They Come by Night (37 page)

“Yes. Class ends early, and I… uh… have a study group.” I was actually going to see Father Ian about that holy water. “But I should be home by five thirty at the latest.” Which was a couple of hours before dark.

“I recharged your digital recorder.”

“Th-thank you.” With everything that had been going on, I’d completely forgotten it had crapped out on me in class last week.

He waved aside my thanks. “Groceries?”

“Adam and I went shopping at the twenty-four-hour supermarket in Pritchert. I won’t be late.”

Raymond touched my shoulder, and I let him, but I shuddered. “I beg your pardon,” he said. He put the empty bag of blood into the bin under the sink and went into the bedroom.

I followed after him. He was sprawled out on the bed, taking up most of the room. The curtains were drawn and the shutters were closed up tight. No light would get in through the window.

I pulled shut the door to the bathroom, then went into the dining room and shut that door as well.

A glance at the clock told me I had a couple of hours before I needed to get on the road. I had breakfast, fed and walked Mina, and then went to my desk and took out the homework that was due.

D
R
.
VON Bulwer eyed me as I walked into class. “I hope you’ve recovered from last week.”

“Yes, thank you.” I took my seat, opened my messenger bag, and placed my books and recorder on the desk. It was really nice of Raymond to make sure it was recharged.

“Is that a black eye?”

“Excuse me?” Involuntarily I touched my fingertips to my eye. “Uh… yes.” How the heck could he know that? The bruising wasn’t obvious—having Adam’s blood had taken care of it.

“You’re not going to tell me you walked into a door, I hope.”

The class snickered.

“No. I walked into a fist.” The laughter became louder, and I glanced over my shoulder. “I don’t know what you find so funny. It happens.”

“Mr. Small.”

I met Dr. von Bulwer’s gaze, but I kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t going to tell him my best friend had been controlled by a vampyr.

He frowned. “If you’ll see me after class?”

“All right.”

He turned and began writing on the whiteboard. “Now, we’ll start with this formula….”

T
HE ROOM had emptied out, and I was repacking my messenger bag when Dr. von Bulwer came to stand before me. “You’re one of my best students, Mr. Small. What happened to you last week?”

I shrugged. “I guess I was just having an off week.”

“Really? Then I’d say the past few days saw that remedied.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s quite some love bite on your neck. One might almost think it was a literal bite.”

In spite of myself I slapped my hand to my throat. The collar of my turtleneck didn’t feel as if it had slipped, but if it hadn’t, how had he seen that? “It’s a birthmark. I’ve had it all my life.”

“Indeed?” He reached out, and I shied away. “Mr. Small?”

“I don’t like being touched. Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Is anyone harming you? I know you live by yourself.” He did?

“How do you know that?” Was he stalking me?

He waved aside my question. “A… boyfriend, perhaps?”

“No!”

“I want you to know you can come to me if you feel as if you’re in any kind of danger.”

I bit back a laugh. There was a wacko vampyr who wanted me so he could become rege. If I told my professor that, I had a feeling he’d make sure I wound up in a rubber room.

“Thank you, Dr. von Bulwer, but I’m fine, and I’m not in an abusive relationship. If there’s nothing else?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. “I’ll see you in lab on Wednesday.”

“Very well.” He went to the whiteboard and began wiping off the formulas he’d written on it, but I could feel his gaze on me as I walked out.

I
LUCKED out in that there was very little traffic, and it only took me two hours to get to Clewiston and the church Dad and I had attended for years. I parked in front of the rectory, jogged up the first set of steps, walked to the second set and climbed them, and finally rang the doorbell.

“Yes?” Mrs. Fitzgerald had been housekeeper at Our Lady Star of the Sea for six pastors. “My word, if it isn’t Tyrell Small!”

“Hi, Mrs. Fitz.”

“Come in, come in. Your daddy told us you’d moved.”

“I’m living near Pritchert, where I go to school.”

“Will we see you at Easter service?”

“I’m afraid not. Saints Martha and Mary is my parish now.” We chatted a few more minutes, catching up, and then I said, “Is Father Ian available?”

“I’m afraid you just missed him. He’s making his rounds at the hospital. Father Toby is here, though, if you’d like to see him?”

“That would be great.” Father Toby was a young priest who’d arrived at OLSS about a year and a half ago. I’d gotten to talk to him a bit at that time, and it turned out this was his first assignment.

Mrs. Fitzgerald led me to the office and tapped on the door.

“Come.”

“Tyrell Small to see you, Father.” She smiled at me and stepped aside to let me enter.

“Tyrell. It’s good to see you after so long.”

“Thanks, Father Toby. It’s good to see you too.” I crossed to his desk. He was a smart priest who’d picked up on our first meeting the fact that I didn’t like to be touched. “I hope it’s okay I don’t have an appointment?”

“It’s fine! I was working on my sermon for Sunday, and I could use a break.” He smiled broadly.

I just hoped he wouldn’t be too curious as to why I needed holy water.

I
GOT home before dark with a plastic water bottle filled to the top. Father Toby hadn’t done more than give me a brief stare before taking the bottle from the little fridge in the corner and blessing its contents, and I’d been too grateful to question his lack of curiosity.

Vampyrs weren’t likely to drink from the bottle—I shivered at the image of what holy water could do to them if they swallowed it—but to be on the safe side, I put a label on the bottle and stored it in a cabinet in the garage.

And when Raymond woke, I nuked a bag of blood for him and told him what I’d done.

“Hmm. You should have told me, but having it is a good idea.”

I blew out a breath. I hadn’t been certain if he’d be pissed at me. “I didn’t have time today to get a couple of plastic vials—”

“Glass.”

“Huh?”

“Glass vials will be more effective if you need them to break.”

“Uh…. Okay.” He’d know better than I did. “I have no idea where I can find them. Maybe from a medical supply place? Oh wait! Test tubes!”

“You’re not going out again, are you?”

“Only to walk Mina.”

“All right. As soon as you have, I’ll pay a visit to a… friend who works in glass. She’ll make a half dozen for you. With screw tops and a loop for a lanyard.” He was getting enthusiastic. “You’ll wear this around your neck.” Apparently satisfied with how things were going to go, he drove his fangs into the bag of blood and began feeding.

“C’mon, Mina.” She’d been attacking my Nike’s lace, but she seemed to understand we were going for a walk, and she scampered toward the front door. “Do you want us to wait for you?” I asked Raymond.

He shook his head.

“Okay.” I took Mina’s leash and snapped it to her collar. “We shouldn’t be too long, Raymond. Let’s go, pup.”

A
FEW days later, I woke to find a box of glass vials on the dining room table. They were beautifully worked, the sides decorated with engravings of dragons and wolves. I filled two of them. One I kept in a cushioned pocket of my messenger bag and the other I put around my neck, where it hung next to my half of the mizpah.

E
VER SINCE Dr. von Bulwer had asked about my birthmark, he always seemed to be watching me—during every lecture and lab, when I entered the room, when I got ready to leave it.

He made me really nervous.

But he was a normal, and there was no way he could know about vampyrs and sabors; I was probably making a mountain out of a molehill.

Wasn’t I?

Finally, though, the spring semester ended, and I breathed a sigh of relief, not only because I’d aced all my classes but because I wouldn’t have another class with him.

M
INA AND I went to Dad’s for the long Memorial Day weekend, and Jimmy and Trish joined us for the barbecue we had on Monday, along with Mrs. Wilder, who made a wicked ambrosia.

This was the first time I’d met Trish—she hadn’t been able to join us on Easter—and while I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t help noticing the resemblance between her and Jimmy’s previous girlfriend. Either he had a thing for cute, geeky-looking girls or he was looking for another Sheila. I hoped it was the former, because I found I liked Trish.

Harker, Dad’s dog, stayed inside because he was stressed by all the noise from the fireworks, and though it didn’t seem to bother Mina, she kept him company.

Citronella candles lit up the backyard. Dad had turned off the gas grill, and we’d sat around the picnic table with cups of coffee.

I’d hoped Adam might show up after sundown—I imagined him feeding me the marshmallows I’d roasted, and me licking the sweetness from his fingers—but no such luck.

Raymond was there, though. He arrived just after we finished shooting off the last of the fireworks.

“I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I would see you home,” he murmured.

Right. I wasn’t going to argue with him. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to discuss sabor/vampyr business around normals, so I didn’t ask if he had any word on the situation, but I was curious.

Mrs. Wilder and Trish were in the kitchen putting away the leftover hamburgers, hot dogs, and sauerkraut, so I introduced him to Dad and Jimmy. “This is my friend Ray.”

“You got over him!” Jimmy looked so pleased it was indecent.

Raymond raised an eyebrow, and I whispered, “He’s talking about Adam.” Raymond swallowed a laugh, and I wished I could give him a poke in the ribs. “Ray is just a friend. He lives in my neighborhood, and I told him I’d give him a lift home if he needed one.”

“And I do.”

“Give me a couple of minutes while I pack and get Mina’s stuff.”

“Of course.”

“Tyrell, I’ll come with you. I want to make sure you have some leftovers.” Dad was frowning, and I realized he knew what Raymond was.

Fortunately, Jimmy was too busy threatening Raymond to notice. “Ty’s my good friend, even if he does do weird things like put garlic on my windowsill. You’d better not break his heart like that other yo-yo did!”

Raymond gazed at me, his head tilted to one side.

“Jimmy, shut up! Dad—”

“Come with me, Tyrell.”

I spared a last glare at Jimmy, and followed Dad into the house.

“Barb, Ty’s leaving. Would you pack up some leftovers for him and get Mina’s things together?”

“Of course, Ben.”

I followed Dad up the stairs to my bedroom.

“What’s that vampyr doing here, Tyrell?”

“Like I said, he needs a ride home.” The last thing I wanted was for Dad to worry. I pulled out my suitcase and began packing the clothes I’d worn. I didn’t have to be neat; everything would go into the washer when I got home anyway.

“I’m aware he won’t go after anyone in a sabor’s family—”

“No! God, no! It’s….” I couldn’t tell Dad a rogue vampyr wanted to use me to become rege. “It’s like I told Jimmy. Raymond has no one, so I asked him to spend the holiday with me.”

“Is he going to feed from you? Because I can’t condone that in my home!”

“No, Dad. I won’t need to feed another vampyr for a few more weeks.” I had to be careful of my words. Dad didn’t know a lot about the sabor/vampyr dynamic, but he knew enough about the length of time between feedings. “Please trust me on this?”

He sighed and nodded. “When will we see you again?”

“Probably in a week and a half, for Kenny’s wedding. I’ll need to stay over for the rehearsal, since the wedding is the next day, if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course it is.”

“Thanks, Dad.” I went ahead and hugged him, although I had to step back almost immediately.

“What’s this?” He looped his finger in the lanyard and tugged the vial out of my shirt. No good deed goes unpunished. He must have felt it when I hugged him. “This is new.”

“Yeah. A friend makes the vials. I thought they looked cool, and I decided to wear one this weekend.”

“Hmm.”

I gave him a smile and took my suitcase, and we went back downstairs.

“Here you are, Ty.” Mrs. Wilder handed me a bag filled with plastic containers. “I’ve given you some hamburgers, fruit salad—”

“And some of your ambrosia?”

“Yes.” She smiled, pleased I’d enjoyed it so much. “And here are Mina’s bowls and blanket.”

“Thank you.” The rest of her things would stay here for the next time we came to visit.

I opened the screen door, but before I could step outside, Harker dashed past me, his hackles raised and his barking more savage than I’d ever heard it. What…? He headed straight for Raymond.

Raymond looked down at him, and Harker’s barks turned to whimpers. He began backing away, his ears down and his tail tucked tight between his legs.

“Harker. It’s all right, boy.” Dad scowled at Raymond and knelt beside his dog, stroking the black fur. Harker tried to burrow into his side.

Mina had come out too, but she wasn’t in the least upset by Raymond’s presence. He crouched down and held out his hand to her. She licked his fingers, then pounced on a shoelace and tugged it loose. He ruffled her ears, and she rolled over on her back for a belly rub, her little legs waving in the air.

“Mrs. Wilder, Trish, this is my friend Ray.” They’d been inside and had missed the introductions.

He tied his shoelace and rose. “Ladies.” His smile was warm, and they seemed to melt.

I’d never had that reaction to him, but then I wasn’t a normal and I wasn’t a woman.

Dad was on his feet and beside them, his hands fisted. “That’s enough!”