Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,3
the car.”
“Is it loaded?”
He laughed. Laughed! “Why would I bother carrying a paperweight around? Of course it’s loaded.”
“And the one in the hidden compartment? Surely that can’t be legal, even here.”
“Seriously? If you didn’t like the country, and if you can’t handle security people being armed so they can protect their clients, why did you accept a job with a security company in the States?”
Great, now she’d pissed him off. She took a breath she didn’t need in the hopes it would calm her, but it didn’t.
“Just, never mind. I’m sorry I asked.”
They were both silent several long minutes, and he finally said, “Look, you said you’ve never seen one. Fear of the unknown is perfectly understandable. I’ll unload a few tomorrow, teach you how to check for yourself to see if they’re loaded, and we’ll talk about how they work. I’ll take you to the range the first chance we get.”
“I don’t want to shoot one.”
He did a doubletake at her and then focused back on the road. “I’m surprised Aaron agreed to bend the rules for you.”
“What rules?”
“The employment contract states you have to spend time in the range, and have to carry a weapon. It’s all spelled out to make sure everyone can handle a firearm, and to keep their skills up to date. Even office people. Everyone who works for us knows secrets the bad guys want. No one can afford to make themselves easy prey. You must have vampire powers that weren’t in your packet.”
Kelsey’s nausea came back. Her heart raced in her chest, when vampires’ hearts don’t have to beat at all if they don’t want them to, but she couldn’t do anything to slow hers. She’d read that part of the contract, but assumed it was talking about the security people. She had no idea it would apply to her. Stupid.
And she’d spent every last penny, and then some, to get an American identity and make it this far. She was trapped here, but she couldn’t imagine holding a gun and using it.
2
Her terror filled the SUV, and Collosa rolled his window down. He’d specifically been told not to aggravate her anxiety levels, and now he’d scared the fuck out of her.
“I’m sorry. You’re terrified, and I’m doing a horrible job of welcoming you. I’m sure Aaron will give you some time. We’ll ease into it, okay? Paintball guns first. They shoot with compressed air. We can move up from there as you’re comfortable.
Maybe. Collosa was careful not to make promises — Aaron isn’t an unfeeling ogre, but he’s also serious about his employees’ safety, and that would mean getting her a concealed carry license as soon as possible, so she could defend herself if someone decided to kidnap her when she was off by herself.
Though, realistically, that wasn’t likely to happen often.
He struggled for something to say, another subject, something to make her not smell so terrified. He remembered her shirt — he’d recognized it when she got off the plane, though he didn’t have a clue what it meant.
“What’s that on your shirt? The Prancing Pony? One of my, well, our roommates has one just like it.”
“You don’t know what the Prancing Pony is?”
He smiled. She’d forgotten her fear and now seemed incredulous.
“Should I?”
“Well. At least one of my housemates will know.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
She eyed the clock. “We still have more than six hours. I suppose I could explain it in that much time.”
Collosa changed lanes to go around a line of slower cars, and then slid back to the right-hand lane. He enjoyed driving at night. “Is there a short version? Three sentences or less?”
“It’s from a series of books that was later made into a movie.”
“And the name of the books? Or movie?”
“The series is The Lord of the Rings.”
He frowned. “I’ve seen the movies.”
“The Prancing Pony is the Inn they go to between the Shire and Rivendell.”
He shook his head. He hadn’t paid that much attention to place names. He searched for something else to talk about. “I’m thirty-five, so you’re two years older than me, even if you look twenty. Fabio just turned thirty-three, and Eunice is thirty-two.”
“I was twenty-five when I was turned, though I’m told I look younger. You’re okay with a vampire living in your house?”
“You know it’s my house?”
“Yes.”
Not many people knew that. He’d bought it outright, and the other two men paid rent. However, the three of them made most decisions together. They’d gone in together to buy the