"Lissa, do not ever leave me like that again," he grumbled before his mouth was on mine and his arms were crushing me against him just as tightly as he dared. After a while, he was satisfied just to hold me in his lap as we watched ambulances and police cars come and go below us. It wasn't long before my vision blurred and I fell asleep, though the night was still young.
* * *
"Is she all right?" Winkler asked. He'd waited inside Gavin and Lissa's room, as had Tony, René and Roff, and watched in concern as Gavin carried Lissa in. Bill had already asked someone to come and clear away the mess on the carpet. The housekeeping staff had come and vacuumed up Richter's ash, thinking it was dirt. Bill was Director of the Joint NSA/Homeland Security office; they weren't about to argue with him about piles of dirt on the carpet. Bill had then gone downstairs to see to things there.
"She's asleep," Gavin whispered.
"She's been up all day," Winkler said. "Did she tell you she caught Rahim?" Gavin placed Lissa on the bed and covered her with a blanket after removing her shoes.
"No, she neglected to mention it," Gavin said. "Let us go next door where we can discuss this without disturbing her."
Gavin and the others walked through the connecting door. Roff stayed behind and crawled into bed with Lissa the moment the others were gone, pulling her against him.
* * *
"Rahim Alif, the mastermind behind the recent Paris hotel bombing, as well as several other terrorist attacks, was apprehended yesterday, hours before the Royal Hotel in downtown Chicago was attacked by snipers. The attack came during a speech given by the Vice President in a hotel ballroom." The reporter stood outside the hotel, using it as a backdrop for the newscast, and an inset photo of Rahim was displayed on the television screen.
I was sitting up in bed and sipping on a unit of blood that Gavin handed to me. I'd slept the rest of the night and then through the following day before waking again at sunset. Gavin sat beside me and nuzzled my neck and shoulder while I drank my dinner. Roff was in the shower and I was going in as soon as he got out. Gavin's cell phone rang. He answered.
"Honored One?" Gavin said, after reading the caller ID.
"Is Lissa there?" Wlodek asked.
"Yes, Honored One," Gavin answered.
"Excellent work, taking Richter down," Wlodek praised Gavin.
"Thank you, Honored One," Gavin replied.
"Let me speak with Lissa," Wlodek said. Gavin handed the phone to me.
"Father?" I said. I didn't know what he wanted.
"I understand you captured Rahim Alif."
"I did," I said. "He was dressed as a tourist and using a Greek name. He smelled just like he always does, though. Evil."
"Is that how you recognized him—because he smelled evil?"
"Not completely. I had his scent from a house in Georgia and the hotel room in Paris. It wasn't hard to detect him. I knew who he was the minute he walked through the door."
"And you were instrumental in capturing Richter?"
"Yeah. He was a squirrel." I heard Charles snicker in the background.
"Lissa, this is no time for humor."
"But he was. A squirrel, I mean. Richter was a vampire shapeshifter. He turned into a squirrel. He was hiding inside the hotel as a rodent for several days and probably feeding off the hotel guests while he was here. That's how we found him; he was sleeping behind some towels in a hotel bathroom."
"That may explain how he managed to hide from us for so long," Wlodek muttered after a few seconds.
"Nobody would be looking for a squirrel if they were after a full-grown vampire," I agreed. "He's dead, now. Gavin's pretty quick with those claws of his."
"I have seen that for myself." Wlodek sounded as if he were smiling. He must have wanted Richter bad. "Let me speak with Gavin again." I handed the phone back to Gavin.
"The compensation will be deposited in your account," Wlodek said. My eyebrows rose over that. Gavin was getting a bonus? Damn. I worked for free. I sighed and slid off the bed. Gavin reached out for me but I was already too far away. Roff came out of the bathroom so I went inside to clean up.
"Fledgling vampires are not allowed to earn money," Gavin said later as I was trying to convince my hair to cooperate after a shower. "They are dependent upon their sire for their needs while they learn."
"Uh-huh," I sighed and gave up on my hair. "Is Merrill still carrying the load, even though I'm married off to you?" I was now stuffing my toiletries into the little bag I had.
"He is insisting," Gavin said, stepping back—my elbows were flying a bit as I packed up. "If you want anything, cara, you only have to ask."
"I see," I said, shoving my comb into the bag and zipping it up.
"Lissa, I do not make the rules."
"Really? I thought you were a member of the Aristocracy—you know—those vampires who got together to make the rules." I stalked past him and through the bathroom door.
"Who told you about the Aristocracy?" Gavin was right behind me, demanding an answer.
"I'm not going to tell you. How long were you going to keep that to yourself?" I snapped, flinging my toiletries bag into a suitcase lying open on our bed.
"You are a member as well, as my vampire spouse," Gavin pointed out. He wasn't helping his case any—he was merely digging a deeper hole.
"Yeah? How about that?" I zipped the suitcase. "I pity the next female that gets turned, you know." I lifted the suitcase off the bed as if it weighed nothing. "She'll be paraded in front of all those vampires and sold off to the highest bidder, if she isn't already under some vampire's thumb. You people need to come out of the dark ages." I headed toward the door and then turned back as the thought hit me. "You know what? Scratch that," I pointed an accusing finger at Gavin. "You need to come out of the cave." I flung the door open and stalked into the hallway.
* * *
"What precipitated this argument, cousin?" René walked into Gavin's hotel room after Lissa stormed angrily out the door. He'd heard the entire argument from his and Tony's adjoining suite.
"Wlodek," Gavin sighed. "She didn't know that young vampires are not allowed to earn money. Wlodek informed me that the reward money for Richter would be deposited in my account. Lissa overheard and now she is upset."
"She captured him, cousin. You just relieved him of his head." René slapped Gavin on the back. Gavin growled low. "How much was it, anyway?"