Page 31 of The Vampire in the Potting Shed

“Thank you.” He darted a glance at the table then back at me. “Do you mind if I…?”

“Have a seat.” I heaped the leftovers meant for second helpings into a serving for myself then joined the two of them. “Have you heard from my dad yet?”

“Many times.” He dug into his plate like someone might snatch it away if he didn’t eat fast enough. “The town is on lockdown as a security measure, so he’s barred entry, but I’ve met with him outside the boundaries twice. Until he cools off, I don’t have anything left to say to him. He was made aware of the timeline for occupation months ago. He just didn’t expect you to be on this side of the line when the clock ran out.”

“That makes two of us.” I picked at my food. “This isn’t how I expected to spend my weekend.”

As the last smear of sauce disappeared from his plate, he stared at the dish like it had wronged him.

“Here.” I nudged mine toward him. “I’m not hungry.”

“Do you want to see your dad?” He nudged it back to me. “Talk to him?”

“You would let me do that?” I paused with my finger midair. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“I don’t want to pluck you out of one cage and cram you into another.” Oh, yeah. I struck a nerve last night. “If he had honored his word—” He bit down on his criticism. “This isn’t how I wanted us to meet.”

“To be fair, our meet-cute was kind of ruined by the bleeding-out-in-my-potting-shed thing.”

“Not my finest moment, but you…” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe you protected me.”

“Because I’m a Sartori or…?”

“I was a stranger. A wounded predator. And you helped me.”

“Yes, well, I’ve always had a soft spot for strays.” I gave up on our game, afraid I was enjoying myself too much, and set my plate on top of his, leaving him no choice but to eat. “That reminds me—” I sat back in my chair. “How’s Fayne?”

Reluctant to surrender the perfect bite on his fork, Rían gulped it down before answering.

I shrugged off the tingle of pride at his open enjoyment of my cooking.

“The bullet passed right through her, so she was able to heal the critical damage on her own. Our healer, Burdock, handled the rest. An inch to the right, and she wouldn’t be with us.” He swallowed hard. “She was curled up with a book when I checked on her this morning, so she’ll be ready for visitors if you want to drop in.”

“What was so important she risked her life to tell me?”

“You’ll have to ask her.” He stabbed his next bite with more force than necessary. “I didn’t tell her to go. I wouldn’t have approved of her plan. She’s too vital to our family, to our clan, to risk on a whim. I planned to tell her that, and drag her home kicking and screaming if necessary, but then the potting shed happened.”

Before I could muster up the courage to apologize on Mercer’s behalf, a knock on the door brought Rían to his feet. He growled softly as the aptly nicknamed Goldie let herself in.

“You told me to find you,” she grumbled at his scowl, “when I was done paying everyone back.”

“This isn’t our house.” He crossed to her and thumped her ear. “You have to wait to be invited in.”

“But Ana is family, so…” Goldie drifted her gaze over to me. “Youaremy sister, right?”

“Goldie.”

“Everyone knows you’re going to marry her.” She mimed gagging. “She’s all you ever talk about.”

“Oh, really?” I speared him with a curious look. “What does he say about me?”

“You don’t want to know,” she decided for me. “You might not want to marry him then.”

Thinking back on her morning’s efforts, I tossed out, “I’ll pay you five dollars.”

“Deal.” She passed me a card with a barcode. “Scan that on your phone to make your payment.”

A snort blasted out of Sloane’s nose while Rían exhaled through his teeth.

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