Page 224 of Dusk's Portent
It was a big deal for your species to change so I was trying to give her space to process.
Another thing that was new was that my house seemed to have become a gathering point for the enforcers. It was rare not to trip over one of them. Either sitting on my couch and watching my tv or roaming my woods. I’d mostly given up on asking why theywere here except when they did something totally outrageous. Like fill the first level of my house with Halloween decorations.
It wasn’t even Halloween. That had been a month ago.
“I like the atmosphere here,” Nathan said, hanging another bat from the ceiling. “Plus, I didn’t want to miss the party.”
“What party?”
Were they throwing parties in my house now? Without telling me first?
Nathan flashed me a sharp toothed smile. “Movie night. Didn’t you hear?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He knew I hadn’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be smirking at me like that.
“Liam!” I shouted, knowing he was somewhere around. “Get control of your boys.”
Nathan’s snicker followed me as I made my way to the front door.
Opening it, I paused to frown at the car peeling out of my driveway. Gravel spraying everywhere from the speed at which they accelerated.
Leaving aside the matter of my sister’s drag race impression, I frowned down at the child standing on my front step. “Linda, what are you doing here?”
“Movie night.” She handed an envelope to me. “Mom said this is for you.”
“Hold on just one second.” I gave my niece a tight smile before twisting to glare over my shoulder. “Since when are you and my niece phone buddies?”
“Not your niece; your sister;” Nathan called from the depths of the house.
I took a calming breath. “Since when are you and my sister phone buddies?”
Nathan appeared at the end of the hallway. “Ask Connor. He’s the one who gave me her digits.” He held out his hand to my niece. “Are you ready for our scary movie-thon?”
Linda giggled and darted forward, rolling her child size suitcase over the hardwood floor as she headed for Nathan.
“What’s with the luggage?” I asked.
“Read the letter,” Nathan ordered, bending down to smile at Linda as she reached him. “Okay—put your scary face on so the monsters don’t frighten us.”
Linda giggled again before waving at Connor, who’d appeared from upstairs. “Hi, Uncle Connor.”
“Hello, child.”
Connor took one look at me and decided to follow Nathan and Linda into the living room, leaving me to deal with this mysterious letter that everyone except me seemed to know about.
Opening the envelope, I withdrew what was inside and unfolded it. Skimming quickly, I stopped half way before going back to the beginning to read it more carefully.
Aileen,
Something has come up and I have to be gone for a little while. If you could watch your niece for me, I’d appreciate it.
Kisses and hugs,
Your sister
I fumbled for my phone, unlocking it and dialing the number for Jenna. Unsurprisingly, it rolled immediately over to voicemail.
“Get your ass back here,” I snapped. “Vampires do not make good babysitters.”
