.
                  If I went to Simon and told him what I’d seen in Blaylock’s mind, he’d want to know why I was spying on Andreas in the first place. Andreas could deny everything. I might just end up stirring up trouble, and putting Andreas on guard that he was being watched.
                  I had no choice. I’d have to carry on as I’d originally planned.
    I felt sick about what was no doubt happening in that room back in France. Oh, Blaylock was no innocent. He’d been present in the room when Andreas was torturing other thra lls. I knew because I’d seen Blaylock standing there, through Andreas’ eyes. Blaylock had helped drag the victims in, had helped hold them down and chain them – and now he was about to experience what they went through.  The thought of Blaylock’s death gave me no sense of satisfaction, though.  I wanted this over. I wanted Andreas dead.

     

Chapter Five
    The nightmarish scene at Andreas’ castle weighed heavily on me as I headed out. I still felt sick and queasy as I drove over to the veterinarian’s office to interview her.  It was after hours, but fortunately, she had one overnight shift a week at the veterinary clinic that she owned. That gave me a chance to talk to her when she wasn’t at her house in Bay Breeze, which was good, since I needed to interview her on the down-low.
    Luck was with me when I arrived. The front office was empty, and I Compelled the receptionist to let me in the back, and then I Compelled Dr. Fischer to answer my questions truthfully.
    Unfortunately my luck ended there.  She had heard about the disappearances, but she didn’t know what was behind them, or who was behind them.  She’d given all of the familiars their regular annual checkups at various times over the past year, and they had all appeared healthy and normal.
    She’d also checked the psychic connection between the familiars and their witches, as a matter of course, during their office visits. That had also come up healthy and normal.
    The faint feeling of sickness that had come over me when I was in Blaylock’s head didn’t let up. When I got to my car, it got worse; for a minute I thought I’d vomit. I leaned on the car, dizziness swirling around my head, for a full minute, waiting for it to let up.
    This can’t be happening to me, I thought. Vampires never get sick. Never. We never get the flu, we never get a fever, we heal from our injuries at warp speed – so why did I feel as if I had food poisoning or worse?
    The dizziness finally passed, but I felt a strange sense of weakness. I clenched my fists and opened them; they felt as if they’d fallen asleep and didn’t belong to me.
    This was the worst possible timing. I couldn’t afford to suffer bouts of dizziness and weakness when I was about to go up against Andreas.  Could the witches somehow be behind this? Somebody who didn’t want me to find out the truth about the familiar’s disappearances? If so, I had a wide field of suspects to worry about. 
    My next stop was at the home of the pet shop owner, a woman named Carmel Montez. She was only half witch, Mirabelle had told me.  She didn’t live in Bay Breeze; she owned an apartment above the pet shop, which was located on a side street off the main road through town.  It was an old Victorian building with a wooden staircase leading up the side. The front of the building bore a big sign that read “Pet Paradise”, with a painting of cartoony pets lounging under cartoony palm trees.
    I walked