Page 40 of Slayer Mom
I scowled at the fire and wanted to punch the Grand Master’s face until he had to keep his nose taped like Gloria. “Do you want to take it out of my wage? Do it. I don’t care. I want to talk with you and renegotiate the contract.”
“I see. Along the lines of…”
“Medical care. Supplies, maybe a medic.”
“Oooh, I could be the medic,” Gloria called, raising her teacup.
“Someone to train our current medic-in-training,” I added so that she smiled and blew me a kiss.
“And your husband?”
I hissed, but I didn’t tell him what I really thought. That was better to do in person, because it could contain threats of violence, or acts of violence. “Yes. I would like to discuss our current situation with you.”
“Very well. Dinner on the hotel roof. Come as soon as is convenient for you. That means now.”
He hung up, leaving me with the urge to strangle someone. Him.
The phone rang again, loud and harsh. I jumped and then fumbled, barely snatching it from falling to the ground.
“What?” I demanded.
“Lucy?” Hazen sounded so uncertain.
Right. His wife didn’t strangle people. Or rip their throats open. “I’m so sorry, Hazen. I know that explanations won’t really help, but if I could take it back, I would.”
“What are you talking about? Oh, the biting? I didn’t lose much blood, much less than you did. That’s what Tom said, that you lost a lot of blood and so instinctively, you were searching for the nearest source, but of course, you don’t have fangs, so you didn’t do much damage. It’s a little sore, but well worth the rest of it. I called to ask about you. You were seriously injured. Are you at the hospital?”
“Ah, no. I’m going to get a checkup from a doctor pretty soon. Actually, right away. You must have a lot of questions.”
“Tom has been regaling me with slayer stories. Are any of them true? I was there last night, and it was pretty indescribable, but some of his stories…”
I sighed heavily, but listening to his voice, hearing that he was okay, that he wasn’t angry, even though he should be, I couldn’t help but almost relax. I hadn’t slept much, and I was still in a lot of pain. I was so tired, and I’d tried so hard to keep Hazen out of this mess. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. What were you doing there?”
He cleared his throat. “I was following you. Not to be rude, but you’ve been acting really off lately. I was worried that you got caught up in something dangerous, gangs, drugs, I don’t know, but I didn’t expect… whatever that was.”
“Hounds of death, apparently. Well, now you’ve seen what I’m involved in, so you understand why I can’t be with you anymore. I’m marked by the zombies, so everywhere I go, they hunt me down. They took Gloria and Tom, but you’re still off their radar. I want you to stay that way. Go home once everything’s secure, okay? Forget about all of this, about me and—”
He cut me off. “You’re my wife. I’m not leaving you to fight alone. It’s not happening.” His voice was firm, the voice he used to back me up when I told the boys it was time for bed. I missed them so much. I missed him and our stupid, happy life together.
“Hazen, it’s not your problem.”
“We’re in this together. I’m going to train with Tom to be a second tier slayer, or the cook, or the getaway driver, I don’t know, but something. I’m not leaving you to face the monsters alone.”
My heart swelled with hope, but no, I couldn’t do this to him. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“No, we won’t.” He hung up on me, leaving me sputtering and anxious, but also kind of swooning because it’s so good to hear that the one you love wants to be with you, even if it’s facing monsters together.
I got up too fast and then winced and wrapped my arms around my body. I’d never been so badly hurt. Another thing to yell at the Grand Master about.
“Where are you off to?”
“I have lunch with the devil.”
“The vampire? Is he handsome?”
“I’m married.”
“Yes. I always thought he was too boring to survive, but last night, he was absolutely amazing. I finally understand what you see in him.”
