Page 19 of Silent Stalker
FIVE
Did you just say cuddle puddle?
Not only didI get a hot turkey sandwich, I got the entire turkey dinner, which was shared with the three rescued vampires to begin the process of socializing them and taming their thirst and hunger. The presence of stakes at the safehouse’s communal dinner table amused me, as everybody got a stake to help make our guests more comfortable with the situation.
For whatever reason, when everyone had a stake, they relaxed.
After dinner, which had been a delicious turkey slaughter involving four sandwiches and an ungodly amount of mashed potatoes and gravy disappearing into the cavernous depths of my stomach, Emerick herded me to the Civic to take us home.
“Is it really safe to leave Ben and the others with them?”
“They’re all armed with your stakes, and our guests are doing much better than I expected. That they could have a meal with us so early is remarkable. They’ll get tucked into warm beds tonight rather than needing to use the cages in the basement, too.” Emerick drove his Civic through the city, huffing whenever some late-night driver slowed his progress.
He spent a great deal of time huffing on the way back to SoHo.
With a sly smile, Emerick added, “It wouldn’t surprise me if there ends up being a cuddle puddle.”
“Did you just say cuddle puddle?” I blurted.
“Indeed.”
“What is a cuddle puddle, and why were we not invited?”
Laughing, Emerick turned onto the main thoroughfare that would deposit us a few blocks from the brood’s primary estate. “I see the social nature of vampires is beginning to take hold in you. While cuddle puddles are usually for the youngest of the brood, we indulge when dealing with trauma, too, assuming it is safe to do so. Ben typically makes other vampires feel safe and secure, so our guests will want to stay close to him. Depending on the situation, I am much the same, although in this instance, they’re too fresh from having been exposed to me while I hunted. If they have progressed sufficiently after dinner, Ben will dig out the larger beanbags we have there, and everyone will snuggle with a bunch of blankets and pillows and make a nest. Tomorrow, whomever goes to wake them will find a puddle of sleepy vampires, thus it being dubbed a cuddle puddle. I will make sure the brood knows to take pictures for your enjoyment, or perhaps a video or two. It’s much like when I try to lure you cruelly from our bed.”
“Is it bad of me that I’m enjoying this social element of broods? This is something my father would never condone.”
“Human men tend to be raised in such a way they are denied the basic comforts of touch and affection. It’s an adaption period for newly turned male vampires. The females find it easier, as they are already inclined to show affection through expectations of nurturing children in human society.”
No kidding. “Except as vampires, we tend to get aggressive.”
“It does amuse me how the tables have turned. The men are not strong so they might control their women. They are strong, else they will not survive what their women will surely do to them. The brides broods will need to change how they bring up any fledgling vampires, but I can see how some adjustments can be made, especially for women who have not picked a partner for their future life.”
“Single women might do better with the brides as long as the choice remains hers,” I conceded. “And there might be women who are really okay with that type of society. I’m just not one of them.”
Emerick chuckled. “That is quite the understatement, Pepper.”
“Is this going to set our search back for the vampires killing women?”
“They might be connected for all we know. We won’t learn more until we have a chance to question our guests. Ben won’t start questioning until they’re of sound mind and their masters are notified—if it is determined their masters are of upstanding quality.”
“You’re not sure if they’re part of the scheme.”
“Precisely. A ruthless master will sacrifice a youngling for such matters without regret. I know of Luca’s master, and he is on the gentler side and would never condone releasing starved vampires on an unwitting populace. The other two will not learn much of our brood until we know who they are and where they have come from. If it is determined their masters sacrificed them, they will be separated, questioned, and eventually returned.”
The neutrality of Emerick’s tone chilled me. “Alive?”
“If they were not complicit in the attacks, alive and unharmed—and given a chance to be taken into another brood. But not ours. The brood with the safehouse never takes in the rescues; it’s a liability, because it is assumed the rescue was attempting to infiltrate the brood. None of the broods close to us will take them in, either. Most likely, they’ll be sent to Baltimore, Philadelphia, or Boston.”
“Close, but not too close.”
He nodded.
Uncertain of how to ask about the complicated nature of brood politics, I kept quiet the rest of the drive, struggling to pick which question to ask next.
Emerick parked in the underground garage below the estate, killed the engine, and relaxed in his seat, raising a brow at me. “I have learned to identify your current set of expressions as curiosity. I have also learned you are restraining said curiosity for reasons I cannot fathom.”
“I don’t understand brood politics,” I told him.
