Page 35 of The Vampire in the Potting Shed

“Mindy.”Rochele kicked her in the ankle. “What she means is, we could use the fresh air.”

The wordvolunteeringstuck between my teeth like a bite of tough steak.

It smacked of charity, and having been called a charity case one too many times, usually when a boy was involved, it was triggering.

“That would be great.” Sloane pinched the back of my arm. “Go on in.”

As soon as they entered GSG, she tugged me back around to the side fence. She whistled loud enough to wake the dead thenwaved Jess over when she popped her head out of the run she had been cleaning.

“Follow my lead,” she whispered to me. “Hey, Jess, can you hold down the fort for a little bit?”

“Oh.” Her shoulders bowed inward until I worried they would meet in the middle. “Sure.”

“Mindy and Rochele are here.” I noticed the skin tightening around her eyes. “Can you manage them?”

That same urge to comfort her itched the skin of my palm, but I balled my hands into fists at my sides.

“Me?” She whipped her head toward the door. “I can try?”

The way her sentences all tipped up at the end toward a question reminded me so much of Sloane when she worked in the kennel and lost the self-confidence she wore as a sentinel. And, it seemed, as a friend.

“Here.” I thumbed one of the business cards I was never without, wrote my number on it, then groaned. “I was going to say you could call if you run into any problems, but I forgot phones aren’t working.”

“Can I still have it?” Had it been dipped in gold, she couldn’t have coveted it more. “For later?”

“Yeah.” I handed it over. “Of course.”

“We’re going to visit Fayne,” Sloane told her, which was news to me. “We’ll be back soon.”

With a dip of her chin, Jess returned to cleaning the runs, and I let Sloane haul me onto the sidewalk.

Curious what had lit a fire under her, I stumbled after her. “Are you going to let me in on the plan?”

“You want answers, and Fayne’s got them.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving three strangers unsupervised with my animals.”

“They’re qualified, and we won’t be gone long. Besides, Rían has gone through too much trouble to get this chance with you to let anyone in his clan ruin it for him.”

“You just had to mention theRword.” I exhaled slowly. “We don’t even know where to find Fayne.”

“I can help with that.”

A low groan poured out of me, and I glanced over my shoulder to find Rían jogging to catch up to us.

“Are you stalking me?” I linked arms with Sloane like he might snatch me off the street and toss me into an idling black van. “And who said you could listen in on our conversation?”

“Stalking implies malicious intent,” he said, which wasn’t an answer.

“What are your intentions?”

“To get to know you.” He fell in step with me. “To let you get to know me.”

“And you think following her,” Sloane said, “eavesdropping on private conversations is the way to go?”

“I just left the clinic.” He lifted a clear plastic bag holding three orange prescription bottles. “I was on my way to see Fayne when I spotted Ana and came to say hello.” He flicked his ear. “I can’t help my hearing, but I shouldn’t have invited myself into your conversation. I’m sorry if you’re feeling…”

Unable to resist the opening, I supplied, “Stalked?”

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