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“Yeah, I understand. Listen, nobody else knows. I only know because her lawyer contacted me.
Sassy left her mansion to the VA. There’s so much we can do with it—we can run a hotel and have a ful meeting space.”
“You mean you can. I’m not part of the group, remember?” I couldn’t help myself. My voice was bitter. I was stil pissed over the situation.
“I wanted to talk to you about that. I was wrong, Menol y. I’m sorry. Please, come back to the group. I’l smooth out any hard feelings there. And, I thought about what you said. I’l step down—as long as you promise Terrance won’t win the position.”
“That, I can promise. Ro—my . . . source . . . has no desire for Terrance to be in charge.”
“Then color me cooperative.” Wade paused, then added, “Menol y . . . I know we don’t have a chance of dating again. Too much water under the bridge. But I real y miss our friendship. If I promise never to screw up again, wil you give me another chance?”
I stared at the phone, then let out a sigh he could hear.
“Whatever you say is gonna be serious . . . you never breathe unless you have to.” He tried to laugh, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
“Wade, I hardly ever give second chances. But . . . one more chance. Screw up again and we’re forever on the outs. You owe me big for saving your life. Normal y I don’t keep score, but this time, I am. And I’m going to start cal ing in my markers now.”
“What do you need?”
“Erin needs a mentor. I am so bogged down with . . . wel . . . you don’t want to know what, but it’s terribly dangerous. Erin needs a place to stay, she needs to learn how to interact with both other vampires and breathers. That’s what Vampires Anonymous is al about. You give me your word you’l help me with her. I’ve given her a job that she likes, but she needs more than that in her life.”
I waited. Wade was silent for a moment, and then he laughed. “Is that it? I thought you were going to ask for one of my fingers or something. Yeah, I’d be glad to help, Menol y. You’re right, that’s what the VA is al about. I’l drop in at the bar tonight and have a chat with her, if that’s okay.”
“Thanks, Wade. I’l cal and let them know you’re on the way. Now, I have to run. We have a serial kil er to catch.” As I hung up the phone, it felt like two big weights had lifted off my shoulders.
Being on the outs with Wade had bothered me, and I’d missed the VA more than I wanted to admit.
And now, Erin would meet others in the life and learn how to interact with the living without losing control. I thought for a moment about Roman and sent him a brief mental kiss. Without him, Wade and I would stil be fighting, and Erin wouldn’t have much more of a life than she had with Sassy.
Maybe this was al going to work out after al .
After dinner, Tril ian, Shade, and Nerissa stayed with Delilah and Iris. Camil e and Morio headed out in her car, Vanzir and I in mine. We met up with Chase down in the Greenbelt Park District, in a deserted street near a manhole cover. The snow had let up for the time being and the streets had been plowed, but there was a thin layer of black ice spotting the city, and twice on the way, I swerved and almost lost control of the car.
Vanzir coughed. “Babe, I know you’d survive a crash and I probably would, too, but damn it—I have no desire to get hurt.”
“Chil . We’l make it in one piece.”
And we did. I parked without further incident and climbed out of the car into the night. Chase headed over in our direction as Camil e parked a few spaces up the street. His breath came in little puffs of white, and he was wearing a parka over his suit. I looked up at the overhanging trees that lined the street. Their bare branches were whipping in the wind, and with the clear sky, the temperature was dropping rapidly.
He blew on his hands, rubbing them together, then pul ed out a pair of gloves. “You sure you’re going to be warm enough?”
I stared at him and snorted. “Johnson, when wil you learn that I don’t need a coat? I wear them for fashion or when I want to pass, but tonight it would just hold me up. Camil e— she needs the coat.”
At that moment, my sister and Morio wandered over from her car. She had dressed in a heavy spidersilk skirt and top but wore no gloves. They interfered with her magic. Morio had cast a spel against possession on her, and we had to hope it worked, because we needed her with us.
“I real y wish your unicorn horn were charged up,” I said.
“I wish it were, too. In a day or so it wil be ready to go again, but I don’t like to touch it so soon after recharging.” She looked around. “Quiet here for this time of day.”
“Yeah.” It was barely six and the streets in the Greenbelt Park District were, for the most part, empty. Nobody on the sidewalks, nobody driving past. I nodded to the manhole cover in the center of the street. “That the one?”
Chase shrugged. “Apparently. I figure what’s the worst that can happen? We’l get down there and find nothing.”
But as he led the way over to pry the cover up, a voice ran through my mind whispering that the worst that could happen would be that we would find something. Something big, something bad, something we couldn’t fight.
“Let me go first.” I pushed ahead of him. “If our vampire is down there, I’m the best one to take him on.”
Chase nodded. “Good point. Vanzir, how about if you go next, I’l fol ow, then Camil e and Morio to watch our backs?”
