“I get it,” Laura said. “Jared’s a hero.”
“He sure is.” I shoved my hand into my pockets. “I think Allie’s really falling for him.”
Laura’s brows rose. “You think?”
I shrugged. “I’ve been living in denial,” I admitted. “The idea of Allie and a vampire. I thought she’d get over it.”
“She still might,” Laura said. “There are definite downsides. The age difference, for one thing, though that certainly doesn’t seem to bother him. And I’m guessing she forgets about it since he looks so young. And even with his century, he pulls off a teen well.”
“He does,” I agreed. Camouflage, I supposed, since I knew that he could slide into the persona of an elder statesman, too.
“But if they really end up together, she would age and he wouldn’t,” Laura said. “That’s got to be inconvenient. I don’t care how romanticized the movies make it seem.”
“Oh,Highlander,” I said. “We haven’t seen that one in forever.”
“Not a vampire.”
“Still.Highlander.”
She laughed. “We should watch it in Stuart’s room,” Laura suggested. “Doesn’t he think it’s totally cringy? Maybe that would wake him up.”
I laughed. “We can play it really loud. If that won’t wake him up, nothing will.”
“I can think of a few of Timmy’s videos that might do the trick,” Laura retorted, then grinned at me.
I reached over and squeezed her hand. “Thanks.”
“Honestly, I don’t know how you do it.”
“I don’t have any choice. And I’ve got good friends to support me.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I get that.”
I turned in a circle, suddenly aware of the quiet. “Where’s Timmy?”
She twisted around as well, taking in the area. “Oh, hell. I told you he was a demon.”
“I’ll start here,” I said, telling myself not to panic. It’s a big house, and he’s just exploring. “You take the dorm area? He might be watching the workers. And if we don’t find him soon, we should ask the housekeeping staff to help.”
“Deal,” she said, as I made a mental note to remind myself of all their names and to introduce Timmy to each of them, just in case he slams into one of them with his trike. “Text when you find the rugrat.”
“Will do,” I agreed, then sprinted off to find my missing son.
5
Itold myself that I was absolutely one-hundred percent certain that nothing bad had happened to Timmy. Except I wasn’t certain. Not really. And I was starting to get to that point where I feared that I needed pull everyone in the house into service. And then, once we found him, I needed to invest in a little bell for him to wear around his neck.
I told myself that any mother would be frantic if her little boy disappeared into a humongous mansion that still had sections under construction. My fear was completely rational.
Except it wasn’t the house that worried me. No, I was worried about the things that go bump in the night. Or, more specifically, the things that go bump in the nightandthe day.
“Timmy!” I called again at the top of my lungs.
He didn’t respond, but this time I did get an answer. “Kate? Kate, can you come up here?”
It took me a second to recognize the voice, then I realized it was Rita Walker, Eddie’s lady friend.
“Kate?” she called again.
