Southern Vampire

Chapter 3

Amelia kept making childish excuses to avoid her father, leaving me stuck alone with him. I felt like I was suffocating — and to make it worse, he tactlessly brought up Hadley, the woman who’d been involved with Sophie-Anne and met a violent end.

“I suppose you’d like to see that baby, wouldn’t you?” he said.

Even though I could guess what he was about to say, his casual, unhurried tone turned my stomach. Hadley had lived recklessly, true, but I’d never known anything about a baby.

“How did your family take it when they found out she was a vampire?” he asked.

Amelia finally came to my rescue. “Dad, Hadley lived upstairs from me for two years. We all knew she was a vampire. God, I thought you came here to talk about home, about old times.”

I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, so I made an excuse to escape and slipped out the back door. I half-wished Hadley’s ghost would appear and tell me how to handle this, but nothing happened. As for her child, I didn’t want to know. It was probably just Mr. Carmichael showing off how well-connected he was. Still, I had to go back in — for Amelia’s sake. I couldn’t leave her alone with him too long.

When I re-entered the house, Mr. Carmichael was telling Amelia that a woman named Octavia had called. Amelia looked ready to faint and quickly excused herself to check on dinner. Mr. Carmichael worried this woman might hurt his daughter. I caught flashes from Amelia’s mind about who Octavia was, but I kept it to myself and steered the conversation to his work instead.

Finally, we sat down to eat. Father and daughter talked family business, but my mind was elsewhere. I had too much to think about.

I’d found nothing in Hadley’s belongings about her ex-husband, let alone any child. I didn’t want to contact him to find out the truth, but I did want to go through her things again, just in case I’d missed something.

After dinner, I offered to wash the dishes, and Amelia agreed. She definitely needed time alone with her father. Once I finished, I found the box holding Hadley’s leftover things and dialed the information center. Unfortunately, many people had moved after the hurricane, and the number was disconnected.

Then I thought of Bill. His database could certainly help. But after our conversation at the wedding, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him for a favor.

A wave of longing for Quinn washed over me. He was smart and well-traveled; he would’ve known what to advise. If only I could see him again.

With no answers, I headed downstairs. Marley was standing at the door — they were ready to leave.

Once they were gone, I exhaled in relief, and so did Amelia. Her father wanted to fix their relationship, but they wanted different things. They loved each other, but they could never quite see eye to eye.

“Who is Octavia, anyway?” I asked.

“She’s my mentor… and one of the reasons I left New Orleans. After what I did to Bob, the coven won’t let me off the hook. She’s the leader of my coven.”

“Oh.”