The Accidental Vampire(79)

to her teeth and headed for the door.

The men followed, protesting the whole way, but Elvi ignored them, merely glancing

back to see that DJ wasn't one of them following. She smiled around the bag in her

mouth when Mabel caught the man's arm and urged him the other way, toward the

door to the sunroom.

"Elvi, this is ridiculous," Victor said impatiently as he followed her downstairs and into

the kitchen. "You should be resting and recuperating, not—You aren't going outside!"

He exclaimed, catching her arm to draw her to a halt when he realized she was

heading for the door.

"It's perfectly safe… for me. Maybe you should wait here, though," she suggested with

sudden concern, but really wanted him to see this too. Her gaze slid to the others. "Do

you think you could position yourselves around Victor in case the archer is still here? I

don't think he'll shoot if he can't get a clear shot."

"Don't be ridiculous," Victor snapped when the men voiced their agreement. "I'm not

the target—Wait for me," he snapped when she turned to head out of the house.

Much to her annoyance, the men decided it was better safe than sorry and surrounded

both she and Victor the moment they were outside. Shaking her head, Elvi merely

directed them off the deck and to the back of her property. Once there the whole

group turned to peer up through the sunroom windows.

"What do you see?" she asked.

"Is that the DJ in the sunroom?" Alessandro asked with surprise, obviously not having

noticed he hadn't come out with them.

"Yes," Elvi said, noting that only his upper body was visible from this angle, then

repeated, "What do you see?"

There was a moment of silence as the men cast perplexed looks her way, then Harper

said, "DJ sitting in the sunroom."

"No, you don't," Elvi argued.

"Si, we do," Alessandro assured her.

"No. You see the silhouette of DJ sitting in the sunroom," she pointed out. "The light is

behind the chair and prevents you from distinguishing features."

"True," Edward acknowledged. "But—"

"Okay!" Elvi called out to the house and the dark shape of DJ began to shift, mutating

and then separating into a seated DJ and a standing woman as Mabel repositioned

herself beside the chair.

"What just happened?" Alessandro asked with confusion. "Is that the Mabel?"

"Yes," Elvi said. "She was sitting on DJ's lap, just as I was sitting on Victor's when I was

hit by the arrow."

"They wouldn't have seen you," Harper said with realization. "Just his silhouette."

Elvi turned to Victor. "They were aiming for you. I just got in the way."

When he didn't argue, but stood frowning at the couple in the sunroom, she added,

"I'll call Teddy about this in the morning and see what he can do. In the meantime, it

might be better if you stay in the house… and away from windows."

Elvi found herself harassed back into bed after this little exercise. She didn't argue. The

little jaunt had exhausted her. She obviously wasn't fully recovered yet. Leaving Mabel

and the men to debate what they should do about the unknown assailant who seemed

to be after Victor, Elvi trudged upstairs to her bed and fell asleep almost at once.

Of course, going to sleep so early had her waking early and Elvi opened her eyes to a

treat she hadn't enjoyed for a long time; sunlight was backlighting the dark red blinds

of her room, not getting in, but lightening them to a rose color. Smiling at the sight,

she glanced toward the digital clock and caught her breath. It wasn't even noon yet.

She could go out and work in the garden.

Pushing the sheets aside, Elvi hopped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. She

was in and out of the shower and dressed in record time, and then flew from her

room.

"Good morning," Mabel greeted her with surprise as she came around the corner into

the kitchen‐dining area. "You're up early."

"So are you." Elvi smiled at the woman. Mabel had started out working the day shift in

the restaurant, but had found herself staying up later and later to keep Elvi company

through the long lonely hours of the night when nothing in their small town was open.

The woman had eventually adjusted to a later shift as well.

"'DJ and I went to bed right after you," she murmured. The blush that rose up to cover

her cheeks seemed to suggest they hadn't spent the entire time sleeping.

Turning her face away to hide a grin, Elvi moved to the refrigerator and retrieved a bag

of blood. She had the first bag while standing there with the fridge door open, then

grabbed a second bag and slapped it to her teeth, closed the door and walked over to