Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

bejeebers out of me—I certainly wasn’t about to accept the blame for it.
    Unexpectedly, he laughed. And as easily as that the smoldering anger, the bright violence, and the dominant power that had been making the air around us feel heavier than it could possibly be floated away. It was just the two of us and the warm scent of Samuel, who smelled of home and the woods.
    â€œStay out here and enjoy the diesel fumes, Mercy,” he said as a delivery van in need of a new engine chugged past us in a cloud of black smoke. “Give me a few minutes toclear the air with Adam before you come back in.” He turned and took two steps back to the van. “I’ll wave to you.”
    â€œNo violence?” I said.
    He put his hand over his heart and bowed. “I swear.”
    It took long enough that I got worried, but finally he opened the door and called me over. He hadn’t rolled down the window because I had the keys and the windows were electric. For some reason I still hadn’t tracked down, the windows only worked one at a time even with the car running.
    I scooted in the driver’s seat and gave Adam a cautious look—but his eyes were closed.

chapter 8
    As soon as “roaming” quit appearing on my phone, I called Zee.
    â€œWho’s this?” he answered.
    â€œMercy,” I told him.
    â€œDidn’t tell me the part was for the vampire’s bus,” he said shortly.
    I rubbed my face. “I couldn’t afford to pay them the percentage you were,” I explained, not for the first time.
    In the Columbia Basin, which included Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco as well as the smaller surrounding towns like Burbank and West Richland, every business the vampires considered under their jurisdiction (meaning anyone touched by the supernatural who was too powerless to stand against them) paid them protection money. And yes, just like the mob, the vampires only protect you from themselves.
    â€œThey agreed I could repair their cars instead—and they pay me for parts. That way they save face, and I only haveto repair Stefan’s bus and an occasional Mercedes or BMW. Stefan’s not bad for a vampire.”
    There was a growl from the seat beside me.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Adam told Samuel. “We keep an eye on her. And she’s right, Stefan’s not bad for a vampire. Word is that he runs a little interference so she’s not bothered.”
    I hadn’t known any of the vampires had intended to bother me—or that Stefan would care enough to stop them.
    â€œI didn’t know that,” said Zee, who’d obviously overheard Adam’s comment. He hesitated. “Vampires are bad news, Mercy. The less you have to do with them the better—and writing a check and mailing it every month is safer than dealing with them face-to-face.”
    â€œI can’t afford it,” I told him again. “I’m still paying the bank and will be until I’m as old as you are.”
    â€œWell, it doesn’t matter,” he said at last. “I didn’t have to deal with him, anyway. Your new supply house sent the wrong part. I sent it back to them and called with a word to their sales manager. The right part should be here on Friday—best he could do with Thanksgiving tomorrow. I called the number on the vampire’s file and left a message. What kind of vampire plays the Scooby Doo song on his answering machine?” It was a rhetorical question, because he continued. “And a woman came by and said your Politzei friend had sent her.”
    I rubbed my forehead. I’d forgotten about Tony’s girl. “Did you figure out what’s wrong with her car?”
    â€œMercy!” he snapped, insulted.
    â€œNo insult meant. Was it something worth fixing?”
    â€œWiring harness is bad,” he said. “Mercy . . .”
    I grinned because I’d seen the effect this woman had on “I’m married to my job” Tony. “You like her,” I told him.
    Zee grunted.
    â€œDid you give her a quote?”
    â€œHaven’t talked to her yet,” he said. “She’s got poor and proud written all over her. She wouldn’t let me give her a lift, so she and her kids walked home. She doesn’t have a phone number except a work phone.”
    I laughed to myself. There was more than one reason that Zee didn’t have the kind of money the older fae generally amass.