“What the hell are you doing there?” Milo hissed and got to his feet.

“What are you doing here?” Violet shot back, and she snapped awake. She moved like a livewire, and if she wanted to, she’d be over the couch and at Milo’s throat before he could even blink.

“Milo, it’s fine.” I stepped forward, moving in between them. “She’s just staying here for a while.”

Even though she’d been around and I’d run into her a few times, Milo hadn’t seen her at all since she’d had purple hair and hung out with Lucien. The last time he saw her, she’d been trying to kill us. He hadn’t seen the transformation from evil sidekick to sad homeless girl, so he was on high alert.

“You knew she was staying here?” Milo asked.

“Yeah, and it’s no big deal,” I reiterated. I failed to mention it had actually been my idea, but it was probably better if he didn’t know that.

“Take it easy, cowboy,” Olivia smirked at him. “I don’t allow fighting in the penthouse.”

“You take it easy,” Milo muttered, but he sat back down on the couch.

“Now I’m really awake,” Violet sighed and turned to walk back to the kitchen. “If I have to be up, I’m getting something to eat.”

“Is there anything at all you can tell us to help us?” I asked Olivia, ignoring the outburst. Milo tried to glare after Violet, but I moved to block his view.

“Stay away from the children.” Olivia cocked her head. “Why the sudden interest? Hasn’t Mae had the child for a while?”

“Yeah but…” I shook my head. I didn’t want to tell her that they’d be in town. “I just wanted to help.”

“Sometimes you can’t help people,” Olivia said, sounding uncharacteristically sad. “That’s probably the hardest lesson in life.”

Violet came back over to us, sipping blood out of a Big Gulp cup with a straw. The blood perfumed the air, and it smelled like it was pretty fresh. For once, I didn’t feel hungry. I was still too full from Jack to even consider eating yet, and that felt nice.

“Oh hey, it’s a good thing you’re here actually,” Violet said. She climbed over the arm of the chair and sat down, curling her knees up to her chest. She pulled the long tee shirt down over her legs and took a long sip from the cup.

“Who? Me?” I pointed to myself.

“Yeah.” She took another long drink and quickly swallowed down. “I was working the club last night, trying to keep the riffraff under control, and I saw this bloodwhore with a weird mark on her arm.”

“What kind of mark?” I asked.

“At first I thought it was a big ‘U,’ like the letter ‘u,’ but I really don’t know what it’s supposed to be,” Violet said. “When I asked the bloodwhore about it, she told me a vampire branded her. It turns out this vampire has been branding a lot of the bloodwhores.”

“Branding them? You mean like cattle?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh he can’t do that,” Olivia said disdainfully. “You can’t brand girls unless they’re in your harem.”

“I don’t know if they’re in his harem or not,” Violet shrugged. “I just thought it seemed like suspicious behavior.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” She took another drink, but this time it was to buy herself some time to think about what she meant. “I asked the bloodwhore why the vampire did it, and he’d told her, ‘I want everyone to know that you belong to a vampire.’ Something about that just sounded off to me. Like everyone would know she belongs to a vampire.”

“Huh,” I said, but a chill shot down my spine.

“Anyway, I just thought I’d let you know since you were asking about that girl’s murder,” Violet said off-handedly and went back to finishing her beverage.

I felt Milo’s eyes on me as soon as she said it, and I decided that we better get out of there before Violet or Olivia let it slip exactly how interested I was in looking for Jane’s killer.

I thanked both Olivia and Violet for their help as nonchalantly as possible, but Milo noticed my hasty exit. He waited until we were the elevator, trapped in the long ride to the basement, before bringing it up.

“What exactly did Violet mean that you were asking about that girl’s murder?” Milo asked, his eyes locked on me. Bobby hid next to him, hoping Milo wouldn’t realize that he’d been helping me too.

“She was my best friend, Milo.” I stared up at the ceiling. “You think I’m not gonna ask at all?”

“No, but you better not be really looking into this,” Milo warned me. “The police have it under control.”

“I’m not looking into it, but if the police have it under control, what would it matter if I did? If they can handle it, I definitely can,” I countered.

“Alice, you don’t have the tools or equipment to really solve this,” Milo said wearily. “You’d just end up getting yourself in trouble. And what would you do if you did find the killer? You couldn’t prove that it was him, and you would never know for sure so you wouldn’t want to kill him. What good would it do to track him down?”

“It wouldn’t,” I said. “That’s why I’m not. I just asked a few questions. It’s not like I launched an investigation or something.”

“Good. That’s all it better be.”

“Why?” I looked over at him. “What happens if it’s not?”

“I’ll tell Jack about all those longing gazes you shared with Peter when we were in Australia.” Milo said evenly and my jaw dropped.

“We- I- ugh!” I groaned and looked away from him. “That’s not even fair!”

“I’m sick of you almost getting yourself killed, Alice!” Milo yelled. “And if you won’t wise up on your own, then I’ll force you into it! Stay away from this, okay?”

“Fine!” I hit the elevator button, hoping to make the ride speed up somehow.

I didn’t need Milo narcing on me for something that didn’t even happen, or… barely happened. I mean, it was innocent, but I didn’t need another big fight. I promised Jack I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him anymore, and I meant it.