The Reluctant Vampire(68)

Drina had always disregarded the rumors as ghost stories told around a campfire, but now wondered if constantly being bombarded by people’s thoughts and these energy waves and the electricity Stephanie spoke of might not be the cause. She hoped not. She liked Stephanie and wouldn’t want to have to see her put down like a rabid dog.

“Lucian will have to be told,” Mirabeau said quietly, when Drina didn’t comment, and then added, “Maybe he knows a way to help her.”

Drina tightened her lips and bent to give Tiny his shot. Once Lucian was told . . . If there was something he could do for her, she didn’t doubt he would. But if there wasn’t, she also didn’t doubt that he wouldn’t hesitate to put the girl down.

“She needs to be taught to block thoughts,” Drina said grimly as she straightened. “Nobody has bothered because new turns usually need to be taught to read thoughts, not block them. But teaching her how to shield herself from other immortals’ thoughts might help considerably. I’d rather try that first than tell Lucian just yet.”

“To tell the truth, so would I,” Mirabeau admitted quietly. “But if Lucian comes down here and reads that we knew there was something amiss and didn’t say anything . . .”

“I’ll take responsibility for the decision,” Drina announced, turning to dispose of the needle she’d just used, and then a thought suddenly struck her, and she smiled as she pointed out, “You’re not technically on duty anymore anyway. Anders and I are on the job now, and you and Tiny were relieved.”

“Yeah, but we’ve kind of been roped back in because of the brakes being cut,” Mirabeau pointed out reluctantly.

Drina frowned. “Did he actually say you were back on duty? I thought he just said to get Stephanie and me back to peak and get Tiny turned because he wanted everyone prepared.”

A slow smile curled Mirabeau’s lips. “Actually, you’re right.”

“Then you’re not on duty,” Drina decided. “It’s my problem. And I’m not telling him.”

Mirabeau smiled, and then worry began to pluck at her lips. “He’ll be so pissed at you.”

Drina gave a short laugh. “Uncle Lucian’s temper doesn’t worry me. Well, not much anyway,” she admitted wryly, and then pointed out, “I work for the European council. I’m only here as a favor. He really has no jurisdiction over me.”

“Nice,” Mirabeau said with a grin, and then glanced to the door as it opened.

“I got popcorn and some sodas for each of us, and I picked three movies,” Stephanie announced, bouncing into the room, her arms full. “An action flick, a horror, and a comedy. I figured we could vote on which to watch.” She glanced over her shoulder as they heard footsteps on the stairs, and added, “The others are coming to relieve us. Are you two ready?”

The porch Harper had mentioned was rectangular, running along the side of the house away from the road on the second story. The upper half of the three outer walls were made up mostly of windows, but there was also a heavy-duty door with a relatively new dead bolt. It led down to the deck, and Drina vaguely recalled seeing a screen door on the outside while crossing the deck on one pass. As for the windows, they were old-fashioned, tall and narrow with wooden frames that swung open rather than raised or slid to the side as more modern windows did. Their screens had been removed for the winter season and were stacked against one wall. Seasonal caulking of some sort had been run around each window to prevent a draft from slipping through, but while the walls themselves may have been insulated, the windows were not, and it was quite chilly when she, Harper, and Stephanie stepped out into the porch.

“It warms up in here pretty quickly,” Harper assured them as he moved to turn on a heavy-duty electric heater in one corner.

Drina nodded and glanced around as Stephanie dumped her cache of goodies on a coffee table between the couch that sat under the wall of windows and the television that sat opposite it against the house wall. A frown drew Drina’s lips tight as she considered the vulnerabilities, and then she said, “Stephanie, go get yourself a bunch of pillows and maybe a comforter. Whatever you think you’ll need to make a comfy nest on the floor. I don’t want you in front of the windows.”

“Okay,” Stephanie said easily, either not minding the nesting idea or not willing to cause a fuss and risk losing this opportunity to be away from the others. “I’ll bring enough that you guys can join me if you like.”

“I didn’t think of the windows,” Harper said apologetically, glancing around at them as Stephanie slowly walked to the far end of the room, taking in what could be seen of the surrounding neighborhood.