Page 37 of Soul Sucker

8

She parkedher VW Golf at the end of the street and walked past the long line of cars that led up to the side of her parents’ yard. The ranch house sat on a corner lot surrounded by oak trees and bordered by a small creek that backed onto the parched yellow hills. The back gate was open and she could already smell burning hot dogs, fried onions and warm beer. Her mouth watered. She loved it when other people cooked.

Outside of San Francisco and the bay, the temperature always shot up and today was no exception. Heat shimmered off the parked cars and off the roofs of the houses. As she’d driven over the Dumbarton Bridge heading for Walnut Creek, she’d wished she’d fixed the air-conditioning in her old car and had to crank down all the windows instead.

For some reason, her parents had hired an inflatable for the yard, and festooned the place with pink balloons. Ella frowned as she considered the invitation again. From what she could see, the usual crowd was all here. Was there something specific she should have remembered? She’d left a message to tell her mother she was definitely coming, but hadn’t heard back.

Fixing a smile on her face, she walked through the back gate and into the crowd of people milling around the patio. She spotted her two older brothers and younger sister but didn’t call out to them. Her father was behind the barbecue, prodding at something with a worried expression on his face. The French windows that led into the kitchen and family room were open, so she went inside. If her mother would be anywhere, it would be in the kitchen directing operations. Ella also hoped she’d come to the right place for a beer.

“Ella!” Her mother was making a fresh pitcher of margaritas. “So glad you could make it. And you even put on a dress! Thanks for making the effort, honey. You look sweet.”

Darlene was blond, but the resemblance between them ended there. She was tall and slender, her face tightened, her nose remodeled, her hair blonder, less natural, and more styled than Ella’s would ever be. She gave Ella an awkward one-armed hug.

“Did you bring Laney with you?”

“I think she’s coming later.” She looked longingly at the refrigerator. “Do you have any beer in there?”

Darlene pointed at two tubs under the kitchen table filled with ice and the frosty glint of bobbing beer bottles.

“There are a lot of calories in beer, darling. Make sure you choose one of those nice new low-carb ones, and limit yourself to a couple so that you can drive home safely.”

Ella helped herself to the first beer she touched. She took an experimental sip.

“Don’t you want a glass, dear?”

“No, I’m fine with the bottle. Liz and Doug Goddard are coming with some friends. Is that okay? You did say I could invite anyone I liked.”

Darlene’s smile faltered. “Sure. I don’t think we’ll be having a full moon tonight or anything.”

Ella took a longer swig of her beer. Darlene had never been quite comfortable with any of Ella’s friends who were not quite human. She was probably worried Doug would suddenly go all wolf on them and devour one of her guests.

“It’s okay, I’ll tell Liz to chain him up in the yard if he doesn’t behave himself.”

Darlene’s cheek flushed. “That wasn’t what I meant, Ella. I was just kidding. You’re too sensitive about your friends, you know.”

She resisted the urge to stick out her lip and mumble “whatever.” Somehow her mom always made her feel like an adolescent again. They’d gotten along just fine in those days, though—what with Ella being stuck in year-round boarding school.

“Dad’s barbecuing?”

“I told him to let Scott do it, but as it’s Scott and Julie’s big day, he insisted on doing it himself.”

Ella took another beer, then paused. “Scott and Julie got married last year. Did I miss something?”

The doorbell rang, drowning her mother’s reply, although the expression on her face was enough to make Ella beat a hasty retreat to the hallway to see who’d decided to go all formal and demand entry through the front door.

She opened it wide and discovered Liz looking super cool and collected in a lemon-yellow halter dress, accompanied by Doug.

“Hey you!” Doug picked Ella up and enveloped her in a bear hug. His T-shirt bore the words, “Meat Eater and Proud of It” accompanied by a picture of a bloody steak. “How’s my favorite empath? You know these guys, right?”

He put her down and moved to one side. Behind him stood Alexei and Vadim. They both wore khaki shorts and polo shirts and looked as if they were heading out to play golf somewhere expensive. Vadim removed his aviator sunglasses and nodded.

“Ms. Walsh.”

“Morosov. I thought you had other plans.”

He half-smiled. “So did I, but I hope I’m still welcome.”

More flustered than she wanted to admit, Ella stepped back and allowed them to enter the house. It was much cooler in the hallway and she hurried to shut the door.

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