These questions rolled around and around her mind as she walked into the upstairs bathroom, turned on the shower, stripped and stepped under the stream of steaming water. How and where could she have been drugged? She had been headed back to the office. She hardly would have changed direction and gone elsewhere dressed in her pajamas as she’d been. She would not have gone to a coffee shop or anywhere where she might have had a drink to be drugged. Heck, she wouldn’t even have run into the corner store in her pajamas. The only reason she’d felt able to go to the office that way was because she’d known nobody would be there and—Holly froze in the process of shampooing her hair as it finally occurred to her that she had missed two days of work. Her husband may not have noticed that she was missing, but the office certainly would have.
Cursing under her breath, she quickly rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and turned off the water. In the next moment she’d pulled the shower door open, stepped out and snatched up a towel to wrap around herself as she hurried across the hall to the bedroom. There was a telephone on the nearest bedside table and Holly snatched up the receiver to quickly dial the cemetery office. It wasn’t until the answering service picked up that she recalled that it was past office hours and it would now be closed.
Sighing, Holly set the phone back in its base without leaving a message and stood to return to the bathroom. She’d have to go into the office in the morning and try to clear everything up, she thought as she brushed her teeth. She was actually surprised that they hadn’t called the house to ask why she wasn’t showing up for work. Or maybe, like James, they hadn’t noticed her absence, she thought, rinsing the foamy toothpaste out of her mouth. That didn’t seem likely, but if someone had suggested that James wouldn’t notice if she went missing for two days, she would have laughed at the very thought. Of course he would notice. He was her husband. They lived together. How could he not notice?
Very easily, apparently, because it had completely slipped his attention, she thought grimly as she set her toothbrush on the edge of the sink. That’s when she spied her engagement and wedding rings. She didn’t remember taking them off before showering. She must have taken them off the last time she showered, and forgot to collect them again. She had a habit of doing that. She really needed to get them sized. They were both a bit loose and she worried about losing them down the open tub drain when she showered so took them off before getting in. The problem was she kept forgetting to put them back on afterward, which meant she was ringless almost as often as she wore them.
Ah well, she knew she was married, so supposed it was fine. Holly moved back to the bedroom and dropped to sit on the side of the bed. She just couldn’t believe James hadn’t even noticed she had been missing. If the situation had been reversed, she certainly would have noticed his absence. Wouldn’t she?
Suddenly terribly depressed . . . and exhausted, Holly glanced toward the open bedroom door and the bathroom beyond. She’d left her borrowed clothes on the floor and should really go collect them. She should dress and eat and check her blood too. But all of that seemed like too much effort. She’d just rest first, Holly decided and swung her feet up on the bed as she reclined. A little nap and she’d feel better.
Justin watched until Holly lay down and closed her eyes. He then settled to sit on the roof of the back porch. It was directly outside the bedroom window, resting about three feet below the window ledge. It had given him a perfect view into the room.
Lucian had said he was to watch over her. It would have been easier had Justin been able to read and control her. He could have waited inside then. This way he had to stay outside, on the roof, and hope none of her neighbors noticed. The thought made him glance around at the neighboring houses. Most of the upstairs lights weren’t on yet. It was early enough that the inhabitants were relaxing after dinner, settling in front of the television or curled up with a good book. Most wouldn’t be heading upstairs until bedtime. That was lucky for him. It was mid-spring. The days were getting longer and the nights starting later which meant that while the sun was setting, the night sky was still light. He would be noticed here if anyone looked.
Justin scanned the houses again, aware that he’d have to keep a sharp eye out until it grew dark, then he would disappear into the shadows. Until then, he probably stuck out like a sore thumb. Movement drew his gaze to the house directly behind Holly’s and he spotted a wide-eyed teenage girl staring out at him from an upstairs window. He met her gaze, slipping into her thoughts just as she opened her mouth, probably to call out to her parents. A moment later the teenager turned away and went about her business. She wouldn’t recall seeing him. Nor would she look out the window again. He’d seen to that.
Sighing, he scanned the other windows in the house and then glanced over the neighboring houses again. The next hour would be taken up with doing that over and over . . . unless Holly woke up and moved downstairs. If that happened, he’d have to move to a window on the lower floor.
Justin knew he didn’t really have to watch this closely. There was no one in the house with her so no risk that she’d bite anyone, but he wanted to watch her. He enjoyed watching her. Besides, who knew when her hunger would kick in? They’d been giving her blood right up until about five minutes before she’d woken up. But she was a new turn. Hunger might claim her at any moment, or might not arrive for hours. The amount of blood a new turn needed was always more than a mature immortal, but it could vary widely depending on the physical well-being of the one turned. Justin had spotted an insulin pen and blood tester in her purse as he’d looked for her keys and knew Holly had been a diabetic before the turn. But he wasn’t sure how much damage her body had incurred over the years from the ailment. That would affect her need for blood, though he wasn’t sure by how much.
He supposed he’d just have to wait to see.
Four
“Holly? Holly! You slept through your alarm.”
Moaning sleepily as someone shook her shoulder, Holly turned onto her back and peered blearily up at the fair-haired man bent over her. “James?”
“Yeah. Get up, girl. You’ll be late for work,” he warned and turned to walk out of the room.
Holly stared after him with confusion and then glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 8:11. She had slept through the night and—
“Crap!” she muttered and tossed the sheets aside to get up, realizing only then that it was actually the towel she’d fallen asleep in. Catching it up again, she stood and wrapped it around herself, then moved to the closet. She had to dress and—
Holly paused in front of the closet but rather than search for clothes, she merely shifted her feet as she thought. She wasn’t even sure she had a job anymore. She’d missed two days and might be fired. She really needed to call and find out and . . . she was starved. Turning, Holly headed out of the room. She would eat first, and then call, and then dress. At least that way she would know what she was dressing for . . . work, or groveling at the temp agency for a new position.
A grimace claimed her lips at the very thought. Holly hate, hate, hated working for the temp agency, but appreciated the job at the same time because they were willing to work around her class schedule.
Holly had worked full-time to support them while James had got his applied sciences degree at the local college. He’d worked too, part-time, like she was doing now. The degree had got him a job with a low starting wage, but a lot of promise for the future. Now it was her turn. So, James had his full-time position and she had her part-time gig with the temp agency while finishing her degree. They were presently between spring and summer courses, so she had been working full-time the last week and was supposed to this week . . . but she’d missed two days. The temp agency may already have put someone else in her position.