The RV passed me on the downhill.
"Maybe a little," he said.
"Don't be.
We'll be fine.
Ghosts aren't as dangerous as crazy vampire ladies." I couldn't help the anxiety that crept into my voice.
"I'll be careful--and Mercy?" "Uhm?" "Consider yourself yelled at," he purred, then hung up.
I grinned at the phone and closed it.
AMBER'S DIRECTIONS TO HER HOUSE HAD BEEN CLEAR and easy to follow.
The relief in her voice when I'd called that morning made me want to believe she really had a ghost problem and wasn't part of some secret vampire conspiracy to get me somewhere I'd be easier to kill.
Despite Bran's assurances that it was unlikely Marsilia would ship me off to Spokane, I was still feeling ...
not paranoid, really.
Cautious.
I was feeling cautious.
Zee had agreed to work the shop while I was gone.
I probably could have gotten him to work cheaper than usual because he was still feeling guilty about stuff that wasn't his fault.
Cheaper would mean I could eat peanut butter instead of ramen noodles for the rest of the month, but I didn't think any of it was his fault.
He had talked to Uncle Mike about the crossed bones on my door.
Definitely vampire work, he told me.
The bones meant that I had broken faith with the vampires and was no longer under their protection--and anyone offering me aid of any kind was likely to find themselves on the wrong side of the vampires as well.
The broad interpretation of that was horrifying.
It meant that people like Tony and Sensei Johanson were at risk, too.
It meant that it was probably a good thing that I get out of town for a few days and figure out how to limit the number of victims Marsilia could claim.
Amber lived in a Victorian mansion complete with a pair of towers.
The brick porch had been freshly tuck-pointed, the gingerbread work around the roof edge and the windows bore a new coat of paint.
Even the roses looked ready for magazine display.
Frowning at the leaded glass glistening in the sun, I wondered when I'd last cleaned the windows in my house.
Had I ever cleaned the windows? Samuel might have.
I was still thinking about it when the door opened.
A startled boy gawked at me, and I realized I hadn't rung the doorbell.
"Hey," I said.