Caught in Darkness (9 page)

****

Frustrated, Seth let himself into
his condo a couple of hours later. Richards had been long gone by the time he’d
gotten to Veronica’s house, and once again the man seemed to have vanished into
thin air. He undoubtedly had a hideout that no one knew about, and now that he
was being hunted by his former Family he was staying there permanently. Unfortunately,
Seth didn’t have a clue as to where to look for it. Instead of wasting another
night searching in vain for another lead he had opted to return home and check
on his houseguest.

Veronica was curled up in the
corner of the couch, feet tucked beneath her and hands wrapped around a mug of
what smelled like tea, watching reruns of a recently-popular comedy. Only she
didn’t really look like she was paying any attention to it.

“Sorry I was gone so long,” Seth called
gently as he flicked the deadbolt behind him.

With a shake of her head Veronica
offered him small smile and said, “
It’s
okay. Oh, I
hope you don’t mind, but I helped myself to some of your tea….”

“I don’t mind,” Seth assured her as
he crossed the short distance to the couch. As he sat he set down an old duffel
bag on the cushion between them and added, “I took the liberty of bringing you
a few changes of clothes. Your purse is in here, too.”

Eyes wide, Veronica turned her full
attention to the bag and said, “It is? I just assumed he’d have taken it.”

“I guess he doesn’t have a need for
a purse,” Seth replied. “But I don’t know what may or may not be missing from
inside.”

The look on her face said she was
kicking herself for not considering that possibility, and she leaned forward so
that she could set her mug on the small coffee table before turning toward the
duffel. “Then let’s find out,” she mumbled as she unzipped the bag and wrapped
her hands around the straps of her purse.

Seth watched as she dug through the
contents within. Most vampires that he knew would never bother stealing from a
human (or anyone else, for that matter), but he was well aware that he tended
not to associate with the ones who gave vampires a bad name. And he’d certainly
met a few who might consider it too good an opportunity to miss if someone’s
purse fell at their feet. He suspected Richards fell into that second category.

“Damn,” Veronica grumbled, setting
the purse down with a frown. “He swiped my entire wallet.
And
my car keys.”
Eyes widening, she looked up and asked, “Was my car still
parked next to the house?” She groaned even before he could answer, adding,
“That means he has my house key!”

Trying to keep the glare from his
face, Seth scowled and replied, “Your car was still there, and you can get your
locks changed.” There wasn’t much he could offer for the missing wallet. She
was going to have to cancel her credit cards and get a new driver’s license if
he didn’t find her missing things soon. Hopefully she didn’t have bank records
in her purse.

Veronica slumped back against the
arm on a sigh. “That’s something, at least.” She was quiet for another minute
before adding, “I don’t usually condone violence, but, when you find him if you
could maybe hit him really hard—just once—for me? It would make me feel
better.”

Scowl transforming into a bitter
grin, Seth nodded. “I’d be happy to.” I might hit him really hard a few times. And
then maybe I’ll turn him over to
Jasen
.

Setting the purse on the floor near
her feet, Veronica leaned into the duffel again and sifted through the rest of
what he’d brought for her. It was hard to miss the rise of heat to her cheeks
as she discovered the bag’s contents, and he tried not to dwell too long on why
she would be flushing. But not even the increased beating of her heart could
distract him from the memory of going through her wardrobe. He’d thought he was
too old to be embarrassed about simple things like seeing a woman’s underwear,
but he’d been wrong. And the images those harmless garments had sent flying
through his mind were still making his mouth water.

Having her staying in his home for
any length of time was going to be interesting.

Resting her hands on the top of the
duffel bag, Veronica lifted her head despite the blush still staining her
cheeks and smiled. “Thank you, Seth. I would never have asked you to do this
for me.”

“It wasn’t a problem,” he assured
her, fighting to keep his eyes on hers.

He saw the moment something dawned
on her and she nearly cringed as she asked, “Did you have to, uh, pick the
lock? Or do I need a new window?”

He was torn between grinning and
frowning at her question, and he wasn’t sure what his face ended up doing as he
replied, “I would have picked the lock, but your door was unlocked when I got
there. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to lock it behind me.”

Veronica sighed and nodded. “That
makes sense. But I’ve never had any trouble before, so hopefully it’ll be all
right overnight.”

Arching one eyebrow, Seth asked,
“Are you planning on going back tomorrow?”

She stared at him for a long
second, and he suspected she hadn’t really given it any thought yet. It was a
minute before she said, “I…don’t know. But I won’t overstay my welcome, I
promise. If I’m not comfortable going back when you get tired of me I’ll just
rent a hotel room. I only meant that I’ll need to go back tomorrow anyway, if
only because I need to call a locksmith sooner rather than later.”

Inclining his head, Seth said,
“That’s true. And don’t worry about exhausting your welcome. Your company
doesn’t bother me.”

Her lips twitched in a grin and she
teased, “You haven’t lived with me yet.”

As his lips lifted in a matching
grin it occurred to him that the more accurate statement would be he hadn’t
lived with anyone in a while, but she didn’t know that. He was sort of looking
forward to the change. “I could say the same,” he returned instead.

Something flickered behind her eyes
and he heard her swallow, but she never broke from his gaze. He would have
wondered if he made her nervous now, but the thing he’d seen in her eyes had
definitely not been fear—he’d become very good at spotting fear over the years.
This was something else, and he suspected he knew what that something else was.
Or maybe that was just what he wanted to see. It was becoming hard to tell the
difference, and it was becoming hard to be around her without touching her.

He could still remember the feel of
her soft, warm palm pressed against his. It had been a long time since he’d
felt anything from someone else’s touch, especially anything like that. It was
hard not to wonder if he’d get the same sensations if he touched her again—and
maybe in other places.

“I hate to be a buzz-killer,”
Veronica said, dragging him from his dangerous thoughts, “but now that I have
some clean clothes, I’d kind of like to take a shower if that’s all right?”

“You don’t need to ask,” Seth said
smoothly. “Help yourself to whatever you need.”

Her smile was small but honest and
grateful as she thanked him before gathering her purse and the duffel and
standing. She didn’t ask where the bathroom was, so he figured she’d already
found it, which meant she’d already found the single towel he tried to always
keep on a shelf above the toilet, beside the shower.

He watched her until she rounded
the bend in the hall, and it wasn’t until she was out of sight that he released
the breath he’d been holding. He’d clearly been celibate too long if the very
idea of her in his shower was making him ache. Having her sleeping just across
the hall really will be interesting.

****

She really needed to make a list of
all of the questions she wanted to ask him. Every time she added a new one to
the list in her head she just knew she’d forgotten a different one. But, she
supposed, sooner or later she’d probably know all of the things she really needed
to, anyway. In the meanwhile, she needed to start focusing on her job.

It was Monday morning, and Seth had
been kind enough to drop her off in time for her shift. She couldn’t get away
with a scarf at work (their uniforms weren’t that casual beneath the aprons),
so she’d applied far too much makeup and opted to leave her hair down. It
wasn’t too hard to talk Nikki into letting her have register duty for the day,
so she was hopeful that she’d be all right. She just needed to remember not to
toss her hair or rub at her neck.

I hope he gets a hold of the
locksmith, she thought absently as she handed an early-morning regular their
receipt. She was still flattered that Seth had offered to contact a locksmith
for her—that was one less phone call she’d have to make. And once her locks
were changed she was going to have to think of a good story to tell her mother
and Allison when she gave them new spare keys. She doubted ‘an angry vampire
stole them after breaking into my house’ would go over too well.

Sunlight.
That
has got to be near the top of the list. It was one of the things she was most
curious about, seeing as how he clearly didn’t burst into flames during the
daytime. But he did prefer to wear sunglasses, and he and the other three all
wore very concealing clothing, which led her to believe that the sun did have
at least some effect on them. Or did they just dress like that during the
summer to hide the fact that they were super pale? Only, Seth’s not so super
pale…he’s just a little pale. She was going to give herself a headache trying
to figure it out on her own.

“V,” Nikki whispered from the edge
of the preparation counter, one hand wrapped around an ice-scooper.

Veronica glanced over at her, in
between customers, and asked, “Yeah?”

Nikki was her favorite
morning-shift coworker. They were the same height at five-six, but Nikki was
three years her junior and fresh out of college. She always wore her brown hair
in a side-braid with an oversized flower (violet today) clipped at the top of
the braid, holding her bangs out of her eyes. She was sweet and confident, if
not a little cautious toward strangers. And, at the moment, she was giving
Veronica a concerned pout.

“Is everything all right?” Nikki
asked. “You’ve been really distracted all morning.”

It was hard not to cringe at being
called out on her odd behavior. So much for hoping I was hiding it. “Sorry,”
Veronica offered guiltily. “I had an odd night and I guess I’ve just got a lot
on my mind this morning. Everything’s fine.”

Nikki looked less than convinced,
and Veronica was beginning to wonder if she was as convincing a liar as she’d
once believed. “You know,” Nikki began carefully, “if you need an extra day
off, I could text Jake. He might be free.”

Veronica shook her head with what
she hoped was a reassuring smile. “That’s not necessary, really. Don’t worry
about it.”

The bells over the door jingled,
drawing both girls’ attention, and Veronica said a silent thank you. She wasn’t
sure what else to say to put Nikki at ease and the last thing she needed was to
have Nikki watching her closely with a ring of bruises barely concealed on her
neck.

Veronica hadn’t yet managed to look
over to acknowledge the newest customer—as she was busy counting change—when
Nikki moved next to her ear and murmured, “I was wondering where he was!”

Her customer moved on, awaiting his
drink, and Veronica opened her mouth to ask who Nikki was talking about when
the answer stepped up to the register. It was Seth.

A smile immediately lifted her
lips, though Veronica was honestly surprised to see him, and she couldn’t stop
herself from greeting him with a light, “Hey, there.”

His lips twitched in response to
her greeting and he pulled something from his pocket as he said, “I’ve got a
gift for you.” Turning his closed fist so that it was facing up, he opened his
hand and revealed three shiny keys.

Veronica sucked in a surprised
breath, knowing immediately what those keys were, and turned a smile up to him,
exclaiming, “You are amazing. When you said you’d call the locksmith it never
even occurred to me that you’d just handle everything.” As she spoke she
scooped the keys into her hands, relishing the smooth shine of their reflective
gold metal.

“You’re welcome,” Seth replied, the
faintest of laughs lifting his voice.

She deposited the keys into her
jeans pocket, behind the apron, as the bells over the door signaled another
customer and a tinge of disappointment shot through her. Work day’s not done
yet, she reminded herself.

“I suppose this is the part where I
order my coffee,” Seth said, as if he were reading her mind.

Hypnotism.
That should probably pretty high on my list, too. It was official: there was
something wrong with her. There was no time to dwell on that, however, so she
released a soft laugh and asked, “Don’t suppose I could talk you into something
to eat this time?”

Seth shook his head as he handed
over the cash, replying, “Don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I’m afraid. I’ll
see you soon.” He waited only long enough to acknowledge her nod before turning
and moving to the pickup counter to wait for his drink.

Veronica bit back a sigh and turned
her attention to the new customer, all the while wondering which was worse: the
fact that there was a chance she was being brainwashed or the fact that she was
aware of this possibility and yet she couldn’t bring herself to care. She
really would have to remember to ask him about that later, though.
Which should be easy enough, since he’s picking me up.
And,
in the meantime, she had one less weight hanging over her shoulders.

“Why did you never tell me you knew
him?”
Nikki stage-whispered as she worked on making the drink
after Seth’s a moment later.
“And, more importantly, what was that he
just gave you?”