“Missing? Don’t be ridiculous. Reagan goes off on her own all the time, it doesn’t mean she’s missing. It means she wants some time to herself.”

Eilidh scoffed at her siresister. “I know how she feels.”

Flip’s dramatic sigh mirrored Eilidh’s earlier one and she said “Eilidh, I’m telling you. She’s missing. No-one’s seen her in three months. I know she’s not talking to you right now but she and Gianna are close and Gianna, has not heard from her.”

Eilidh knew that was unusual, her two sireborn had never gone more than three days without filling each other in on the minute details of their lives. If Gianna hadn’t heard from her, then something was wrong. Unless…

“Three months? Probably a new man. You know how she gets. She falls in love at the drop of a hat, falls hard, and comes up for air 6 months or so later when it all turns to dust. Gianna should know that by now. This is just Reagan’s pattern. Same old, same old.”

“Why don’t you want to face this? Your daughter is missing. She’s a vampire who spends most of her time alone. Anything could have happened to her and you refuse to be concerned? What the fuck happened between you too?”

Luckily for Eilidh, she had to spend a few minutes serving a couple of elderly witches with yarn spellbooks so she had some time to gather her thoughts before she answered.

“I don’t know, Flip. She just stopped talking to me. She stopped answering my calls, she never visited, she never replied to any of my messages. She simply cut me out of her life.”

“Come on, you must have some idea. Did you have a row? Or a misunderstanding? Were you being overprotective?”

“No! She’s over 700 years old, Flip! It’s not like I can ground her if she doesn’t do what I want her too!”

“Okay, okay, sorry, sorry.” Flip held her hands up in defeat and backed off. She could see red tears in Eilidh’s eyes and she hated it when she cried. They all hated it when Eilidh cried. She sure was sensitive for a vampire.

“I’m not having a go at you, hon, I’m just trying to get an idea of where she might be. Even if it is a man, at the very least, she needs to check in with Gianna. She doesn’t deserve to be blanked for no reason.”

“But I do?” Eilidh crossed her arms and scowled.

“No, Eilidh, of course not. Look, lets put our heads together. Do you remember the last time you spoke to Reagan?”

*****

Eilidh remembered the last time she spoke to Reagan very well. She’d been in a bit of a state at the time. She and Boden had just broken up because she’d found him in bed with some fledgling tart. She shouldn’t have been surprised, vampires aren’t known for their fidelity but for some reason, Eilidh had thought he was different.

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God, she could be such a human sometimes.

Eilidh buzzed upstairs to Miriam and asked her to heat some type A for her and Flip and to bring it down to them. Miriam took over at the counter and the two vampires made their way to the easy chairs at the reading alcove near the werewolf history section.

Eilidh began. “She came to see me when I kicked Bodan out. She was fine. Actually, she was great. She knew I was upset and it was good of her to come and check on me. Gianna had been calling me every day but, well, its not the same as a hug, is it?”

“What did you talk about? Apart from the arsehole, of course”

“Nothing, really. She said she’d been traveling, meeting people, making her way about the world. I suggested she might want to settle down somewhere for a while but she was determined to keep doing what she was doing. And that was fine with me. You know I just want her to be happy. And besides, I can’t tell her what to do, can I? Even as a human she was a stubborn one. And she’s more than capable of looking after herself. Seriously, Flip, I’ve wracked my brains over the years and I cannot think of a single reason for her to not be speaking to me. Gianna doesn’t know either.”

Flip put her hand in the pocket of her leather jacket and took out her keys. “Well, I guess I’d better go look for her.”

“No. She’s my daughter and if she really is missing, then I’m the one who should find her. It’s time we got to the bottom of this nonsense anyway and sorted it. Flip…you don’t think she’s got The Tediums, do you?”

“I guess its possible, but she doesn’t seem the type. She’s old enough, sure, but usually vampires start showing signs of boredom with the world before The Tediums kick in. And Reagan has never seemed to be bored with her existence. She loves being a vampire.” Flip smiled. “It’s one of the reasons she and I get on so well.”

Eilidh gathered their mugs and said “I’ll get Miriam set up to cope without me and then I’ll head out. I’ll find her. Somehow. I’ve got some contacts at the Guild who owe me some favors. I’ll start there.”

“Eilidh. Please. Sit down. I’m sorry, honey, but you need to think about this. Reagan’s not talking to you. She’s actively avoiding you and has been for years. If she has gone off with a man, she’s much more likely to talk to me. And if something has happened to her, I’m much better at dealing with that than you are. I don’t mean to be nasty but if it comes down to a fight, nobody’s putting their money on you.”

Eilidh had to concede the point. She knew she wasn’t the most vampire-ish vampire around.

“Okay. But keep me updated. A lot. And when you do find her, bring her back here to me, we need to sort this out.”

*****

Eilidh watched Flip’s bright red car disappear further into The Lights. Ridiculous thing. She can fly, why does she feel the need to race around in that contraption?

Eilidh felt a sudden weight in her arms and legs.

Shit! Not again!

“Miriam! Quickly now. It’s almost sunrise. This has got to stop. Have you had any sleep tonight?”

Miriam’s red head popped up from behind the counter at the sound of her name. Willing and eager to please her employer, as usual.

“Sure. I got a few hours sleep around midnight. I don’t need much sleep. I’ll be fine today, you go on up.”

“You humans are so lucky, you an easily survive on two or three hours sleep. Not like us vampires. Anyway, I need you to get on that computer and see if you can’t dig up any information on where Reagan might be. But, be careful! Don’t leave a trail. You never know who’s watching us on that thing. Also, the reading nook needs a damn good clean and there’s some mail orders that need to go out.”

Eilidh made it to her bed four seconds before sunrise hit. Her last thought was, did I tell Miriam about the reading nook?