Blood Trail

farmhouse?"

    "As soon as the police are finished with me."

    He shot a look at Celluci but managed to hold back the comment.

    Vicki sighed. "Go," she told him.

    He went.

    Celluci took his place.

    Vicki sighed again. "Look, if you're about to treat me to another lecture on ethics or morals, I'm not in the mood."

    "Actually, I was wondering if a grass fire was part of your plan? Maybe as a diversion? We're starting to get some sparks and the field behind the barn is awfully dry."

    Flames were racing across the roof now, the entire structure wrapped in red and gold.

    The last thing she wanted to do was more damage. "There's a water hookup in the garden with plenty of hose. Just wet the field down."

    "Well, how the hell was I supposed to know?"

    "You could have looked! Jesus H. Christ, do I have to do everything?"

    "No, thanks. You've done quite enough!" He wanted to recall the words the moment he said them but to his surprise, Vicki started to laugh. It didn't sound like hysteria, it just sounded like laughter. "What?"

    It was a moment before she could speak and even then, the threat of another outbreak seemed imminent. "I was just thinking that it's all over but the shouting."

    "Yeah? So?"

    "So?" She waved one hand helplessly in the air as she went off again. "So, now it's over."

    "You will come back and see us again? When you need to get out of the city?"

    "I will." Vicki grinned. "But right at the moment, the peace and quiet of the city seems pretty inviting."

    Nadine snorted. "I don't know how you stand it. Bad smells and too many strangers on your territory. ..." Although she still bore the mark of her twin's loss, in the last twenty-four hours the wound had visibly healed. Whether it was due to the deaths of Mark Williams and Carl Biehn or the saving of Peter's life, Vicki wasn't sure. Neither did she want to know.

    Rose had also changed, with less of the child she'd been and more of the woman she was becoming showing in her face. Nadine kept her close, snarling when any of the males approached.

    Vicki moved toward the door where Henry stood waiting for her, tension stretching between him and Stuart in almost a visible line.

    "In the barn, before you arrived," Henry'd explained earlier, "I gave him an order he had no choice but to obey. "

    "You vampired him?"

    "If you like. We 're both pretending it didn't happen, but it'll take him some time to forget that it did."

    Shadow, his black fur marked with dust, crawled out from under the wood stove, his jaws straining around a huge soup bone. He trotted to the door and dropped it at Vicki's feet.
    "It's my best bone," Daniel told her solemnly. "I want you to have it so you don't forget me."

    "Thank you, Daniel." The bone disappeared into the depths of Vicki's bag. She reached out and picked a bit of fluff from the top of his head. "I think that I can pretty much guarantee that I'll never, ever forget you."

    Daniel squirmed, then Shadow threw himself at her knees, barking excitedly.

    Oh, what the hell, Vicki thought, crouched down and did what she'd done to Storm way back in the beginning, digging her fingers deep into the thick, soft fur of his ruff and giving him a good scratch.

    It was hard to say which of them enjoyed it more.

    Celluci leaned against the car and tossed the keys from hand to hand. It was an hour and a half after sunset and he wanted to get going; after the last two days, plain, old, big city crime would be a welcome relief.

    He still wasn't certain why he'd offered Vicki and Henry a ride back to Toronto. No, that wasn't entirely true. He knew why he'd offered Vicki a lift, he just wasn't sure why he'd included Henry in the package. Granted, the man's BMW would be another week in the shop, at least, but that wasn't really much of a reason.

    "What the hell is taking them so long?" he muttered.

    As if in answer, the back door opened and Shadow bounded out, tail beating the air. Vicki and Henry followed, accompanied by all the rest of the family except Peter, who had remained at Dr. Dixon's.

    Vicki had been right about the police investigation. The whole thing was just so weird and the witnesses so credible that the OPP had jumped to pretty much exactly the conclusions Vicki had outlined and were willing to write off the rest. Mark Williams' police record hadn't hurt either, especially when a report of his latest business venture had come in from Vancouver.

    Celluci braced himself as Shadow leapt up on his chest, licked