Rose settled onto the couch again. She somehow looked smaller, and Eleisha realized she was wearing some of Wade’s clothes, and her lovely streaked hair was tangled.
“How long now?” Rose asked.
Eleisha walked over and glanced down at Wade’s watch. “In about an hour, we’ll have to change trains in Eugene. But we’ll make it home tonight.” She crouched down. “I know it will feel strange at first, but you’ll like Portland. You can even grow herbs outside in our garden.”
Rose didn’t respond for a few seconds. The thought of a new home must be daunting. But the church was safe and solid, and she would see that soon.
“And we’ll start helping the others soon after?” she asked.
“Yes. As soon as we’re settled, we can start out the same way you found Robert, researching newspapers for similar stories.”
“We should just set up computer and Internet access,” Wade put in. “I could research newspapers from all over the world.”
“Good.” Eleisha nodded. “We’ll use one of the ground floor offices behind the sanctuary.”
Rose was looking at them both oddly, as if they were missing something.
“What?” Wade asked.
“Well . . . we’ve already found one, or he found us,” she said. “That vampire who attacked me was probably made in some random moment like I was. Eleisha, you said yourself he didn’t seem to even know how to use his gift properly. But he could be as old as any of us, and he’s struggled on his own for years without discovering enough of himself. He may need our help more than anyone.”
Eleisha was struck silent. Rose wanted to help the savage vampire who’d tried to take her head off?
“What about the ghost?” Robert asked from the inner doorway.
How long had he been standing there?
“I have a ghost with me,” Rose answered calmly. “And those two could have nothing at all to do with Julian. Philip once thought Seamus and I must be working for Julian, and neither of us has ever seen him.”
“You didn’t attack anyone,” Robert said.
Eleisha was not at all sure about trying to help the vampire from the parking garage—as he seemed beyond help.
“I’m just saying that if we encounter him again,” Rose said to Robert, “you and Philip should think twice before pulling your swords.”
Robert raised his eyebrow.
Eleisha wasn’t sure what to believe. If Rose was correct, and this stranger had just been some randomly created vampire who’d been set adrift and ended up in San Francisco and attacked them out of fear, then they were hiding and taking great precautions for no reason. That thought was comforting in a way, and if true, it meant they would arrive home tonight with no further trouble.
But Eleisha could not accept this explanation. He was at the station the same night they were trying to leave the city, and he appeared to be attempting to stop them, and the girl ghost’s actions had been aimed at keeping Eleisha away from Rose. It just all seemed too . . . planned.
However, Robert’s insistence that Julian was behind it all seemed equally hard to accept. She had been inside of Julian and felt his fear. She believed he would keep the oceans between them.
“Well, taking guesses isn’t going to help,” Wade said. “All we can do for now is get home and then make a pact that no one goes out alone at night for a while.”
“Except for me,” Philip said, looking in from the other cabin over Robert’s shoulder. “I can take care of myself.” He glanced at Eleisha. “But no hunting alone for you.”
Eleisha ground her teeth. How had this conversation suddenly turned to her?
He seemed about to say more and then stopped when he saw her face. To his credit, he glanced away as if realizing how condescending he sounded, and her anger at him faded. He was just being overprotective, and he had a tendency to say whatever came into his head.
To make matters worse, she realized that she didn’t want to go hunting for a while without him, and considering his more limited telepathic abilities, she didn’t want him going hunting without her. She feared either one of them being without the other’s protection. Did that make her a coward?
She felt him inside her mind.
Sorry.
Her eyes flew to him in surprise. Was he apologizing?
It’s all right, she flashed back.
Then he pretended that nothing had happened.
“Wade, you should eat food,” he said, “and we should play at cards again. You still owe