Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom

wore her long navy coat over jeans, a sweater, and black boots. Her primrose rune flashed like a ball of silver fire in the hollow of her throat. It matched the glint from the rings on her index finger.
    “Hello, detective,” I said in a calm voice. “Good thing you got here when you did. Sophia and I were just about to close down for the evening.”
    Bria’s gaze flicked to the Goth dwarf, who was still wiping down the long countertop. “Kind of early for that, don’t you think?”
    I held out my hands and gestured at the empty storefront. “Not tonight. The cold tends to make people want to head home to their loved ones instead of stopping off for something to eat.”
    “Point taken. But I’m not here for the food.”
    “More’s the pity,” I murmured. “The strawberry pie is excellent today.”
    Bria looked at the glass cake stand where I always put the dessert of the day. But even the lush strawberries glinting from their golden crust weren’t enough to make her stray from her appointed mission.
    “I want to talk to you about Roslyn Phillips,” Bria said.
    Not surprising, given the fact that Bria had been chasing after the vamp last night after Roslyn told everyone on the riverboat what Elliot Slater had been doing to her. I’d been half-expecting Bria to come barging into my gin joint all day, demanding to know where the vampire was. And she had finally shown up.
    I had no doubt that Bria wanted to help Roslyn. Given what I’d seen so far, she would have done the same for any woman that she thought had been stalked and victimized the way Roslyn had. I admired her for that.
    But the cold, cynical part of me wondered how much of Bria’s determination to help was personal. Because Bria didn’t have any witnesses to the fact that Slater had tried to kill her, and Sophia had made sure that no evidence of any kind had been left behind at the scene. If Bria wanted to lock up Slater—and she surely had to, given the fact that the giant had tried to kill her—then Roslyn was her best shot at making that happen. And somehow, I didn’t think she was going to give up on the vamp without a fight.
    “What about Roslyn?” I asked.
    “Have you seen or talked to her today?” Bria asked.
    “No.”
    An easy lie. And I didn’t volunteer any more information or even ask why Bria was so interested in finding Roslyn in the first place. When dealing with the po-po, it was best to follow the example of Sophia Deveraux and speak only in short bursts—if at all.
    Bria studied me, her blue eyes cold and icy. “I think you’re lying. You and Roslyn looked particularly friendly when she was in here yesterday.”
    “That was yesterday,” I replied. “Roslyn was here for the food. Nothing more, detective.”
    “That’s funny because no one seems to know where Ms. Phillips is,” Bria replied. “She’s not at home, and no one’s seen her at that nightclub she owns, Northern Aggression.”
    “Perhaps you should ask your partner if he’s seen her,” I said in a snippy tone. “Since Xavier actually works for Roslyn.”
    Normally, I wouldn’t have sicced Bria on Xavier. But better for her to be at the nightclub questioning him than standing here accusing me. I had work to do tonight. And the sooner I killed Elliot Slater, the sooner Roslyn could sleep easier and return to her regularly scheduled life, instead of being holed up in Jo-Jo Deveraux’s house.
    “I’ve already been to the club,” Bria replied. “And Xavier claims he hasn’t seen her either.”
    I cocked my head to one side. “You sound like you don’t believe him.”
    Her face hardened. “What I do or don’t believe is none of your business. Now, why don’t you tell me where you were last night?”
    “You think I did something to Roslyn Phillips?” I laughed. “Oh, please.”
    Bria’s eyes iced over, even more. “You know, we could have this conversation down at the police station.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “Really? On what grounds? That I was at the same party as Roslyn last night? That she came into my restaurant and had a meal? I see you’ve already taken up the bad habits of the rest of the Ashland Police Department, detective.”
    “And what would those be?”
    I stared at her. “Interrogating people for no reason.”
    Bria had the good grace to flinch at my insult.
    As much as I would have loved to continue this verbal smackdown with my long-lost sister, I needed to get on with things. Finn was due to pick