“So, you going to talk to Wendy today?” She sat at the table with her breakfast.
I shrugged, joining her. “Maybe. But first, I want to talk to Lazenti, and then check out a few things before I approach her with the idea that he might have been turned. I swear to hell, if I have to tell Wendy that her loving husband decided he wanted to waltz into life as a vampire, I’m going to hunt him down and stake him myself for being such an asshole.”
“Sounds good to me,” Penn said.
I stirred my latte. “Hey, when are we going shopping? It looks like Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard in the fridge. We’re out of milk, too.”
“I can go later today. I’ll stop at the Shopmart. Do you want anything special or out of the ordinary?” She yawned, then began making a grocery list. The Shopmart wasn’t nearly as exciting as it sounded, but it was new, close, and they had a decent selection of foods.
“Not really. Standard stuff. Just the usual, though if you could get some fresh berries and bananas, I’d be up for fruit salad soon.”
She added it to the list. Then, pausing, she said, “You’re meeting your father for dinner tonight, right?”
“Yeah, and Vaurice. I’m not looking forward to it, but what can I do? I’m committed to this and I just have to let it play out. At least I’ll have time to get dressed after work. Are you going to be home?”
She shook her head. “I was planning on stopping by the library this evening, so I might not be home before you leave. If not, then tomorrow morning be prepared to tell me everything!”
“Will do! Have a good day,” I said. I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed out.
As I slid into my car, it occurred to me that my brother and father would surely notice the difference in energy. But maybe embracing my demonic heritage might actually help. I might be able to convince them easier. I felt more sure in myself, and that could only help lay the groundwork for my deception even further.
On the way to work, I passed by a new building site. I stopped at the light next to it—it had just turned red—and took a moment to glance over at the massive sign. It was fated to be Skylark Towers, a Vampire Collective Community.
Well, that was new. There were a few vampire safe places to live above ground in Seattle, but this looked like a full scale community. Of course, it wouldn’t have the windows required for egress that houses did, so nobody alive could live there, but apparently zoning laws for vamps were different.
I made a note to mention the complex to Lazenti, in case he might be interested, then let up on the brake as the light turned green. Traffic was unusually light this morning, and I reached the office a good ten minutes earlier than usual. I parked and headed into the building, dashing up the stairs.
“Good morning,” I said, stopping beside Sophia’s desk.
She stared at me as though I’d grown another head. “You’re cheerful this morning.”
“Not really, but for once I got enough sleep and didn’t have any nightmares.” I took the mail she handed me and thumbed through it. Nothing important, so I dropped it in my backpack to deal with later. “Meeting at eight-fifteen, promptly,” I said, then headed toward my office.
Once we were gathered around the table, I started off as we usually did, by asking everybody how they were. I found that a little bit of interest helped jog people out of their heads and got them to participate.
Orik yawned. “The twins—the babies—are loud. I swear, they have the healthiest lungs I’ve ever heard. The other four weren’t this loud when they were babies.”
“Well, you know…every kid’s different,” Sophia said.
“Yeah, but…” The massive Viking sighed. “I got four hours of sleep last night, between their screaming, and Hilda’s swearing when she stubbed her toe on the dresser. We exchange nights, in terms of getting up with them, and last night was her night.”
“You love it, and you know it. We’ve watched you through three sets of twins now, and you always seem the happiest when Hilda’s brought more baby lumps into the world,” Carson said. He grinned. “How are Hilda and the kids doing?”
Orik shrugged, but grinned. “She’s doing fine. How that woman manages to have what energy she does after giving birth is a mystery. The children are all fine. Altogether, life is good. Knock wood,” he added, reaching out to rap his knuckles on the table.
“Good, good,” I said. “Sophia?”
She snorted. “Good as I can be. Everything’s fine. The dogs are doing well, even that shih tzu that I adopted from…what was his name?”
“Terrance?” I asked. I still felt guilty about that, but Coco had a great home, and Sophia treated her like royalty.
“Before you ask, I’m fine, though Maya’s got a cold,” Carson said. His sister had moved up to Seattle and was living with their grandfather. “But I haven’t been around her since before she caught it, so everything should be good to go.” He paused, then said, “By the way, I dug up some more info on the Tetrachordian Temple that you might be interested in hearing.”
“Right,” I said. “First, Dante, you good to go today?”
“I’m good to go,” he said.
“Me too. Tonight’s my dinner with my father and brother, though, and I’m not looking forward to that. But everything should be fine.” I didn’t feel like telling them what had happened to me with Hecate—it didn’t make much difference, anyway, although I’d probably tell Dante later. “Okay, I have a theory about Mark Ryle, but Carson, let’s hear what you found first.”
