“What?” he asked.
“Something our mother used to say when I was very small. Camille probably remembers it better, but I do remember Mother warning us that, ‘Sometimes, the monsters under your bed are real.’ It terrified me, and for months afterward, I always peeked under my bed before going to sleep.” If I tried, I could bring up vague images of my mother. Of course, I knew what she looked like thanks to the photographs we had, but remembering her in person was harder.
“She was right,” Chase said. “That’s something I learned early—” he stopped as Camille peeked around the corner.
“Hi Chase, glad you could make it. Dinner’s ready. Come on, you two.”
We followed her into the kitchen. Menolly was there, sitting at the table, and Iris had just set a tray of French bread on it. The tureen filled with spaghetti was in the center, and a salad sat to the side.
“Welcome to our table,” Iris said. She was the perfect hostess. “Delilah, you should have taken his coat.”
I blushed. I wasn’t all that up on proper decorum. I’d never been good at that sort of thing. “I’m sorry, here—give me your coat.”
Chase grinned. “It’s not a problem. I’ll just hang it on the coat rack, if you don’t mind. And here, Iris. I brought wine and, for Menolly, a bottle of blood. It’s supposed to be some of the best,” he added.
Menolly looked startled. “I…thank you. I don’t think I’ve tried that brand,” she said, glancing at the label.
“Here,” Iris said, holding her hand nodded. “Thank you,” she said, taking the wine over to the counter and looking for a corkscrew. “This will pair perfectly with the spaghetti.”
As we settled in to dinner, Chase still looked a little perplexed, but he seemed to be settling down. He wasn’t married—we knew that much, especially since he was always pursuing Camille—but I didn’t know if he had a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, or anything else about what he did in his private life.
“So, Chase, what do you do when you’re out of the office?” I asked.
Chase blinked, again looking startled. “Well, I go shooting at the range to keep my skill level up. I read, go to games. I love the Mariners,” he added.
“Mariners?” Camille looked confused. “Do you go out fishing a lot?”
Chase paused for a second, then laughed. “I do like to fish, but no. The Mariners are the name of the Seattle-based baseball team. The Seahawks are our football team. Some evening, I should take you all to a game so you can get an idea of what humans like to do for fun here.”
We dished up our plates with spaghetti.
Chase sniffed. “Smells good, but no garlic?”
The table fell silent. He looked up to catch Menolly staring at him with a frosty look. “Of course, no garlic. I’m sorry—I wasn’t complaining. Really. I just forgot and…” As he stammered to a stop, Menolly let out a snicker.
“Menolly, behave. He brought you blood,” Camille said, a warning note in her voice.
Menolly arched her eyebrows and said, “Relax. I know spaghetti usually involves a fuckton of garlic. I didn’t take offense. But some vampires aren’t as lenient as I am, so you might think about the company you’re in before mentioning garlic.”
“Don’t scold him,” I said. “He’s a grown man.”
“Hey, I am sitting right here,” Chase finally said. “I’m not five years old.”
“No, that you aren’t,” Menolly said. “By the way, this is good,” she said, holding up the bottle he had brought. “Thank you again.” She gave him a fangy smile and winked.
Camille relaxed, and so did Chase. I kept my attention on my plate. I wanted to laugh—Menolly didn’t dislike Chase, but she did enjoy tormenting him. This felt like payback, in a way.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Chase asked.
“After dinner. We don’t want to spoil your appetite,” Camille said.
We were almost done when Iris brought out dessert. She’d made chocolate peppermint brownies. “Why don’t you take your dessert into the living room and let me clean up,” she said.
“Do you need help?” Camille asked.
“No, run along, the three of you. You need to fill Menolly in on what you found as well. Go on with you,” Iris said, shooing us out.
As we entered the living room, carrying the brownies along with paper plates and napkins. Camille served Chase and me, while Menolly sat on the floor and began to rise up. She was in a floating lotus position, which looked both odd and yet really cool.
