Instantly, Gladys leaned into Nina’s hand and closed her eyes in bliss, something she didn’t typically do without reservation, or at least not without the prompt of a bacon bite. Not with new people anyway. It usually took her a minute to warm up.
“See? I told you it would all be fine.” Wanda said, giving Gladys a scratch on her crooked ear before bending and dropping a kiss on her big head.
And then Nina held out her hands and headed to the couch. “C’mon, pretty. Come sit with Auntie Nina on the couch. Let’s cuddle and get to know each other,” she cooed with a grin, her voice so syrupy sweet it was almost unrecognizable.
Gladys vacated George’s side without qualm, her stout body tucking into Nina’s slender one, letting the vampire scratch her under her chin as she patted George’s oatmeal-colored couch.
“You’re an animal lover?” George asked as she dropped her keys into the basket on the small credenza by her door, not meaning to sound quite so astonished.
But Nina was, after all, a vampire. Didn’t they eat animals? Drain them of their blood? Sure, they’d all said they were animal lovers, but what was it about a furry creature that they loved?
The impact of that suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. Would she want to drain the life out of Gladys? Was that why she was cozying up to her? Tenderizing her prey, perhaps? Or did they only drink human blood?
For the first time since Dex had introduced them, she felt true fear, making her cross the room and reflexively reach for Gladys.
The curtain of Nina’s hair fell over her lean cheek when she batted George’s hands away. “Yep. I’m an animal lover, and I don’t drink real fucking blood, weirdo. Don’t be disgusting. Now go pack your shit and get this big smushie face’s stuff, too. Arch’ll kill us if we aren’t back for whatever fucking soufflé bullshit he’s making you guys for a dinner I can’t damn well eat.”
Wanda put her hand on George’s back and patted it with a reassuring hand. “It’s okay, George. Nina’s crass and mean, but she really loves animals and as you can see, they really love her. She’d die before she’d hurt one. Animals, kids, and the elderly. Honest. But everyone else, as you’ve also seen, is fair game.”
George fought to hide the exhale of relief she took as she stood in the middle of her living room, her refuge in her tiny cottage of a house with its white shiplapped walls and matte-black-framed pictures of inspirational words she’d hoped would motivate her to keep moving forward.
Nina had settled on the couch with Gladys, who’d pressed her chin into the vampire’s lap as Marty, Wanda and Dex all looked around at her small home.
Marty was the first to speak, warm and complimentary. “You really have a talent for decorating, George. What an adorable place you have. Your Christmas decorations are beautiful.” Then she pointed to the wall by the credenza. “I love those pictures of old barns. Did you take them yourself?”
She nodded as she looked to the gallery wall she’d created behind the couch. “I did. On a trip to Vermont a couple of years ago.”
Marty sighed wistfully, pulling off her winter white trench coat and setting it on the back of a winged armchair with a fluffy charcoal gray blanket. “We’ve been on a case in Vermont. It was in the winter, but the drive there was still beautiful. I love the snow.”
Nina nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Vermont’s awesome. Matter of fact, I just talked to Tess the other day.”
Wanda’s face beamed, too, as she studied some of the black and white framed photos George had taken of Gladys. “Shoot. I meant to call her last week. I’ll have to add it to my day planner for next week so I don’t forget. Life just gets so busy.” Then she sighed. “Anyway, how is sweet Tess? How’s Mick? How’s little Noa?”
Now Nina beamed, too, as she stroked Gladys’s sweet face, crossing her booted feet at her ankles. “They’re all good, but little Noa’s awesome, as fucking expected. In kindergarten and learning how to handle those wings of hers like a GD pro.”
“Wings?” George said, not even trying to hide her surprise.
“She’s a dragon. A baby dragon hatched from an egg.” Marty supplied the answer as though hatching from an egg was an average day in the life of a paranormal.
George’s mouth fell open. She didn’t mean for it to happen, but c’mon. A baby dragon?
Dex drew a finger under her chin to encourage her to close her mouth. “It’s a lot in one day, huh?”
Wrinkling her nose, George shook her head. “Is ‘a lot’ the description we should use here, Dex? I’m not sure that fully encompasses what’s taken place since I fell off that roof.”
He held out his hand to her the way he always did when he was going to impart some wisdom. She took it because despite the fact that she was now entering a state of terror, she instinctively trusted Dex.
He looked handsome against the backdrop of her shiplapped walls as he pulled her toward her kitchen, a cool alabaster that usually never failed to soothe her.
Except for maybe today. Usually, it was a kitchen she loved to bake in with its moss-green cabinets, blond butcher-block countertops and German schmeared-brick backsplash.
Today? Today it felt like nowhere was safe. Not even her own house.
“I realize you’re overwhelmed, but I promise, I’ll make this as easy as I can for you, George. It’s sort of weird trying to help people when you don’t always know how to help
