Hell, I was royally pissed at myself for letting Royce in. That had been a spectacularly stupid move on my part. I’d trusted the vamp to be civil rather than remembering who I was dealing with–one of the most dangerous of the Others.
That wasn’t a mistake I’d be making again anytime soon.
Though I was exhausted, my stomach growled and I wondered whatever happened to my Chinese food. Poor delivery guy probably saw Peter or Royce or the cops and went running in the other direction.
I went to the kitchen to fix myself something to eat, putting the gun on the counter in easy reach. Distantly I noted that my hands were shaking. I grabbed some leftover pasta from the fridge and tossed the container in the microwave. While I pulled out some dishes and silverware for myself, I mulled Royce’s offer.
I’d never hurt you. You could stay young and beautiful and strong forever. With me. Think about it.
Creepy asshole.
I spent the rest of the night huddled in bed, gun in my lap, and every light in the apartment burning. I couldn’t fall asleep until after the sun came up. By then, I was completely exhausted.
I woke up after eleven, not feeling at all rested and still jumpy as anything. Showering helped, but I was still bleary-eyed when I headed down to my car so I could pick up some groceries. There was a black-and-white parked conspicuously in front of the building when I nudged my SUV out of the gated garage. One of the officers sat up straighter and I noticed they pulled out behind me when I merged into traffic. I sighed, wishing for the patience and fortitude to make it through my errands going exactly the speed limit for the rest of the day.
At first I was nervous, but after a while I stopped paying attention to the police cruiser riding my ass. Until I got to the grocery store, where they followed me into the parking lot and parked next to me, stepping out when I did.
“Good morning,” I said, attempting civility. “Or good afternoon, whatever it is.”
One of the two officers, a young kid, looked fresh out of the academy. The other was a grizzled old bear of a man who looked like he’d been there, done that, didn’t like any of it, and didn’t get the T-shirt. The kid kept a serious face until I greeted him, then cracked a goofy-looking grin that made me take about five years off his age. Were they recruiting fresh out of high school or something? “Good morning, Ms. Waynest. I’m Officer O’Donnell, and this here is Officer Grady. We’re assigned to you until six tonight. Doing your groceries?”
He hooked a thumb at the store, and I nodded, feeling more tired than ever. “Yeah. You guys aren’t following me in there, too, are you?”
“No, but we’ll hang around by the exits until you come out.”
Biting my tongue to avoid saying something caustic, I nodded again, hefted my purse strap up to my shoulder, and headed to the store. It was entirely too weird having people stare at me as I was flanked by a couple of uniforms. At least they were going to wait outside.
Since I’d be staying in tonight, I thought I should pick up dinner for Chaz and myself. I pulled out my phone to call him. Forcing the rickety shopping cart to stay on something resembling a straight line, I tilted my head to hold the phone to my ear as I perused the aisles in search of something promising for a romantic dinner for two.
“Hey, love, sorry about last night. What’s up?”
It was a relief to hear his voice, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling despite all the worries plaguing me. “Hey, I wanted to check and see what you’d like for dinner tonight. Going to stay home and cook something since I can’t go out right now.”
“What? Why’s that?”
“Err, I’ll tell you about it when you come by. Just make it before dark, please.”
A low, ominous growl rumbled in his throat. “Vampires bothering you?”
“Something like that. Listen, don’t get all upset about it right now, I’ve got it under control. Come over tonight and let’s relax, and take advantage of the time to ourselves, okay? I’ll put out some candles, make some pasta, pour the Chianti, and make with the cheesy Italian love songs. It’ll be just us, promise.”
“Okay,” he grudgingly agreed after a long we’ll-be-talking-more-about-this-later pause. “Try not to get into any more trouble today, all right?”
“All right,” I promised. “Love you.”
“Love you, too. See you later.”
Feeling much better, I called Arnold. When he picked up, I jumped right in. “Hey, it’s Shia. I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“What’s up?”
I cringed, knowing what his response was going to be. “When you get back in town tomorrow, can you get in touch with Jack and ask him to call me?”
“Jack?” He didn’t sound like he knew the name, then recognition dawned. “Oh, shit! You’re not talking about the guy at the weapons dealership, are you? That guy is bad news, you should stay away from him.”
“I know, but this is important. I’m not going to go into it, but I have to get in touch with him. There are cops following me everywhere I go, so I can’t meet him in person.”
“Why are there cops following you?” I could dimly hear Sara’s voice in the background. What the hell is going on?
“Look, I’m okay. Your shields work perfectly, so you don’t have to worry. There are cops following me around keeping me totally safe and completely paranoid about my driving skills. I just need to get in touch with him to see if I can sic some White Hats on this new vamp in town.”
A woman across the aisle looked up at me sharply. I ignored her and kept going until I got to the canned soups. Hmm, chicken noodle or beef stew for lunch tomorrow?
Arnold laughed incredulously, and I could hear Sara demanding to know what was happening. “You are crazy, Shia. Absolutely, completely nuts. I’ll see what I can do for you. Hold on, Sara’s going to tear my arm out of the socket if I don’t hand her the phone.”
I grinned at that, waiting for her imperious voice to come on the line.
“What the hell are you doing over there? Do you need us?”
“No, no, no. I didn’t call to spoil your vacation, enjoy what’s left of it. I just needed help getting in touch with someone Arnold knows.”
Sara harrumphed. “Oh yeah? So what’s this about the cops following you around?”
“I’ll tell you all the dirty details when you get into town. The short story is, someone’s sent a vampire after me, and I called the cops when the vamp kept trying to get past the barrier Arnold put on the door. I’m fine.”
Dead silence. Then, “I’m coming home. Right now.”
“No, you’re not! For God’s sake, enjoy the rest of your trip and help me deal with
