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Without so much as a hello, he says, “Tex, you cannot go.” Thank you, Viktor. Tex looks at him as if he's going to say, “just kidding,” but he doesn't. It takes her a second to recover.
“Nice to see you too.” She runs her hand through her hair. It's supposed to be alluring or something. We'd read that in a magazine once.
I'm not shocked that he's here. He seems to show up whenever he's needed. Like a superhero.
“You are not going.”
“Oh come on. You'll protect me.” She gives him that smile that's supposed to melt his heart. It would take a little bit more than that, Tex. Not that Viktor is cruel, but he's just a hard nut to crack.
“The answer is no,” Viktor and I say at the same time. Looks like we have more in common than I thought.
“Why?” She asks Viktor.
“Because you don't willingly go onto the dragon's lair if you don't have to.”
“But we're going to see a friend of a friend. What could be more harmless than a little visit?”
“You weren't there the last time.” I fight the urge to rub my arms to get rid of the goosebumps that pop up when I remember it. “Sorry.” I glance at Peter. I know I don't offend him, but I'm always worried that I'm going to offend him. You think I'd learn.
“You must stop saying you are sorry. Nothing you could say would ever offend me.”
“I know that.”
Tex makes a sound of impatience. “Once again, when are we leaving?”
“You're not going!” I stand up and storm out of the house. I can't deal with her anymore. We need to go, find Cal, get what we need and then we can figure out what's going to happen now.
I try to slam the front door behind me, but someone catches it. Peter. He closes it softly behind him. I don't know what Viktor's doing with Tex, but I need a breather. I'm still a little woozy from the fainting.
“She's impossible.” I pace over to the car. The driver's side door is lying in the driveway where Peter tossed it. That's going to take some explaining. Or a lot of explaining.
I stand there and stare at the the door. It makes that side of my car look naked. Even the poor door has been ripped away from where it belonged. It's just one more thing that's broken, needing to be fixed. My knees fold like origami and I sink to the driveway.
“What am I going to do about my car? I can't drive it without a door.” I gesture helplessly to the mutilated metal. That's when the tears start. I can't help it. I'm sitting there in Tex's driveway, crying about my stupid car door.
“Shh,” Peter says, coming down to hold me. But I don't want him to hold me and tell me it's going to be okay. It's not.
“My car's broken and Tex is going to get her blood sucked out and I don't trust your creepy friend and I'm afraid you're going to be mean to me again.” I'm crying and whining and can't stop myself. Peter sits with me in the driveway until I've gotten it all out of my system.
And then I'm pissed. Pissed at this whole situation and how complicated it is.
“Oh for the love of god, just let her come. If she gets her blood sucked out, that's her fault.” I hear a little squee of delight behind me. I look over Peter's shoulder and see Tex doing a little victory dance while Viktor looks on. The expression on his face is so priceless that I laugh through my tears. I'm still crying, despite my change in attitude.
“But first, what the hell are we going to do about my car?”
“I think I can help with that,” Viktor says.
****
So apparently, it's easy as pie re-attaching a car door. Viktor goes into mechanic mode, which I have never seen, but is different from his normal un-loquacious self. He tells me about the bolts and lining things up and all sorts of stuff I don't understand. He vanishes into the woods and is back mere minutes later with all the tools. He has Peter hold the door while he puts the new bolts on. Then he shuts it and opens it a few times. Well now.
“Wow,” Tex says. She's been leaning on the car hood the whole time, her chin in her hands, a rapt expression on her face. Oh please. She's giddy that I caved and am letting her walk into a potential death trap. I'm so not happy about it, but I figure if Viktor comes, we'll have two noctali against one, and he can't hurt me, so the odds are in our favor. And I'm assuming Peter has a plan. I just wish he'd share it with me.
“Tex,” I say, doing that thing she does to me, snapping my fingers in front of her face to get her attention. She just gives me a withering look and goes back to staring at Viktor, who is bending over to check all the bolts. Sweet Jesus.
“I love a man who knows his way around a car,” she sighs. I really don't thinks he gets the gravity of this situation. Even after everything Peter said and she'd had her little 'process' time, she was back to her old boy-chasing self. Noctalis-chasing self, now. Viktor seems immune to her comments. Which is probably a good thing.
“So when are we going?” she says.
“Soon. I don't really know how this is going to work.” I hadn't thought of the logistics. I mean, Peter can carry me when he flies, but what about Viktor and Tex?
“Like this.” Without further ado, Viktor picks Tex up and slings her on his back. She squeals and wraps her legs around him, piggyback style. She blushes furiously as I stare at both of them.
“It is simple really.”
“You can run like that?” It doesn't look very comfortable. She's basically like a human backpack. I know he's strong and all, but I really don't think that he can hold her like that.
“Yes.” He seems confident.
“Try it,” I say. I kind of want to see it.
“We will have to go someplace more private.”
“There.” Tex points from Viktor's back to the tiny clearing behind her house. It's surrounded by trees, and blocked from the view of the neighbors by her house and garage. He walks with her on his back at human speed back around the house.
Her hair mixes with his. The color is not that different, picking up bits of sunlight and glinting like gold. When I stand back and look at the situation with no bias, they are quite lovely together.
Tex has always been a pretty girl, but the confidence that shines from her makes her more than just pretty. Sometimes I'd wished I could bottle it and make it into a body spray to use on myself. She was the kind of girl who wore a tiny skirt every day and worked it. I could do the same thing, and I would look like a freak. As evident with the night I wore the gold dress.
I look at Peter and he takes my hand as we stroll to the backyard.
“I know he can help us. He has helped me before.”
