he coming?" Etienne asked.
"A little later. He's working on galleys for his latest masterpiece but promised to come after dinner."
"Which means about midnight," the woman grumped. "In the meantime, I think we should offer our guest a drink."
Rachel ducked quickly out of sight, but she caught a glimpse of the startled expression on Etienne's face as she did. Her heart thumped near her throat. None of them had looked her way, but somehow she must have given away her presence.
"She's been standing outside the door for several minutes," Rachel heard Bastien announce.
"No, she hasn't," Etienne replied.
He suddenly stepped out into the hall, surprising her. Rachel's first instinct was to run. Unfortunately, her body apparently didn't agree. It seemed to be frozen to the spot.
"You are up." He paused a foot away and stared at her.
Rachel stared back, a squeak slipping from her lips.
"Why didn't I sense her approach?" He looked behind him, obviously asking one of his companions.
The question managed to free Rachel's frozen limbs somewhat, enough so that she was able to ease along the wall until she bumped into a table. There, she stopped and smiled nervously as the man glanced back at her. Crossing her fingers, she prayed he wouldn't notice she had moved.
"Didn't you?" The woman's voice floated out from the other room. "How interesting."
Her apparent fascination only increased Rachel's nervousness, and it seemed to annoy Etienne. He turned and scowled back at her. The moment he was no longer looking, Rachel eased around the hall table and sidled toward the front door. She paused again when he muttered something under his breath.
He'd turned and seen she was almost at the door, and he frowned. Gruffly he informed her, "It isn't a good idea to go outside."
Rachel scowled. Anger overcame her panic. "Why? Because you've turned me into a bloodsucking demon, and the light of day will kill me?" she sneered. She didn't really believe any of this was happening... but, at the same time she had an irrational fear that it just might.
"It's nighttime," he pointed out gently. "But it's also uncommonly cold for late summer. Too cold to be gadding about in nothing but a sheet."
Reminded of her lack of proper clothing, Rachel gasped. She made a run for the stairs, half fearing her host would give chase, but much to her relief she made the upper hall unpursued. Still, she didn't slow her steps but ran straight back to the bedroom where she'd woken and rushed inside, slamming the door behind her.
Inside, Rachel simply stood, breathing heavily, her eyes darting around in search of something with which to barricade the door. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any options. She briefly considered dragging the dresser over from against the opposite wall, but then she decided that if she had the strength to drag it over, he probably had more than enough to push the door open, barricade and all. What she really needed was a way to lock herself in. But, of course, there wasn't any.
Giving up on the idea, she forced herself to move away from the door in search of a weapon. Rachel didn't know where she was or who those people were, but they had taken her from the hospital, messed with police files, and at least one of them thought he was a vampire. Self-defense seemed an important consideration.
Etienne frowned up the stairs. Rachel didn't appear to be taking this very well. She'd rather resembled a scared rabbit fleeing to its hole, a reaction from her that he hadn't expected. Redheads were usually feisty. Of course, she wasn't sobbing hysterically or anything annoying like that.
"She isn't frightened so much as confused and embarrassed," his mother said.
Etienne tossed an irritated glance her way, and she joined him in the hallway. He hated it when she read his thoughts. He also didn't much care for the fact that she could obviously read Rachel's. He himself couldn't.
"I'll have to find her something to wear and explain the situation to her," he said absently. "I have some joggers that might do for now."
"She'll hardly wish to wear your joggers," Marguerite said dryly. "She needs her own clothes. Something familiar to make her feel more in control. Bastien?" She turned to peer back at Etienne's brother. "You brought her purse when we left the hospital, didn't you?"
"Yes." He joined them in the hall. "I left it in the kitchen."
Marguerite nodded. "Go fetch her keys then, and we shall go retrieve some proper clothing for