"Out to find some food," he answered. "I haven't eaten since yesterday."
The suspicious expression on Seamus' face vanished. "Oh, I'd forgotten you would need to…" He trailed off.
Wade turned fully from the door, not quite sure what to say as he realized Seamus wasn't used to anyone being awake in the apartment during daylight hours. How alien this all must feel to him.
"Your aunt did the right thing," he said finally, "writing to Eleisha."
Seamus looked away from Wade and back through the guest room door. "I think so, too… now. I think it's good she came, and you as well." Then his eyes narrowed. "Except that she trusts him!"
At first, Wade wasn't sure what this meant. More on impulse than a conscious decision, Wade reached out telepathically, not certain he could read a ghost but trying to pick up any thoughts. He sensed nothing, as if Seamus wasn't there.
He took a few steps back toward the guest room and saw that Seamus was looking at Eleisha sleeping on Philip's shoulder.
"Oh, you mean Eleisha trusts…" Wade struggled for words. "Of course she trusts him. He'd throw himself in front of a bus for her."
"He's a killer."
"Eleisha has killed, too, many times. So has Rose."
"They're not like him."
Well, that was true, and Wade could offer no argument. But Seamus was going to have to accept Philip if he wanted help from Eleisha and Wade. Philip came as part of the package-and he wasn't a killer anymore.
Wade debated explaining how Eleisha and Philip fed now, but he knew Seamus was still reeling from an onslaught of radical changes in less than twenty-four hours.
"Why do you stay with them?" Seamus asked, his Scottish accent growing thicker and his voice growing sad. "You need not."
Wade wasn't certain how to answer-or even if he should answer. "Normal people don't enjoy my company," he began, "once they find out I see everything they're thinking. Even if I promised not to… no one could know for sure. I had a friend once who could feel my thoughts and keep me out… but he's gone now. I fit in with Eleisha and Philip. They're like me."
That wasn't completely true, and he was forever caught in the betwixt and between, but Eleisha and Philip accepted him. More important, they valued him.
"You should go and eat," Seamus said. "There is a bakery two blocks away on Taylor Street. I've only seen it closed when Rose is… out at night, but it looks like a decent place."
Wade smiled.
Seamus had not lost his humanity.
Eleisha woke as dusk settled.
The guest room door was cracked open, and she could hear the sound of pans rattling from somewhere out in the apartment. When she tried to sit up, she found her hair tangled around Philip's throat, and she reached to pull it free.
He grabbed her hand.
His amber eyes were open, and he was looking up at her.
"I need to go out for a while," he said quietly. "Can you stay here with Wade?"
"Why do you need to go out?"
"To buy some things."
She pulled her hand away, freed her hair, and sat up. She could think of only a few items he might wish to buy. "You don't need Paul Mitchell hair products for a three- or four-night stay, Philip. Why didn't you bring your own?"
He moved over and climbed off the bed. "I just need to go out. Will you stay with Wade? I don't want him here alone."
He reached for his shirt, and she studied the white cigars burns covering the back and top of his shoulders. Their kind healed from flesh wounds quickly, but they retained any scars from mortal life-and apparently, Philip's father had not been the nurturing type.
"You sound strange," she said. "What's wrong?"
"I don't want Wade left alone."
Was he worried Rose would hurt Wade? After reading Rose's memories last night, she thought Philip would completely change his attitude toward the situation, but he seemed just as angry and hesitant now as before. How could he not pity Rose for what she'd been through?
But as he pulled on his boots, Eleisha only said, "Of course I'll stay. You won't be long?"
His expression softened. "I won't be long."
He walked out. She climbed off the bed and followed him partway. But he didn't even look around to try to find Wade to say good-bye. He just left, closing the front door quietly.
Puzzled, Eleisha padded off toward the kitchen, where she found Wade frying eggs and talking to Seamus.
"No, seriously," Wade was saying. "As a kid, I lived on a farm in North Dakota, with cows and chickens."
"And horses?" Seamus asked.
"Sure, horses."
They both fell silent as they noticed her in the open archway between the sitting room and kitchen.
"Where's Philip?" Wade asked, spatula in midair.
"He went out. He said he needed to buy some things."
Seamus stared at her.
Then Eleisha heard the sound of a door opening, and she turned to see Rose come from her room wearing a long sage green dress and gold earrings, with her hair brushed to a shining luster.
Eleisha became poignantly aware that she was still wearing a pair of Wade's old sweatpants and the pink Hello Kitty tank top she'd slept in all day… and her hair was a wild mess.
Suddenly the whole scene felt awkward.
Vampires didn't invite overnight guests. This "morning after" moment was foreign and uncomfortable.
But as Rose walked over to join her in the archway, she did not even notice Eleisha's attire. She was looking at Wade in what appeared to be wonder.
"Eggs," she whispered. "Where did you get the pan?"
"Went shopping," Wade answered, pointing to some paper bags on the counter. "I saw you had a kettle and mugs, so I picked up a few kinds of tea and washed out the mugs. Eleisha likes a cup when she wakes up."
Rose walked in and looked inside the shopping bags. "Here, let me get the water boiling. Eleisha, come sit at the table."
And the strained moment was gone.
Eleisha walked over and sat down a few feet from where Seamus appeared to be standing. Rose bustled about, finishing Wade's eggs and making tea, and the image was so natural that Eleisha almost forgot their quartet was made up of two vampires, a telepathic mortal, and a ghost.
They just seemed like four people enjoying an evening in the kitchen.
With a stab of guilt, Eleisha was suddenly glad Philip had gone out. He would hate this. He would have ruined it.
She sat quietly as Wade dropped down into a chair beside her with his eggs and a croissant he'd pulled from a bag. He was eating with a plastic fork and talking to Seamus about horses.
Rose put a cup of tea in front of Wade and handed one to Eleisha. Then she took a sip from her own. Eleisha knew that she should say something. She pointed to a purple pot. "Is that saffron? I haven't seen that growing in many years."
Rose nodded. "I don't know why, but growing all the herbs has helped fill my nights, as William did for you."
Wade stopped talking to Seamus in midsentence and looked at Eleisha. "You told her about taking care of William?" he asked in mild surprise.
Eleisha glanced away. "Yes, in our letters."
Of course Rose had heard something of William from Edward, but Eleisha had not known that before. Secrets within secrets. Perhaps it was going to be difficult to stick to safe subjects. But Wade only yawned, as if he was tired, and took a long drink from his mug and turned back to Seamus.
"I hope you won't mind an upstairs room at the church," Eleisha said to Rose. "I almost started decorating one for you, but I didn't know what you'd like. I'm sure I would have gotten it wrong."
But this caused Rose to wince, as it probably reminded her of the impending journey to Oregon. Eleisha searched for some way to change the subject again. It felt so good to be sitting here with Rose and a cup of tea. She didn't want it to end.