Sucker Punch (First Fangs Club #3) - Kristen Painter Page 0,78
why the Prime usually picks a vampire from the contiguous United States.”
“Makes sense. Have you ever been to her estate?”
Charlie nodded. “Once. It’s pretty amazing. Biggest house I’ve ever been in. Sits on a hundred and twenty acres.”
“That does sound amazing. How does travel for an event like this work? Is there a vampire-friendly hotel or what?”
“Attendance isn’t really expected. The service will be livestreamed. It’s too difficult for most vampires to travel on such short notice. Not to mention that the logistics of keeping yourself safe from the sun during travel can be tricky.”
“Five days is short notice?”
“It can be when you’re a vampire who can’t do daylight travel.”
“So no one will be there but her staff?” That seemed sad.
“No, there will definitely be a good number who go. Won’t just be vampires either. I’m sure there will be supernaturals of all kinds who want to offer their condolences.”
“Can we attend if we want?”
“Of course. You want to go?”
“Artemis was my grandsire. That kind of connection makes me feel like I should go. And yes, I want to. I want to pay my respects. She helped me when Claudette didn’t.”
Charlie nodded. “Let me reach out to Marcus and see what her team is doing for those who want to attend.”
“Great. Thank you.” Donna turned on her laptop and found the drafted complaint and daywalking announcement in her email. She opened the file. “I’ll read these drafts now. Thank you for doing that.”
“Pierce really knocked it out of the park with that complaint. He’s pretty good at stuff like that.”
“Yes, he is.” Donna started with that one. It was two pages of very official legalese but still pretty easy to understand. It laid out her complaints in bullet points, citing specific times and dates too.
Next she read the announcement. It was half a page and as straightforward as could be.
She liked both of them. But she had a nagging feeling that she needed to let them sit awhile before sending. “I don’t really have any changes to either of them, but I don’t want to send them just yet.”
“Are you getting nervous?”
Donna twisted her chair around. “Not nervous, exactly. I don’t know how to describe it except that I just need to let them sit while my brain works. I want to be completely sure that I haven’t missed anything or overlooked something that could change what I’m about to do. Does that make sense?”
“It makes perfect sense. We’ve done this pretty quickly. There’s no reason not to take a beat and let it settle. Once we hit send, they’re gone, and the deeds are done. You take all the time you need.”
“Thanks. And thank you for the great work on these.” She glanced at Charlie. “Have you eaten?”
“I had some fruit salad and a bagel. Rixaline had some cereal.”
Donna nodded. “She was still eating it. She’s in the living room playing a video game with Lucky.”
“I didn’t know he could work the controllers.”
Donna laughed, then shook her head. “What are we going to do with that girl? She can’t live here forever. Is there a vampire foster program?”
“No, but we might be able to find her a place in a nest. Kind of like a vampire group home.”
Donna sighed. “I hate for her to think I’m kicking her out, but this was never meant to be a permanent situation.”
“I completely understand. And I think she will too. She might like being around other vampires more. Especially some closer to her age. As it is, she spends a lot of time alone now. Or with one of us. That can’t be very exciting for a teenager.”
“Probably not. But she hasn’t complained.”
“In that regard, she is not a typical teenager. I suppose any life is better than the one she had.”
“True.” Donna couldn’t imagine life on the run, always being hunted. Except, that would have been her life if she’d tried to get away from Joe on her own. So maybe she did understand a little of what Rixaline had gone through. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what’s available. But it’s not a pressing problem either.”
“She could always move downstairs with us.”
Donna shook her head. “That’s not really fair to you and Temo.”
“Wouldn’t bother me. And I don’t think it would bother Temo either. She’s a good kid.”
“She is.” A new idea came to Donna. “What are the chances the governorship could buy another apartment in this building? If there’s even one for sale.”