Part 22 (1/2)
Jo frowned at this news and was about to tell them it was safe enough here, that Ernie had been the only one to figure out where the house was and that Leonius was apparently lying low for a while somewhere in South America, but before she could, Bricker continued, ”So he's out of the picture for now, and then we lost two more when Lucian made Victor and DJ stay in Port Henry.”
Nicholas raised an eyebrow. ”Port Henry?”
”It's a little town south of here,” he explained. ”The entire town knows they have vampires there.”
”What?” Nicholas asked with amazement.
Bricker nodded. ”They don't know about the nanos or anything, they just think they're traditional vampires. Still, that's more than they should know.”
”That's going to be a problem,” Nicholas said grimly.
”Yeah.” Bricker sighed. ”Lucian says the same thing. Apparently a lot of the people think it's all just a joke, but just as many don' t. Lucian thinks that's going to explode eventually and he made Victor and DJ stay there to deal with it when it happens.”
”Hmm,” Nicholas murmured, accepting the bag of blood Bricker held out.
”Well, maybe Nicholas and I could take their place and help after we get this all sorted out,”
Jo suggested.
Nicholas had been about to pop the blood bag to his mouth, but paused abruptly and turned a horrified look her way. ”What?”
”Well,” she said reasonably, ”you were already one, and I'd be a great hunter now that I'm an immortal too.” Anders snorted, and Bricker muttered, ”Yeah, right. It would be like I Love Lucy meets Dracula.”
”What's I Love Lucy?” Jo asked with confusion. She thought she might have heard of some old show called that, but had no idea what it was about.
”Never mind,” Nicholas muttered, and then glanced to the doorway as Mortimer led Thomas in.
”Jeanne Louise is coming,” Thomas announced as Mortimer moved to the refrigerator to retrieve himself a bag of blood. He held it up and offered it to Thomas, and when Nicholas's brother took it, fetched himself another.
”Good,” Jo said with a smile of relief. ”Then this could all be over soon. ”
”Jo,” Sam said with concern.
”What?”
Sam hesitated, and then gestured for her to follow and headed out of the room.
Jo raised her eyebrows, but trailed Sam out of the kitchen and up the hall to the living room.
When her sister settled on the couch, Jo dropped to sit beside her and asked, ”What is it?”
Sam bit her lip, but then sighed and said quietly, ”I know you're hoping that Jeanne Louise knows something that will help here. But even if she does know what Annie wanted to tell Nicholas that night, it might not be enough to exonerate him.”
”It has to,” Jo said quietly. ”Nicholas didn't kill that woman. I know it.”
”I know you believe that, and I tend to agree with you. He certainly doesn' t act like someone who could kill a woman, but...” She paused and shook her head. ”I just don' t want you to get your hopes up and then crash if things don't work out.”
”Hope is the only thing I have right now, Sam. I don't know what I' ll do if we can't prove Nicholas didn' t kill that woman.” Jo swallowed, and then said, ”I love him, Sam. More than anything or anyone in the world. And I'm not going to see him die. I can't.”
Sam closed her eyes and shook her head. ”I'm so sorry.”
”For what?” Jo asked quietly.
”For everything. This is all my fault. I didn't want to turn and leave you and Alex behind in ten years, so I had that party hoping you and Alex might be life mates for immortals.”
”I am,” Jo pointed out quietly. ”And we' ll find Alex someone too.”
”But what if Nicholas is executed?” Sam asked worriedly. Jo was silent, but then shook her head and stood up. ”I can't think about that. I won't think about it. Nicholas is innocent and I'm going to find a way to prove it... either that, or I' ll find a way to get him out of here and live on the run with him. I'm not losing him now. I can't.”
”Jo,” Sam began worriedly, but she shook her head.
”Save it, Sam,” Jo said quietly. ”You aren't going to talk me into being reasonable. I'm not like you.”
”What does that mean?” she asked with a frown.
Jo glanced away, but then turned back and said, ”I just mean you're overly cautious. You think more with your head than your heart. Which is good in some ways, but it means you take the safer route all the time. No matter how you feel. You weigh and measure all the pros and cons and then base your decisions on what sounds least risky rather than what your heart tells you.” She sighed and then added, ”It's why you stayed with your ex so long after you should have left and why you haven't let Mortimer turn you yet.”
”I haven't let Mortimer turn me yet because it would mean leaving you and Alex in ten years,” Sam said at once.
”Bulls.h.i.+t,” Jo responded.
”What?” Sam asked with surprise.
”I said, bulls.h.i.+t,” Jo repeated grimly, ”You haven't let him turn you because you're afraid that he' ll turn out just like your ex and suddenly stop loving you and start finding flaws. That's what happened with that jerk Tom, so the data tells you that could happen with Mortimer.
You're just using Alex and me as your excuse.”
”No, I-”
”You could have turned and then tried to find life mates for Alex and me,” Jo pointed out.
”You would have had ten years to find them, but you didn't go that route... because turning would make it irrevocable.” She paused and then said, ”I'm turned now. What excuse will you use if you find Alex a life mate too?” *
Sam bowed her head and admitted in a low voice. ”I don't know how he can love me, Jo. He sees me through rose-colored gla.s.ses right now, but how long will that last? One day he's going to wake up and notice that I have no b.o.o.bs, and I have k.n.o.bby knees, and-”
”Sam, he already knows that,” Jo said quietly, and then glanced toward the door as a phone rang in another room. It rang twice and then stopped, and she glanced back to her sister with a sigh. ”Sam, Mortimer loves you as you are. And from what I understand, that doesn't change between life mates.”
Sam glanced up, her expression torn as she pointed out, ”But Tom said he loved me too.”
Jo sat down next to her again and took her hands in her own. She waited for her sister to meet her gaze and then said quietly, ”Sam, the problem isn' t that he'll fall out of love with you, but that you've never learned to love yourself.” She let that sink in and then forced a smile and said lightly, ”Besides, the nanos put us at our peak, right? So maybe they' ll put some meat on your bones.” She squeezed Sam's hand and teased, ”You might even get b.o.o.bs and finally be able to shed training bras.”
”Nice,” Sam muttered dryly.
Jo chuckled and then glanced to the door at the sound of approaching footsteps. Her eyebrows rose in question when she saw Bricker appear in the doorway.
He glanced at them curiously and then said, ”Mortimer sent me to tell you that Jeanne Louise is on the way up the drive.”