The light hit Mr. Perkins’s glasses again, hiding his expression as he drawled, “Oh, we study strange fauna of all kinds.”
The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck stood up.
Careful, the voice warned, speaking up for the first time since they’d woken up in Mama Sybil’s car. It was probably the first bit of useful advice it had ever given Riley. Not that he needed it.
Riley was just debating whether to attempt compulsion to get the man to leave their property when Mama Sybil’s car pulled up. She and Mama Daphne were out in an instant, though they managed to make it look like neither one of them was rushing.
“This is private property,” Mama Sybil announced before Mr. Perkins could even say a word. She sounded haughty as hell, and no matter how angry Riley was with her, he could appreciate the way she could make any man feel like a bug under her shoe.
Mr. Perkins was all genial smiles now. “Hello,” he said. “I’m aware, actually. I’m Tim Perkins from the Northwest Institute of Wildlife Research. I’ve been sent to request permission for access to your land.”
“For what purpose?” Mama Daphne asked.
“As our name suggests, we study wildlife in the area,” Mr. Perkins said, not mentioning anything aboutstrange fauna, Riley noticed. “You own quite a bit of forest property. The larger the field we can cover, the more data we can collect.”
But Mama Sybil was waving a dismissive hand. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”
Mr. Perkins coughed gently into his fist. “We’ll stick to the outskirts, of course. You won’t even notice we’re there.”
“You’d be surprised,” Riley muttered.
When he glanced back up, Mama Daphne was subtly shaking her head at him. Before Riley could question the warning, she smiled brightly, holding out her hand to him. “Riley, darling, why don’t you come inside? I think we’re done here.”
Mr. Perkins didn’t make a move to come off the porch. Instead, he held out a card. “In case you change your mind.”
Mama Sybil swept up the stairs and past him, grabbing the card as she went. She shot him a brief smile over her shoulder that didn’t reach her eyes. “We won’t.”
Mr. Perkins maintained his own bland smile as he finally walked off the porch, nodding politely as he passed Riley and Mama Daphne to get to his car. Riley inhaled as he passed—no scent of copper. Not a vampire, then. Just a kinda creepy lawyer.
Back inside the house, Riley watched his moms hang their purses on the hooks in the vestibule. They weren’t indulging in their usual easy chatter, and Riley couldn’t tell if that was because of their most recent visitor or the events of the morning.
If nothing else, Mr. Perkins had served as a distraction from Riley’s self-recrimination.
His moms led him toward the kitchen, and Riley finally broke the silence. “Weird guy.”
Mama Sybil’s brow furrowed as she grabbed three mugs from the cabinet. “If you see him or anyone else from his so-called institute, tell us immediately.”
Riley was already supposed to tell his moms if he encountered any strangers on the property. The fact that she was specifying now was telling. He took a seat at the table. “You think there’s something wrong.”
“I think it’s wise to be alert.” Mama Sybil tossed Mr. Perkins’s card into the garbage. Riley had a feeling she would have preferred to set the thing on fire.
Mama Daphne stopped by his chair to press a kiss to Riley’s cheek, then sashayed over to the stove to start the kettle. “You should be sure to stay presentable, darling. Seth could be here at any moment.”
Riley’s stomach swooped. So much for a distraction. “What do you mean?”
“I gave him our address,” Mama Sybil said lightly, like that was a totally normal thing to do after their son had tried to eat a man.
“So he could run as far from it as possible?”
Mama Daphne grinned brightly as she spooned tea leaves into her favorite teapot. “I think he’ll surprise you.”
Riley dropped his head in his hands, tugging at his hair. He loved these women, but— “Why were you eventhere?” he gritted out.
“We wanted to meet him,” Mama Daphne said, the absolute picture of innocence.
“You couldn’t wait?”
“Not when he holds your fate in his hands.” Mama Sybil covered Riley’s shoulder with a warm hand. “We told you that everything would be well. We told you we’d make sure of it.”
