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I glanced at her and then looked back out the window. No hawks or owls were out there, looking in. Security still hadn’t picked up on me, which meant Kirsten’s bedroom wasn’t monitored.
I met Kirsten’s gaze and gave her the basics of Etta’s human life.
“It’s one of those stories that didn’t make it into the history books. The daughter of a king, a deal made for an arranged marriage, making her the wife of a prince destined to be king in a neighboring country. Her husband fell in love with a mistress and ordered his people to keep the princess in the tower while he entertained his mistress. On one of these occasions, the princess went into a rage and killed everyone in the castle. Slaughtered a good portion of the royal family. The slayer diaries from that time period say the royal family were werewolves, and for a mere human to get the jump on a castle full of them? There was a question as to whether a strong vampire helped her, but others argue her father had trained her to use a sword, and she was reportedly fearsome with one. Still, it seems unlikely she acted without help. At any rate, the third son had been sent into the priesthood, and since he was the next living person in line to the throne, the church took over the running of the Kingdom through him, which is why we know anything about her at all, since the church officials made sure the records of how their priest became king were kept intact.”
“Which kingdom?”
“You’d have to ask her.”
The supernaturals have a rule that says you can only tell your secrets. If you trust someone enough to tell them you're a werewolf, and you’re willing to take responsibility for their knowledge, that’s fine, but you can’t tell them if your brother or coworker is a werewolf, and you can’t tell them about vampires or lion shifters. Only your own secret. Slayers don’t have to follow this rule, but we’re taught not to tell anyone’s secret unless it’s absolutely necessary. I needed information from Kirsten, and I’d have to share limited information to get it, but I wasn’t comfortable telling her who Etta had been as a human.
“Did she continue her murderous ways once turned?” she asked.
“We know who made her, and we know who she was as a human, but there isn’t much about her for several hundred years after she killed the royal family. The vampire who made her took paranoia to extreme levels. We have very few notes on the vampires who lived in his coterie. The church lost a lot of people during this time frame. There was a holy war. It’s assumed the vampires were responsible for many of the deaths, but maybe not.”
Marco had been a high priest in his human life. What we’d think of as a cardinal now, probably. The books have zero information about whether he chose to be turned or not. We also weren’t sure if the Master had personally done it, or if one of his line had turned him. The official records list the Master Vampire as his creator, but there’s an asterisk saying he has the talents of this line, so it’s assumed he was turned by the Master. It’s possible he’s just in that line, and that we don’t know who his creator was. It’s even possible Etta was his creator. Not likely, but possible. If the records were accurate, she’d have been around seventy years turned when he was bitten, but I wasn't positive she was older.
“And Marco lived during this time? Who is older?”
I shook my head. Kirsten is good at finding the right questions. If Etta was truly older than Marco, it wasn't by much, and it seemed odd that she’d oathed to him and was his Secundo. Add to that, Marco had negotiated with one of his enemies for her. I knew something was up, but I didn’t know what. Rather than answer Kirsten’s question, I asked another.
“How are she and Marco around each other? Like old friends, or more like rivals of old?”
She tilted her head. “I’ve been introduced to her, and I’ve seen her at a social event. She didn’t set off any warning bells in my head. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Which vampires have set off warning bells in your head?”
“I’m not answering that. Are you romantically interested in Etta?”
“I don’t date dead people.”
Mordecai appeared beside the bed, larger than life as always. He crossed his arms and gave me a level stare. “You test my patience, Slayer.”
I didn’t pull a weapon, and I didn’t jump up, but it took every ounce of self-control I had to sit still and appear calm. I’d known the former god might pop in, and I’d known he wouldn’t be happy with me. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t kill me, though, because Kirsten likes me. She’s afraid of what I can do, but she knows she and her people are safe so long as they don’t break certain rules.
“How long have you been listening?” I asked him.
“Long enough.” He turned to Kirsten, and his glare morphed into devoted affection. “Your Ryan is full of surprises. Talk to him. Help him sort through his morals and ideals.”
One second he was standing there, the next, he was gone.
She looked back to me and her eyebrows lifted so high, her hair hid them. “Morals and ideals?”
I just stared back, my face void of emotion. She was one of the few people still living who’d seen the monster inside me. Slayers are raised to be sociopaths, and I’m one of the best of my kind. I’m the one they call to take out the worst of the monsters.
Time to try to change the conversation. “When Marco’s coterie makes the move here, would you let me know if something strikes you as odd about her? Anything at all. Big or small.”
“You once told me a Slayer you used to team up with started dating the monsters, and you stopped working with her. You couldn’t understand how she could sleep with one and then go out and kill others.”
Kirsten is too easy to talk to. I’d forgotten about telling her that.
When I didn’t respond, she asked, “Are you beginning to understand how that might be possible?”
“Will you do this for me?”
“If you’ll tell me whether this is personal or business.”
Slayers lie all the time — whatever it takes to kill the monsters. However, Kirsten values trust above just about everything else, and I value her friendship, so I try to never lie to her. “It started out as business. I’m not certain what it is now. I have enough information to register my notes and then check up on her in three weeks. I don’t want to do that. I can’t say with certainty why that is.” I was giving away too much, letting her know how long a new-to-the-territory vampire with power might get away with killing indiscriminately before I caught onto it. I needed to be more careful.
