Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

wasn’t going to get me a different guard—there wasn’t anyone else Adam could send.
    â€œLittleton is a vampire ,” I said, trying to infuse a little logic into the situation. “He’s not going to attack during the daytime. I could make sure to be home before dark until he’s caught. He can’t get into my home unless I invite him. Not that he would, since he has no reason to think I was anything but a prop for Stefan’s costume.”
    â€œI had a talk with the Marrok about sorcerers,” said Adam gently. “He’s the one who told me to put a guard on you, day and night. No one knows what kind of monster a demon-ridden vampire is going to be, he said.”
    â€œI know that ,” I snapped—if Bran had ordered me guarded, I was doomed. Adam knew it, too.
    â€œElizaveta told me you called her and asked about sorcerers,” he said.
    â€œYeah, well, you should be happy. All she told me was that you had given her orders not to tell me anything.” Which wasn’t exactly true.
    What the witch had said was, “ Adamya says you are to leave it alone. He is a smart man, that one. Let the wolves hunt this sorcerer, Mercedes Thompson. A coyote is no match for a demon. ”
    â€œWarren and Stefan will take care of Littleton,” Adam said. There was sympathy in his voice. He could afford to be sympathetic because he knew he’d robbed me of any chance of argument.
    â€œStefan and Warren are both out hunting tigers with slingshots,” I told him. “Maybe they’ll get a lucky hit, and maybe the tiger will turn and kill them both—while Honey wears white slacks and watches me tune up cars.”
    I walked over to one of the hanging sandbags and began practicing punches. I hadn’t intended to say that, hadn’t realized how worried I was. Adam could be confident, but he hadn’t been in the same room with that thing .
    â€œMercy,” Adam said after watching me a while.
    I switched to sidekicks.
    â€œA screwdriver is a very useful tool, but you don’t use it when what you need is a blowtorch,” he said. “I know you are frustrated. I know you want to be in on the kill after what you saw Littleton do. But if you went out with them, someone would get killed trying to protect you.”
    â€œDon’t you think I know that?” I snapped. It was scary that he knew me well enough to understand it was waiting while others went after Littleton that bothered me the most. I stopped kicking and stared at the swinging black bag, fighting the urge to kick Adam instead.
    I could change into a coyote. I was faster than a human. I was partially immune to some of the vampire’s magics, but I wasn’t even sure which ones. That was the extent of my preternatural abilities. It wasn’t enough to go after Littleton.
    If I’d been able to break the harness that night, the sorcerer would have killed me. I knew that, but it didn’t diminish the guilt I felt for watching the maid struggle alone. I wanted to go after the sorcerer myself.
    I wanted to feel his neck under my fangs and taste his blood. I took a deep shuddering breath. What I really wanted, what I hungered for, was to kill that smiling, cadaverous son of a bitch.
    â€œElizaveta won’t go after him,” Adam said. “Demons apparently have an odd effect on witchcraft. You’re not the only one sitting on the sidelines.”
    â€œYou know, today one of the TV stations interviewed the sister of the man the vampires framed for the murders.” I kicked the sandbag twice. “She cried. She admitted that her brother had been having marital problems, but she’d never imagined he would do something like this.” I kicked again, grunting with the effort. “You know why she’d never imagined it? Because the poor bastard didn’t do anything except be in the wrong place at the wrong damn time.”
    â€œNone of us can afford for the vampires to come out now,” Adam said.
    I could tell the lies bothered him, too. Adam was a straightforward person—but he understood necessity. So did I. That didn’t mean I had to like it.
    â€œI know the vampires have to hide their presence,” I told the sandbag. “I know people aren’t ready to find out about all the things that hide in the darkness. I understand keeping them hidden saves us all from mass hysteria that would lead to a lot more people