Page 73 of Silent Stalker
SEVENTEEN
You did all of that for me?
To satisfymy need to hunt, Emerick sent me prowling around the block. No miscreants came out to play with me, but the brief outing did wonders for my general mood. Something about spying Emerick leaning against his Civic after being left to his own devices for a while comforted me.
I contemplated pouncing him, stealing a nibble for my enjoyment.
“She’s hunting you,” Ben warned.
Traitor. I scowled, and as Emerick opted to chuckle and otherwise ignore me, I resumed my slow stalk in his general direction.
“Try not to dent your car,” Ben muttered before wandering back to his vehicle. “If you go to a hotel, call someone. Try not to forget your maker and your mother-in-law are at the penthouse waiting for you.”
The mention of my mother annoyed me into hissing, as I couldn’t steal a proper nibble and head to the penthouse in the same night.
“We’ll have some cuddle time before bed,” Emerick promised, and he held his arm out in invitation.
I set my stance, eyed the twenty feet or so between us, and jumped. While I didn’t quite make the distance, a few steps brought me close enough to press against his side. “A few little sips?”
“Thirsty?”
I shrugged. “Not really, but a nibble would be nice.”
“As your diet continues to improve, you’ll probably drink less blood each night, too. But I insist I get a chance for a nibble, too. That’s mostly because I enjoy how quickly you pass out when I take a nibble. I do enjoy when I relax my wife enough she sleeps peacefully. I also appreciate how you’re easier to wake when you go to sleep before dawn.”
“I’m never going to be able to resist the sun at this rate.”
“We’ll try again after our blood bond is more secure. Consider me to be particularly paranoid about that matter right now.” Emerick gave me a squeeze before stepping away, unlocking the Civic, and shooing me to the other side of the vehicle. “Expect your mother to be either exceptionally energetic or tired and sluggish. It can go either way with the newly turned, and women often have a harder time. Should you sit on the couch and she comes and cuddles with you and naps on your lap, this would be normal behavior.”
“Like I did when you first brought me into the brood?”
“Similar, yes. Her body has endured a lot of trauma lately, and it can take a month or two for a full recovery. That my maker is bringing her over so soon after she rose means she is stressing over the situation with you, so he wants to reassure her.”
“Because she knows my father is a vampire and has always been one?” I got into the Civic and put on my seatbelt. “I thought he’d keep her in Europe.”
“Your father probably contacted my maker and recommended mother and daughter be reunited. We won’t know for certain until we get home. With luck, the other groups that went out tonight will have something for us to work with. I loathe that we are being outwitted. But while young or ignorant, the brood behind this has been smart enough. We’re scrambling to catch up.”
“It’s like they started a race well ahead of us, and to catch them, we have to run faster and harder—assuming we don’t get screwed in the process. Or get tired.”
“One of the benefits of having multiple broods allying is that this is not a significant problem for us. If we falter, others will take our place until we recover.”
“Do you think we’ll catch them?”
Emerick started the engine, heaved a sigh, and shrugged. “We’re certainly going to do our best. Tell me, Mrs. Lowrance. Do you want to scandalize your mother and potential stepfather?”
Emerick, suggesting something scandalous? “Tell me more, please.”
“There is a lovely shop on the way home that caters to the preternatural. It sells women’s apparel, some of it rather slinky. It’s where I acquired your first dress, the one with the slit.”
“You want to dress me up for meeting my mother?”
“I may be encouraging myself to lose, too,” he admitted.
“Well, then I couldn’t possibly rob you of a chance to dress me up in your quest to admit your pride won’t be terribly offended when you offer your complete surrender to me, Mr. Lowrance. Hiss at Ben when he tails us to the shop and realizes we’re making a detour.”
“I may have ordered a collection of gowns, dresses, and other outfits, many of which are ready to be picked up, so you can essentially just change at the shop.”
My eyes widened. “You did all of that for me?”
