His presence was so startling that I let out a humiliating squeal, my heart launching into my throat. I think I even jumped a few inches in the air.
“Woah there!” the vampire called out. “Just me! No need for theatrics.”
I was lucky that the stranger wasn’t a criminal looking to rob me of any trinkets that survived the avalanche.
I could not believe that he didn’t just leave after I had abandoned him earlier. To my utter shock, it looked like he was actually… cleaning.
He wasn’t cleaning very well, mind you. It looked like he was trying to sort through the mountain of wreckage and trinkets and form some sort of pile system. There was a pile of decimated wood chunks, a pile of items that looked only moderately damaged, and, to my disgust, there was also a growing pile of beetle carcasses. Gross.
He was touching those with his bare hands–how nasty. Who knew what sort of magical remnants would leech off them?
Hopefully Sookie hadn’t eaten any. She was smarter than many folk but… she had her moments.
The vampire was tucked away behind some fallen roof boards, looking vaguely distressed and quite dusty.
“I didn’t know where to start, and I was assigned here today, and there is clearly a lot of clean-up work needed, I figured I’d just…” He trailed off, gesturing aimlessly around the shop at the meager piles he had sorted.
My heart unexpectedly warmed a degree at the stranger’s explanation.
“I can’t really tell what’s salvageable and what’s not, a lot of these items are rather… unique.” He didn’t quite sound judgmental, he sounded more perplexed than anything.
I felt strangely touched by this stranger’s actions. Even though I knew he just wanted to get his job done, the fact that he stayed to clean up when he could have easily left made me soften towards him. Just a bit. I still thought he was an asshole.
“That’s pretty kind. Thank you, stranger,” I said, fighting to keep my cheeks from warming. Was I actuallyblushingright now? What was I, a little? Embarrassing.
“I should’ve done this before but… Hello, my name is Fiella. And you are?”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. I couldn’t tell if it was a grimace or a pitiful excuse for a smile. “Oh, you are ready for my name now? It’s Redd.”
Redd. That was a nice name. Strong.
“Well, thank you, Redd. My friend Kizzi is going to help me with a fumigation brew to kill the rest of these gods awful beetles, but it looks like I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. Care to stick around? I can’t pay you, but I can bless you with my presence and my lovely conversation.”
He didn’t laugh like I had expected him to. Like I hoped he would.Tough crowd. I’d make him crack one of these days–I was determined.
He waved a hand dismissively. “Mayor Tommins is paying me. I was assigned to help rebuild this shop, so I’m going to rebuild the shop. It needs to be cleaned first, though. This is clearly too big of a mess for one folk to manage,” he stated matter-of-factly, though he appeared to be only half paying attention to the conversation. Offensive. He was too busy gazing around the room and looking a bit ill.
“Looks like we’re in this together,” I said. “At least for now.”
I carefully made my way over to him, sticking my hand out for him to shake. His hand was warm and rough, his calluses scraping against my skin in a way that made a shiver run down my spine.
CHAPTER 10
Redd
“Looks like we’re in this together. At least for now.” I don’t know why that thought made my stomach flip. It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, but it was interesting. Unsettling.
I didn’t know what to expect from this woman. One moment she was screeching in my face, the next moment she was a blubbering mess, then she was a determined business owner, willing to do the hard work to save her shop. It was giving me whiplash.
I would have to keep my guard up–a woman like Fiella was bound to rip a man to shreds.
Fiella’s hand was firmly grasped in mine, and a breeze flowed past her and jostled a few stray hairs on her head. Her scent barreled into me full force, making my body tense up involuntarily and my mouth water. Warmth and berries.
My throat flared red hot like a wildfire. I had never wished so strongly for a jar of thirst tonic in my life. I couldn’t force my mouth to form any words in response.
I had a job to do, and I was determined to see it through. If disasters were going to follow me wherever I went, I needed to resolve them quickly so I wouldn’t drown in them.
The tense silence was interrupted by the loud grumbling of my stomach, which was echoed by a fierce, stabbing pain in my fangs. Gods, I wasstarvingin more ways than one.
