"Then why do you do it?"
She smiled wryly and shrugged. "Someone has to."
"But it kills you a little bit inside every day," Stephanie said quietly.
Drina didn't deny that, but simply said, "It kills all rogue hunters a little bit inside every day. But for me . . ." She sighed and said, "Maybe, just maybe, my actions have prevented one or two other young girls, like you, from going through what you are." She smiled crookedly. "Surely that makes it worthwhile?"
Before she could respond, they both heard the restaurant door opening and glanced around to see Harper approaching.
"Sorry, I forgot I'd locked the car," Harper murmured, hitting the button on his key fob.
"That's all right. We just got here ourselves," Drina assured him, moving to the back passenger door as Stephanie opened the front door.
"Thank you for lunch and for taking us shopping today, Harper," Stephanie said moments later, when they pulled into the driveway at Casey Cottage. "I had fun."
"I'm glad." He murmured absently as he eased his car into the tight space on one side of the two-car garage.
Stephanie then turned in her seat to peer at Drina in the back, and said, "While you guys are out tonight, I'll check the Internet and look for things for us to do tomorrow."
"Okay," Drina agreed easily, undoing her seat belt.
"Things to do tomorrow?" Harper asked, but the vehicle had stopped, and Drina was already slipping out, leaving Stephanie to answer. However, she got out just as quickly, and Harper followed, repeating the question as he closed the door. "What do you mean, things to do tomorrow?"
"Well, it wasn't just that we needed warmer clothes and stuff that made us go out today," Stephanie explained, walking around the front of the car toward the stairs into the house. "We were worried about waking up everyone if we stayed in. That will still be a problem tomorrow, so we'll have to find someplace to go or something to do to entertain ourselves." She paused at the top of the steps with a hand on the door and pursed her lips. "I guess we're going to be pretty limited without a car, though." Sighing, she shrugged and pulled the screen door open. "I'll figure out something."
Stephanie started into the house then, and Drina was directly behind her, but Harper caught her arm and drew her to a halt. The moment the door closed behind Stephanie, he asked with concern, "Do you think it's wise to take her away from the house?"
"She's not a prisoner, Harper. We can't keep her locked up in the house. Besides, she was sent down here to live as normal a life as possible," she pointed out, and then added, "And I did call Lucian first to make sure it was all right. He's pretty sure they weren't followed from New York, and she's safe. Apparently Anders and I are just a precaution and babysitters until Elvi and Victor return."
"Oh," he murmured, releasing her arm. "Well that's good news. That she's safe, I mean."
"Yes," Drina agreed, and turned back to the door, only to back up a step when it suddenly swung open and Stephanie reappeared, her coat already off but her eyes wide.
"We forgot our clothes!" she squawked with disbelief.
Drina laughed at her expression and turned away to slip past Harper and off the stairs. "Close the door; the garage isn't heated, and you aren't wearing your coat. I'll get the bags."
She was at the trunk of the car before Drina realized she didn't have keys, but Harper was already there beside her, handling the matter. They each took half the bags and carted them into the house. Stephanie was immediately on them, taking as many bags as she could handle and traipsing out of the room to dump them in the dining room before returning for the rest.
"I put the kettle on to make cocoa," she announced as she gathered the rest of the bags and turned away again. "Hurry up and get your boots and stuff off. We can have cocoa and cookies while we sort through all this and decide what you should wear tonight, Drina. I think it should be the black dress and FM shoes with those fishnet stockings."
"What fishnet stockings?" Drina asked with surprise, but Stephanie had already rushed out of the entry again.
"The ones she threw in the cart while you were in the changing room," Harper answered for her, his voice dry.
"Oh," Drina murmured, and wondered if she'd have the nerve to wear the outfit she'd bought today. She'd only really allowed Stephanie to convince her to buy the dress and shoes to make sure Harper was thinking about what she would look like in them. But really, they weren't quite her style. The dress was a little too low cut at the neckline, and a little too high at the thigh, and the shoes looked like they'd be killer to wear. Fortunately, she did have a dress and shoes of her own with her. Although she had to admit it was a bit conservative since she'd brought it for the wedding. It wasn't really Night Club material either . . . at least not if the Night Club was anything like Noche.
Sighing, she hung up her coat, and quickly shucked the new, ridiculously high-heeled, thigh-high boots that she'd also allowed Stephanie to talk her into. She then padded into the kitchen, leaving Harper still working on the laces of his second boot.
Stephanie was pulling down mugs from the cupboard, presumably for the cocoa, but Tiny was also there. The big mortal was bent over and peering into the oven at something that was emitting really delicious smells.
"You're up early," Drina murmured, blinking as she took in his present garb. The man wore flowered oven mitts and a matching apron. He should have looked ridiculous, but since he was wearing only jeans and his bare chest was barely covered by the apron on top . . . well it was oddly sexy, she decided with a slight shake of the head.
"I'm mortal," Tiny reminded her with amusement. "Daytime is my time."
"Yes, but I thought you and Mirabeau-"
"Tiny and I conked out around four in the morning and were up by noon," Mirabeau announced, entering the kitchen from the living room. Her expression was grim as she asked, "Where were you guys?"