asked finally. His gaze then slid to the counter where some twenty pie crusts sat
waiting to be filled and he added, "And who the hell are all these pies for?"
Elvi raised her head and offered a surprised smile. "Oh, good morning, Victor."
Spotting the smudge of flour on her cheek and nose, Victor found himself smiling back.
She was so adorable.
"The pies are for the end of summer fair," she explained, answering the last question
first. "The proceeds will go to help the Abused Kid's Shelter. I'm afraid I'd quite
forgotten all about it what with your arrival and everything. Fortunately, the men were
kind enough to offer their help."
"Harper volunteered us," Edward corrected with a grimace.
"It's only fair. We are here for free, eating the food and consuming the blood. Is little
enough to make some pies," Alessandro said with a shrug.
Edward muttered something under his breath, but the fact that he was there helping
suggested he agreed. He wasn't someone who did things he didn't want to, so it
seemed obvious he was willing to help. Victor supposed the grumbling was purely to
ensure his machismo wasn't affected by participating in this womanly chore.
He watched them work for another moment, then heaved a sigh and moved toward
the table. "So, what can I do to help?"
Chapter Sixteen
"There." Elvi sealed the lid on the last pie and stepped back with a relieved sigh. It had
been a hectic two days, but they'd done it. One hundred pies. They'd finished more
than half of them yesterday before staggering off to their various beds, then Elvi had
woken before the others again today and set right back to work, grateful when the
men had joined her again as they woke.
Elvi peered over the results with weary satisfaction. At least the visible results, most of
the pies were already baked and sitting on shelves in the cupboard room between the
garage and kitchen. There were also a dozen down in the cold room, waiting for their
turn in the oven, and these last six here in the kitchen that she and the men had just
finished with.
All she had to do was bake the eighteen left and box them and they were all set for
tomorrow. And she couldn't have done it without the men. Alessandro had tried to
rush, messing up more than he'd made at first, and Edward was a very slow,
meticulous worker, but Harper had been a dream and Victor had proven to be a skilled
pie maker once shown how to do it. So, shortly after Victor had joined their efforts, Elvi
had set Alessandro and Edward to peeling apples and cooking the cherries for the
fillings, and that had worked well.
"These look done," Victor announced from where he stood bent over, peering into the
oven. "Should I take them out and switch them for three more?"
"Yes, please." Elvi picked up two of the pies from the table, smiling when Harper
hurried over and picked up a third with his free hand. His other was holding a bag of
blood to his mouth. As each man had finished their last pie, they'd moved to the fridge
in search of sustenance. All except Victor, who had moved to the oven to inspect the
pies presently baking.
Come to think of it, Elvi realized, she'd never seen Victor feed. It made her wonder if
he had to feed less because of his age, or if he was just shy about feeding in front of
others. She pondered the matter as she waited for Victor to lift out the last of the
three pies in the oven. Once he'd removed the last one, Elvi slid in both of the pies she
carried, and then turned to take the last one from Harper. When she straightened
from placing it on the oven shelf, she closed the door and turned away to find Victor at
her side, holding out a bag of blood.
"Thank you." Elvi took it, and then asked, "Aren't you going to have one?"
The sudden silence in the room was startling. All eyes had turned to Victor with an
odd, expectant silence, but he merely shrugged and turned away, muttering, "Not right
now."
Elvi frowned, noting that the men were all now evading her eyes and concentrating on
feeding or throwing out the bag they'd just finished, depending on where they were in
the process. Elvi glanced from one man to the other, then to Victor again and
commented, "I don't remember you having any when you got up."
Each man had headed to the refrigerator for a bag of blood or two on entering the
kitchen, fed, and then disposed of the bags before joining her at the table. All of them
except Victor. He'd walked straight to the table without detouring to feed.
"We have refrigerators in our room," he reminded her, and then said, "I'll take these
pies down to the cold room."
He collected two of the pies they'd just finished making and headed for the door to the