Dating for Demons (Book 3: Half-blood vampire series)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

COLBY

Entering the offices of the Vampire Tribunal was much like entering any law office in downtown Seattle. They enjoyed sprawling views of the Sound, were located on the upper levels of the Columbia Tower and felt stuffy and respectable. No one would suspect that they housed the most powerful vampire leaders in the Clan.

Margaret Durham was seated at the reception desk, like always. Neatly put together in a St. John knit pantsuit, hair swept up and tidily clipped to her head, she gave the impression of prestigious gatekeeper to the influential men seated behind the doors. And she hated me. A lot.

“Hello, Margaret,” I greeted her.

She didn’t even bother to look up from her computer monitor. “Go away, he’s busy.” This was our relationship in a nutshell.

“Come on, Margaret. He actually asked to see me. I’m not just dropping by unannounced.” Which was kind of the truth. Mr. Holloway said I could come by anytime I had a problem. And today, well, I had a problem.

“He’s in a meeting,” she replied, not even pretending to check his schedule.

I made a loud groaning noise as I advanced to the glass fortress she called a desk. “Please,” I whined.

“No,” she said, but her lips held a ghost of a smile. She loved it when I begged. She was a full-blood vampire bigot and I was trying to be nice. It was killing me.

“Fine, I’ll just hang out here with you and catch up on all the Undead gossip.”

She continued to type away at her computer, ignoring me. Yeah, like I could be ignored for long.

“No news? Okay, well I have a ton of stuff to share. Did you know PSU has a Magick Engineering program? Yeah, I know. I had no idea either. So the girls are calling PSU Para-Super U. Get it? Instead of Puget Sound University they are nicknaming it Paranormal Supernatural University and shortening the name to Para-Super U. How funny is that? Oh, and that Sophie keeps collecting cats and as you know, I’m terribly allergic to—”

She slammed her hands on her keyboard.

“Fine, you win. Go see him. Just leave me alone.” She buzzed to let me through.

“Thanks, Margaret!” I maneuvered through the reception hall to Mr. Holloway’s door. I was an expert on not being ignored. Ask my mom. Whenever she was busy with house listings and I needed something, she’d learned to stop what she was doing and help me. I could be that annoying. Call it a gift.

I rapped on the heavy mahogany door, and then turned the knob. “Mr. Holloway?”

He was seated at a large, impressive desk, going through paperwork. I kind of felt sorry for vampires now. Once they were primal beings, feeding and battling for supremacy, and now they were a bunch of bureaucrats, sifting through red tape and making laws to ensure their existence. It was no secret that the older a vampire got, the crazier they were likely to become. They got paranoid, reclusive and untrusting. Only the vampires with lifelong companions, friends or lovers seemed to keep it together.

“Colby, my dear. What brings you to me?”

That was a favorable start. He was usually so busy with vampire business I rarely got more than a moment of his time.

“I was hoping you had a minute. I have some interesting news that I’d like your take on.”

“I hope it’s more pressing than the renaming of PSU to Para-Super U or your cat allergies.” He offered me a chair.