You've cost him a lot, Mercy.
He might not be your friend." I hadn't thought about it that way.
So I did, for maybe a tenth of a second.
"If he was mad at me, he'd have killed me when he dropped in here starving.
For that matter he could have come here anytime tonight and killed me.
You need me gone--so quit trying to make trouble." Samuel frowned at me.
"I'm not trying to make trouble.
But you have to remember he is a vampire, and vampires are not nice guys, no matter how chivalrous and gallant Stefan appears.
I like him, too.
But you are trying to forget what he is." I thought about the two dead people whose only crime was that they had seen me when I staked Andre.
"I know what he is," I said stubbornly.
"Vampire," said Bran.
"Evil, yes." He grinned, and it made him look like he should be going to high school.
"But I think his Mistress made a mistake when she chose to throw him away." "She broke him," I said.
And looking into Samuel's eyes, I whispered, "You stay safe, you and Adam.
I'll keep Stefan busy looking for ghosts." If I was really looking for ghosts, of course, it would be stupid to bring Stefan.
Ghosts don't like vampires, and they won't come out when there are vampires around.
Samuel knew that, and he grinned at me with serious eyes.
"We'll be fine." "Call me if you need me," said Bran--to both of us, I thought.
"If I'm going to stop in to have a look at Mary Jo, I need to go now." He kissed me on my forehead, then did the same to Samuel (who had to bend down).
I didn't know if he really knew who Mary Jo was, or just seemed to.
But I'd never seen him meet a wolf he didn't know by name.
Speaking of which ...
"Hey, Bran?" Halfway to the door, he turned back.
"What about that girl we sent to you? The one who was Changed so young and hadn't learned control.
Is she all right?" He smiled and looked a lot less tired.
"Kara? She did fine last moon.
Give her a few more months, and she'll be fully in control." Waving casually over his shoulder, he walked out into the dark.
"Get some rest," I called after him.
He shut the front door behind him without answering.