Gael Murray bounced his leg, trying not to give in to the jitters, but the clock was ticking, and his only hope appeared to be a mental case. Not that he hadn’t been enjoying the show, his only regret was opening the door at the exact moment he did. He could’ve stood outside and listened in, but he’d been waiting since sundown and when he’d seen them enter he didn’t want to wait anymore.

The house had an unusual shape, narrow but deep. He couldn’t see the farthest wall from where he sat in an old, scarred armchair. It had the scent of a library, the light was dull, and the counter was from another century.

“How can I help you, sir?”

Gael ran a hand through his shoulder length hair, this fucking rain was getting on his nerves, making everything damp and ... curly. Not beautifully curly, no it turned it into a wavy mess.

“I need a finder, and I need one fast.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’re the only finders on the entire west coast.”

Gael frowned. She wasn’t a finder. He could smell her, she was ... something, an animal of some sort. Finders were humans or psychics or whatever. “You’re not a finder.”

She licked her lip with a forked tongue. Damn, forked tongues seldom boded well. Did the loon know?

“Mr. ...” She moved her hand waiting for him to fill in the rest.

“Murray.”

“Nice. Mr. Murray, Mr. Jaeger and I are business partners. I might not be a finder, but he doesn’t talk to clients, so right now I’m your best bet.”

“And you are?”

“Edie Sweet.”

Great. He had no desire to bare his soul to anyone, but he was running out of time. “I’ve lost my connections.”

She looked at him, one second slipping into another before her eyes widened, but then she frowned. “Your connections-connections? Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m fucking sure!” He motioned to his head. “You don’t think I’d notice if I was suddenly alone in there?”

Her face became a calm, pleasant mask and he sighed. He couldn’t blame her for not believing him, but he’d hoped for ... something, urgency perhaps? A will to drop everything at hand to help him out of the goodness of her heart? Had she been human, like finders should be, she might have. It was one of the perks of his existence, having people turning themselves inside out to please him.

“With all due respect, Mr. Murray, isn’t it a fact that vampires die without their coven, you need your power umbrella to maintain the energy level to keep you ... sustained? Shouldn’t your brain have melted by now?”

Her words sent a bolt through his head. It was most likely melting right this minute. “We last for a bit. They all disappeared this morning, right before dawn. All of them.” The milky way of linked minds, his internal sky of diamonds turned into endless darkness, and the sun had kept him from being able to do anything about it.

She touched her hair only to yank her hand away and wrinkle her nose as she wiped her hand against her thigh. Judging by the looks of her jeans they weren’t much dryer than her hair. “And you want us to ...” She raised an eyebrow.

“Find them.”

“Your coven?”

Gael drummed his fingers against his leather-clad knee. “We’re spread out, smaller covens separate for security reasons, but I don’t have time to search for them. I need back into the energy web today.” Every minute could be his last. Icy fear cut off his air supply -- luckily he didn’t need to breathe to function.