Page 59 of Bad Luck Vampire

“Were you expecting company?” he asked.

Sophie shook her head. “I’m not even supposed to be here, remember? We were going to be in Niagara Falls, and my family knows that. Megan and Bobby were with me when you called.”

Alasdair nodded and then scowled when the buzzer sounded again.

“I better see who it is,” Sophie said, standing up. “It’s probably someone buzzing the wrong apartment, but if they aren’t told, they’ll just keep trying.”

Alasdair didn’t comment, but he did stand to follow her out to the hall.

The building was a nice one, but it was older, with an old-fashioned intercom system with a button you pressed to speak, another to hear, and a third you pushed to open the door downstairs. Sophie had considered updating it when she moved in, but in the end hadn’t bothered. Mostly because she didn’t have a lot of company other than Megan and Bobby, who both had keys.

“I noticed a camera down in the entry, but I don’t see a screen you can check to see who’s at the door,” Alasdair commented, peering at the speaker built into the wall with the buttons above it.

“I could see the camera view if I turned on the TV to channel one, but why bother?” she said, and pressed the button to speak. “Yes?”

“Sophie? This is Alasdair’s brother, Colle. Can I come up? It’s important.”

Sophie immediately pressed the button to open the door in the entry and glanced over at Alasdair to see the surprised and disturbed expression on his face.

“I hope it’s not bad news,” she murmured, and then glanced down at herself and clicked her tongue. “I better go get dressed.”

Alasdair nodded. “Take your time. I’ll let him in when he gets here.”

Sophie didn’t respond, but hurried off to her bedroom. It wasn’t until she reached it that she realized the clothes she’d been wearing earlier were still out in the kitchen. She’d picked them up, folded and set them on the counter when she’d first gone out to make supper. She didn’t bother going back for them now. The building might be older, but the elevator was pretty fast and she was afraid Colle might arrive while she was out there.

Hurrying to her closet instead, Sophie opened the doors and considered her options. In the end, she settled on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Taking them with her, she went to her dresser to fetch a bra and panties and took everything with her into the en suite bathroom to dress.

At least, that was the plan before she saw herself in the bathroom mirror. Sophie moaned at the sight of herself.

Her hair was a crazy mess around her head, tangled and standing up in different directions. But she could fix that. It would take scads and scads of hair conditioner to do it, which meant a shower, but she could fix it.

What she couldn’t fix were the huge honking red-and-purple hickeys. Dear God, she had even more of them now than she’d had that morning. Alasdair obviously had a serious thing about sucking on her skin.

She’d have to talk to him about that, Sophie thought as she turned around to head back into her room to find a turtleneck. She enjoyed what he did to her, but didn’t need everyone getting a visual of it.

Alasdair was waiting in the open door of Sophie’s apartment when the elevator arrived. Colle stepped out the moment the doors opened, but he wasn’t alone. Tybo and the uncles were on his heels and Alasdair felt apprehension slide through him at the sight of the large group. He knew Colle wouldn’t bring them unless something serious was up.

“What’s going on?” he asked with concern as they approached.

“Are you good?” Colle asked rather than answer his question.

“Yes. Of course. Why? Has something happened?” Alasdair asked with confusion.

“I’ll say,” Inan muttered.

“Inside,” Ludan growled.

When Alasdair opened his mouth to demand to know what was happening, Ludan held up one hand and peered meaningfully toward the apartment door directly across the hall. Alasdair followed his gaze, suddenly aware that he could hear what sounded like some sort of action movie muffled through the door. Which meant any conversation they might have in the hall would probably be heard on the other side.

Nodding, he turned to lead the men inside, and then continued on into the kitchen when the entry got too crowded. It seemed the smarter choice than the living room, since he wasn’t sure what was happening and if Sophie should hear it. The kitchen would at least give them some privacy.

Stopping by the sink, he turned to survey the men now crowding into the room. It was a good-sized kitchen, but this group made it seem small with their very presence. Raising his eyebrows, Alasdair asked, “What’s going on?”

There was a moment of silence as the men exchanged glances, and then Colle said, “Russell checked your SUV. The problem was with the battery.”

Alasdair frowned slightly at this news. They could have told him that over the phone. It didn’t seem that urgent or even important. “Okay. So did he change the battery?”

“He didn’t have to,” Tybo told him, his voice unusually solemn. “The problem with the battery was that it was no longer connected. The cables had been detached.”

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