Always the Vampire

Triton’s brooding gaze followed Cosmil to the circle.

“Hey,” I said. “The sooner we leave, the better they’ll focus.”

He straightened his shoulders. “Right.”

Once in the SUV, Saber kept his promise to call Mrs. Tidwell, and we were on the main road before I twisted in my seat to catch Triton’s attention.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Last night when I voiced my concerns—”

“Suspicions.”

“—about Lynn, I could’ve been less—”

“Bitchy?”

“Forceful,” I corrected firmly. “I’m apologizing, moron. You could be a little more gracious.”

“Nah, it’s too easy to get a rise out of you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “It’s a good thing you’re out of punching range.”

He looked out the window and back again. “About that. Cosmil told me I nearly slugged you. I’m sorry I lost it.”

“Now that you two are playing nice again, Triton, do you want to hear what we learned about Lynn?”

“Am I going to like the information?”

“Well, it doesn’t look like Lynn is in cahoots with Starrack. That should cheer you up.”

“Okay, what did you find out?”

“Saber found and talked with her foster mother,” I said, then related Saber’s ruse as an investigator for Lynn’s distant relatives. “So, when Lynn showed up at Mrs. Tidwell’s house sick tonight, her foster mom called Saber.”

“Did Lynn say how she hooked up with me?”

“Not exactly,” Saber said. “You have to understand that she was in a bad way when we got to the house. I talked with her alone for a few minutes and only got something about an online network with an entry stating there was a human-dolphin shifter in St. Augustine.”

“What network?” Triton and I demanded in tandem as Saber braked at the US 1 intersection.

In the streetlights, I saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel. “That’s what I intend to find out. The only other thing she said was that she first began to feel ill when she shifted back and that she felt progressively sicker.”

“So if Starrack is using Lynn,” Triton mused, “he’s doing it indirectly.”

“Right,” Saber said. “In addition, Mrs. Tidwell has been Lynn’s foster mother since she was four. Now that we know more about her, Cesca and I have a hard time believing that Starrack pulled off some spell twenty years ago just to use Lynn against you now.”

“Us. Use Lynn against us.”

Saber inclined his head. “The upshot is that, at worst, she appears to be Starrack’s unwitting pawn, not an active weapon. He may just have wanted to distract you, and Lynn served as a diversion.”

“Divide and conquer?” Triton asked.

“Why not? It’s a time-honored tactic.”

As Saber took the left turn on US 1, I twisted in my seat so I could see both him and Triton. “You know, guys, if Lynn is the innocent we think she is, we might need to stash her someplace safe. Just in case Starrack does have designs on her, or she has a relapse.”

“I’ll watch over her.”

“Not gonna work, Triton,” I said. “We’ve assumed Starrack sent those thugs, so he already knows where you live, and I’m in the freaking phone book.”

“What about Cos’s protection spells?”

“The spells are great, but if Starrack or his minions come to your door with a gun, I wouldn’t count on magick. saving the day. Do you want Lynn smack in the line of fire?”

“Point taken. Okay, I agree she can’t stay with us, but where can we put her?”

We halfheartedly debated safe house possibilities for the rest of the drive to Saber’s house, but they were all academic until we got an update on Lynn’s condition.

The guys went to bed at one o’clock. I spent the night flipping between TV Land and the movie channels, and checking on Saber and Triton. I didn’t think Triton would make a break for Cosmil’s to see Lynn because Saber’s security system covered every door, window, nook, and cranny. Besides, from the way Triton sprawled all over the bed, he looked down for the count. I grinned as I quietly closed the guest-room door. If things worked out for him and Lynn, he’d have to learn to share the mattress.

Saber was conked for the night, too. I feared his nightmare might return, so I looked in on him more often after three, the real witching hour. His soft snore reassured me.

I itched to have my laptop so I could search for the networking site Lynn had mentioned to Saber, but that task would keep. With luck, Lynn would be well enough to give us the URL later in the day, even walk us through the site.

The guys were up at seven thirty. Saber fixed breakfast while Triton and I changed the guest-room sheets. Poor Lia. I don’t know where she was sleeping, but she had to be missing her privacy. And clothing. Last night she’d worn the same light blue scrub-type outfit from our first training session. I made a mental note to call and ask her if she wanted fresh clothes.

After breakfast, Saber ran Triton up the road a mile or so to his shop then returned to take me home.