Page 68 of Shifting Tides
The shifter sighed. “I need to ask another favor of you.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Does this have anything to do with me tracking vampire activity in the city? Caesar, I swear the school is safe. There hasn’t been anything unusual to report.”
Caesar shook his head. “No, you’re doing great with vampire surveillance. This would be…an added responsibility.”
I frowned, eying Caesar warily. “I don’t like the sound of that. What would this added responsibility entail?”
After taking another sip from his mug, Caesar sat back in the booth. “In the past, we’ve talked about the prophecy. The siren.”
I nodded, waiting for the punchline. “The mermaid who’s supposedly destined to take down Hadrian and end the shifter-vampire war.”
“Yes,” Caesar confirmed, his tone grave.
I tilted my head. “You know I don’t have much faith in that prophecy, right? I’ve never knownanymermaid who would be strong enough to stand against Hadrian, let alone kill him. If you don’t mind me pointing out, even you failed at that very task.”
A fire lit in Caesar’s eyes that made his cup of steaming coffee look tepid.
“Watch it, bloodsucker,” the gryphon warned in a dangerous growl.
I raised my hands defensively. “I didn’t mean it as a personal attack. You’re talking to a guy who couldn’t even stand up to Hadrian. I’m just saying that it’s hard to imagine the Little Mermaid taking on the vampire dictator when somebody like you—who I respect as a capable warrior—lost doing just that.”
The inferno in Caesar’s eyes simmered down to low embers, a warning that the gryphon was still a threat if provoked any further.
“You think what you want,” Caesar said. “But I believe we have found the siren.”
I hadn’t been expecting that. “What?”
“Several nights ago, I went to her house to collect her, only to find her mother dead,” Caesar continued. “The girl had luckily been out during the attack. Otherwise, she would’ve suffered the same fate as her mother.”
“And this mermaid’s mother was killed by vampires?” I asked, wondering how vampires could’ve slipped through my watch to attack in the city.
Caesar nodded.
“Where did it happen?”
“In Short Grove,” Caesar said.
I nodded, letting my shoulders relax once more. “Yes, I did notice some sparse vampire activity in Short Grove, but nothing to ring any alarm bells.”
“This particular attack has me extremely concerned. Do you think it’s possible that Hadrian knows about the prophecy?”
I shrugged. “How in the world would Hadrian know about the siren?”
Caesar sighed and leaned in closer, his gaze narrowing penetratingly. “I need to know if you have told him anything.”
My insides blistered with a burning anger—not for my gryphon companion, but for the vampire leader who’d made my afterlife a living hell. “Caesar, I swear to you that I haven’t seen Hadrian since I outcasted myself from the vampires.”
Caesar nodded slowly. “Good.”
“More coffee?” Vicky said, appearing from seemingly nowhere.
“Sure, sure,” Caesar replied quickly. “Top it off, please.”
“Anything else I can bring you?” she asked sweetly. She didn’t even look my way this time. Thank fuck for that.
“No, thank you,” Caesar answered. “We’ll be out of your hair in a bit.”
“You’re such a sweetheart,” Vicky gushed, bouncing on her toes. “Your coffee’s on the house.”
