“Four. What is your birth date?”
“August eleventh. Why?”
He punched something into the panel on the elevator wall. “I’ve just set the code to zero eight one one. You will have to enter that to use the elevator.”
“Nifty,” I said.
The doors opened and I gasped at the sight that met my eyes. Floodlights shone up on the long front of a house painted the color of goldenrod, dotted with white shutters and French doors down the length, and bisected with a long narrow balcony that that was heavily covered in some sort of green vines. In front of the house, a lush green lawn spread out toward the sea, visible even though the sun was just starting to lighten the sky. “Criminy noodles! This is some sort of gorgeous. I bet the view is breathtaking in daylight.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Merrick said drily, and unlocked a door. I released Kelso, who happily trotted off, his nose to the ground, the white plume of his tail waving gently in the darkness.
“Why not—oh! Vampire. Sunlight.” I eyed him as we entered the villa. “So that’s true? You burn up into little black blobs of nothing if you go out in the sun?”
“No, but it’s not particularly enjoyable to be in sunlight.”
“What happens to you?”
He set down my suitcases, and pulled out his phone. “We blister.”
“Is that all?” I glanced around the room, pleasantly surprised. I don’t know what I expected Merrick’s home to look like—something out of a German expressionist’s nightmare, all white and black and angles everywhere—but this room was Mediterranean cozy with pale acid-washed-jeans blue walls, darker blue sofa, love seat, and chairs, and, overhead, thick wooden beams that had been stained a honey oak color.
“It can be deadly if we are confined for a length of time in full sunlight, so, yes, that’s all.” He nodded toward a staircase. “You can use the room at the top of the stairs just on the left.”
“This place is breathtaking,” I said, noting a dining room beyond the living area. The house was clearly built to utilize the view, with lots of windows and French doors opening onto the lawn and the sight of the sea beyond. “How many rooms does it have?”
“Six.” He finished with whatever text message he was sending, and took both cases upstairs. I followed after him, counting three bookcases in the living room alone. I couldn’t wait to see what sort of reading taste he had. “There is a bathroom attached to your room.”
I entered the room he indicated. A large bed sat against the wall, facing a bank of windows, which Merrick opened after setting down my suitcases. “Pretty room.”
“I’m sure you are tired after being up all night.” He nodded toward a bed swathed with mosquito netting. It looked like something out ofThe Arabian Nights.
“Not with all the sleeping I did in the car.” I looked around. “This isn’t your bedroom, is it?”
“No. Mine is down the hall on the right. I’ll have some food brought in for you.” He pulled out his phone again when it made a burbling sound. “And food for the dog. There’s a key to the front door in the top left bureau drawer in the main room downstairs. If you like, I can have a rental car delivered for you to use.”
“Thank you,” I said, warmed by the thoughtfulness of his gestures. “That’s very kind of you, especially considering you didn’t want me to be around.”
“Here is my mobile number.” He pulled out a card and wrote a phone number on the back. “Although I would ask you not to call unless the situation is desperate.”
“Desperate,” I repeated, a suspicion slowly starting to dawn in my brain. “Situation?”
“If you hear from your cousin, tell me immediately.” Merrick glanced around the room, then turned and left.
I stood staring for a few minutes, the suspicion growing until it propelled me out the door and down the stairs. I caught up to him at the elevator. “Wait a minute—you’re leaving me here?”
“Yes.” He stepped into the elevator and punched a button.
“You can’t do that!” I objected.
“You need not fear for your safety. You will be safe here. You may have the run of the house and gardens. There’s a pool on the side. The town is small, with few tourists, but you might find it interesting.”
“You can’t just dump Kelso and me like this!” I stuck my arm out to block the elevator doors.
He made an annoyed noise, and tried to move my hand. “I just told you that you will be safe here.”
“Safety is not my issue with the situation. Where are you going?”
“I have a job to do.” His gaze was level, but I could feel the anger within him. It burned white, different from the red hunger, but no less potent.
