Page 120 of Blood and Bonbons

“Isn’t that Gunther's truck?” Vena asked, pointing to the red pickup across the street and two houses down from Sierra’s.

“Yeah. I wonder why he’s still here. I thought the lookouts were only at night.”

She and I both looked around for Anchor’s truck.

“If he tailed us, he’d be at our car asking what we were doing by now,” Vena said.

“Agreed. But why is Gunther still here then?” I asked.

“Playing find the fairy?” She shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t touch Sierra, but dudes tend to be less picky.”

“Whatever his reasons, we can’t exactly ask her about your brother in front of Gunther.”

“Says who? Let’s see what he’s doing.”

Vena got out before I could respond, and I scrambled after her.

She was already halfway to Gunther’s truck when I caught up. We saw him slumped in his seat at the same time.

“Shit. Is he dead?” I whispered in horror.

Vena jogged across the road and went up to his window. Frozen, I stood on the other sidewalk and watched her pause, shake her head, and walk back to me.

“He’s breathing, and there’s an empty bottle of whiskey next to him. Some guard.”

I glanced at Sierra’s house and mentally cringed.

“What if–”

“Nope, we’re not playing that game. Our only lead is not dead. Fate wouldn’t be cruel enough to take another one of my family members without a trace.”

“I was thinking it’s another trap like the one at Juicy,” I said with a guilty glance at Vena.

“That’s not happening either. We’re knocking on her door in the middle of the day. We’ll be fine.”

“The vampires sent compelled people into Blur. What if they did the same here? Daylight won’t save us from that. You saw how insane they were.”

“Fine. I’ll listen to your anxiety-fueled voice of reason. What do you want to do? Should we call Shepard and tell him that his guy is passed out so he can grill us about why we’re here and then tell us that my missing brother isn’t something we should be worrying about like everyone else? Or should we call Cross on the cell phone you got him yesterday?”

“I’m supposed to get him the cell phone today.” I scowled at her. “And I don’t like you when you don’t get enough sleep.”

She sighed and looked at Sierra’s house, partially obscured by a pine.

“Everly, I know Miles was looking into something big and that he might go quiet for a while. But after everything that has happened, my gut is telling me that’s not what this is. It’s like there’s an invisible clock ticking in my head.” She frowned. “Did you see that? The curtain moved.”

I watched the front of Sierra’s house and saw the curtain twitch.

With her phone pressed to her ear, Sierra peeked out her window. Her expression was a mix of fear and anger. The anger wasn’t new. General pissiness seemed to be part of her personality chart. The fearwasnew, though.

“She looks like she’s freaking out. Why? About last night?” I asked softly.

“Or that Gunther is still here.”

The curtain fell back into place, and Vena strode forward.

“What are you doing?” I hissed even as I hurried to keep up with her. I hated let’s-wing-it Vena.

My heart was in my throat when Vena rapped on Sierra’s door with all the force of a jackhammer. I shot her a side glare.

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