Gillian and Elissa sat silently staring at the eerie warehouse full of taped lines, furniture, photos, and storyboards. They had found so much, and it meant so little. Gillian didn't move as she heard the familiar fast patter of Dana's heels over the concrete. The coroner stopped instead of passing them by as she usually did on her way to the morgue to oversee the evidence techs.

She had more credentials to her name than room in her office to hang them. Elissa says she was a prodigy—how much more unfair could life be to humans?

"So, why are you two so glum?" Dana asked, snagging a chair with inhuman ease, sitting down, and taking something from her bag.

The sound of a cap turning and the scent of beer instantly caught their attention as she handed over the bottles with nonchalance. Gillian didn't peg her for a beer type of girl; she was altogether too refined. Then again, she expected Elissa to have more refined tastes as well.

"How the hell did you get this past security?" Elissa asked, admiration in her voice.

"Told them I needed it to test a theory." She was much less whimsical without the others around, an air she affected for humans to see her as harmless and to take less notice of her outside the lab.

"What type of theory would that be?" Gillian asked idly, placing the cold glass against her lips and letting the cold, bitter brew slide down her throat.

"That guards are really as gullible as they look?" Elissa relaxed enough to tease.

Gillian forcefully let go of all the thoughts tensing her body, and the comment almost made her smile, but Dana smirked.

"No, I wanted to see if it was physically possible for the two of you to relax," Dana said with such innocence that both Gillian and Elissa sputtered in their beer.

"There you go. It's not the end of the world yet; we just started. Now, why don't we forget about the human aspects of this case and find the vampire sitting in the middle of it?" Dana made it sound so simple and logical. "What do our senses tell us?"

Her calm directness made them sit back and sift through their thoughts, insights, and instincts.

"He's old, not a master, and not a natural vampire. He's strong and cocky," Gillian murmured, and both of them were looking at her, waiting for her to continue.

She examined the impressions she gathered of him as they waited for her to continue.

"This whole thing may have started out because of something one of the killers did, but—" she hesitated, almost feeling the intensity of their interest. "When I got involved, it escalated," she admitted, and they were frowning.

"He followed you for a time, is that right?" Dana asked as if she had no doubt in Gillian's impression of the situation, "And you think it escalated because of you? Why?" Her questions left no room for overthinking.

"More us than me specifically. It escalated when Elissa got involved and when you arrived."

"So you think it's because we are natural vampires? Born, legacy, ancient lines, and superior? You think it's to prove he's better than us?" Elissa surmised, and Gillian shrugged, sighing.

"So he is angry and has a score to settle, but since he doesn't seem to have a particular target, he chose a target in a situation of opportunity, but I am not a natural vampire. Why would he escalate when I arrived?" Dana asked, taking their empties and passing around another round.

"You are of a powerful bloodline, and his maker probably didn't stick around long enough to teach him the subtleties. You smell of power, not as much as us, but enough for him to come to the wrong conclusion. On the other hand, you work with us, and he may see that as a betrayal."

Gillian's words made Dana pause.

"Could you find any recognizable trace smell of his maker?" the coroner asked, and Gillian considered the thought for a moment. Their senses were much stronger than Dana's, and they were also physically more powerful than her on every level, but for her natural intelligence.

"There was something familiar, like a word on the tip of your tongue that's just out of reach. It was somehow connected to my childhood but wouldn't crystalize. All I can tell you is that it isn't the same as that which I can almost recall, but there's a trace of something." She wasn't even aware her teeth peeked out until her incisor almost nicked her lip.

"Shh, now, it will come to you," Elissa's quiet confidence calmed her, sparking a memory she had almost forgotten.

"You did that when I was little; you could always calm me down with the sound of your voice when no one else could. Then you went away altogether." The words slipped out in an unguarded moment, and even she could hear how hurt she sounded.

"It wasn't my choice, Gilly, you know that."

She didn't expect the echo of her own pain in Elissa's voice. Not when her sister was almost thirty years older than herself. She was four when Elissa left, and they did not see much of each other outside of social and family occasions after that.

***

"You felt abandoned. You didn't want to love her again when Elissa returned because you knew she would leave. You never got over it, and she understood that and did not want you to hurt again. I am so glad I was not at the mercy of vampire politics when I grew up. I still remember what it felt like to be part of a family, and I mourn their loss every day," Dana admitted.

"You have what I can never have again; you can still be a family. Now, we have bigger problems to deal with."

They stared at her for the longest moment and shook their heads in a comically similar manner before taking control of their thoughts and emotions. Although she would never show it, they were intimidating in their vampireness when they were not around their humans.