Ripper(27)

I hesitated, but only for a moment. Liv was right. It wasn’t like ignoring the supernatural world had made me blissfully happy. “Hit me.”

“The Council moved to Dallas almost ten years ago,” she said.

Now my eyes were wide. “Seriously? I thought they were based in Paris and had been since…forever. What the hell are they doing in Dallas?”

“The king lives here.”

“There’s an actual vampire king and he lives in Dallas?”

“Yeah,” Liv replied. “He’s the real deal. He took out the old Council ten years ago when they started to threaten the wolves and shifters. Only one member of the old Council survived the war. Now the Council formally governs the supernatural world and the seats are held by the various species. The king is the head of the Council. There’s a seat for vampires, werewolves, shifters, witches, humans, and the Fae. The king only votes in the event of a tie.”

“Wow.” I finally understood what it meant to be flabbergasted. “That’s amazing. And everyone’s getting along?”

“Not as well as the king apparently expected,” Liv admitted. “He’s already had to put down two attempts to overthrow him. I think after all those centuries of iron-fisted control, some groups are going a little too far with their newfound freedom. My coven leader says the king’s looking for a solution. He wants to create a kind of law enforcement for the supes.”

I laughed because whoever took that job was a fucking idiot. “Nice, he wants a sheriff. Well, good luck to him.”

I got back to watching the house. They were careful. I couldn’t see a damn thing through those windows, and I started to wonder how good an idea it would be to try to sneak in. Or maybe I could get a date. They seemed to be letting dates in. From what I understood, only vampires, companions, and slaves ever got into one of those clubs…Then my mind made another mental leap.

“He got rid of the slaves,” I whispered.

Liv shook her head enthusiastically. “It was one of the first things he did. He freed all the slaves, though a lot of them stayed with their vampire masters, but the vamps have to prove they’re paying their staffs.”

“Then who’s feeding all these visiting vamps? If the king is here then I assume he has a court. If the slaves are gone, who’s going to feed the vampires?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Liv’s mouth formed a perfect little O. “Hookers. Holy crap, Kels, you’re right. Someone’s bringing in hookers to fill up the clubs.”

“But other supes would be better than grabbing a bunch of human girls off the street,” I commented. “Some asshole is recruiting supernatural college girls to prostitute themselves to vampires.”

Liv thought about that for a second. “I get your point, but what else are they supposed to do? The vampires have to eat. The king won’t let them enslave humans anymore.”

“Look, Liv, I don’t have some moral problem with it. If some chick wants to work her way through college on her back then good for her. But Joanne is missing and I don’t think she’s in Mexico with a john. I think she’s dead and I think it had to with her job.”

“Really?” Liv teared up.

“Sorry,” I said, taking a deep breath. “If I had to bet on it, I would say I’m hunting for a corpse.”

“Helen’s going to be devastated,” Liv whispered.

I hated that I couldn’t be more positive, but I knew that girl was gone. I also knew the possibility of finding a corpse was small. Supernatural creatures deteriorate quickly after death. It was one of the ways they hid from humans. Vampires turned to ash and wolves and shifters decomposed at an accelerated rate. After a few days, there wouldn’t be much left.

“I need to talk to someone about getting into that club.”

Liv went a pasty white. “Oh, no, Kelsey. They don’t let humans in that club. You have to have a vampire escort to get past the front door and I wouldn’t try sneaking into the back if I were you. The club would be trapped. It should have weird charms and wards all over it.”

“Then get me a meeting with the king,” I said simply. “He can get me in.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” Liv said. “Kelsey, I think going into that club is a bad idea.”

“Oh, nice car,” I commented as a black Bentley purred up the street and stopped in front of the club. I got behind the lens and took a good look at the vampire who gracefully got out of the beautiful beast he’d been driving. He was immaculately dressed in a three-piece suit that had to have been made for him. The pinstriped suit hugged his body perfectly and he moved with a predatory grace. I pegged his height at right around five ten. Not the tallest man, but he had presence. He was old.