If he didn’t already know, Drina thought, suddenly worried that she and Harper might have led the man here from the gas station. She had been so distracted by worries for Stephanie, she hadn’t considered that possibility.
“We should go,” Stephanie said suddenly, worry now in her voice too, and Drina knew she’d plucked her thoughts from her mind.
She slipped her arm around the girl’s shoulders and turned her to walk back to Harper, saying, “Don’t worry. We’ll call Lucian before we leave town and have him send a couple of men over. They’ll watch for trouble and get your family out of here if there’s any sign of Leonius.”
“What if he’s here now and does something before they get here?” Stephanie asked, suddenly stopping.
Drina frowned and glanced back toward the house, torn.
“What’s wrong?” Harper asked, moving to join them.
“Leonius may have followed us from Port Henry,” Drina pointed out unhappily.
Harper shook his head. “I was watching for anyone following us. We weren’t.”
Drina stared at him blankly, both embarrassed and angry at herself for not thinking of it. She was supposed to be the professional here.
“Thank you,” she breathed on a sigh. “I should have thought to watch for it myself.”
Harper smiled crookedly. “I told you I’m good with details.”
“Yes, but I’m the rogue hunter here,” she pointed out with vexation, as he caught her free hand and tugged to urge them to move again. “I should have—”
“Hey,” he interrupted, squeezing her fingers gently. “You were worried about Stephanie.”
“So were you,” she pointed out dryly, as they approached the end of the alley.
“Yeah, but you haven’t slept in more than forty-eight hours. I have,” he countered.
“Has it been that long?” Drina asked with a frown.
“I’m afraid so,” Harper said.
“Actually it’s forty-seven hours and ten minutes right now,” Stephanie murmured. “We got up at eight the day before yesterday and you sat up on the stool all night while Harper and I were healing from the fire.”
“Right,” Drina murmured with a shake of the head, and then they’d spent the day playing cards, looking for Stephanie, and then driving down here to search for her. Harper and Stephanie hadn’t slept in almost twenty-four hours. Stephanie could sleep in the backseat on the way back, but Harper . . . She glanced to him, and asked, “Are you okay for driving?”
“I think so. Besides, we don’t have blood. We have to get back,” he pointed out quietly.
The reminder made her glance to Stephanie, and she frowned when she noticed her pallor. Unless they wanted to find emergency donors, they had to get back.
“I can’t feed on people the normal way,” Stephanie pointed out grimly, as they reached Harper’s car. “And I am so not cutting up some poor person to feed. Let’s just go back. I’ll survive two hours.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Harper said, as they reached the car.
It took them several minutes, but they found a pay phone at a corner store. While Stephanie and Harper stocked up on junk food for the trip home, Drina called Teddy. The police chief was relieved to hear they’d found Stephanie and promised his first call, even before he started calling in the search party, would be to Lucian to have him send someone to Windsor to keep an eye on the McGills for the next little while just in case. He then asked what their ETA was and assured her he’d be waiting up to see they got back okay.
Drina had expected Stephanie to sleep for the journey home, but she didn’t. Drina was determined to keep up a lively chatter to help Harper fend off sleepiness, and Stephanie joined the effort. It made the sudden silence that hit the car when they passed the Port Henry limits sign that much more noticeable.
It was nine thirty on the nose when they arrived at Teddy’s. Both SUVs and Teddy’s car were in the driveway. Drina had to smile when Harper parked behind Anders’s SUV, blocking it in.
“Nice,” Stephanie said from the backseat.
“What?” Harper asked innocently, and Drina chuckled softly as they all got out of the car.
Mirabeau had the front door open before they reached the porch. She peered over them with amusement and shook her head. “You all look exhausted.”
Drina smiled wryly. “Probably because we are.”
Nodding, she stepped to the side to let them enter, squeezing Stephanie’s arm as she passed.
“I smell food,” Stephanie said, sniffing the air as she paused in the front hall.
“We made breakfast. It should be ready in a few minutes,” Mirabeau said with a grin as she followed Drina and Harper into the house.