Solving the Vampire Murders

thirty-two

Mandy couldn't believe she was sitting in the middle of a living room, probably decorated by someone's blind grandmother, and which looked and smelled like it had recently been on fire.

To call the conversation up until this point polite would be an overstatement. Jones had known right away that Mandy was a vampire, claiming she couldn't hear her thoughts. Which, Mandy had been thankful for at the time. This fact started a tense argument from which they had only just now settled down.

It had taken Mandy showing Jones and the others old pictures of her and Torren on her phone before they let her inside. Now, they were all seated in the living room in awkward silence.

Her sorority sisters weren't wrong, Zach really was incredibly gorgeous. He had a vapid charm that made him endearing. And sure enough, Mandy could see tiny metal barbells poking through his shirt. Nipple rings confirmed.

Austin, on the other hand, was short and slim. The ends of his blonde hair as charred as the corners of his mouth. He was dressed in clothes that were far too big for him, which added to the oddness of the whole situation.

Jones was the only one of the bunch Mandy took seriously. She had a no-nonsense look about her that reminded Mandy of a school principal.

"That's a pretty necklace, Jones," Mandy said, taking a sip of the boxed wine Jones had offered her. "Is that your first name? India?"

Jones cradled a cup of coffee in her hands. "No. It's not."

"What is your real first name, by the way?" Austin asked. Elbows perched on knees and an impish grin on his face.

"Tamika."

"Really? I always thought you looked more like a Tanya," Zach admitted.

A flutter of laughter circled the room, then more silence. It was unnerving. Mandy knew she had come to get their help but how did you ask magicians for help? Especially these magicians.

Mandy took another sip of wine.

"So," Austin said around a breath. "Who's India?"

"Just drop it."

"I can't. I'm interested." Austin lifted his forefinger in the air and a spark of fire jumped out. Mandy's eyes widened in surprise. "And I've been told I can be very annoying when I don't get my way."

Jones scowled. "By who, your mother?"

"Mom jokes. That's what we've resorted to?" Austin gave a distasteful shake of his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Jones."

Mandy listened to the way Jones' heart rate ticked up. She was trying to be dismissive, but this necklace meant something to her.

"She was my girl. End of story."

Zach tilted his head to the side. "Like your daughter?"

"No." Jones sent her gaze out the front window. "She was my girl."

Austin leapt to his feet. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Two in the rainbow crew. Give me some skin." He raised his hand like he was expecting Jones to give him a high five, and Mandy cringed, gulping down more wine. When it was clear Jones' wasn't going to give him a high five, Austin sat back down, muttering to himself.

This conversation had slid so far off the tracks, Mandy wasn't sure she'd be able to get their help--or that she even wanted it. If this was how Practitioners operated, Coven Callings seemed way more practical.

"What do you mean was?" Zach was asking Jones. "Bad break up?"

Jones fixed her gaze out the front window. "You could say that."