Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,33

shit. He looked human when he walked out the door."

"Huh. Learn something new every day."

"He even did Dar. He doesn't have to wear that stupid hippie looking headband anymore."

"He did Dar?" I wiggled my eyebrows as the vision danced in my head.

Yuki rolled her eyes.

"So, what were you up to?"

"I got??ungry," Yuki answered embarrassedly.

"Oh, shit. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because your blood is like doing shots of Everclear. No offense. Shea volunteered."

"I bet he tastes like Cinnabon."

"Nope. Chocolate."

"Are you two done?" Chief was several shades of green.

"What?" We asked in unison.

"I'm about to eat. The thought of drinking blood??

"Now you know how I feel watching you scarf down cheeseburgers." Yuki stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're just jealous," he answered and stuck his tongue out back at her.

"A little. Yeah." Yuki pouted.

"Sorry, Kid."

Yuki was lying. That wasn't all she had been up to. I felt it during their little banter session. "How's George?"

She blinked at me in surprise before her eyes narrowed. "You can smell him on me."

"Ew. He's your cousin!" Chief had missed the point.

"And gay, dumbass." Yuki snarled. "I went to the house to talk to him. To talk to them."

"Who's them?" He let the dumbass comment go.

"The other vampires. Amir and whoever was left at the house besides George." I didn't take my eyes off her. Wanting to gauge her reaction.

"Don't worry. Amir is still yours. As is George, which is the real reason I went over there. I mean, we are talking about his father, but he's too afraid to go against you."

"Smart boy," Chief answered.

"No. An honest one. He's pissed at his dad for trying to take over. He thinks Dot will really take care of the fatally anemic population of Cedar Falls. Not use them to turn a profit."

I felt the low rumble from her. She was angry at all of them. Her father, her uncle, and her mother.

June Abernathy had struck me as sweet and timid. Her husband was an asshole. Yuki was somewhere in between, inheriting the best of both parents. I didn't see June as an enemy, but I saw her as powerless against her husband's brother. Only time would tell, though.

"Here we go!" Marge set down a Coke and a burger in front of Chief, and a coffee in front of Yuki. She sighed before she hoisted the plate off the tray and set it in front of me with a Coke to wash it down.

I stared down at the plate. There was a tiny black iron cauldron filled with guacamole over a bed of French fries splashed with hot sauce. The effect was meant to make it look like it was sitting over burning wood, and he actually pulled it off. I could see Herb bent over the counter arranging each fry just right, too. The rest of the plate was taken up by a sandwich. I lifted the fluffy brioche top and inspected the contents. "What's in it?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

I poked at the neatly stacked meat. He had medium sliced fresh roasted turkey breast and put it on the bottom. That was covered with a layer of finely cut cucumber. On top of that, he had stacked frizzled onion straws and then, I dipped my finger to taste it, drizzled sage aioli over everything. Smacking my lips, I picked it up and took a bite. "Holy shit," I managed to stammer around the mouth full of food.

"That bad?" Marge shot me an apologetic look.

"No! It's fucking delicious. Tell him I said thank you!"

"Oh!" She bowed low and made a sweeping gesture with her hand. "I present to you, the Witchwich. Forgot that part." She rolled her eyes and turned toward the kitchen. Herb was practically hanging out of the window. "She likes it!"

The relief in the diner was real. Everybody seemed to start breathing again.

"Betcha the menu's gonna have a new sticker tomorrow." Yuki giggled.

Chapter 10

Ding dong.

I took my finger from the modern looking doorbell and waited, uneasily. Since Dar and Shea had started seeing each other outside of our relationship, it had always been my intention to make Shea's apartment their own little sanctum and not intrude.

However, after lunch at the diner, I'd stopped by the bookstore. The two of them had taken my comment about crashing at their place at face value and had arranged dinner and planned on me spending the night. Chief had winked at me and told me to go. He didn't mind spending the night in my