Page 45 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
nfidant
By the time I reached my house, it was after midnight, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. Poe, who must have been watching from a distance, met me at the door and flew in to perch on the banister.
"He's right, you know. The caretaker is not allowed to interfere with vampire activity if the human consents."
I placed a hand on my hip. "But if vampires can compel humans, how do we know what's legitimate consent or not?"
He fluffed his wings in response and turned away from me.
"Exactly. Keep your beak shut if you don't know what you're talking about."
At that, he turned completely around, his back to me. Raven cold shoulder.
My brain flipped Rick's side of the story over in my head, searching for the seams, then mused over everything Julius and Gary had said. I needed to talk it through and not with a snarky familiar. I tried to call Michelle's cell phone, but the call went straight to voicemail. If she'd been working tonight, I'd call the hospital, but Wednesdays were her day off, and I couldn't call her home number without waking the baby. A best friend never, ever wakes another friend's baby.
I paced the floor. The whole situation made my skin crawl. If Julius was telling the truth, then I was literally in bed with the enemy. He had to be lying. Why would I believe a vampire over my caretaker? So then, why was I still thinking about this? On impulse, I grabbed my keys.
"Not a good idea," Poe said over his shoulder.
I gave him the finger and slammed the door behind me.
* * * * *
Logan's apartment was on the top floor of a secured building ten minutes from Valentine's. I stormed through the front door, still worked up over my argument with Rick. A white haired man in a uniform eyed me suspiciously from behind a large, circular desk in the atrium.
"I'm here to see Logan Valentine," I said.
The old man frowned. "It's after hours. Can't call up." His liver spotted jowls flapped with his objection.
"Uh, it's kind of an emergency."
With an adjustment of his bifocals, the guard looked me up and down. He gave a low, throaty laugh. "What kind of emergency brings a girl like you to a man's house in the middle of the night?"
"Hey! I don't appreciate the conjecture." I poked the tip of one finger into the desk in front of him. "We're friends, practically family!"
"Family, eh?" The man rubbed his stubbled cheek. "What's your name?"
"Grateful Knight."
The guard started typing, the glow of a computer screen coming to life beyond the counter. I couldn't see what he was doing because the monitor was the type sunk into the desk, but the expression on the man's face told me I was one bug he'd like to squash. I pulled out my phone. "If you won't call up, I will," I said.
"Hold your horses, missy. Your booty call has been approved."
"Booty call? Wha-" The door to the foyer opened automatically with a soft buzz.
"Don't make me change my mind." The guard's bushy eyebrows descended and then he let out a deep laugh.
I scurried through and into the elevator, chin up and ego bruised. When I reached the top floor, the doors opened. Logan stood waiting for me with his phone in hand-all bed head and wrinkled t-shirt.
"Sorry," I said. "Didn't mean to wake you."
"What's happened? Are you okay?" His voice sounded frantic.
"Uh, yeah. I just need to talk...if you are available...to do the talking thing."
He gaped at me. "When the doorman called, I thought you were engaged in some night-time battle with the undead and needed my help."
"What, you thought I was like injured or something?"
