Page 7

“My pleasure, and welcome to town,” he says kindly.

Earl and the two officers leave, the door shutting softly behind them.

I’m there in an instant, throwing the deadbolt and latch, then wedging a kitchen chair under the handle. Once the front door is secured, I take my time to walk through my temporary new home. I release all the animals to wander and explore our new space as I begin my systematic safety check. Unfortunately, there’s no alarm system, but for the price and a fully furnished apartment, I can make do with my own precautions.

Almost a year of constantly running has taught me a thing or two about security measures. I push the thought aside with a shiver and focus on my new space.

It’s a small one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment right off the main street of Ravens Hollow. The red front door opens to a small entry with a coat closet to the left and a side table to the right. There’s a faint smell of lemon cleaner clinging to the air from the last turnover.

The living room has an oversized dark gray couch and matching loveseat, with a small fireplace tucked away in the corner and a large-screen TV hanging on one of the walls. I automatically test the back door, and the lever lock slides easily into place.

The kitchen lies just behind me, small and compact but with all the necessities. Gas stove. Coffee maker. A pantry door that slightly sticks.

Down the hall is the bedroom with en suite. The bed is enormous, and I wonder if they keep all the rooms equipped for supernaturals of all sizes or if I just happened to luck out.

I won’t complain. Two cats, one dog, and occasionally a large rabbit leave little room for a person on a bed.

The bathroom mirrors the size of the bedroom. There’s a small window, over the shower, just barely big enough for a tiny creature to crawl through.

I check it nonetheless. The latch doesn’t quite catch until I jiggle it a few times. I make a mental note to speak with the gentleman at the front office tomorrow.

Back in the living room, I sit down and practically moan at how comfortable the couch is. My last couch could have been part of the torture devices used during the Spanish Inquisition.

Minna jumps up next to me and lays her head in my lap.

“Not too bad, huh?” I ask as I scratch behind her ears.

I hear, more than see, Cleo and Jesse exploring as they meow at each other. Buster hops around the couch, nose twitching, before heading toward the bedroom. Toby is still content hanging out in his travel carrier where I made him a blanket nest. He’ll crawl out eventually to get the lay of yet another new land.

As I relax a fraction, my mind drifts back to the accident.

Thank goodness my car is brick. She may not be much to look at, but she’s a tank. I just hope the damage isn’t too much. I’ll need to walk down Main Street tomorrow and see about a job. I still have cash on me, but I’m discovering more and more things have become card-only.

Cleo and Jesse come zooming onto the couch, pouncing on Minna and me before taking off again. Minna barks and jumps off the couch, hot on their heels, shifting me on the couch with the force of her dismount.

“You guys better not break anything; this is a rental!” I yell at them like they're a gang of hyper toddlers.

I readjust myself on the couch and scrape my injured arm against the side.

“Ow,” I say, grabbing the wound.

A little blood has seeped through the bandage. Moving off the couch, I grab my purse where I always keep a small first aid kit. As I unwrap the bandage and begin cleaning the wound, my mind drifts back to Augustus, the paramedic who ran away from me like I set him on fire.

The way his eyes saucered and he clamped his hand over his mouth, you’d think he’d just witnessed a gory crime scene, not a little cut.

“Surely you have to be comfortable with blood to be a paramedic,” I muse to the universe. The universe, however, does not see fit to answer. So as I unpack my things, I ponder all the reasons why he would run away from blood.

When I crawl into my super-sized bed, all my animals piled around me like armor, my last thought isn’t of safety protocols or job hunting.

It's red eyes.

And the way the runaway vampire looked at me.

Not like prey.

Like I’m something he wants…

That he shouldn’t.