Walking Shadows (22 page)

"No," I reassured her vehemently. "It takes a certain way of thinking, doesn't it
Gary?"

He nodded vaguely, hedging his bets, or perhaps still recovering from the effects of stepping
into a home where one of the occupants clearly did not want him there.

"Why don't we put your stuff in my room for now?"

"Um. Yeah. Thanks." Gary flexed his hands a few times then gave Kate a look that was
half rueful, half defiant. "Thanks for letting me stay, I guess."

As I hauled the suitcase to my room I heard frantic claws scrabbling at the bathroom door,
accompanied by low growls.

"I thought you said Anthony would take Oscar."

"He's on his way over now," said Kate, not sounding in the least apologetic, "He
should be here any minute."

The buzzer sounded as I slotted the grimy suitcase into a space at the end of the bed. The next
moment, a full-throated growl erupted from the living room.

"Oscar! No, bad dog." Which would have been more effective if Kate's tone hadn't been
so deadpan and mild.

As I came out of the bedroom, a small, furry body hurtled out of the bathroom and across the
living room. Oscar sank his teeth into Gary's calf. Oscar whined, let go briefly and stretched his
jaw like he was trying to spit something out, but almost instantly bit Gary's leg again. The
high-pitched snarls continued through the denim and flesh.

Gary stared down at Oscar savaging his leg and stood perfectly still. He gave me a long-suffering
look. I was torn between feeling bad for Gary at the indignity of it all, and concerned for Oscar. I
knew just how bad vampires tasted. In fact, this wasn't the first vampire he'd bitten, which only
goes to show what a fearless guard dog he is.

The sight of a tiny tan Maltese/Shihtzu cross, a veritable muppet of a dog, ferociously attacking
Gary was increasingly and disconcertingly alarming. "Oscar, no!" I delivered it with a lot
more conviction than Kate. Oscar was having none of it.

"Oscar!" My dog's eyes rolled plaintively in my direction, but he didn't let go or stop
snarling.

"Drop!" I made the firm, palm down gesture we'd learned at Puppy Obedience School,
"Drop, Oscar!"

Gary arched one what-the-hell-is-that? eyebrow and I gave it up, instead bending to prise Oscar's
jaws apart. My dog struggled ferociously, whining, but I managed to hang on to him.

Kate, standing by the open door, had that unrepentant, that-was-accidentally-on-purpose
expression I remembered from fights in our childhood. The start of a blazing row was on the sharp
edge of my tongue when I realised that Anthony was at the door. He regarded Gary with a look of
awe.

"Man," he said, "that must have hurt."

"A bit," Gary admitted, disgruntled.

"What the hell did you do to that poor dog? He's usually a sweetie." I could see
Anthony was realising that something was odd about Gary and not quite clicking what it was.
"Vampire" is not usually the first conclusion people reach. On the other hand,
"weirdo" they can get to very rapidly.

Kate grabbed Oscar from my arms and shoved him at Anthony. Anthony would very much have liked to
not be holding five kilos of small, angry dog, but when Oscar lunged Gary-wards, he tightened his
grip.

"I'd better take him to the car."

"I'll be right down with his stuff," said Kate briskly.

"You sure?" Anthony cast a dubious glance at Gary, his agitation translating into
protectiveness.

"Won't be a sec," she replied curtly, then smiled to reassure him. Anthony wasn't
convinced, but he nodded a friendly goodbye to me, gave Gary a stern warning glare and was gone
again.

Kate grabbed a canvas bag from the bench top - filled, no doubt, with Oscar's bowls, food, treats
and toys - and marched out before I could call her on being a passive-aggressive bitch. I banged the
door closed behind her and took several deep, calming breaths.

"She's not normally like that."

Gary had bent to poke at the holes in his jeans. "Hmm." He stood up. "Are you sure
this is a good idea?"

"Kate needs a bit of time to get used to it, that's all. She doesn't know you like I
do."

He remained, with good grounds, unconvinced. "I'm dead, Lissa, not stupid. She doesn't like
me. That's sort of okay. I'm used to people not liking me. I'm not used to hanging around and
putting up with it."

"I'll talk to her."

"I think I'd better go."

"No!" I clutched his sleeve.

Gary regarded me with puzzled curiosity. "There's the safe house where everyone else is
going."

"I don't trust them. I think it's safer here. Mundy didn't have this address in that damned
book of his, and even if he did, no-one can get in uninvited, and I don't think those hunters will
burn down a whole apartment block just to get to you." I was starting to sound frantic and
militant, even to myself.

The puzzled expression intensified. "Maybe. I'm going to the meeting there tomorrow
anyway."

"What the hell for?"

"In case they've got some idea of what's going on. I want to know what they know."

That I could understand. "Fine. Then I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to."

"I am coming with you. And in the meantime you're staying here."

"Why do you want me to stay so much?"

"Because everybody dies," I blurted out. The words hung there for a second.
"Everyone I care about dies," I repeated at last, "And I'm sick of it. And I figure
if I keep you where I can see you, maybe this time I can stop it."

"I'm already dead."

"That's a technicality. You know what I mean."

A strange expression flitted across his face.

"What?" I demanded crossly.

"Um, it's been a long time since it mattered to anybody what happens to me."

"Well now there's me, so are you going to stop being all precious about Kate's sucky
attitude or am I going to have to fight you as well as her? What are you bloody smiling
at?"

Gary tried adopt a more sober expression and failed. "It's funny, that's all."

"No it's not."

"I'm undead, practically immortal. I've got
fangs
, for crying out loud. And you're
bullying me into letting you protect me. Come on, that
is
funny."

"Hilarious. Are you staying?"

"Will you stop yelling if I do?"

"I'm not yelling."

"Will you stop bossing me around, then?"

"I'm not bossing you around. I'm telling you to do exactly what I want you to do. Which is a
different thing entirely."

"Yes, I can see that now."

"Shut up and go into my room. You can hide in there while I'm out. I'll be back as soon as I
can."

"Okay." Meek as a lamb, but there was that little grin again.

I grabbed my bag and left Gary sitting on my bed watching a patently ridiculous movie. Kate and I
crossed paths in the corridor.

"He's in my room. Try to leave him alone, eh Kate? He's not the bad guy."

"Where are you going?"

"To meet Evan. I told you before."

"And you're leaving me alone in the flat with that
thing
."

"His name is Gary, and he's not a
thing
."

"That's exactly what he is."

I tried to see her side of things. "I know vampires freak you out. Mostly that's sensible.
But Gary is nothing like Mum."

"You should be on the slayer's side," Kate said angrily. "You should be helping
him get rid of monsters, not protecting them."

Finally, she'd pissed me off. "Only some of the monsters in my life have been vampires,
Kate.
This
vampire happens to be my friend. You said he could stay."

"I didn't say I was going to like it."

"Fine. Don't like it. You don't have to be such a bitch about it." The lift pinged as
the doors opened and I stepped inside. "I'll be back soon. Stay out if you think Gary's such a
monster. Otherwise, leave him alone. It's my place too."

The doors closed on the dirty look she gave me. I wondered if she was going to have a go at Gary,
and if he'd still be there when I got home. The idea of bringing Evan back here came and went in an
instant. Nothing would be more of a mood killer than bringing my, whatever Evan was, home to this
pit of aggravation. Plus I couldn't work out how to explain Gary to him in any satisfactory fashion.
That was going to take some preparation.

Regretfully I realised that I would not have long to spend with Evan. I could hardly leave Gary
at the mercy of my sister's spite all night. Probably not more than an hour. In fact, if I was any
kind of a friend I wouldn't have left him there alone at all. It looks like the kind of friend I am
is hormonally driven. Gary and Kate were not going to kill each other in one hour, and I needed to
see someone who really wanted to see me too.

Waiting at the sculpture of the giant pink marble purse at one end of the Bourke Street Mall, I
began to wonder how much Evan really wanted to see me after all. Even though I was running late, he
wasn't there. Trams came and went at the adjacent stop without discharging anyone tall, rangy and
looking for me.

The instructions I'd given him to the
Public Purse
had been clear. Or had they? Maybe he
was waiting at the other end, near the statues of the
Three Businessmen
and wondering what
I'd been wittering on about. Maybe he thought I'd been talking metaphorically and was up at the
Treasury building in Spring Street.

Maybe he had changed his mind.

A moment before crushing defeat set in, I saw him striding down the mall.

"Thank you for waiting," he said after he pressed a brief kiss against my cheek.
"I'm afraid something came up."

"No worries." I couldn't stop grinning. "I was a bit late myself. Stuff coming up
all over the place today."

"Nothing bad, I hope?"

"Helping out a friend, that's all. My sister's a bit pissed off about it."

"Protective, is she?"

"Maybe." My irritation with her precluded my assigning her noble motives. "She's
got a few hang-ups about him. Prejudices. She won't take the time to find out what he's really
like."

"Family can be funny like that," Evan looked fleetingly dispirited as he said it.
"Trying to look out for you even when they're wrong."

Reluctantly, I conceded the concept. I wanted to stop talking about fighting with my sister and
start talking about him. "It's good to see you." I reached for his hand and snagged his
fingers in mine.

"You too," he smiled, though it seemed an effort. "Good day at work?"

"Always," I grinned back, trying to elicit that brilliant, broad grin of his. It did
the trick. Solemnity vanished. Smiling made his ears stick out more, and I impulsively reached up to
caress an earlobe. He covered my hand with his own and turned his face to kiss my wrist.

"You've hurt yourself." I turned his hand in mine to inspect the dressing on the heel
of it. On either side of the gauze and surgical tape the skin looked flushed. "Did you burn
it?"

"One of the important things to know about me is that I should not be left alone in a
communal kitchen. I'm clumsy and will knock over pots of other people's dinner."

"Poor Evan." I kissed it better through the unblemished palm of his hand.

This was going pretty well so far.

"I'm afraid I can't stay long," he said, brushing his fingers against my wrist.
"Things with my cousin."

"Oh." Well, it's not like I had a right to complain. "I've got that friend thing
to sort out, too."

"There's time for a drink, though."

The closest bar I could think of was tucked down an alley
- all good Melbourne bars are hidden - and up a flight of stairs. A giant hook was suspended over a
metal grill on the outside wall, evidence of the building's former function as a warehouse. With a
glass of wine each, we sat unnecessarily closely together on a padded bench seat.

"You had a good day?" I asked him, wanting to hear his voice some more.

"Not too bad. Visited some people."

"It doesn't sound like that was much fun."

"It wasn't really." Evan smiled ruefully. "I don't think you'd get on with them
either."

"If you say so."

His lips twitched, as though about to add something, but he apparently changed his mind.
"They live out in the suburbs," he said at last.

"That's not an automatic reason for dislike," I said with an impertinent grin, "It
depends. Are we talking Brighton fancy pants people or hoons from Frankston?"

His expression told me I was speaking a foreign language.

"Which suburb?" I asked.

"At the end of the train line out in the east. I can't remember the name exactly. Glen
something."

"Glen Waverley's not so bad. That's where my friend comes from," I told him.

"Ah." The faintest, faintest whiff of hesitation in that sound. "After that we
went to a place called Camberwell. Do you know it?"

"Oh yeah. My Mum's family came from around there. It's all a bit old-fashioned for me. Dad's
lot were from Richmond, more working class. They were star-crossed from the beginning." I drew
a breath on all the stuff bubbling out. I didn't want to go into all that. Not now, maybe not ever.
Damn Evan for being easy to babble to.

"Tell me about your cousin," I prompted to change the subject. "How did you end up
travelling together?"

"It's sort of a family responsibility."

"What, he needs a chaperone? How old is he? What's his name?" Fantastic. New kinds of
babble. Evan was going to walk out on me any second now.

"Adrian. His name's Adrian. He's only 17. We weren't prepared to let him this far from home
on his own, and I got volunteered to accompany him."

"Is that why you have to get back so soon tonight?"

"Yes."

"You should bring him around next time. We could see a film or something."

"He's not very sociable."

"We could distract the kid with popcorn while you and..." I trailed off with a
suggestive smile. Evan puffed a breath of laughter at the notion and I was acutely aware of being
less
femme fatale
than
fille gauche.