There was no dining room table in Dudley’s apartment, so I sat on the couch as I crammed Chinese noodles in my mouth.

Dudley was in the shower. He came into the apartment two minutes before and disappeared into the bathroom.

I was stuffed to the brim on noodles and diet cola by the time he made a second appearance. His hair was wet and he wore a loose pair of jeans with a white T-shirt. He looked good—every bit as attractive to me as the other day when he was standing in the office. I noticed the lines of his arms and had to avert my eyes to stop myself from gawking.

“Did you leave any for me?” he asked as he picked up one of the cartons.

“Only just. So, did you find out anything interesting today?”

He frowned. “Not really. Marshall acts tough, but I’m gravely disappointed in him. He’s getting old and lazy. Actually, I think he’s planning on closing his office soon and moving someplace warm. He didn’t know anything, but I spoke to another one of my contacts who did.”

“What?”

“I have a friend who catalogs as many vampire creation stories as possible. Roan and Schroder’s story is a rather interesting one. Roan had a vampire lover who tried to kill him and Schroder stopped her, except he didn’t just kill her, which would have mirrored what you and I did for London. Instead, he chained her up and drank her blood until he became a vampire, like his brother.”

“And then he killed her?”

“Yes, except there is one interesting twist to this story. I told you how Schroder used to mate regularly. Roan isn’t like that. According to my source, he has never taken a mate. Like I thought, that guy is really not cut from the same fabric as his twin. I don’t know what to make of him.”

Neither did I.

Instead, I put it out of my mind and watched as Dudley paced the length of the room. He picked up a set of chopsticks and broke them apart. He was silent as he ate and paced. “What did you find out?” he asked between bites.

“I went around to the clubs London was frequenting when she met Garth and asked about him. No one knew him.”

“Surprise,” Dudley said in a deadpan tone.

“Then I went to the police station to see if Roan or Garth were being chased by the police.”

Dudley snorted. “Were they?”

“No, but someone interesting talked to me.”

“Who?”

“Pierce Wagner.”

Dudley nearly choked on the food in his mouth. “You actually talked to him? You can get an appointment with the mayor faster than that guy. What did he say?”

“Nothing much,” I said, but I felt like I was lying. Because I felt bad, I amended my comment by adding, “I asked him if he knew Roan and he said he did.”

“Anything else?” Dudley asked eagerly.

“No. By that point I wanted to get the heck out of there, so I left, but he gave me his card and told me to give him a call if I had any questions for him.”

Dudley scratched his face thoughtfully. “Well, that’s different. Do you know why he stopped to talk to you?”

“No clue.”

Dudley clearly had an idea why, but he wasn’t saying.

“What is it?” I demanded.

“Nothing,” he said, stopping to pick up a napkin to wipe his mouth. “When do you think you’ll be ready?”

“To do what?”

“To go back to Roan’s. I borrowed a car, so let’s go back to that basement and see if we can get London back tonight. I don’t have any other ideas.”

I felt like squirming, but I tried to keep a cool head on my shoulders. “We can go when you’ve finished eating.”