Page 16 of Silent Stalker
“I have learned harboring such hopes leads to disappointment. I’ll be back in a few minutes with some blood. Try not to assault your favorite dessert until you have the main meal.”
“It’s just a little assault. It’s his fault he’s delicious. He shouldn’t have gone out of his way to be so tasty if he didn’t want me snacking on him.”
Ben left the room laughing.
“It is good you’re becoming more relaxed. Make yourself comfortable, as I’ll need to do a lot of talking on the phone to settle this issue.”
“Do you think the teens will be all right?”
“I hope so. Considering their state after you got the vampires staked, they will probably be fine unless the humans really screw up their care.”
“I was warned they were prejudiced against preternaturals.” It took a little work to figure out how to conquer the beanbag enough I could make myself comfortable, stretching out and crossing my ankles on the far arm of the loveseat while I made good use of Emerick’s lap. “Better ask Ben to bring a straw, because I am not moving.”
Emerick chuckled. “I see we’re going to have to get one of these for your office, although I will have some concerns we might lose you to it. At least it will be easy to locate my wayward wife. I will dig in her beanbag couch to see if it consumed her once again.”
“It’s true. I’ll be researching, and then next thing everyone knows, I will have been eaten by my couch. And it’ll be so comfortable I won’t be able to call for help. I’ll be forced to research in perfect comfort, where I will inevitably catch a nap and nothing will get done. That couch is a really bad idea.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to actually sleep with the amount of coffee you tend to consume once you start working? I have learned to time my work so I can provide for you. I have found everyone is more productive if I mystically arrive with your next cup of coffee every thirty-three minutes. I am still studying if your coffee consumption changes the flavor of your blood.”
As part of my quest to ensure we became a bonded pair, I’d been requiring Emerick to steal sips every night, usually midway through one of my working binges, which involved dedicated focus on my work without being aware of someone bringing me coffee. Once, I’d been so focused he’d taken a bite out of me without me cluing in he’d been behind me, watching.
For an hour.
“Just because you bit me that one time during my research,” I muttered.
“It was a marvel to behold, this is true. You had no idea I was there, but when you realized I was the one doing the biting, you were quite pleased to be my dessert.”
“It’s not my fault your bites are even more relaxing than a bubble bath. Are you sure bonded vampires nip in bed? Do you know what your nips do? Induce nap time. That’s the wrong use of the bed.”
“I am sure I can handle that situation when we are registered as a bonded pair.”
“You should have just licked the blood off my nose rather than wasting it on Ben’s handkerchief.”
Ben entered the room carrying two bottles of blood along with a long, curly straw. “Alas, this is the only type of straw we keep here, and we usually use them for copious amounts of alcohol rather than blood, but it should do the trick.”
Damned vampires and their good hearing. “I’m too comfortable to sit up,” I said in my defense.
“You are not the first or the last to use a party straw to drink blood while trapped in the loving arms of that couch,” Ben assured me. “I’ve fallen victim to it a time or two when on watch duty here. Emerick, are we going to rotate her through the safehouses to get a feel for it?”
“We’ll rotate through together. We won’t notify anyone of our schedule to mitigate the risks and run security exercises at the same time. It’ll be generally good for the brood.” Emerick wiggled under me, leaned back, and sighed his contentment. “I should not be enjoying this so much.”
“Well, you did get to watch your wife non-fatally stake two vampires at the same time and tussle with another hunter. And yes, in his prime, Luca is a fugitive hunter, Pepper. Bloodlust of the level they suffered erases their humanity. He wasn’t all there, and you’ll find him to be a different vampire tomorrow.”
I remembered the consuming need for blood, but I had been able to fight it. “Does that make me different, too?”
“Somewhat,” Ben admitted. “Drink your blood and relax. I’ll come back as soon as I have some solid information on our rescues. Luca has consumed five bottles and is sleeping deeply. Giovanni is tending to him now, but at first look, he should recover without impairment. He seems to have been starved just long enough to start the bloodlust before being released. The other two are in worse shape.”
“Is there any chance they’ll die?” I asked, my eyes widening at the thought.
“No, but they’ll have a longer recovery. We’re going to have a complication dealing with your stakes. Both of them are clutching them like a lifeline.”
“It’s taming the bloodlust,” Emerick stated. “After they drank enough of my blood through Pepper, I was able to check on them. The stakes are suppressing the bloodlust and radiating something comforting, making them cling to it. Let them hold the stakes for as long as they need. It’ll make breaking the bloodlust easier to handle. I want you to contact a woodcarver specialized in figurines to give Pepper lessons. If her carving can be implemented on something other than weapons, it would be useful—and offer us a gentle way to help vampires.”
“Like the cuffs you used on me?” I asked.
“Yes, precisely. I prefer cuffing to staking whenever possible. Pendants and charms would be potentially useful. If your carvings do more than merely kill, we could do a great deal for other vampires in a kinder way.”
“I’m willing to try.”
