“Good thing, because my feeder left town tonight.” Cage looked down at the muddy ground, shrugged, and sat down in the spreading mud puddle alongside Nik. “Hannah’s and Fen’s feeder, too, although neither of them will be needing anything until tomorrow night.”
“She’s gonna be okay?” Melissa reached out and smoothed Cage’s hair away from his face. Interesting. The man had been all hot over Robin—and, Nik had to admit, she’d been all hot over him—but Melissa’s gesture seemed awfully intimate. Then again, Cage had saved her from being tortured by Matthias Ludlam. Made sense that they’d be tight.
Still, he’d want some reassurances. Robin wasn’t Nik’s great romance. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he believed that fairy tale anymore. But if Cage Reynolds hurt one piece of her surprisingly vulnerable little heart, the vampire would find out what Rangers could do during daylight hours.
Nik liked Cage, but Robin came first. Besides Kell, his Ranger buddy back in Houston, she was his best friend. Sure, they occasionally had benefits, but not as often as she’d made it sound. The friendship came first.
“I guess I should go and help Krys.” Melissa dragged the toe of her sandal in the mud. “I wonder where Aidan will want Fen to take his daysleep? And you, Cage? Hannah already goes with Aidan and Krys to . . . wherever they go.”
Which brought up an interesting question Nik wasn’t sure anyone would answer, at least not until they got to know him better. Where did the vampires of Penton take their daily naps? He knew there were spaces underneath the community houses, but those were too obvious. Their enemies could send in humans to knock them all off in one big vampire slaughter if they were that easy to find.
“Yeah, it’s going to take some sorting out,” Cage said. “I think Mirren wants all of us, including you and Nik here, at his place before dawn to figure it out.”
Melissa looked down at Cage. “So we could be bunk mates?” She didn’t exactly look happy.
“Looks like.” Cage didn’t look too elated about it, either. Interesting.
What he did look was as tired and grubby as Nik. He scrubbed his palms over his cheeks and flicked off dried flakes of mud. More like iron-rich clay, Nik decided. In the harsh glare of the portable floodlights someone had set up, it looked more orange than brown.
Behind them, the fire continued to burn, but it had already done its worst. The adjacent house had been soaked enough to prevent the flames from consuming it.
“I’ll see you later at Mirren’s, then,” Melissa said, picking up the portable oxygen tank. “You too, Nik.”
“Right,” he said. “Thanks for the O.”
Cage watched Melissa leave, and Nik watched Cage. Couldn’t read his expression, though. “She seems nice—well, in a bossy sort of way.”
“She is.” Cage laughed. “Both nice and bossy. She’s had a rough few months, that one.”
Maybe he’d counseled her in his psychiatrist role. Or maybe that intimate touch she’d given him meant more. “You’re good friends, then?” At Cage’s sharp look, he added, “I’m just trying to suss out the local dynamics. Friendships.”
Cage shrugged, tugging what was left of his shirt over his head and tossing it in the mud in a heap. “We’re all friends, all the lieutenants and fams—those are feeders that are bonded to one vampire, but you probably knew that already.”
“Yeah, the colonel’s pretty thorough in his dossiers.”
“Then you know Mel used to be Aidan’s fam—had been for a long time. So it upset the balance of things when she was turned vampire.” Cage had been scanning the block while he talked. “I just realized Robin wasn’t here. Is she okay? Have you seen her?” He climbed to his feet, looking farther down the block toward the old mill.
“I haven’t seen her since we first heard about the fire and left Mirren’s.” Nik wasn’t sure if that meant Robin had found something, or if she hadn’t. He rolled to his hands and knees, willing his wobbly legs to propel him upright. Cage held out a hand, and Nik hesitated before taking it. Habit and hard experience had taught him to touch with caution, but he grasped Cage’s hand and accepted the help. It felt good to be standing upright.
“Thanks for that—and for getting me out of there when the ceiling started coming down.”
“No problem. Shouldn’t we look for Robin? She doesn’t know the area and no way that fire was an accident.”
Cage hadn’t quite gotten the big picture on Robin yet, if he still thought of her as a frail flower in need of saving. “She’s a—oh no.”