Page 21 of The Guardian's Curse

“Shoshanna.” His look of disgust was all the answer she needed.

“Sorry,” she said, setting the double-decker pot in the sink to fill the bottom layer. “I’m not educated in the fine art of blood preparation.”

“Go ahead and make two. Alistair will be up soon,” he said. “Have you seen him at all?”

She shook her head. “I tried to be quiet so he could sleep.”

Paris laughed. “You could tap dance outside his door and he’d still sleep. If you’ll forgive the expression, we sleep like the dead.”

“You’re awake,” she said.

“I’m an early riser,” he replied.

She wrinkled her nose and took two of the blood bags from the refrigerator. They were marked only with labels indicating their type, which was odd. Usually medical supplies would have barcodes and addresses and all sorts of markings. “Where are these from?”

“We have our own blood bank,” Paris said absently. “He’ll probably get a delivery this week.”

She braced herself for the coppery smell and dumped the bags into the upper part of the double boiler, then hunted down a wooden spoon. Cranberry sauce, she told herself as she stirred the viscous fluid. In the depths of the pan, it could have passed for a dark sauce. People sauce. Yuck.

She tamped down her disgust. If the worst thing they asked her to do was heat up a glass of blood, she was getting off easy.

“Violette and Hugo prepared a contract for you,” Paris said. He pushed the tablet toward her. “We want this house warded. What you did at Infinity at the bare minimum, and more if you can. If you can turn the basement into a panic room, that would be ideal.”

“Why not just use physical security measures?” she asked. “You know...locks, alarm systems.”

“We will eventually, but those things take a while to build. Furthermore, short of installing steel vault doors, our kind can tear through anything we build,” he said. “Hence the magical request.”

She skimmed the list of requests. “Magical tasers for vampire hunters,” she said with a laugh. “Really?”

“I didn’t know how to describe it,” he said defensively. “Can you do something that targets hunters?”

“Not specifically.” He sighed. “But I can target humans. If you don’t expect many other humans to come here, that would work.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “What about you?”

“I can tie my blood to it so I’m recognized as a safe person. I can do the same if you have other humans you want to have access. Easy enough.”

“And the containment?”

She kept reading. “Seal in a vampire. Like a prisoner?”

“Like someone who needed to be protected,” Paris said. His gaze skimmed away from hers.

“I can do that, but it’ll be expensive if you want to be strong enough to hold them for a while. The materials are going to cost you,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. “I cannot overstate to you how little of a problem that will be. Go stir.” While she stirred the blood, he continued talking. “How long do you think this much work will take?”

“At least a few weeks,” she said. Some of the ingredients would have to be steeped or prepared, and there was the issue of her own energy levels. This wasn’t like writing a term paper the night before it was due.

He nodded. “We’ll pay for all your materials, plus a rate of fifteen hundred dollars a week. I know that’s much less than what we paid for Infinity, but considering we’re providing protection and shelter, it’s a fair offer.”

“No argument here,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “But I don’t see myself staying here for a few weeks. I’ve got a friend who will let me stay with her.”

He gave her an appreciative smile. “This matter is complicated, Shoshanna. The easiest way for us to protect you is to keep you here.”

“And I don’t want to stay here for two weeks,” she said.

His smile never faltered, but it transformed from a pleasant expression into a dangerous one. The shift in his eyes was like a cloud passing over the sun. “Let me be very clear,” he said. “If you decide to leave, that ends our commitment. And if you end up with a pissed off vampire trying to drag you away again, Auberon will not jump to your aid.”

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