Deadly Habits

Chapter 3

Dani was on a ferry across the Hudson, looking over everything the pack had printed out about Constance and her family. Height; 5'1". Hair; blonde. Build; midsized. There wasn't much on here about her, just the fact that she was in boarding school when she was younger, and that now she wasn't spotted at many places that weren't a club.

They heard one of the others whistle, "Wow, she's got a nice ass, even for a vampire." Dani rolled their eyes and turned to look at who had spoken.

Of course it was Josh, the youngest. He held up his hands in defense, "Hey, you can't tell me she doesn't." In one of his hands was a picture of Constance from the side. She was laughing and clapping her hands together, and Josh was absolutely right, god dammit.

"Doesn't matter, we have to be professional, dipstick."

After they docked, it was a quick car ride to the building the Hexums lived. In the penthouse, of course. Dani prickled at the obscene display of wealth when the doors opened. Constance's father was pacing, a glass in his hand, and her mother was sitting and looking over papers.

Rod stepped forward first and bowed, "My Lord, we're the team from Newark."

"Finally", The mother scoffed, "You wolves had better find my step-daughter." She was baring her fangs, but it was halfhearted. Scared.

"Evelyn", The Duke said, his tone warning. Evelyn looked down when she was chastised. The Duke looked over at Dani and nodded, "I remember you, from years ago. I never got to thank you for helping then. I hope I can thank you again."

Dani bowed their head, "I'll make sure of it, my lord."

Rod smiled, "Dani is our best scent tracker, would you happen to have something of Constance's available?"

"Yes. One of the maids can show you to her room." The Duke waved for one.

The maid stepped forward, keeping her eyes down, "This way please."

Dani stepped into Constance's room. It was nothing like the rest of the penthouse. It was warm and cozy, with at least one blanket on every chair. It smelled like... Chai? The maid walked around the room, "Here is Miss Constance's perfume, and her clothes are behind those doors. Did you need anything else?"

"No, thank you. I'll be back out in just a minute." The maid nodded and left, leaving Dani alone. They walked to the closet and opened it. Jesus, how many clothes can a person have? They plucked a blouse from the rack and sniffed it. Paper... ink... static... She wears this in an office? A dress this time. No, too many outdoor scents. They looked deeper and found some sleep shirts. Bingo.

Dani picked one up. It was huge, black, and had a portrait of a Latina woman. 'Selena' was scrawled over it in red. Dani sniffed... there it was. Nothing else but Constance. The scent danced in their nose and head. She likes flowers... blackberry lotion... and...wait, fear. Why do I smell fear? She must have nightmares a lot. Dani opened their eyes and found they were practically shoving their face into the shirt. They walked out and closed the closet door, trying to tamp down a blush.

Dani walked out with the shirt in her hand after collecting themselves, "Okay, I have her scent."

The Duke looked distressed when he saw the shirt, "Be careful, that shirt's one of her favorites..." No wonder her scent had been so ingrained in the fibers.

Dani nodded, "Yes, sir. I'll keep it in this when we're not using it to look for her." They pulled out a large ziploc and placed the shirt inside.

"I don't want to fight you", the Duke said, "Have her call us as soon as you can, and I'll drop the declaration."

"Understood, my lord.", Rod nodded and turned to leave when the main door opened and a slip of a woman stepped inside. Her hair was a brown mess of curls. Unlike the vampires around her, she smelled more human. A dhampir, maybe? She curtsied and bowed her head, "My lord..."

"Annabell, you better have a good explanation for why you're here", the Duke said harshly.

Dani could see the Dukes wife look at Annabell with disgust and heard her mutter, "Damn half-blood..."

Annabell flinched, "I do, my Lord, because I was with her the night she disappeared." She looked up at the Duke. Her eyes were red from crying. "I want to help them find my best friend."

The Duke waved her on and walked away, leaving his wife to speak to the rest of the team. Rod went over to Annabell and nodded, "My lady, what do you have for us?"

Annabell bit her lip, "I... don't want you to think less of her, but she has connections that her parents don't know. Drug connections." She fiddled with the hem of her blouse. "There are whispers that are saying a rogue group of sirens have her."

"Where?"

"Florida Keys, they say." Annabell started digging through her purse and pulled out a cell phone, "Here's her cell, they conveniently left it behind. And..." She pulled out a small black case and held it out with the cell.

Dani took it and opened it up. Three vials of what Dani assumed to be blood, and one large vial of red and white granules. There was also a pack of what looked like cigarettes, but Dani could smell they contained marijuana and...blood? The insignia on the package was a marijuana leaf in a red drop.

"Why are you giving–"

Annabell shushed them and spoke quietly, "Constance... Constance has an issue with party drugs. They've developed a way for them to be more effective on us. Most aren't addictive, but then they tried ketamine and..." She shrugged, running a hand through her hair as tears welled, "You need to find her. I'm trying to find a way to get some kind of rehabilitation set up. Constance is my best friend, I can't lose her." She pointed at the vials, "There's a high dose dissolved in these, and this is just special K cut with dried blood." She pointed at the pack, "This is something I've been developing to help with withdrawal symptoms. I don't know how long you're going to be but, this should make dealing with her easier. Also, I don't know how much you know about vampire anatomy but, she's maturing so she'll be needing to have more blood than food." She pulled out a small book of vampire anatomy and handed it to Rod.

Dani slipped the case and the phone into their pocket, "Thank you for the information, Miss Annabell. I promise, we'll bring her home safe and sound."

Annabell nodded and pulled her purse back over her shoulder, "Another thing I want to mention is that Constance is self destructive. She'll be pushing the wrong people's buttons because she doesn't care what happens to her anymore." Annabell's voice was starting to waver with unshed tears, "Constance will probably be difficult, but please know it's not because she's a bad person. She's just dealing with a lot."

"We'll do our best", Rod said with a nod.

"Thank you." She suddenly looked Dani over and grinned, "Heh, at least she'll enjoy the view on the way back." Dani was taken aback as she watched her walk back out the door.