Page 23 of Silent Nights and Vampire Lights

I twisting my head to look at him. “Hoping or expecting? They know you’re coming, right?”

He had the grace to look abashed. “I haven’t exactly told them I was on my way. It was a snail-mail letter. I had no time to reach out. At least I’m on my way.”

It didn’t escape my notice that Nick had avoided the point of my question. So I had to be more direct. “Nick, what happens to us?”

He was silent for so long that I didn’t think he was going to respond. Finally, he said, “I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 11

NICHOLAS

Iwanted to avoid Holly’s question, and the best way to do that was to distract her with pleasure. But she needed to build up her strength first. And I sensed she wasn’t going to let the topic go. Fortunately, another option presented itself when there was a knock at the door.

I swung my legs out of bed, wrapped a blanket around my waist, and strode to the door. Mae Birnbaum stood there with a tray laden with breakfast food, a troubled expression on her face.

“I thought you might need something to eat. Holly mentioned that you would prefer to eat in your rooms this morning.”

I knotted the blanket and took the tray, laying it on the table just inside the door. I was about to close it, but Mae didn’t appear ready to leave yet. Remembering the manners that Holly was trying to instill in me, I pasted a smile on my face. “Thank you for bringing us something to eat. How is the storm?”

She looked startled. “Oh, there’s almost two feet on the ground already. It’s been coming down heavily since midnight. It’s not showing any sign of ending.”

Dread settled heavy in my stomach, but there was relief. If we couldn’t leave, no one else was going anywhere either. Butthe tension that radiated off the older woman concerned me. “Is everything okay?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Harold wanted me to leave it alone, but I think you should know. Two men came by last night, while you both were at the Christmas Market. They said they were looking for their sister. She had been taken by her abusive boyfriend, and they wanted to help her. They showed a lot of attention to your car in the parking lot, and they described someone who looked at a lot like Holly.”

Holly came up behind me, resting a hand on my back. A chill settled over me, and I knew what I had to do. Anger churned in my stomach, and I struggled to control my temper, knowing I had to keep any signs of my other-ness from showing.

“We appreciate you sharing this with us, Mae. I don’t have any brothers, and I can assure you, Nick is anything but abusive,” Holly said, her tone strong and confident.

Mae relaxed in that moment, a smile curving her lips. “I know he’s not, dear. I was married before Harold, and he was not a nice man. I know an abusive man when I see one, and your man is not like that. But these men, they were bad news. We could tell straight away.”

“What did you tell them?” My tone was sharp, and I felt bad, but I needed to know if we had to move immediately.

Holly’s hand rubbed my back soothingly, and Mae jerked in surprise. “Oh, we told them that Harold drove the girl to the train station and helped her get a ticket south. He stayed until she got on the train. We’re not sure if they believed us, but they left. They hung around outside for a while, but my son came by, and they left. He’s an officer in the police department, so they didn’t linger for long.”

“Why did you help us?”

“Nick,” Holly said, a tone of reproach in her voice.

Mae narrowed her gaze at me. “Because I don’t think they were good men, and I think you are. Was I wrong?”

How could I answer that? There are many who considered vampires to be monsters, evil creatures who hunted humans. Others worshipped us. Who was right? I shrugged. “I think everyone has a little bit of both in them.”

She smiled. “Good answer. I think you’ll need a little bit of bad to protect Holly. But I don’t think you’re mean. I don’t think you would hurt someone unless you had to, and that’s the difference.”

Heavy footsteps came down the hall, and I stiffened, my fangs descending in preparation to fight. Harold came around the corner, his mouth turned down in disapproval. “So, you told them, didn’t you? I told you not to interfere.”

Mae straightened. “They deserved to know.”

“Well, that’s it then.” He faced me. “What will you do?”

“We’ll leave as soon as it’s safe.” Of course, safety meant sundown and when the storm had passed. Hopefully, those two events coincided.

Harold nodded. “The storm should be winding down by noon. It will take them some time to clear the roads. You might be able to get out tonight. But you can’t take your car.”

I cursed under my breath. “We’ll rent one.”

Harold shook his head. “You won’t find one anywhere in town. I already checked, assuming you would do that. And I’d bet those men would do the same.” He heaved another sigh. “You’ll take our truck. It was parked in the garage, out of sight, and they never went near that building. I doubt they know we have one. It should get you through any bad weather and throw them off your tracks.”

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