Aubrey’s reply is instant.
Oh my god. Did you get a girlfriend?
No.
Bummer.
I got a wife.
WHAT?
She calls but I don’t answer. I silence my phone and shove it back in my pocket. Maris gives me a curious look when I’m finished.
“Was that a friend?”
“I don’t have friends,” I tell her. “It was my assistant. She’s going to wrap things up for me here while we travel.” I grab her hand and start back up the hill towards her home. It’s good that it’s so high up. We’ll have a good vantage point for what’s going on in town.
Maris digs her heels in and pulls on her arm. “What do you mean, travel? I can’t-I have to stay here.”
“This place is falling apart. This town is going to eat itself.”
“It’s my home.”
“It’s your prison.”
Maris’ beautiful face twists. She’s frustrated, I can see it. She’ll get over it. I stop trying to coax her along by her hand and throw her over my shoulder. She shrieks when she goes ass up on my shoulder.
“Julian! Put me down.” She hits my back but I keep walking. “I mean it! This isn’t funny, you asshole.”
“I’myourasshole,” I remind her. “Remember that.”
“You fucker!”
Maris keeps up a colorful stream of curses the entire way to her house. The further we get from downtown the quieter it gets, at least to her it does. I can hear what’s going on just fine. There’s a scream and another few gunshots. I hear a car crash into abuilding. Whatever the baby vamps are getting into down there isn’t good.
I open the door with a still wriggling Maris on my shoulder. “Put me down!”
I only listen to her because we’re inside. I set her down on her feet with more care than I did picking her up and close the door behind us. I deadbolt it when she looks ready to march back outside.
“If you need to learn the lesson again, wife. Just say the words.”
Maris’ mouth parts. Her breath comes quickly from the rise and fall of her chest. The Lesson. She knows exactly what I mean.
“You can’t ju-” Maris freezes and stops mid-word. “Oh fuck,” she whispers.
I touch her side. “What is it?”
Maris points at the floor. “Someone’s here.”
I look down at where she’s pointing and sure enough, there’s wet footprints on the foyer floor. The dark hardwood shows the path they took. The footsteps veer right and go into the living room. Maris and I exchange a look.
I sweep her behind me with one arm. “Stay behind me, and get your gun out.”
She nods. “Okay.”
After I cleaned her up, we left the dock and made sure to swing by for the gun and knife Maris had lost there. She told me about the holy water in the bottle she’d used, too. She’s clever. Resourceful. We’re going to make it out of this.
You will not lose her.
