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He’d been nothing but kind to me. And now that I was looking around the kitchen, I saw that wherever he’d gone, he’d left behind all his stuff in his hurry to get there.
Including his phone. And Old Fuzzy.
That’s when the panic set in. Something was wrong.
There was only one person I could think of to talk to about this situation. It might not get me anywhere, but the more time passed, the more I knew I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing.
With the half-finished pint of sorbet in one hand and myphone in the other, I scrolled through my contacts, hoping that I’d added Frederick at some point.
Bingo. There he was.
AMELIA:Hi Frederick
AMELIA:This is Amelia Collins
AMELIA:Sam’s sister
AMELIA:I think we met at a party at my brother’s house a few months ago
AMELIA:Can you call me?
My phone started ringing immediately.
“Frederick?” My heart was in my throat.
“Am I speaking with Ms. Amelia Collins?” Frederick’s manner of speech was oddly formal in such a specific way that I was immediately able to place him. I also remembered he was a huge Taylor Swift fan. Which, now that I knew he was a centuries-old vampire, was equal parts fascinating and bizarre.
“This is Amelia,” I confirmed. “Sorry if this is totally out of the blue, but your friend Reggie was up here in Wisconsin with me for a family trip. But now he’s disappeared, leaving all his stuff behind. I’m very worried.” I almost added,and I’m hurt,too.But I cut myself off before I could ramble any further. I didn’t know if Frederick had even known Reggie had been up here before I’d called. No need to embarrass myself beyond hope of recovery right off the bat.
“Hmm,” Frederick said. “That is very strange. He’d told me he planned to stay with you until the snowplows arrived.”
My cheeks went warm at the implication that I was importantenough to Reggie for him to have told Frederick about me, even as the knot of dread in the pit of my stomach twisted tighter at the concern in Frederick’s voice.
“You think something bad might have happened to him?” I asked.
“Possibly,” he said. “What was the last thing that happened before he disappeared?”
My mind shorted out as my mouth tried to form words. How could I possibly answer that question without bursting into flames?
“Well,” I began. “It was…He was…”
“Did he say anything to you about wanting to leave?” he prompted. “Or did you have a fight? I know he can be insufferable.”
“No,” I said quickly. “We didn’t have a fight. We…”
Frederick was quiet as he waited for me to elaborate. When I didn’t, he chuckled. “Oh,” he said, seeming to piece together from my silence everything I hadn’t told him. Was it possible to die of embarrassment? “Inthatcase, yes, there’s reason to be very concerned.”
Oh, no. “You think so?”
“Yes,” he said. “I have known him for a very long time, and I wouldn’t have thought even a mob of angry torch-waving villagers could have gotten him to leave your side if you had just…”
I opened my mouth to clarify that we hadn’t technicallyjustanything but bit my tongue at the last moment. Better to just drop it and move on.
“What do you think happened to him?” I asked.
He hesitated. “Has Reginald told you anything about The Collective?”
A possibility I hadn’t let myself entertain until now camecrashing in. “The vigilante vampire mob that’s after him for something he didn’t do?”
