me into his arms and I damn near collapsed against him. He kissed me and I could practically taste his relief. I was safe. I’d survived a nasty fight with a nastier man. And I was proud of myself, but I really just wanted to go home to my little apartment and have a bath.
“We’re here to rescue you,” Alex whispered against my neck.
“Too late,” I said shrugging. “He’s inside. I couldn’t kill him, so I just wounded him pretty good.”
“That’s my girl,” Dick said, patting my shoulder. He shouted to the UERT guys. “Go get him. Feel free to rough him up as you handcuff him. No holds barred. Maiming allowed.”
“Dick,” Jane sighed.
“Light maiming only!” Dick called as the men trooped into the storefront. Ray McElray tossed me a pair of sweatpants as he passed.
“Glad to see you’re all right, Ty,” he called over his shoulder.
Aw, that sweet mulleted goofball.
“No maiming!” Jane yelled. “Alex, do you think you could let her go long enough to let us take a statement?”
“Probably not,” Alex replied.
“Come on, Frenchie, there are other people who would like a hug and an assurance that she’s okay, too,” Dick chided him.
Alex growled.
“If you don’t let go, I will just drag him into this hug and it will get real emotional and real awkward, real fast,” I told Alex.
Sighing as if I was forcing a great burden on him, he relinquished his hold on me. I pulled on the sweatpants and felt more secure for it “I’m going to go help with the maiming.”
“No maiming!” Jane cried before pulling me into a hug. “I’m really, really glad you’re okay, Ty.”
“Thanks for coming to get me,” I told her. “I would like to fill out all of the paperwork and file all of the complaints, because this guy had some very bad plans.”
“Well, we’re just lucky Alex was with Cal and Nik when that psycho sent him the photo,” Dick said as he and Jane stepped away from me. “By now, we know how to activate the emergency group text.”
Suddenly, Gabriel rushed out of nowhere and threw his arms around me, almost bowling me over.
“This is unexpected,” I said, awkwardly patting his back.
“Gabriel, honey, she does need to breathe,” Jane reminded him.
“It’s just that she’s such a calming influence on the group,” Gabriel said. “And she was going to take over all the email promotions for the shop. You always curse so much when you have to do those.”
“I appreciate it, Gabriel.”
Dick was hanging back, his hands clutching the strap of the First Aid Kit. I opened my arms and he stepped into them. He pressed his face into my neck, and I wasn’t sure, but I thought I felt his shoulders shake. “We thought we’d lost you,” he said. “I didn’t like it.”
“I didn’t either,” I told him.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he’d…oh, Tylene,” he sighed. “I’m probably going to file official adoption papers after this. I’m a good late-in-life surrogate grandparent figure. Just ask Nola.”
“Okay, Dick,” I said, patting his back.
“I still don’t think Alex is good enough for you,” he said.
“Well, that’s your job as my late-in-life surrogate grandparent figure,” I said, making him smile.
“I’m going to go see to the maiming,” Dick said, kissing my forehead.
“No maiming!” I yelled after him, realizing that the other vampires, particularly Cal and Nik, were still waiting to check on me, arms open, ready for hugs.
Alex followed the UERT team has they hauled a bound and gagged Greg out of the store, his belly still bleeding where I’d stabbed him.
“What’s going to happen to him?” I asked Jane.
“Well, I’m going to consult the international Council muckity-mucks to determine what they want to with him,” Jane said. “But I don’t think he’s going to be anybody’s problem anymore.”
“And it’s probably better that you don’t know the details,” Dick told me.
I nodded. “I gladly accept that.”
“We’ll give you two a minute,” Jane said.
Alex wrapped his arms around me, pressing his face into my neck. “Do you know what you smell like to me?”
“Cement dust and nervous sweats?” I guessed, making him laugh.
“You smell like home,” he said, kissing me.
This was what Greg had tried to take from me. I had family. I had a life. I had a pack.
12
“So much of the modern world is temporary and transitory. When you finally find a place where you want to spend a long time, do whatever it takes to stay there for as long as you can.”
—A Gentleman