The night after Reagan's funeral was a normal evening like any other. It was if the whole thing had never happened. For Eilidh, the moments that she forgot she had lost her daughter were rare moments of peace.

When she rose that evening she went downstairs to the store and spoke with Miriam about the days sales. Miriam assured her that Karah's training was going well and that they had made a few online sales already. She reminded Eilidh that a new shipment of tarot cards were coming in the next day and that she needed some time off to visit the Dentist.

"Dentist? Don't you look after your own teeth? You humans are so careless." Eilidh didn't like it when Miriam took time off for such silly human nonsense.

"Of course, I look after my own teeth! But every now and then I need a bit of extra care. Our fangs may not be as impressive as yours but we still need to care for them in order to eat."

"Fine. But you'll have to make sure that the tarot cards are unpacked and displayed before you finish your work for the day. Now, I need you to talk to that cleaning girl, she hasn't cleaned my oven in weeks."

"You don't even use the oven!"

"Exactly, has the girl never heard of a duster? What kind of a maid…uh…cleaner is she?"

"Alright Eilidh, I'll talk to her when she comes in tomorrow."

"In fact, you can supervise her, make sure she's not dilly dallying around up there when I'm at rest. Karah can mind the store on her own for an hour or so."

*****

Eilidh watched Miriam serve her final customer for the day. She was always amazed at how easily she interacted with beings of all races. She chatted away with the werewolf as if they were old friends but she was sure Miriam had never met her before.

Humans are so strange. Eilidh had long forgotten that she had been a human once.

As Miriam headed to her rooms in the back of the store, Flip came in from wherever she'd spent the day. Eilidh didn't ask anymore, she so often didn't want to hear the answer.

"Eilidh! How do you stand being in this dreary store all day. Every time I come in its like stepping onto a movie set of some Dickension drama. Ugh! Just because we're vampires doesn't mean we have to live in the dark all the time, that's why artificial light was invented, you know."

"For vampires? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Edison wasn't thinking about vampires when he invented the light bulb. What are you doing here? Isn't it time you vanished into the ether again?"

"As a matter of fact, it is. That's why I'm here. To say goodbye. You don't need me anymore and I'm itching to get down to Brazil for a while."

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Eilidh couldn't understand Flip's obsession with Brazil. She couldn't understand many of Flip's obsessions but she knew Flip was her own vampire.

"Good. Go. Do whatever you need to do." Eilidh waved her hands about dismissively but then her tone softened. "I am grateful for what you've done, Flip. I truly am. It's been wonderful having you around, but yes, it is more than time you left."

"What are you going to do, Eilidh? About Regan, I mean. Are you still determined to find her killer or are you going to let the Guild deal with it?"

Eilidh was surprised that Flip felt the need to ask. "I'm going to find her killer, obviously. Just like we promised Gianna. You may be able to swan off to foreign climes whenever you choose but I have a responsibility to both my daughters."

Flip faced Eilidh head on and quietly said, "that's not fair, Eilidh. You know I'll do whatever I can to help you find Reagan's killer, but I need a break right now. I've never been around so many vampires for so long and I need to get the fuck away from them for a while. I shouldn't have to explain that to you, or defend my actions. I would have killed any other vampire for the remark you just made."

Eilidh had the sense to look embarassed. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. You go, with my blessing. I'll keep you informed of any progress that I make."

"Good. I can be back here in no time at all if I'm needed."

With that, Flip was gone and Eilidh was in the store alone.

*****

It seemed to Eilidh that this was the quietest night she'd ever had in the Quill & Query. Even her regulars were staying away. It gave her some time to catch up on paperwork and maybe even change some displays aaround. It was work she usually left to Miriam but work she used to enjoy when she first opened the store.

Only she didn't do any of that.

Instead she sat on the stool behind the counter and went over the events of the last few days in her head. She thought about the two witches that had attended Reagan's funeral. It was strange that they'd been there. Could they have been her killers?

Why, though? It always came back to why. Why would any witch kill Reagan? Not that there was anything odd in witches wanting to kill vampires. Most witches hated them and would love to have the chance to reduce the vampire population.

But the thing was, the witches very rarely tried. It took powerful magic to kill a vampire and there weren't many witches around who had that amount of power.

And why Reagan? Of all the vampires in the world, why her? She wasn't one of the big players, as far as Eilidh knew her body count wasn't that high at all. She'd only killed a handful of humans and three witches that she knew of. That put her on the list but didn't make her the number one threat to all witches and humanity.

Perhaps it was personal? Perhaps she'd done something specifically to the witch that killed her? Perhaps it was one of those crimes of passion that the humans were so fond of?

Perhaps it was Eilidh's fault? Whatever she'd done to make Reagan hate her so much, maybe that was why she was killed?

The more Eilidh thought about that, the more it seemed to be the truth. She'd lived for hundreds of years and had gathered many enemies on her way, especially in her younger years. Even though she'd never killed anyone, that she knew of, perhaps there was someone out there who wanted revenge and who took it, by killing her daughter.

Perhaps Reagan had found out about the witch's vendetta and that was why she'd stopped speaking to Eilidh. Perhaps Reagan thought if she distanced herself from Eilidh the witch would leave her alone.

Oh Dear God. It's my fault my daughter is dead! I may as well have staked her myself.