sense that he was listening to us from behind that column,” Sainvire commented as he followed the man’s descent down the escalator.
“How did he say he survived all this time?” asked the master vampire.
“With help from the clandestine community in West L.A. and Santa Monica, of course,” answered Perla. It was well known that the small group of stragglers and survivors had formed a working 136
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community thereabouts. They’d dodged cattle round-ups routinely initiated by master vampires and councilmembers. Many of them were Sainvire’s contacts.
“He’s pretty weird,” Joseph supplied. “He got on Poe’s case for spilling a packet of blood. He almost tackled the poor girl. Would’ve liked to see him try.
My money would’ve been on Poe, of course, after what Goss told us and what you witnessed yesterday.”
“Just keep an eye on him,” Sainvire ordered. “One slip and I want him gone, alright?”
His two friends nodded their assent.
“Joseph, will you escort Poe to the armory room this afternoon?”
“It’ll be my pleasure,” Joseph grinned. “Although I can’t imagine a human so slight handling such heavy firepower.”
“Friend, you haven’t seen her at work,” said Sainvire with a crooked smile. “She single-handedly killed over a dozen of Trench’s troops and survived with only scratches and a nail wound.”
“Sounds like Terminator Girl has a fan,” Joseph mocked the much taller vampire.
Sainvire didn’t deny it. He merely told the impertinent vampire to scram for he had something to discuss with Perla.
When they were finally alone, Sainvire turned to a smiling Perla, clad in yet another set of matching pajamas, only this time the yellow jammies bled with Voltron figures in various fighting stances.
“Not you, too, Perla,” Sainvire despaired, shaking his head.
“Well, Kaleb, it has been years since you’ve had a woman, vampire or human at that.” Perla hooked her arm in the crook of Sainvire’s.
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Sainvire squeezed his friend’s arm and flashed a wry smile. “Are you sure about that? I’ve been traveling a lot recently, you know.”
His retort made the round-cheeked woman chortle, and she pinched the master vampire’s perfectly firm buns.
One of his dark eyebrows lifted. For the affront, he retaliated by placing a booming kiss on the top of her head. He was used to his friend’s very touchy and sometimes shockingly irreverent but benign actions.
Besides, Perla had a partner whom Sainvire adored and respected. “Were you able to procure what I asked for?”
“You bet. The items are already upstairs,” she scowled, giving him a significant look. “Now I think I’ll take a nap before I play babysitter today.”
(((
Poe woke up to a crowd within the terrarium they called the library.
The bed’s too comfortable. She’d lost command of her internal alarm clock. The presence of four creatures in her room – Sainvire’s room – nearly spurred a heart condition. She bolted upright, her sore muscles and myriad injuries screaming. One hand explored her head for any holes and the other reached under the pillow for scissors, her hair falling in tangled disarray around her face.
“Good morning, Poe,” Perla greeted cheerfully as she placed Poe’s freshly dried clothes and shoes on the foot of the bed.
“You mean, good afternoon, don’t you?” Joseph corrected. He flashed Poe a disapproving headshake, his trademark smile nearly surfacing.
Poe couldn’t quite get herself to speak. She was afraid a string of gutter-stutter would come out, so she 138
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waited until her breathing settled a notch. She saw Sainvire give her a quick nod as he fed spoonfuls of what appeared to be mashed potatoes to a groggy Penny.
A tall and thick middle-aged vampire that was sitting at the far end of the room drifted a foot from the ground toward the bed. The woman simply smiled at the weapon in Poe’s hand.
“My name’s Maple,” the vampire introduced herself, dropping a heavy sack full of bullets on the mattress. “These are for you.”
“Huh?”
“Bullets, Poe. Not just marinated bullets but bullets filled with garlic oil. Or as Sister loved to say, blessed bullets.” She extended her dead white hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
Poe stared at the hand and until she finally extended her own. The vamp’s hand was softer and warmer than she had imagined. “Um, nice to meet you.”
A little more than confused, Poe looked around the room, unsure of what to do. The huge bed dwarfed her, quite pathetic and rumpled. Her silence also added to doubts about her killing ability. Perla already had a preconception of the girl as a clumsy blood spiller.
Joseph, although he enjoyed sporting around with his new pal, had his