Stealing Time (25 page)

I rested my head against the chair and studied her. “At the moment, we need to figure out how much of what Jack said is true. We haven’t talked about what happens after that, but it will include killing Philippe. He’s too damn dangerous and I won’t tolerate his trying to hurt James.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Not that I disagree with the concept. But that’s kinda bloodthirsty, isn’t it?”

I laughed. “Consider who you’re talking to.”

“Or what,” she mumbled, turning pink when I grinned and she realized I heard her.

“In the meantime, we can’t stay in this bedroom forever. Would you like to come out to the living room and say hello?”

She blanched. With a visible effort, she stood and shrugged. Trying for a casual tone and almost pulling it off, she said, “Sure. Why not?”

Her heart rate accelerated, as did her respiration, and the sound and her breath were intoxicating. To give myself a few extra seconds, I rose from the chair slowly and, by the time I’d straightened, had a handle on the hunger. But having spent hours in the small room with Kate, even breathing shallowly, my throat and stomach felt char-broiled.

I gestured for her to precede me out the door, but she shook her head and there was panic in her eyes. So I held my breath to cross the room and go out into the hall, careful not to make contact as I passed through the doorway.

The narrow hallway funneled the thudding of her heart, the scent and warmth of her skin,
right at me
. James felt my rising bloodlust and, as I rounded the corner, held his hand out to me from where he sat on the sofa. With great relief, I sank down beside him. “My insides should be pure ash by now.”

“You’re doing very well, love,” he responded and kissed my forehead. I buried my face against his shoulder and filled my senses with James. The internal flames subsided as his scent overrode Kate’s…and a feeling of well-being flowed through me. I glanced at him and he smiled, all innocence, making a show of studying the ceiling. As he’d intended, this made me laugh.

“You’ve got to teach me how to do that.”

“I will,” he promised.

Gage stood at the far end of the living room and Leo moved to his side, as if this were purely coincidental to Kate’s walking into the room. Gage’s eyes widened and hunger lit their depths before he turned away, his shoulders hunched and hands clenched.

Kate saw his reaction and took an involuntary step back. I began to rise from the sofa, but James gently prevented it. For my ears, he said, “If she is to remain any time with us, she must stand on her own.” My eyes flicked to Gage’s rigid form. “And he must gain greater confidence in his own control.”

I nodded.

Leo crossed the room to sit in one of the overstuffed chairs next to us, still keeping himself between Gage and Kate, but at a greater distance. “Would you like to join us, my dear?” he asked kindly.

She swayed, indecisive, before her jaw firmed up. Taking wary steps, she went to sit in the chair next to Leo. “Thank you.” Her voice was faint.

“Kate, you haven’t met anyone besides James,” I said, making an attempt at normalcy. “This is Leo and the statue over there is Gage.”

Leo chuckled and offered his hand to Kate, who stared like a bird at a snake for several seconds before shaking it.

“Your skin is…
hot,
” she said in surprise.

“Vampires get a lot of bad press, my dear. You mustn’t believe everything you’ve heard.” Leo’s charm worked its usual magic and Kate laughed. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was stronger as her eyes lifted toward Gage’s silent back. “Hi. You’re Gage, right?”

He mumbled something incoherent and twitched a hand in greeting. With an effort even Kate’s human eyes had to see, Gage straightened from his hunched posture and turned toward us. The hunger was still there in his eyes, but he seemed to be in control of himself.

“Come join us, Gage,” James said, tilting his chin at the space next to him. “There’s plenty of room.”

With none of his usual grace, Gage crossed the room and sat at the far end of the sofa, keeping his face in profile to Kate to lessen the full impact of her exquisite humanness.

Her eyes never left him and her expression evolved from panic to hilarity, which was perplexing until she asked, “You want to kill me that badly, huh?”

He shook his head and groaned. “No, I want to
bite
you that badly. The killing part just kinda…happens.” His voice faltered as he realized what he’d said.

The room went absolutely silent as all the vampires held our collective breath, watching Kate’s reaction. None of us were prepared for her laughter. Given the edge to it, I figured it was as much tension-relieving as it was gallows humor.

Tilting her head, she muttered, “Gives new meaning to the phrases ‘you bite’ and ‘you suck.’”

This cracked us all up, including Gage.

For her benefit, since the others had heard every word of our conversation, I said, “We were talking about what all of this means for Kate.”

“I would recommend against returning to your home, my dear,” Leo said, his voice soft. “It would be far too dangerous.”

“But staying with you all is causing problems because—”

James interrupted, “It is nothing we cannot handle. Please do not worry.”

She continued with some asperity, “I was going to say because I’m human.”

James’s eyes narrowed at the same time I caught the implied meaning in her words.

“I can’t go home because I’m human and I can’t stay with all of you for the same reason.”

No one breathed.

“What are you saying?” I asked. “You can’t mean…”

“I can think about it. I mean, well, why not?” Her voice had the tenor of both anger and fear in it, an odd—but understandable—mixture.

“Well…because…you have your whole life ahead of you,” I stammered and looked at the others, wondering why no one else was objecting to this ridiculous idea.

Leo considered her. “It would resolve several issues.”

“Umm, no,” I said, growing angry. “Why are we even having this conversation?”

She gave me an odd look. “Are you telling me you don’t enjoy your new life?”

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been. But that’s due to James and not about being a vampire,” I said, sensing his quick smile.

Gage enthused, “Well, I think being a vampire is freaking awesome, now that I’m not hurting anybody anymore…” Seeing my glare, he shut up.

Kate shot a quick, alarmed look at Gage. Her voice was a little shaky when she returned to the argument. “Okay, so is it that you want me to be a target for Philippe and the others?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” I said, indignant. “But we’re all targets too or weren’t you listening?”

“Yeah, I was listening, but you’re forgetting one big difference between you and me—I’m not indestructible.”

“Neither are we…” I was beginning to drawl.

“But you’re not exactly fragile, either. And don’t you dare whip out your Texas twang with me, Daisy Mae.” I ground my teeth at her nickname for me, the one she knew I genuinely hated. Smirking, she continued, “I didn’t say I was definitely going to do it. Only that I have the right to at least consider it.”

I breathed in and out a few times. “I can’t believe you’re even doing that when you were so scared of me not five minutes ago that you didn’t want me to walk behind you down a short hall!”

“Well, sure I was scared. But there’s a huge difference between being changed and becoming somebody’s
snack!
”

I winced—she had been more aware of my internal struggle than I’d realized.

We glared at each other for a second and I decided to try another tack. “So you remain human and lay low for a while, what’s the big deal? You could stay here, in my house.”

“Since it’s hard being around a human, I’m assuming that you all would leave?”

I nodded. “But we have to anyway.”

“Because it’s not safe?”

“Yes.”

Kate’s expression was one I remembered well, usually from the tennis court after she’d annihilated an opponent. “So if it’s not safe for all of you here, why would it be any safer for me alone?”

“It’s not safe for us because of my neighbors and the Texas sun. Remember? We have to keep a low profile and avoid attention. Dammit, I told you all this, Kate!” Reining in my temper, I counted to five. “Okay. Fine. So if you don’t want to stay here, you could go someplace else, someplace no one knows you. At least you’d be
human.
”

“Yeah, but how long would I be an
alive
human? Right up until the time Philippe or Jack or one of the others tracks me down?”

“If you’re careful and you don’t contact anyone…”

“For how long, Evie? How long before I’d know I was safe and it was okay for me to leave? How long is long enough when a friggin’ vampire is out to get you?”

It was difficult to argue with her logic.

Kate grinned and that look was on her face again.

“I didn’t say I had all the answers, only that this doesn’t have to be your
only
option.” Her grin got wider and I snapped, “I haven’t agreed to anything, Kate.”

Her jaw set. “I don’t see that you have any input.”

I hissed and she flinched, but her face remained resolute.

James put his hand on my arm and I forced myself to calm down. Trying a different tack, I said, “You mentioned contacting your family, but have you thought about what all of this means? Do you realize that if you were changed, you couldn’t see them again? At least not for a while. It would be too dangerous.
You
would be too dangerous.”

Kate’s cheeks went red. “That’s really low, Evie.”

“It’s also true!”

“Whatever.” Her expression was hard. “That’s my problem, not yours.”

“Fine. But tell me this—who’s going to change you?”

Silence reigned for a brief moment, then Gage spoke up. “Um, I’ll give it a try. That is, if she wants me to.”

“
What?
” I erupted, more a snarl than a discernible word.

“Would you?” Kate asked in the same moment.

“Er, Gage, that may not be a good idea,” James began, striving for diplomacy.

“My friends, do not trouble yourselves,” Leo said. “I would be happy to provide my assistance.”

“Unbelievable!” I growled. In the space of a breath, I was in the kitchen, leaving the lunatics in the living room.

James was there in an instant, his arms around my waist. I leaned back against him and laid my head along his shoulder.

“What about Kate’s joining us bothers you?” he asked softly as he turned me in his arms to face him.

“It just seems like…” The damn drawl was back and I drew a deep breath, started again. “It just seems like she’s making this decision for the wrong reasons. It shouldn’t be something she comes to out of fear or a choice to make because there are no others.”

“None of us were given a choice, Evie.” James lowered his head to rub his cheek lightly against mine. “Including you.”

I looked up at him. “But I didn’t want to die.”

“Neither does Kate.”

I huffed, “But I was
actually dying.
”

He smiled. “Has it occurred to you that Kate may view her own situation in similar terms?”

Pressing my forehead against his chest, I snorted indelicately. “Only if you substitute crazed hit-vampires for cancer and being turned into a bloody human pretzel.”

He kissed the top of my head, pleased by the humorous change in my tone. “Something like that, yes.”

I sighed. “Was I a total jerk back there?”

“Mmm.” He was evasive. “Perhaps not a
total
jerk…”

I had to laugh. “So I should go apologize?” I asked, lifting my head to look up at him.

“Perhaps.” He kept his features schooled, but humor had his eyes sparkling.

“Thank you.”

He smiled and hugged me. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Forever and forever and forever.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

I breathed deep. “So…if Kate does decide to be changed, that would make five of us.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Except for Philippe’s group, we’re the largest I’ve seen.”

“Yes. It has intriguing possibilities.”

Perplexed, I asked, “What do you call a group of vampires?”

James’s arms tightened, but his voice was light. “Personally? I’d call it a family.” He rested his chin on the top of my head. “And with members such as these, the kind that doesn’t desert you.”

I pressed my face against his neck and breathed him in. “Promise?”

“Forever and forever and forever.”

“Sounds wonderful,” I said, quoting him.

“Indeed, it does.”

I did the right thing and apologized to Kate. Since she didn’t have any clothes of her own, I gave her a shirt, baseball cap and a pair of knit pants. After getting her settled, I found James sitting at my desk in the little room I used as a home office. I bent down, intending to kiss his cheek, but he turned his face so that our lips met.

“My Evie,” he murmured and playfully pulled me onto his lap as I laughed. The kiss turned serious and the echo of my mouth on his mouth on my mouth filled my senses.

“Geez, you two,” a voice said and I drew back, sighing.

“What do you need, Gage?” James growled.

“Kate asked me to get Evie’s car key for her while she’s changing clothes. And she wants to know if there’s anything we need from the grocery store since she’s going.”

Clearly, Kate was still adjusting to the realities of living with vampires. “Not unless the store sells O-negative or AB-positive,” I said and Gage cracked up. “The key is on the kitchen counter. She’ll want to check the gas gauge.”

James asked, “Is Kate going alone?” There was a note of concern in his voice.

“Leo is going with her,” Gage answered as his eyebrows lowered and he looked away, making it clear he wanted to go too.

Feeling bad for him, I said, “When it’s not so difficult for you, being out among humans…”

He shrugged like it was no big deal, but his eyes looked haunted. Changing the subject, he came farther into the room and leaned against the wall. “Any luck with the computer?”

I got up from James’s lap, but kept a hand on his shoulder. “We just got on the internet.”

James turned to the keyboard. Google’s home page, normally so cheerful-looking, seemed ominous as he typed the query:
murder tom jankowski.

Google responded:
Results 1 - 10 of about 329 (0.46 seconds)

He took a deep breath before clicking on the top entry.

As I read the first few sentences over his shoulder, my throat constricted. “Oh no,” I whispered.

“What does it say?” Gage asked and moved closer so he could see the screen. He read aloud:

Gage’s horrified voice trailed off.

James sat in shock, staring at the computer screen. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“Your
uncle
did this?” Gage asked, incredulous.

“That bastard deserves no family connection,” I hissed and James winced—clearly I needed to practice shielding. “Sorry.”

He muttered, “Much as I would will it otherwise, we are related.”

“How could someone
do
that?” Gage whispered.

From the doorway, Leo answered, “Philippe is one who clearly revels in hurting others. He has shown he will do whatever he thinks would cause James the greatest pain.”

“Why does he hate you so much?”

James’s voice was rough. “I do not know, Gage, but I wish he would come at me directly so that I can fight him and have done with it. Hurting those around me is…
intolerable.
”

“Which is the point, my friend,” Leo said.

Kate’s scent preceded her into the room. “I heard what Gage read. Philippe did that?” Her face was white.

“Yes,” I answered, breathing shallowly. Her humanness filled the small room, and even James and Leo tensed against their reaction.

“Philippe can never find me.” Her heart rate picked up enticingly, and I took what I hoped was a subtle step to distance myself. Leo went to Gage’s side and studied a print hanging on the wall next to him. To Kate, the attention he gave the thing would seem worthy of a masterpiece hanging in the Louvre, but I knew better…I knew he was keeping a careful eye on Gage in his periphery. Apparently oblivious to our maneuvering, Kate ran a shaky hand through her short curls. “I guess I should be sure to thank Jack for not giving me to him when he had the chance.”

“Whatever his reasons, we do have that to be grateful for,” James said, working to make his voice light.

“Now do you understand, Evie?” Kate asked, turning her stricken eyes on me. “At least as a vampire, I would have a chance if Philippe found me.”

I sighed. “Kate, I really don’t know what the best course is. But it’s your life to do with as you choose. Whatever you decide, I’m okay with it.”

“Wow.” Her eyebrows rose to her hairline. “That’s very reasonable of you. Why the change of heart?”

“James pointed out some inconsistencies in my thinking.”

She looked between James and me, not sure how to respond. “Well, thanks.”

I smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Evie?” James called softly. While we’d been talking, he’d continued to mess with the computer and the alarm I sensed drew me to his side. “Look at this.”

I read the computer’s screen and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “The Neuwirth burned to the ground?”

“Philippe is leaving no stone unturned, it seems.” His tone was cold as he scanned the article. “At least Ira and his people were not injured.”

“Thank goodness.” I squeezed James’s tense shoulders. “But what happened to your paintings?”

His voice dropped an octave with suppressed rage. “That’s just one of the reasons it was pointless to burn the gallery. The paintings have sold and are no longer there. This was pure vindictiveness.”

Leo asked, “Have you found out anything about Kate?”

“About me?” she asked, surprised. Realization dawned and she smacked her forehead open-handed. “I hadn’t even thought about that…how stupid!”

At Gage’s confused look, I explained, “Kate works in the mayor’s office. When she didn’t report for work Monday, there must have been some reaction.”

“And my family—what must they think?” she whispered as James’s fingers flew across the keyboard. She gasped at Google’s response:
Results 1 - 10 of about 10,200 (0.29 seconds)
 

Into the stunned silence, Gage said, “Whoa. You really
were
missed.”

James clicked on the first entry and we all read the mayor’s press release. It said that Kate was listed as a missing person Monday when she failed to report to work, but the case was upgraded after the police investigated her recent activities. They discovered that she had attended a Saturday night art exhibit for the prominent artist James Wesley, whose employee was found brutally murdered late Tuesday night. A woman fitting Kate’s description had asked about James at the exhibit and the police were now very concerned about her safety. James was listed as a person of interest.

“Crap,” I whispered, rage pounding in my temples. “So much for living in anonymity. Damn Philippe to hell.” James didn’t visibly react, so I took that to mean my blocking was improving.

“I’m sorry, you guys. My snooping around caused a lot of problems,” Kate said.

“It would have been much worse,” James said, “if Jack had gone through with Philippe’s orders.”

“What does all of this mean?” Gage asked.

“It means we cannot go back to New York,” James said.

“I’m so sorry…” I began.

“I would have liked to have kept the Bugatti—it was a great car. But none of it matters. It’s all just…stuff.”

Gage looked at James as if seeing him for the first time. “You have a
Bugatti?
Do you know what they
cost?
”

“Yes.” His voice was wry. “I know what I spent.”

“Geez, why’d you bring the Range Rover?”

“Remember where you found us? The snow? The dirt track?” I asked, fighting a smile. “What kind of ground clearance does an insanely fast sports car have?”

His expression was chagrined. “Oh. Right.”

Leo cleared his throat and I glanced at him.

“Is there any way that the police might connect you two?” Leo asked. “They are looking for James. Is it possible that they might also be looking for you, Evie?”

“The only people who’d connect James and me,
and
who know my full name
and
where I’m from are the five of us. We told Lilith that day at the Neuwirth that Kate and I already knew each other. It’s possible she might have told another slayer.” Oh, what a happy thought that was. “Regardless, she didn’t know my last name, that I’m from Dallas, or how I knew Kate.”

“Lilith would have had no way to know whether Evie was one year old or one thousand,” Leo said, seeking to reassure James since he’d inhaled sharply when I mentioned slayers. “It is unlikely she or her comrades would have wasted time digging through current human records, let alone those accumulated over the centuries, to try and identify your mate.”

James speculated, “Unless Lilith came at Evie through Kate’s records?”

“There was, what? Two or three days between our going to the Neuwirth and Lilith’s hoped-for demise at the Gathering?” I asked.

“Until you get used to tracking time, Evie, you need a watch with a date feature,” James said, amused despite the topic. “It was closer to two weeks. Plenty of time for a decent researcher.”

I shrugged off the sudden chill. “Half-f or half-empty?”

His mouth twisted. “Where your safety is concerned, it feels like the metaphorical glass is in splinters on the floor.”

Leo made a noise in his throat. “What about human authorities?”

Squeezing James’s shoulder, I said, “Same answer. If a reporter or cop dug deep enough into Kate’s past, they might find out we were roommates. But without knowing about the James connection, they’d have no reason to focus on me anymore than they’d focus on her date to high school prom.”

“I didn’t go to prom,” she said. At my quizzical look, she flashed a grin that didn’t do much to cheer her chalky complexion. “Tennis nationals.”

“You get my point,” I grumbled.

Leo said, “All right then. Assuming the worst—assuming someone could identify you by name—how difficult would you be to find?”

“Because I worked at the
Dallas Tribune
and some of my stories got national exposure, I could be tracked to the area. Besides, I’ve been out of town four,” I glanced at James, saw his lifted thumb and corrected myself. “Six…” The thumb flicked upward and I stifled a sigh. “Eight?” James suppressed a grin and let his hand fall. “Months,” I finished.

I so needed to get a calendar.

“Anyway, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has over ten million people. Finding me? Finding this house?” Reminding them that the house was registered in Gran’s name and that I’d made a point of staying off the grid, I said, “So I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but someone would have to be very, very good to do it.”

Kate interrupted, her voice thoughtful, “Evie, do you still have any contacts on the Dallas police force?”

I frowned—talking with the police right now was the last thing I wanted to do. “Yeah, I guess. Why?”

“I was just thinking that if I could let them know that I’m okay, they would call off the missing persons report. And then they wouldn’t be looking for James, at least not because of me.”

“You’re a news story now. Once the police and media discovered you’re here in Dallas, so would Philippe.”

James said, “You must not draw attention to yourself, Kate. Not in any way.”

She sighed, defeated. “You’re right. I didn’t think it all the way through.” Her eyes teared up. “I need to let my sister know I’m okay, though. Just a phone call. She must be terrified.”

Leo drew a deep breath. “My dear Kate, of course your family must be upset. But even a phone call could draw unwanted attention to them. Our kind has the same access to high-tech gadgetry as humans and would have no compunctions about using listening devices on your family’s homes and telephones. If you made contact with any of your loved ones, Philippe might decide to use them to get to you and, through you, to James.”

I hated the words even as I spoke them. “And if you decide to become a vampire, it would be dangerous for you to maintain contact with your family…at least for a while, until you can consistently control yourself.”

She closed her eyes. “It’s all just crashing in, isn’t it?”

No one had an answer for her, since we all felt the same way.

Leo broke the silence. “Kate, if we are going to the store, perhaps we should leave now. We are supposed to have bad storms this afternoon and it would be best to get back before they arrive.”