Shane and Maya landed silently at the end of the dirt driveway and stood side by side, scanning their surroundings one more time. Their enhanced night vision enabled them to see nocturnal creatures scurrying through the brush, and various sets of eyes staring down at them from the sprawling, moss-covered oak trees. Beneath a canopy of branches, they walked down the long driveway toward the massive Queen Anne style house. Although it had fallen into disrepair, it was still beautiful. Light flickered inside and Shane could tell it came from candles, not electric lights.
They stopped at the foot of the steps, and the front door of the house slowly opened. A woman stood in the doorway with a lantern dangling from her hand. Shane watched her carefully, looking for any sign that she might not be happy to see them, as Olivia suggested, but seconds later, a loud, feminine laugh joined the sound of crickets in the bayou.
“Well, don’t just stand there starin’ at me like a couple of ghosts.” She waved them forward and stepped out to the edge of the steps. Long, black hair, streaked with gray, fell over narrow shoulders, and her slim body was wrapped up in a white cotton bathrobe. If Shane had to guess, he’d say she was around seventy years old. “The sun will be up soon, and unless you two want to get your pasty asses singed, I suggest you get in the house. Come on. Lottie Fogg ain’t gonna ask you twice.”
Then without another word she went back inside.
“At least she left the door open,” Shane murmured with little humor in his voice as he and Maya started toward the stairs. “I hope Olivia knows what she’s doing.”
“Olivia always knows what she’s doing,” Maya said quietly.
They climbed the stairs quickly. Closing the door behind them, Shane saw a glimmer of light along the horizon and felt the familiar tug in his gut. They’d made it to their destination with little time to spare. When he looked around, Shane was immediately taken aback by the sparse furnishings of the massive home. The living room to the left had a couch, a chair, a coffee table, a baby grand piano, and an enormous fireplace with an intricately designed wooden mantel. The only other items he spotted were stacks and stacks of magazines that indicated Ms. Fogg was a bit of a hoarder.
Enormous crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling in that room and in the front hall where he and Maya currently stood. A narrow staircase with a mahogany banister was directly across from the front door, and Shane could see a lit candle on a table in the second-floor hall. To the right was the dining room with a table for eight but only chairs enough for four, and based on the look of them, they weren’t safe to sit on. Another glittering chandelier hung above the table, but given the candles lit in both rooms, he doubted the house had working electricity.
Lottie was out of sight, but he could hear her bustling around toward the back of the house. Based on the clinking and clanking, he suspected she was in the kitchen.
Shane was about to call out for the gypsy woman, but a moment later, the swinging door in the dining room opened and Lottie backed into the room, bumping the door open with her hip. When she turned around, she had the lantern in one hand and two bottles of blood in the other. With a big grin, she joined them in the front hall and handed a bottle to each of them.
“Thank you,” Maya said before taking a sip.
“You’re welcome, Maya. Olivia told me you aren’t gonna be huntin’ while you’re down here, so I’ve got a bunch of this bottled stuff on hand for you. I heated it a bit.” Lottie tilted her head to one side and looked Maya up and down. “You’re a little bit of a thing, but I hear you’re good at stirring up big trouble.”
“Yes, ma’am. I guess I am.” Maya took the bottle from her lips and lifted one shoulder, looking away awkwardly. “Thank you for letting us stay with you in your home, and for the food.”
“I figured you’d be hungry once y’all finally got here.” Lottie put a hand on the small of her back and stretched a bit then slid her inspecting gaze over Shane from head to toe. “Shane, you’re one of those vampire soldiers, aren’t you? Olivia tells me that you’re one I can trust.”
“One what?” Shane asked before taking a sip from the bottle.
“Vampire, of course,” Lottie said, looking at him like he was the dumbest kid in class.
“I see.” Shane’s brow furrowed and his back tensed. “You don’t like vampires, and yet you open your home to them as a safe house?”
“Not them. You.” Lottie wagged a finger at him and pursed her lips. “Only Olivia has ever used my home for that purpose, and now the two of you. It ain’t that I don’t like ’em, mind you, but I don’t trust ’em. There’s a difference. Gypsy blood is rich with generations of magic running through it, and I don’t feel like sharing it with any Tom, Dick, or Shane. Got it?”
“Got it.” Shane raised the bottle to her.
“Besides, I heard you two are hiding out here because of some mess with a werewolf.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maya replied quietly.
“If there’s anything I distrust more than a vampire, it’s a werewolf.” Lottie made a face of disgust. “They’re nasty, vicious creatures, and from what I hear, they don’t do nothin’ but cause trouble.”
“I assure you, Ms. Fogg,” Shane said with a tilt of his head, “you will be safe with us.”
“Ha. Call me Lottie. Ms. Fogg was my grandmama. She was a real proper Southern woman who didn’t know she’d married a gypsy man until she caught him and his mama teachin’ their three daughters magic. My mama told me that Grandmama chased Granddaddy around the swamp for a week before finally lettin’ it go, and then she pretended not to know about it at all. Funny how the mind can choose what it wants to remember and what it wants to forget.”
Lottie waved them toward the steps with the lantern dangling from her hand. “Come on now. We best get you two upstairs. I have a couple of rooms set up for you in the attic. I figure the heat won’t bother ya, and there were only three small windows for me to cover up.”
Shane urged Maya to go first, and he brought up the rear as they ascended the two flights of stairs with Lottie in the lead.
“These rooms used to be servants’ quarters back in the day, and there are still a couple of beds up here.” She stopped at the top of the staircase and turned to face them, the light of the lantern brightening the dark, narrow attic stairs. “You don’t need coffins, do ya? Olivia used a bed but…well…I don’t know many vampires. So, do ya?”
“No, ma’am.” Shane suppressed a grin and shook his head at yet another myth about his kind that was perpetuated by the movies. “A bed is just fine.”
“Good.” Lottie turned her attention to Maya and held the lantern near her face so she could see her better. “When were you turned, girl? You seem different from the other vamps I’ve seen.”
“Five years ago,” Maya answered quietly, and her hand went involuntarily to the necklace hidden beneath her clothing. “What do you mean, I seem different?”
“Not sure.” Lottie pursed her lips and leaned closer, peering in Maya’s eyes. “You’ve got a glimmer or something. See, most vamps are like black spots in the tapestry of psychic energy. Kind of invisible. Maybe it’s because technically they aren’t alive, but you have a glimmer. It’s not constant, though. Kind of like a candle blowing near a drafty window.”
“A glimmer?” Maya asked nervously.
“Sorta.” Lottie made a sound of frustration and pulled back. “Maybe it’s just the light from the lantern. I’ll look at ya again later, but it’s probably nothin’ more than my old eyes playin’ tricks on me.”