Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

be careful, too. There was a vampire watching the back of the house when I was out talking to Amber.”
    â€œWho’s Amber?” Adam’s question was just a hair faster than my mother’s “Amber? Charla’s friend Amber from college?”
    I nodded at Mom. “She read about ... I’ve apparently made national news. She decided that she should look me up to check into her haunted house.”
    â€œThat sounds like Amber,” Mom said. Char and Amber had spent a number of weekends at my parents’ house in Portland while I was in college. “She always was self-centered, and I don’t suppose that would change. Though why would she think that you could help her with a haunted house?”
    I had never told Mom about seeing ghosts. I hadn’t really thought it was anything unusual until recently. I mean, people see ghosts all the time, right? They just don’t talk about it much. Having a daughter who turned into a coyote was bad enough, so anything else I could keep quiet about, I had.
    This didn’t seem like the time to tell her about it either. I hadn’t told her about last week. I hadn’t told her about vampires. I had no intention of informing her of any other secrets I’d been keeping.
    So I shrugged. “Maybe because I associate with werewolves and the fae.”
    â€œWhat did she expect you to do about it?” Adam asked. He’d have listened in on the whole conversation with Amber; werewolves have very good hearing.
    â€œBeats me,” I told him. “Do I look like an expert at laying ghosts?” Seeing them was a long way from sending them away. I wasn’t even sure it was possible. I thought about what Amber had said. “Maybe she just wanted me to go tell her that her house really is haunted. Maybe she just needs someone to believe her.”
    Adam knelt on the floor and picked up Stefan. “I’ll take him home now.” Though Stefan was obviously taller than he was, Adam’s supernatural strength wasn’t apparent—he just looked like someone who could carry a great deal of weight without effort.
    It should have been Darryl who picked up Stefan, not Adam. The Alpha just didn’t do the heavy lifting when there were capable minions about. Ben and Peter had both fed the vampire, but Darryl didn’t have that excuse. He must have a real thing about vampires.
    Adam didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with Darryl. “I’ll send someone back to watch your house, tonight.” He looked at my mom. “Do you need a place to stay? Mercy’s”—he glanced around—“a little short on space.”
    â€œI’m staying at the Red Lion in Pasco,” Mom said to Adam. To me she said, “We left in a hurry and I couldn’t find anyone to watch Hotep. He’s in the car.” Hotep was her Doberman pinscher, who liked me even less than I liked him.
    Adam nodded solemnly though I didn’t remember telling him that my mom’s dog hated me.
    â€œAdam,” I said. “Thank you. For saving Stefan.”
    â€œNo thanks necessary. We didn’t save him for you.”
    Ben gave me an expression that might have been a smile if his face hadn’t been so tight. “You weren’t there in the basement with that thing.” Andre’s demon-possessed vampire, he meant, the first vampire I’d killed. He had captured several of the wolves and Stefan and ... played with them. Demons like causing pain.
    â€œIf it hadn’t been for Stefan ...” Ben shrugged, as if letting a memory die away unspoken. “We owe him.”
    Adam glanced at Darryl, who opened the door. I thought of something.
    â€œWait.”
    Adam stopped.
    â€œIf I talk to Mom ... does that count?” He’d told me I had to talk to someone, and my mother wouldn’t go away until I told her everything. It seemed like I should be able to kill two birds with one stone.
    He handed Stefan to Ben and walked to me. He touched my jaw, just below my ear, and, as if our fascinated audience wasn’t watching, he kissed me, touching me with nothing more than his fingertips and his mouth.
    At first the heat flushed through me ... followed by a horrible choking fear. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move ...
    When I came back to myself, I was sitting on the couch with my head between my knees, Adam crooning to me. But he wasn’t touching me, and neither was