“Talking to someone is no crime,” Gilly said. “Especially when we’re trying to find Viv. Going to somebody’s hotel room doesn’t mean sex is involved, Vanessa. People do meet up and talk in those rooms.”
“I disagree,” Taka said with a smirk. “There are beds in hotel rooms, and where there are beds, there’s sex.”
“Oh, get a grip,” Vanessa snapped at Taka.
Arabella gave Gilly a slow nod. She eyed Gavril, and then looked back at Gilly. “You’re right. There’s no crime in talking, that’s for sure, but let me ask you something.” This time she looked Gavril right in the eye before asking Gilly. “Have the two of you been intimate? After I warned you to stay away, did you disobey? Have you been intimate with this man despite our warning?”
“Nothing was her fault,” Gavril said. “When she heard about Viv—”
“My question wasn’t directed at you, young man,” Arabella said. “It was meant for Gilly.”
Taka huffed. “You did it, didn’t you, Gilly? Was it at the hotel?”
Vanessa shook her head. “A Triad slut brigade, that’s what we have on our hands, sisters. They’re going to do what they want to regardless of our warnings. How does an Elder combat that? We try and we try to lead them down the straight and narrow, and look, they take the first fork in the road they come to.”
“We’ll deal with it by allowing the Triad to handle the consequences of their actions,” Arabella said.
“Wait a minute,” Gilly said angrily. “You’re speculating that I’ve been intimate with Gavril, and because of that, you won’t give me any help in finding Viv? What kind of Elders are you? Ever since the beginning, every Triad had Elders who helped them with problems.”
“Not all of them,” Arabella said. “Or have you forgotten the first Triad? Their Elders didn’t change the monstrosities they’d created back to humans. Instead, they punished the Triad.”
“So is this what this is?” Gilly asked. “Punishment? You won’t help us because of some warped assumption you’re making? It begs the same question—what kind of Elders are you?”
“We have tried to help,” Arabella said. “Repeatedly. We’ve even contact the rest of our sisters and asked for help. Something or someone seems to be blocking all of our spells. My only assumption as to why that might be is, once again, your intimacy with the Benders. Part of the Triad curse in action.”
“And we’re smart Elders,” Taka said. “I think.” They’d been sitting around the kitchen table, and Taka suddenly got to her feet, seemingly flustered. “Anybody want crumpets and tea?”
“Sit down, Taka,” Vanessa said. “Now isn’t the time to extend hospitality. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this.”
“But I’m hungry,” Taka whined.
Arabella gave Taka a stern look, which sent her back into her seat with a pout. “It was just tea and crumpets.”
“You claim your intimacy with your Bender is our speculation, an assumption,” Arabella said to Gilly. “Is it an assumption? Or did it happen?” She looked first at Gavril, and then she allowed her eyes to settle on Gilly. “I want the truth.”
Gilly sighed heavily. “Yeah, we were intimate,” she finally said, and saw Gavril shift uncomfortably in his seat. She didn’t blame him. He was sitting at a table of witches, any of whom could have turned him into a frog or turtle with a kindergartner’s spell.
“Mr. Bender,” Vanessa said, “as you can see, this conversation is getting quite personal. I think it best if you leave us to deal with Abigail, who obviously decided to not heed our advice.”
“He doesn’t have to go,” Taka said.
“It’s best he does,” Arabella said.
“But he’s cute,” Taka said. “Easy on the eyes. And besides, we’re not going to be saying anything he hasn’t already heard or known about. If they were intimate, they were intimate. He already knows that. You think we’re revealing a secret?”
“I’d prefer to stay if it’s all the same to you,” Gavril said. “Gilly is not alone in this. And if I may respectfully add, we came here of our own volition. Vivienne has gone missing, and we wanted to see if you’d seen her or possibly know where she might have gone.”
“I haven’t seen her,” Taka said.
“Me either,” Vanessa said.
“Nor have I,” Arabella added. “Have you tried the compound where Viv kept her Loup-Garous?”
“Yes,” Gilly said. “Her Bender is there looking for her now.”
“You sent a human Bender into the compound?” Arabella said with shock. “Did you purposely want this man dead?”
“He’ll be mauled like ground beef,” Taka said, her brows knitting together. “Surely he’s not alone there, right?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Gilly said. “All of the Loup-Garous are missing.”
“What?” Arabella, Vanessa and Taka said in unison.
Gilly nodded. “They were there one morning, and by the afternoon, not one of them remained on the compound.”
“Oh, Mother Earth and every worm beneath her,” Taka said. “Does that mean they’re all loose in the city?”
“I have no idea,” Gilly said. “We’ve each been taking care of our own. I still have Chenilles in their safe zone, but have about fifteen missing. Evee lost all of her Nosferatu. Same thing with Viv’s. One minute they’re where they’re supposed to be, the next, they’ve vanished.”
Arabella got up from the table and began to pace. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“That we’re in deep doodoo,” Taka said.
“You’re not kidding,” Gilly said. “With them missing, it means more humans are in danger.”
“If more humans start dying at the hands of the Originals, you know what that means, right?” Vanessa said.
“Well, duh,” Taka said. “It means those humans will be dead.”
“Stop being an idiot,” Vanessa told her. She looked over at Arabella. “It means more cops at our door.”
“Why are police coming here?” Gavril asked. “How do they know about you and the Originals?”
“I suspect a leak,” Arabella said. “And I’m almost certain it’s one of the sorcerers.”
“I don’t understand,” Gavril said.
“I’ll explain later,” Gilly said. “We’ve got to stay on task with Viv. She’s got to be our main focus right now.”
“Oh, heck, that’s right about the cops,” Taka said suddenly. “What do we tell the cops when they come back here to talk to us? Do we not answer the door like before? Ignore them?”
Arabella shook her head. “Not this time. Too much has gotten out of hand. We’ve got to let the police know about the Loup-Garous and the Nosferatu. If we don’t, the entire city will soon be overrun with dead bodies when those Originals get hungry and need to feed.”
“What good will the cops be if they know?” Vanessa asked.
“We’ll have to give them information—information we’ve never given any other human,” Arabella said solemnly. “We’ll have to tell them how to kill them.”
“Have you lost your marbles?” Taka asked. “That means, if they see any Original, attacking a human or not, they’ll kill it.”
“I