Jeanne Louise watched him go and then glanced back to Livy as she popped the bag to her fangs. The girl was a pro at it after just a couple days. She was a fast learner though. Anders and Bricker had been taking time out to train her, as had Marguerite and Julius, and they all said she was bright and quick and would learn quickly. She could already bring on her fangs on her own, and keep them from coming out even when hungry, even when blood was waved under her nose. They figured she’d be able to read and control minds sooner than they’d first thought, perhaps before school started in September. Not that Livy would be attending school. At least not unless they moved to Port Henry. Jeanne Louise and Paul hadn’t discussed that yet though. They’d only been here two days and there was plenty of time for that.
“The boys are teaching Paul to play soccer.”
Jeanne Louise glanced up with surprise at that announcement from Caro as she entered the kitchen. “What?”
Caro nodded and came to steal one of the pieces of carrot Jeanne Louise had just cut. Her chili had been such a hit the night before that she’d offered to make dinner again tonight. It made her feel like she was contributing while they were here.
“Seriously?” Jeanne Louise asked. She knew from conversations she’d had with Paul that he didn’t care much for sports.
“Seriously,” Caro assured her. “I think it’s a male bonding thing.”
“I hope the boys aren’t too rough on him,” Marguerite said with concern. “Jeanne Louise, maybe you should go remind my son to play nice with Paul. They’re not used to playing with mortals and might get carried away.”
Nodding, Jeanne Louise set down the knife she’d been using and hurried for the back door.
“They’re out front,” Caro said, bringing her to a halt.
“Thanks,” Jeanne Louise said, whirling to head the other way. She came out the front door to see that they were indeed playing on the lawn in front of the house. She supposed it was to avoid trampling on Boomer and Livy, who were presently running around in the backyard while Marguerite watched them from the dining room table.
It was late at night, after nine. The sun was no longer visible, but the sky was still glowing with its light and the air still hot and muggy. Jeanne Louise stepped off the front step and crossed the driveway that ran around in front of the house to reach the grass. She had no desire to simply yell the caution to her cousin, suspecting it would embarrass Paul.
Jeanne Louise approached the area where the men had set up their nets, watching the game underway as she went. It looked as if it was Nicholas, Julius, and Paul against Anders and Bricker. An unfair division since it was uneven, or it would have been were Paul immortal, but he wasn’t and he was having trouble keeping up with the others. They definitely weren’t going easy on him because he was mortal. The others were racing toward one net, Christian in control of the ball, kicking it ahead of him as he ran. Julius was on his right side keeping pace and Bricker and Anders were approaching quickly while Paul lagged behind. And then Anders suddenly burst forward and managed to scoop the ball with one foot, sending it flying sideways toward Bricker. The younger immortal leapt up and stopped it with his head, then whirled as he came back down and began kicking it back the other way, charging toward the other net.
Paul was between him and the net in question, and tried to stop him, leaping in his way and trying to kick the ball back the other way, but it all went wrong somehow. Paul misjudged where he needed to be and Bricker crashed into him. Jeanne Louise heard the thud of their heads making contact from where she stood and cried out in alarm. She broke into a run as Paul started to fall.
The men were all surrounding Paul when she got to him. Jeanne Louise pushed between Anders and Bricker to drop to his side, fear clutching at her throat as she spotted blood. Paul sat on the ground, head tilted back and thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to stop it from bleeding.
“Are you all right?” she asked with alarm.
“It’s okay. Just a bloody nose,” Paul muttered.
“It looks broken,” Jeanne Louise said anxiously.
“It’s not broken, Jeanie,” he said quietly. “I’m all right.”
“But it looks broken, and if it’s broken it could get infected and—”
“Dammit, Jeanie,” he snapped.
She sat back on her haunches with surprise at the harsh bark.
Grimacing, Paul shook his head and said more calmly, “It’s not broken. I’m fine. Stop fussing.”
“Of course,” Jeanne Louise said stiffly and stood up.
“Jeanie,” he said on a sigh as she started away back toward the house, where Caro stood in the door watching.
Jeanie just kept going. She hardly heard Christian’s murmured, “We’ll be more careful with him, Jeanie. Sorry.”
“Is he all right?” Caro asked with concern as Jeanne Louise reached the front step.
“Yes,” Jeanne Louise said quietly, and continued into the house to return to cutting her vegetables. She wasn’t even going to look out a window to watch and be sure he didn’t get hurt again, Jeanne Louise vowed. And she would try hard to forget that he was out here banging heads with immortals who apparently had wood between their ears, she decided grimly.
Jeanne Louise had finished cutting up the vegetables, poured them along with beef stock into a pot and was stirring the beginnings of her stew when the sound of the door opening caught her ear. She glanced up, but then lowered her head again quickly when she saw that it was Paul.
“Hey Paul,” Caro greeted him lightly. “Who’s winning?”
“The other side,” Paul muttered, grabbing a glass out of the cupboard and moving to the water cooler. He set his glass on the small shelf under the spout and pressed the button, then pulled it out and gulped half of it down before glancing toward Jeanne Louise, and then it was only to say, “The bottle needs changing. Where does Marguerite keep the replacements?”