Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“I helped the boy lock it all up,” Gino continued. “He was having trouble with the burglar shutters—usually this neighborhood is safe. We all keep an eye out and most of us live above our shops or close by. But we thought with the city empty, maybe the riffraff would try their luck, so up went the shutters. I mean, possible bad luck from a war strike is no reason to get sloppy. Why let good stock go to waste?”
“Were any of the other businesses damaged?” Illium asked, while Aodhan continued to hold his silence.
“No looting or anything like that,” Gino said. “A couple of us had damage to the roof from the battles in the sky, and two or three came back to a cracked or broken window. I got that burn mark on my wall, but I got asked by Marco’s angel’s people to leave it, not paint it over yet.” A pause, his hand rising to make a religious symbol. “But yes, as for damage, we were lucky.
“Three streets over, all the shops were vaporized—just poof, gone and only dust left—but the archangel is good. He promised to rebuild and now they have brand-new shops, and everyone got a payment so they could start restocking. That’s being a good archangel, isn’t it?”
“Yes. The sire knows how to care for the people under his reign.” Illium’s words held a formality that betrayed nothing of his own familiar relationship with Raphael—because to most mortals, Raphael needed to remain a powerful and distant figure. “Is there anything else you think we should know?”
“He was a good boy, Marco. Even after he was Made. Didn’t forget us, put on any airs. Still brought his busted electronics for me to fix.”
Aodhan spoke up. “So he was part of this community even before he took over the liquor shop?”
Gino shot him the barest glance before looking away and back at Illium, but didn’t clam up. “Oh yes. Used to help out at Giulia’s deli down the block—she hasn’t reopened, hasn’t had the heart to.” His face dropped. “But that’s why Marco ended up in the shop in the first place—the angel wanted this kind of location and Marco knew old Olaf had been wanting to sell, so he arranged it all.
“Got Olaf a real fair price, too. A nice boy, like I said. Worked hard, don’t know why he wanted to be a vampire and drink blood, but…” A shrug, as if to say he couldn’t explain the vagaries of people. “He never tried to suck anyone’s blood around here, laughed like a lunatic when I asked him about it.” A sad smile. “Had a good laugh, that kid.”
“We’ve heard that another woman may have been interested in him.” Aodhan kept it vague so as not to influence the mortal man in any direction.
“Pah, Marco didn’t talk to old Gino about those kinds of things. You should ask his friends.” A nudge of his head down the street. “Two of ’em hang out at the corner.” His lip curled up. “I told Marco he shouldn’t be hanging with them no more. Bums. Live at home, no job, pants halfway down their butts.”
“Did he have other friends?” Illium asked. “People who’d know him well?”
“Giulia’s the one to ask. They were close—she raised him all alone after his papa died when he was eleven.”
They spoke to Gino for several more minutes before it became clear that he’d already shared all he had to tell them. When he saw a customer heading into his shop, he said a swift goodbye then ran off to do business.
Others in the street had come out and were sweeping the curb in front of their properties, or whispering to each other while shooting glances at Illium and Aodhan.
Turning deliberately to look at the scene, Aodhan gave them his back. You’re the better of the two of us at speaking to mortals, he said to Illium. Do what you do.
Give it a few more minutes and I’m sure they’ll come over—otherwise, I’ll do the rounds. Illium shifted so that they stood side by side, their wings held tight to their backs.
No contact. No hint of their personal relationship.
It meant nothing except that they were both highly trained warriors maintaining discipline on the city streets.
Illium pointed. “From the photos, Marco and Tanika were pretty much in the center of the shop.”
Aodhan’s mind was on the same path. “The blaze started with their bodies.” He glanced at the scorched wall of Gino’s shop. “No windows on the side facing the fire, solid concrete wall. Confirms that the containment of the fire tells us nothing.”
“Yeah. Fire had nowhere to go, no more fuel to consume after it ate through Marco’s shop.”
Aodhan shifted to examine the scene from another angle as a woman crossed the street to approach Illium—no doubt seeing Gino chatting to him had given her the courage to do the same, but she’d still had to build herself up to it. She was tugging her oat-colored cardigan around her, her thin face pinched but determined and her gaze pinned on Illium.