Maids All In A Row (Windrose Chronicles)

A novelette of 15,000 words, sequel to the Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly. When the head of a Los Angeles criminal gang seeks out exiled wizard Antryg Windrose for some wizardly advice about his love-life, Antryg suspects trouble. He's right: the gang-lord's girlfriend is a lamia, a trans-dimensional soul-drinker whose victims become addicted to the process of having their souls slowly drained. Though the crook wants his freedom, he also doesn't want to give her up - and in the meantime, she is absorbing cunning, ruthlessness, and criminal intent... and is hunting others...