But Bran is Bran.
“That was stupid,” said Samuel to Stefan. “What part of ‘never sneak up on a werewolf’ don’t you understand?”
The Stefan I knew would have bowed gracefully, expressed his apologies with a hint of humor. This Stefan gave a stiff jerk of his neck. “I’m no use here. It’s a good idea to get Mercy out of the line of fire—she’s the weakest target. Send me to keep her safe in Spokane.” He sounded almost eager ... and I wondered what he’d been doing since he’d left Adam’s. What was there for him to do? Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was trying to find some action to take that wouldn’t get me and everyone I cared about killed.
Still, I couldn’t let him get away with calling me ... “Weak?” I said.
Samuel turned on Stefan with a growl. “Stupid vampire. My father had her nearly talked into going, and you ruined it.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I hoped going to Spokane would keep my friends safe, and they hoped me going to Spokane would keep me safe. Maybe we were both right.
Bran’s phone rang, and we all listened to Charles tell us that Amber was married to Corban Wharton, a moderately successful corporate lawyer about ten years her senior. They had an eight-year-old son with some sort of disability, hinted at in various newspaper articles but not expressly stated. He rattled off an address or two, cell phone numbers and real phone numbers ... and social security numbers and most recent tax reports, personal and business. For an old wolf, Charles knows how to make computers sit up and beg.
“Thank you,” said Bran.
“I can go back to sleep now?” asked Charles. He didn’t wait for an answer, just hung up his end of the connection.
I looked at Samuel. “It will make your life easier if I leave.”
He nodded. “We can protect ourselves ... but you are too vulnerable. And if you aren’t here, if Marsilia doesn’t know where you are, we can get her to the table for negotiations.”
Bran looked at Stefan. “A vampire might draw too much attention in Spokane.”
Stefan shrugged. “I’m not without resources. I was in this room for a quarter of an hour, and none of you noticed me. If I feed well, no one will know what I am.”
“You always smell like vampire to me,” I told him. Vampire and popcorn. The good buttery kind. No, I don’t know why. I’ve never seen him eat the stuff—I don’t know that vampires can.
He raised his hands. “No one without Mercy’s nose, then. If I’m in the room with the Monster, then perhaps he’ll notice. Otherwise, he’ll never know I was there. I’ve done it before.”
“The Monster?” Samuel asked.
“James Blackwood.”
Vampires give titles to some of the more powerful ones. Stefan was the Soldier because he’d been a mercenary. Wulfe was the Wizard ... and I knew he could do some magic. I resolved to stay away from any vampire that other vampires called the Monster.
“There is this, too,” Stefan said. “I can jump from one location to another—and I can take Mercy with me.”
“How far?” asked Bran with sudden intentness.
Stefan shrugged ... and never quite straightened up, as if it was too much trouble. “Anywhere. But taking another person with me has a cost. I’ll be useless for a day afterward.” He looked at me. “I have the address.” He’d have overheard Charles give it to the rest of us. “I can get there tonight and find a safe place nearby to spend the day.”
Bran raised an eyebrow at me.
“I’ll call Amber in the morning,” I said. It felt like running away, but Bran seemed to think it was the right thing to do.
Stefan swept me a perfect bow and disappeared before he stood up.
“He used to hide his ability to do that,” I told them. It worried me that he wasn’t hiding it anymore. As if it didn’t matter what people knew about him.
Samuel smiled at me. “You decided to go to Spokane because he needs to do something, didn’t you? You were all set to stay until he started looking pathetic.” I gave him a look, and he raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say he didn’t have a reason to look pathetic. You just need to remember that sad sack or not, he’s still a vampire—and more than a match for you if he decides not to be friendly. 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.
We listened while Bran drove off—in a doubtlessly rented Mustang. Once he was gone, Samuel said, “You have a few hours. Why don’t you get some more sleep? I think I’ll hop the fence to Adam’s and see what Da does for Mary Jo.”
“Why didn’t he just call?” I asked.
Samuel reached out and ruffled my hair. “He was checking up on you.”
“Well,” I said. “At least he didn’t ask me if I was okay. I think I’d have had to do something to him if he had.”
“Hey, Mercy,” said Samuel with false solicitude, “are you okay?”
I punched him, connecting only because he hadn’t expected it. “I am now,” I told him, as he dropped to the ground and rolled—as if I’d really had some force behind my fist, which I hadn’t.
SPOKANE IS ABOUT 150 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE TRICITIES , and you know you’re getting close when you start seeing trees.
My cell phone rang, and I answered without pulling over. I usually obey the law, but I was late.
“Mercy?” It was Adam, and he wasn’t happy with me. I guessed Samuel had told him about the vampires being responsible for the debacle at Uncle Mike’s. I’d told him he could do it once I was safely out of town.
“Uh-huh.” I pulled around an RV as we chugged up a small hill. It’d pass me on the downhill side, but I had to take my passing pleasures where I could—Vanagons are not speed demons. One of these days I was going to put a Subaru flat six in it and see what that would do. “Before you yell at me for not telling you about the vampires, you should know that I am risking a ticket by talking to you while I drive. Do you really want me to get a ticket for letting you yell at me?”