36 Some Secret Vampire Thing

Inter-elemental pairs were hard enough to fathom but it was an established fact that all witches were female so they had to mate with other races to carry on their own. Children of witches always ended up being witches as well.

Since most races were against dating outsiders, they tended to have flings with elves until they managed to give birth and then break things off to go back to their research. If fae marriages were uncommon, witch ones were unheard of.

Elves tended to feel the same way about avoiding long-term emotional attachments, which made them the perfect way to keep the race from dying out. Fae needed witches to function in human society; they were few but important.

Witch covens were scattered all over the world and fae communities relied on them heavily. Unless other fae were content to live in the middle of nowhere and avoid humans completely, there needed to be one within driving distance to keep things running smoothly.

The coven in Ruby's hometown was the only one within a day's drive of the northwestern states. Fae in southern California likely had to rely on the one here in Las Vegas.

She had been lucky to live less than an hour away from one. People who lived further away had to correspond over the phone or online to order things and then make time to pick them up personally. Witches did not trust the postal system because of the delicate nature of most magic items.

Wherever she set up shop in the future should probably be close to one for convenience's sake. She had been considering Alaska. Much of the state was still wild in its natural glory. Supposedly there was a coven in Juneau because a lot of fae lived there.

"What is a touchdown?" Ash leaned over and whispered in her ear.

Ruby nearly flinched. She had been so lost in her thoughts she had forgotten she was surrounded by other people. "No idea. I don't know football either," she whispered back.

Some fae acclimated to human customs more than others. It seemed that these fire fairies had made themselves right at home in the human world to be this into their sporting festivals. Her aunt and uncle's house had a television but it was hardly used for anything other than nature documentaries and children's shows to keep Flora entertained.

"Should we go?" Ash asked.

"Probably, but I don't want to be rude."

"What's your team?" Cyrus piped up suddenly, causing the two of them to jump apart a bit guiltily.

"Uh…" Ruby hedged. She had been the one to bring up football in the first place so it would look stupid if she didn't have one. She wracked her brains before thinking of something she saw at the airport gift shop in San Francisco. "The 49ers! My team is the 49ers."

"Ah right, you guys are from California. You know, the Raiders were in Oakland until very recently. Everybody here went nuts when they made the switch because the only other professional sports team based here is for hockey…"

Cyrus launched into a long monologue that got frequently interrupted by his friends and all Ruby and Ash could do was watch. The two of them exchanged a long glance before trying very hard to stem their laughter.

===

They left Cole's house a couple hours later because they all needed to get to bed and he made Ruby promise to call him if she needed anything or wanted to hang out because it was hard being in a new place on your own. He was a rather friendly fellow. She was glad that he was first fae she met here and agreed easily.

Their next stop was the witches' coven and Ash acted as navigator again on the drive there. This time she did use her vampire glamour so they wouldn't get the sort of questions they had earlier about why the two of them were together.

Ruby gave the code phrase and the witch behind the counter closed up shop before letting her glamour fall, revealing glowing yellow eyes and a traditional witch's hat over frizzy blonde hair. "We don't see your kind in this neck of the woods often! What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you knew of any tricks to avoid bank tracking by the humans. I came into a lot of money recently and need a safe place to put it," she said simply.

The witch raised an eyebrow. "Banking problems? You mean you don't know about Elite Financial Solutions?" Ruby shook her head and she elaborated.

"There are a few branches scattered throughout the country in places where fae tend to congregate. Use the code phrase and they'll set you up with an account that's completely undetectable to humans. I can give you the address to their Vegas branch."

"That would be wonderful, thank you!"

"No problem! Was that all you needed? I have some great blood pills that just got in stock in rare flavors like AB+," the witch said with a wink.

Ash surprised her by speaking up. "Actually, I had a magic-related question. May I speak with your most senior witch for a moment? Alone?"

Ruby gawked at him. Alone? Was this some secret vampire thing she wasn't allowed to be in on? A strange stab of disappointment went through her before she chastised herself for being stupid.

Of course he wouldn't trust her with vampire secrets, just like she didn't trust him enough to tell him the true nature of her powers. There was nothing to be disappointed about.

The witch smiled. "Ooh, a magic question? You'll want to talk to Jezebel; she's almost nine hundred and has seen practically everything. I'll take you right to her. Follow me!"

She led Ash through a door marked 'employees only' and Ruby found herself awkwardly reading labels yet again. Why did this seem to happen every time she went to a coven with this guy?

She reminded herself that vampires probably trusted witches more than anyone outside their coven because they provided the food source they needed to survive. There was no reason for her to get upset. None at all.