Page 129 of Blood and Bonbons

“Where did you find that?”

Miles stood and reached for it, but Vena held it out of his way.

“I found it with a little help,” she said. “And if these are why you were taken, I’m hiding them again.”

Miles was about to argue, so I leaned over and pressed hard on his fang marks.

He winced. “Fine. Hide them.”

“Good,” she said.

“How about more soup?” I asked.

He groaned. “No more soup. I want a cheeseburger. Pizza. Anything but soup.”

“It’ll make you sick,” I warned.

He turned to Vena. “Can I please go home now? I’ve eaten the soup, and you’ve taken away my research. I just want to shower and go to bed.”

“Do you promise to stop all research until Mom and Dad are back?”

“I promise.”

Vena wasn’t dumb. She knew her brother as well as I did. And I knew he wasn’t going to sit at home and watch TV for more than a few days. Yet, she knew when to push and when to give in.

“Fine,” she said grudgingly.

She handed Miles his phone, which she’d kept with her since the beginning.

“You will respond to all texts within fifteen minutes and send proof-of-life pictures to me without prompting every three hours. Those are my conditions for your temporary freedom.”

“Agreed,” he said quickly. “After being held captive and drugged for five days, I’m open to heavy monitoring. Would you like to find a vet to tag me?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Vena said.

I wasn’t entirely sure Miles was kidding. I supposed if I had been held captive and fed on, I’d want someone monitoring me, too. Cross came to mind. So did Shepard.

Uneasy over how they were both becoming major players in my life, I refocused on Miles.

“I’ll bring you home. Vena and I can drop your car off tomorrow.” I glanced at her, and she nodded. “Let me pack some soup for you to eat until tomorrow.”

He whined a little, and Vena patted him on the back. “If you didn’t do stupid things that got you into trouble, you wouldn’t be force-fed soup. Remember that.”

She followed me to the kitchen and whispered, “While you’re dropping off Miles, I’m going to my parents to hide the book and map. I don’t think we should keep them here.”

“Are you sure you want to keep them at all after all of this?”

She nodded. “For now. I’ll figure out what to do with this stuff later. Right now, I just want it out of here.”

Since I wasn’t sad to see either go, I agreed.

“After I drop off Miles, I’m going to stop for that new phone I’ve been meaning to pick up. Then I’ll head to Blur to see if Shepard needs help with the cleanup.”

Vena smirked at me. “Look at you juggling two sets ofballs. So proud of you.”

I made a face at her. “Make sure you’re home in time to let Anchor in. He’ll be here to claim his spot on the couch before dark.”

She paused. “We’ll be alone?”

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