Page 24 of Newly Undead in Dark River

I guess being a Council member was kind of like being minor royalty.

“Thank you, Ma'am, Sir, but as you can see, I am fine. Nothing my super healing can't fix.” I smiled at Tomas, and the old guy smiled back. It looked like someone stretching skin across a skeleton and totally gave me the jeebies, but I kept that to myself.

Catherine was nodding and patted my arm in a motherly fashion. “Don't you worry, Walker will make sure this madman is caught. I've already told him that he has all the resources of the Council at his disposal. If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, Ma'am.”

With one last nod, they left.

Beatrice placed a huge plate piled high with cheese fries and what looked like half a side of bacon, in front of me. She also gave me one of Bert’s famous type-o floats. I picked up a fry, the cheese stringing off it, and a piece of bacon got caught in its gooey web. I took a bite and moaned. Heaven. Exactly what I needed.

Beatrice was grinning. I had a theory that she was trying to discover if I could die of a heart attack, even as a vampire.

“Beatrice, can I ask you a question?”

She started refilling ketchup bottles on the countertop. “Sure, Lass. Anything.”

“What do you think about Judge? He seems to spend a lot of time here.” Beatrice clucked her tongue.

“That boy, he's a complex one. He's never said it, but I think he has quite the violent past. Not that you would ever know from his behavior, hasn't so much as lifted a finger against anyone in town, even when you turned up, and all the busybodies started pointing the finger in his direction. Nae, you see it in the way he's always tense, always coiled to strike. I've yet to see that lad relax.”

I hadn't either, except when we were lying alone after sex. Then he always seemed so carefree and at ease. At least, until it was time to get up and face the world. At those times, you could almost sense him putting on his armor.

“After I rented him the room above the diner, he can't help me enough. Always pays his rent on time, though I have no idea where he's getting the money from. He gets a bad rap, but I think he's a good boy. But don't go getting your heart set on him, Lass. I know his type. It'd be easier to pin down a cloud. His type need to wander; they have an itch in their soul that needs to be scratched.”

I thanked her and stuffed another fry in my mouth. Judge was an enigma.

Who would think that as a newly turned vampire, who was currently declared missing, presumed dead, and had a maniac making nefarious threats after sneaking into my apartment, that the most pressing thing on my mind would be boy trouble? I seriously needed to get my priorities straight. Or maybe I needed that therapy.

I finished my dinner in blissful peace and walked back across the square to the cafe. Angeline was closing up early, so no classic movie night. She said it was because she was exhausted, and that was a possibility. She had been run ragged for the last couple of days without me. But I couldn't help but think that she was doing it so I wouldn't have to run the late session and be exposed to the early morning light, and the chance of someone sneaking up to the apartment again.

She confirmed this by insisting she walked me upstairs after I grabbed a book on vampire history, that was ironically misnamed,A Statistical Study on the Migration Patterns of the Little Brown Bat.I almost fell asleep reading the title, but I guess it did its job. The casual viewer wouldn't pick it up, expecting to find vampire kinds greatest secrets.

Once Angeline had assuaged herself that the apartment was intruder free, she left me with a box of four sunshine cupcakes and my book.

I scarfed down one cupcake and sat on the couch. I skipped to the part about the Vampire Nation. I'd go over the history at a later date.

The Vampire Nationwas set up after vampire numbers reached near plague levels within the Americas. Many vampire families had turned rabid and wild, and remaining families chose to band together to protect humankind and the race's food source. The first order of business for the newly created alliance was to create a specialist branch of vampires (see ENFORCERS) to hunt down rogue and rabid individuals and families that threatened the entire species. The Enforcers have the ability to summarily execute rogues when issued with Kill Orders (see KILL ORDERS). The Vampire Nation has evolved and changed over the centuries, and are now elected rather than being familial in representation. However, the laws remain as stringent and deadly as those in centuries passed. Such laws are necessary to protect the vampire species as a whole.

Well,they sounded scary. No wonder everyone freaked out at the mere mention of their name. Not for the first time, I was glad that I'd chosen to stay in Dark River. All this talk of families and enforcers made me think of reruns of The Sopranos. I placed the book on the coffee table. If I read any more of that tonight, I'd be having nightmares about waking up next to decapitated horse heads. I laid my head back on the couch and let my eyes close. Maybe I'd have a ten-minute nap and then read some more.

I wokeup to my cat sleeping on my chest. I scratched the scruff of its ginger fur before I realized I didn't have a cat. I pulled my hand away, and it opened its eyes slowly. Then, I'm pretty sure it grinned and winked at me.

I screamed and threw it off my chest. What the goddamn hell was going on? The air twisted and shimmered in the middle of my living room, and where a ginger cat had once stood, was now a naked Brody. I spun around and faced the wall

“Argh, you’re naked. Put some damn clothes on.”

I heard his deep laugh, and my whole body blushed. “Aw, I know you don't mean that, but if it will make you feel better.” I heard the distinct sound of a zipper and decided it was safe to look.

“What are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me. I thought you'd gone back to your place.” It all fell out in one embarrassing jumble, as I looked everywhere but in his eyes. He still wasn't wearing a shirt, and my eyes involuntarily followed the V of his obliques to where there was a very impressive D if you catch my drift.

His grin was so wide that it showed almost every single one of his pearly white teeth. “I couldn't sleep knowing you were here, alone and unprotected. So I came to guard your body.”

“As a house cat?” I screeched. “What the hell were you going to do as a house cat? Scratch them until they bled out?”

Brody sniffed, apparently I'd put a dent in his kitty cat pride. “It's a short transformation between a house cat and a tiger. I thought you'd react better to a tabby than a fully grown tiger in your living room.”

He had a point. I probably would have had a coronary on the spot if a tiger had been lying on my living room rug. Now, I just felt like a jerk.

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