Vampire Most Wanted(46)
Divine’s eyes widened with surprise. “I was just going to wait in the SUV while you went in to get the blood from your friends.”
Marcus hesitated and then pulled his door closed. Turning to face her, he said solemnly, “Bastien is having the blood delivered here, but it won’t get here until possibly tomorrow, tonight at the latest. Vincent and Jackie offered to put us up until then. They’re going to feed us and give us rooms to sleep in.”
Divine frowned at this news. She hadn’t signed up for all of that. She wasn’t used to depending on others, and wasn’t comfortable doing so now. “I have to get back to the carnival, Marcus. Madge will be worried about me. I haven’t had a chance to call yet. And I have to get money out of the bank, buy a new RV, and set it up for customers. They count on me to—”
“You can call or text Madge from the house. I’m sure Vincent will be happy to let you use the phone. And you can’t buy a new RV until you can get to the money. It’s Sunday. The banks are all closed. So that will have to wait until tomorrow anyway.” Reaching out, he took her hands and said gently, “You need blood and a place to rest. Both of those are waiting just through that door.”
Divine turned and peered at the door in question, but still hesitated. Finally, she said, “Tell me about these friends of yours.”
Marcus hesitated, and then said, “Well, their names are Vincent Argeneau and Jackie Morrisey Argeneau. They’re life mates who found each other about four years ago.”
Divine stiffened in her seat, her heart suddenly thumping like a scared rabbit’s in her chest. Argeneau? He’d brought her to the home of an Argeneau? His family friends were Argeneaus? Who were they? How were they connected to her? Dear God, she was sitting outside the lion’s den like a lamb waiting for slaughter.
“Jackie was born mortal and was turned less than five years ago . . . by a rogue,” he added quietly. “Which was fortunate, because Vincent had used up his turn to save a cousin of mine.”
Divine swallowed. Jackie was a mortal? That was good. Jackie wouldn’t be able to read her, and wasn’t likely to be a threat. However . . . “How old is Vincent?”
Marcus grimaced and then admitted, “I’m not sure. I think he’s about four or five hundred years old.”
“A baby,” Divine murmured, relaxing a little. Neither of them would be able to read her. If she just continued to act as if there was nothing wrong, surely they wouldn’t know who she was? She wondered though who his parents were, and if she’d ever met them. And she wondered if she’d even recall his parents if she had met them. It had been a long time ago that she’d lived with her grandparents. Uncle Lucian had been around a lot, and his twin too, though she couldn’t remember his name. She hadn’t much liked the man. She remembered an Aunt Marta or Martine, and a couple of other uncles visiting at one time or another, but those were not memories she had held on to. She’d done her best to forget that time of her life once she’d realized she could never return to it.
And yet, here she was, about to meet a relative, and Divine found herself oddly numb about the whole thing. This man was probably a cousin or something to her, but she didn’t feel like she was about to meet family. He was a stranger to her whether he carried the same last name as she’d once had or not.
“Vincent has a company with diversified interests, but his main interest is in the theater,” Marcus continued. “He produces plays. He used to act in them too, but I gather he’s kind of dropped out of that since meeting Jackie.”
An actor, Divine thought, relaxing a little more. Neither of them was sounding very threatening, and surely it couldn’t hurt to stay here for one night? She was exhausted, and sleeping in a bed rather than the SUV was sounding mighty attractive. Sighing, Divine nodded and tugged her hands free of his hold. His touch was oddly disturbing.