As Jake headed back to the conservatory he reached out to Adrian with tendrils of thought. You aren't quietly murdering each other in there, are you? he asked. With Adrian it was always better to check before entering a room.
Shoo, responded the vampire.
Shoo? What am I, a cat? shot back Jake, but he stopped in the hall. Geez, how big was this place? To his right were the dining room and the conservatory and some other room by the front door; to his left was a gallery open to the roof, on the back wall of which was a balcony and more closed doors.
We want privacy, responded Adrian.
What am I supposed to do? wondered Jake. He needed an excuse to go back to the dining room; he couldn't just wander around the house.
Jake looked back to see Joe come out of the dining room, his long-legged stride swallowing the parquet. Jake had been right; he could move fast. He side-stepped Jake without a word, as if he didn't even see him.
Joe stopped dead at the doorway, but Jake could see around him. Evelyn was sitting in the same chair, her hands demurely in the lap of her short skirt -- why did she had to wear such short skirts? -- and Adrian was sitting in the other chair, in the assumed pose of a relaxed gentleman.
"So," Joe walked into the room so Jake could pass, "How long are you guys in town?"
"You boys eat pretty fast," said Adrian, with a pointed look at Jake. Jake gave a little shrug. After all, he hadn't agreed to help Adrian with his mysterious plans. In fact, he felt that Adrian had tricked him. He should have been suspicious when he volunteered to go on this trip just after Jake mentioned dropping in on Evelyn.
"Uh, well, we were hoping to maybe impose on you for one night -- er -- day," said Jake to Evelyn, although Joe had really brought it up. "It's kinda late now, and I really can't drive in the sunshine anymore. The glare is terrible. And I figured you'd have accommodations...." He nodded towards Adrian.
"For a vampire," Adrian finished for him.
"We-ell, we have plenty of empty rooms, but nothing set up for guests of... our nature." She didn't seem comfortable putting herself and Adrian in the same category.
"There's the trunk, out in the cottage," suggested Joe, with a smile that wasn't at all hospitable, Jake thought.
"Trunk?" inquired Adrian.
They don't want us here. Let's split, said Jake.
"Yeah," continued Joe. "It's up in the attic. It used to belong to Simms."
Adrian looked from Joe to Evelyn.
"Used to?" asked Adrian. The last thing he wanted was to settle down for the day and have a strange vampire find him in his lair.
"Apparently that deadly nightshade vine doesn't work very well," said Evelyn, amused.
"That what?" asked Jake.
"You killed your maker," Adrian deduced. He knew, if Evelyn was looking for a mentor, that her maker was gone, but how or why he hadn't heard. "It's hardly uncommon and hardly news," he responded haughtily.
Evelyn and Joe exchanged secretive smiles.
Don't you know who he was? asked Jake, 'Cause I do! As a bloodling Jake had thought it best to pay attention to gossip at some of the parties Adrian dragged him to. And he had learned a lot. One of the more interesting bits being that Evelyn's maker was a sadistic vampire who hunted his own kind, named Sebastien Arnaud, but known most recently as Alistair Simms.
"Well, a trunk would be just fine."
"It would?" asked Joe in surprise.
It would? echoed Jake. Since when do you stoop to trunks in attics?
I don't want to be rude and turn down an invitation to stay, said Adrian.
"Well, I'll go see if I can find the keys," said Joe, bewildered that the offer had not turned Adrian away.
"Let me show you upstairs, Jake," offered Evelyn.
"Yeah." He took his Coke and resisted the urge to wipe his palms on his jeans. It was really starting to bug him, wondering what was up with Adrian.
He followed Evelyn's short skirt up the stairs. Okay, she was the ice queen to Adrian, but he remembered her very differently.
Behave yourself, Jacob, cautioned Adrian with a smile in his mental voice.
"I'm afraid all the bedrooms are on the sunny side of the house," she said, opening a door seemingly at random. The interior was as neat and barren as a hotel room. Evelyn checked the bed to see that there were sheets under the coverlet. "I could probably scare up some pajamas for you."
"Oh, that's okay, I've got my stuff in the car. I figured we'd have to stop somewhere." He yawned. "Pardon me! Traveling with Adrian has really knocked my day-night schedule out of whack."
"I'm afraid there's nothing much in the kitchen," she said as he followed her back down the stairs. "But Joe can order out for you if you're up before dark."
"That's okay," he demurred. He wouldn't really feel comfortable asking Joe for anything.
They met Joe and Adrian in the front hall.
"Good night Jake. Evelyn." Adrian took her hand, although she hadn't offered it, and made a courtly bow over it. "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Back in a minute," said Joe, giving his paramour a kiss on the top of her head. Evelyn fluffed her hair self-consciously.
It would be good to change out of this damn suit, thought Jake as he slung his bag over his shoulder. He looked at Evelyn through the open door. She was waiting -- not for him so much as Joe, he knew. He realized he had been expecting something to happen between then. Another one night stand, no strings. He envied Joe.
"Good night," he said as he headed for the stairs.
"Good day," replied Evelyn with a smile that was only friendly. "And by the way, we'll be having more company tomorrow night."
"Should I ask who?" ventured Jake, half way up the stairs.
She smiled mischievously and shook her head.
