Night Shift(56)

“I was astonished to hear that daytime servants of yours had come to my town while I slept,” Lemuel said.

“Ah. I will tell you why.” Joseph inclined his head graciously. “I had heard that a human who did us great harm was hiding in Midnight,”

he said. “Rather than offend you by sending one of us at night, I thought humans in our service would be less intrusive.”

“But of course, I heard of it,” Lemuel said, and though calm, his voice was truly terrifying. “And it did seem to me that such an action might be considered a violation of our agreement of so many years ago.”

“An agreement you made with Stan when he was young,” Joseph murmured.

“An agreement with the head of a nest is an agreement forever, unless it is renegotiated,” Lemuel said in return. No one in the room moved by so much as a whisker. Vampires could do that. In the silence that followed, Olivia kept her eyes on Lemuel’s feet.

She would know if the time had come to fight by the way he planted his feet.

“Perhaps you could explain the favor?” Joseph asked. “Certainly. I need the services of a young vampire in your nest.

Her name is Christine.”

The thin black-haired female with the tray moved an inch. Busted, thought Olivia. It was the equivalent of jumping up and down screaming, “That’s me!”

“This is Christine,” Joseph said, and the censure was heavy in his voice. “She is a weak vampire, but a fair fighter.”

He really doesn’t like Christine. Olivia began to feel optimistic about their chances. Perhaps Lemuel would not have to give up the truth ball if Joseph was anxious to be rid of Christine.

“On the other hand,” said a male with a blond crew cut, who had already caught Olivia’s attention because he looked very retro-1950s, “Christine has proven her worth to us. May we ask why you need Christine, in particular?”

Does she have something we don’t know about that we could use or exploit? Olivia translated.

“She is a weak vampire,” Lemuel said, with the air of one being sadly blunt. “She has only one recommendation to me, and that is her lineage. Her maker, who calls himself Dr. Quigley, gave me less than fair value in something I bought from him.”

Olivia found it draining to be so hyperalert to tiny movements. But at least no one was getting closer, and she could sense the vampires’ interest. Olivia was finding the atmosphere in the house stagnant and cool, and she realized that the vampires had not turned on the heat yet, though the night temperatures were dipping into the low fifties.

She was glad she’d pulled on a sweater for the drive.

The silence had lasted way too long, at least for a human conversation, and Olivia realized her thoughts were drifting when they should be most focused.

She’d heard that vampires could communicate with each other silently if they were connected by blood, and she figured that was what was happening.

“We are willing to give up Christine, for a price,” Joseph said. Good-bye, truth ball, Olivia thought.

“As it happens, I have something that may interest you,” Lemuel said smoothly.

Forty minutes later they were driving back to Midnight with a very sullen vampire in the backseat.

Olivia realized that her sex life was on hold for the foreseeable future. Lemuel was so private he didn’t admit in public that he and Olivia actually had sex, he had banned the F word from casual conversation, and he would never be induced into her bed with a vampire in the next room. Sure, there were more important things to face at the moment. But.

Well, shit, she thought.





19





Manfred woke up the next morning thinking about Mamie. Since he was a great believer in taking a hint from his own brain, after he’d had his granola-bar breakfast he called Safe Harbor. He was connected to the room she shared with Suzie, and it was Suzie who answered the telephone.

“Hello?”

“It’s Manfred. How is Mamie?”

“Better,” Suzie said immediately. “She’s better! Your friend Fiji came, and she held Mamie’s hand and prayed over her or something. By that point, we wouldn’t have minded if she’d gotten out a feather headdress and danced around the bed with a rattle. But she closed her eyes and her lips moved, Fiji’s I mean, and Mamie’s sleep got better, more natural. Her legs quit moving, and she didn’t toss and turn any more. This morning she woke up and asked for breakfast!”

“I’m so glad. Has she walked any?”

“Just to the bathroom and back, but that was more than she’s done in days.”

“That’s great! That’s just . . . great.” Manfred couldn’t think of eloquent words.