Adrian walked as quietly as he could through the long grass looking for the window of the conservatory. It was easy enough to find: all the others were dark. It wasn't that he had heeded Joseph's telepathic warning to get out -- he knew Evelyn could do nothing to him -- but he was tired of being frowned at by Jacob and ignored by that pretentious Baron.

The scene enacted in the conservatory was anticlimactic. Talk talk talk. No action. It would have made a terrible Elizabethan play; the audience would have thrown stones.

Adrian felt dawn tugging at him. Well, he thought with a bit of chagrin, back to the box. It was too late to arrange other lodgings for the night. He noticed that the Baron wasn't leaving.

Talbot? queried Jake as Adrian made his way to the cottage.

What?

Where are you?

Safe enough. Go to bed, Jake.

Adrian manipulated the window open and slid inside, doing minor damage to his clothes in the process. Imminent dawn made him clumsy. He hurried up the ladder and scrunched down into the trunk, reflecting that even this was somewhat better than the mean pallet he'd been allotted as a player's boy. At least there were no fleas. And that was the last thought he had before daybreak.

As night fell Adrian's senses quickened. It took him a minute to realize where he was -- as an actor it wasn't the first time he'd slept in a steamer trunk. As he reached up to open the lid his hand brushed something rough. He couldn't see it in the pitch darkness of the trunk. Whatever it was fell to the bottom with a clatter as he opened the lid and stretched.

The trap door was open -- had he left it like that last night? -- and minimal light came up from below. Enough for vampire eyes. Adrian stepped out onto the plywood floor and felt around in the box for whatever it was. His hand finally closed around a small piece of lumber.

It was a one-by-two, about a foot long and sharpened on one end. A stake! He flung it away, off into the fluffy pink insulation.

Ice crept up his back and onto his neck. Was that someone's idea of a joke?

Jacob? he queried.

So you're awake, answered Joe's mental voice. I just wanted you to know, you ought to be a little more respectful of mortals, Talbot. We don't have to put up with that shit.

Joseph?

There was no reply; Adrian couldn't sense him at all.

Joe had been here, during the day, with a stake and sunlight at his disposal? Adrian would have hyperventilated if he'd been breathing. Certainly he hadn't done anything that bad. Just taken a few liberties with a boy, a vampire's pet, who was pretty willing in the first place.

How close had he come? Had he had the stake and hammer poised and been overcome by... fear? fondness? weakness? Some sort of morality?

Adrian decided he didn't want to think about it. It was too close, and it didn't really matter why the boy had balked. He had made a mistake by putting himself in the situation in the first place.

"I should know by now that red-heads are unlucky," he muttered to himself.

Talbot? came Jake's rather unfriendly voice.

I'm here, answered Adrian wearily.

I'm ready to leave. Meet me at the front gate if you want a lift.

Adrian pulled himself together and headed out, not wishing to linger in this place another second if he could help it. He dreaded running into Joe, Evelyn or the Baron, especially Joe. He had certainly underestimated the boy.

This last was no problem, for there was no sign of Joe. Adrian managed to slink past Evelyn and the Baron without drawing undue attention to himself. Jake was busy talking to them, distracting them from the unwelcome presence of the actor. Although the look Gideon cast in Adrian's direction wasn't totally unsympathetic. On some level, he understood although he didn't approve.

Easy for you, Adrian shot at him miserably, not caring if Gideon could read minds or not. You have a relationship with someone who actually gives a damn about you.

There was no reply. Adrian didn't expect one. He slumped against the cold steel of the car door and stared out at the trees, waiting for Jake.

Who was shaking Gideon's hand. "See you around, Baron," he said.

"Undoubtedly," Gideon replied wryly.

Jake winced slightly, and turned to Evelyn. He hugged her. Whatthehell, Joe was nowhere in sight. "Sorry," he said again.

"It wasn't your fault, Jake," she replied. She glared at the actor leaning against the car. Then sighed. "And it wasn't entirely his, either. Drive safely."

"Always do," Jake replied, though he could recall a trip home from Meaford... no, don't go there. "Well, better go. Say bye to Joe for me."

"I will."

Without further ado, Jake went to the car and let Adrian in, then slid behind the wheel.

He toodled the horn and pulled away from the house. Soon it was lost behind the stone wall and trees and the darkness reflected in the rearview mirror.

"Well, I hope you're happy with yourself," Jake grunted

"Don't start, Jake," said Adrian wearily, leaning back against the worn vinyl. He watched the fields and trees flicker past the window without interest.

"Don't start?" Jake demanded. "Shit, Adrian, you really crossed the line this time."

"Did I?"

"What you did to Joe...."

"I did with his full consent." The professor stressed the last word angrily. "He led me on, Jake. He offered and teased... he knew what he was doing." He shook his head so that tendrils of black hair hung over his handsome face, hiding his expression.

"You need a haircut," said Jake in the ultimate non sequitur.

Those teal eyes flashed at him, but Adrian didn't bother to reply to that observation. "Joe's above the age of consent, Jake. I told you before, I'm only interested in the willing."

"He was our HOST!" Jake replied. "Or with our hostess, at any rate. You don't bite the person who's putting you up for the night. Day. Whatever."

"There didn't seem to be a lot to choose from," Adrian replied.

"And you made sure Evelyn would know. You gloated!"

"You weren't even there," scoffed Adrian, remembering the conversation at the table after Jake and Joe had left.

Yes, but I know you, Adrian, replied Jake. You wanted to get even.

Adrian gave a long exasperated sigh. "Okay, I wanted to get even. Happy?"

"Petty, Adrian. I thought that sort of thing was beneath even you. Seducing Joe...."

"I didn't. He seduced me." He stared out the window again, but his eyes weren't seeing Ohio. Jake always wondered what Adrian was seeing when he went like that. Into the past, maybe, although Adrian's past hadn't been a very happy place.

"Shit," muttered Jake.

"If it makes you any happier, Joe came within an ace of killing me for it."

Jake left several inches of rubber on the Ohio road. "WHAT?"

With a detached calmness, Adrian replied, "I found a wooden stake in the trunk with me when I woke up. Joe left it there." Under his breath, he added, "I wish he'd actually had the guts to use it."