Sandra’s rifle was more of a problem than the body had been. I was not going to use the portal as a garbage disposal, and that was what throwing the rifle in after the body felt like. After some argument, Jannalynn and Sam decided they’d throw it into the woods on their way back to Sam’s trailer, and I guess that was what they did.
I was left in my house alone after a truly amazing and horrible two days. Horribly amazing? Amazingly horrible? Both.
I sat in my kitchen, a book open on the table before me. The sun was still lighting up the yard, but the shadows were growing long. I thought of the cluviel dor, which I hadn’t had a chance to use in the encounter in the backyard. Should I carry it around with me every minute of the day? I wondered if the gray things after Mr. Cataliades had caught up with him yet, and I wondered if I’d feel sad if they did. I wondered if the vampires had gotten Fangtasia cleaned up by opening time, and I wondered if I would call the bar to find out. There’d be humans there to answer the phone: Mustapha Khan, maybe his buddy Warren.
I wondered if Eric had talked to Felipe yet about the disappearance of the Regent of Louisiana. I wondered if Eric had written to the Queen of Oklahoma.
Maybe the phone would ring when darkness fell. Maybe it wouldn’t. I couldn’t decide which I wanted.
What I did want to do was something completely normal.
I walked barefoot into the living room with a big icy glass of tea. Time to watch some of my recorded episodes of Jeopardy!
Dangerous Creatures for two hundred, anyone?