Loki and I had agreed not to mention the attack, and I was pleased I was still steady on my feet. My hands weren’t shaking from the adrenaline dump yet, but they probably would soon, now that I was safe.
‘You got any Dr P?’ I asked. The sugary drink would stave off the shakes or at least give me something to hold to disguise them.
‘What do you take me for?’ she clucked. ‘OfcourseI have your Dr Pepper.’ She bustled into the kitchen with Loki and I went to join the others for Sunday dinner. Julian and Grant had called the family get-together, insisting it had been too long since we’dallbeen together.
A stab of disappointment hit when I saw that Robbie wasn’t here yet either. The two of us didn’t exactly keep regular hours. I pulled out my phone and texted him to let him know I was there and asked if he would be coming. I found myself longing for his warmth, his arms around me. I didn’t need him to fight my battles for me, but it was nice to have him by my side all the same.
‘Hey, Stacy!’ Ava said brightly. She was sitting next to Rupert, her hands entangled with his. Her nails were salon-fresh – wine-red with gold crackle – and her outfit matched them so completely that it was clear she’d gone to some effort. How anyone –whyanyone – would spend somuch time and energy on looking so perfect was beyond me.
‘Hey, Ava. You okay?’
‘I’m great, thank you. You?’
I let my vague smile be my answer. No need to get into dead bodies and vampyr attacks at the dinner table. Mum would be cross.
The men gave me nods in greeting, all three looking as tired as I felt. We all pulled long shifts, Grant and Julian as medical professionals, and Rupert and I on the side of the law, though Rupert’s side of lawyering was clearly the poor relation to the superior job of law enforcement.
‘Just got off shift?’ I asked Grant and Julian.
‘Yeah, we both had 6-6’s which ended up running over,’ Jules said.
Grant rubbed his eyes. ‘I didn’t get done until 8pm.’
‘But we were not going to miss this for anything,’ Julian said, taking Grant’s hand. The two of them exchanged a private smile.
‘You’ll both stay tonight too,’ Mum said firmly to Grant and Julian as she came in with a plate laden with food for me. ‘You’ll be in no fit state to drive.’
‘She’s right,’ I threw my weight in, for whatever it counted for.
Julian and Grant exchanged looks.
‘Thanks,’ Jules finally said. ‘We’d love to stay.That means we can have a drink or two.’
‘Wonderful.’ Mum beamed. ‘Red wine?’
‘Please.’
‘Thanks, Mum,’ I said as she set the huge plate of food in front of me with a can of Dr Pepper. ‘You’re the best.’
She looked at me, frowning as she touched my jaw lightly. ‘You’ve got some redness here, and it’s starting to bruise. Did you get hit today?’ Her lips were pinched, her disapproval and concern showing in equal measure.
I gave her my best reassuring smile. ‘Yeah, but it’s no biggie.’
‘You want me to heal you?’ Grant offered.
I shook my head at my brother-in-law. ‘Thanks, but I can see you’re dead on your feet. It’s no big deal. I’ve got some healing paste at home. I’ll sort it later.’
I buried myself into Mum’s roast beef, throwing it down my gullet with relish as I realised how hungry I was.
‘You’re supposed to chew your food, Stace,’ Rupert sniggered. ‘Christ, you’re like a penguin, chowing down a whole fish at once.’
I showed him two fingers and continued eating at the same rapid pace.
Mum poured Julian and Grant generous glasses of wine each.
‘Is Robbie comingover?’ Grant asked with a deceptively casual air as he sipped at the large glass.
I checked my phone and saw my text had a thumbs-up in response. ‘Yeah, I think so.’ I paused. ‘Why?’
