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Hugh stayed with me until it was nearly dawn.
“I’m pretty sure that I can get a lead on the werewolves who jumped you at the club, at the very least,” he said, putting on his now dry pants.
“You think they have a connection to the rest of this?”
“It’s as good a place as any to start. I’ve got some werewolf contacts who might be willing to help. Since you don’t hunt werewolves I’m guessing they were hired to attack you. It’s possible the attack was motivated by revenge of some sort. You aren’t exactly a well-kept secret in the vampire community.”
I shrugged and propped against the doorframe of the laundry room. I was still naked and didn’t feel like bothering with clothes.
“You’re probably right. Any random vampire could have hired them.”
“True enough. Like I said, it’s a place to start.”
“And I haven’t gotten anywhere on my own. I also don’t have any werewolf contacts.”
“Let me see what I can do.” He pointed toward the living room. “Can I leave through the window in there?”
“Sure,” I said, laughing softly. “But why? I have a door.”
“I’d rather not sprout wings down on the ground. There’s more of a chance someone might see me.”
“You should probably hurry if you’re planning on using the cover of darkness. The sun will be up soon.”
He went to walk past me, then paused and pressed me back against the door. A soft growl escaped his lips as he kissed me one more time. Then, without a word, he went into the living room and out the window. I closed it behind him and smiled as I closed the blinds.
The power came back on just as I double checked to be sure the bedroom curtains were closed. I don’t take any chances when it comes to sunlight. I’ve got thick curtains as well as a thin veil of bed curtains.
I climbed into bed feeling better than I had since before I was turned. The sex was fantastic, but that wasn’t the only thing on my mind. It felt great to allow someone else to shoulder part of the burden I’d been carrying. It felt even better to know that while I was dead to the world, Hugh would be working on finding a lead on my mother’s killer.
*****
I wake up at about 4 p.m. every day. That’s early for some vamps. I gave Hugh my number before he left last night and was surprised to see he’d already sent me a text.
“I’ll be there at dusk. Be ready to go out. Got an idea.”
If someone tells me to be ready to go out, they should be very specific what “out” means. When I opened the door for Hugh a few hours later, I was dressed in faux leather and armed to the teeth.
He was wearing faded jeans and black boots that matched his sweater. His long dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, revealing more of his handsome features.
His smile reached his eyes as he gestured toward the knife on my thigh. “Really? Who are we going to kill?”
“You said get ready to go. I’m a vampire hunter, this is ready for me. The fact that I hunt my own kind doesn’t exactly do me any favors. My heels are coated with silver and I have thin wooden stakes in my boots too.”
“We’re going to a coffee shop.”
I gave him a questioning look.
“My source told me that a lot of werewolves come through there. I thought we might stick around and look for familiar faces.”
“That’s your brilliant plan?”
“I never said it was brilliant, Ms. Dressed-to-kill. I said it was a place to start. I also brought along some of my research on guardians. I thought you might be interested. You know, since we are bound by blood magic and all.”
His sarcasm was more charming than offensive. Besides, I can be awfully sarcastic myself.
“Fine. I’ll lose the knife, because it’s such an obvious weapon,” I said, unstrapping it from my thigh, “but I’m not changing.”