Part 48 (2/2)
Tony faced the five closed doors at the top of the stairs and pointed toward the northeast corner where Leah had placed the weak spot. ”That room.”
”Oh, my G.o.d!” The fourteen-year-old grabbed at Lee's sleeve. ”That's my room.”
”May I see it?”
Tony would have shown him anything if asked in that tone. If the renewed shrieking was any indication, he wasn't the only one.
Fourteen raced in to tidy up while her sixteen-year-old sister tried to convince Lee that her room was infinitely better. Mom pointed out that he'd find the master suite not only bigger but more comfortable. The wink, wink, nudge, nudge was strongly implied.
Once in fourteen's bedroom, after his vision adjusted to the Day-Glo That '70s Show decorating, Tony discovered that the closet door was missing, replaced by a curtain of multicolored beads. The weak spot filled the s.p.a.ce. With any luck, it was practice making the s.h.i.+mmer easier to see, not the imminent arrival of a host of demons.
”I might need to look at the other bedrooms,” Lee said thoughtfully, when Tony gave him the sign.
More shrieking.
It suddenly became clear why Lee was willing to face demons. Demons were quieter.
Nine down. Eighteen demons were still eighteen demons too many.
”Where to after this?” Lee asked sotto voce as they walked side by side down the porch stairs. This prime s.p.a.ce had opened up when Mom had been forced to physically intervene before an argument over who'd walk beside Lee to the curb had come to blows.
”I'm meeting Henry at a construction site,” Tony told him as, behind them, fourteen accused sixteen of having been in her face her entire life. ”You're okay driving Amy home?”
”Sure. You'll get some sleep? I mean, later.”
”I don't need much.”
”I have to admit you look better than you did.” Lee's gaze skittered across the side of Tony's face and ended up locked on the path. ”Better in a medical sense. We're all worried about you.”
Tony took a few seconds to examine and abandon several possible responses before sticking with tradition. ”I'm fine.”
”You've lost a lot of weight.” ”When this is over...” He paused as sixteen threw in an oh, grow up too vehement to talk over. ”... I'll gain it back.”
”I'm not saying you're looking less studly; I'm saying you look a bit thin is all.”
Studly? Tony tripped over a bit of concrete edging. Lee grabbed his arm and yanked him roughly back onto his feet.
”Guys!” Amy's voice cut through the October evening like a siren. ”We've got incoming fen!”
Fourteen and sixteen buried the hatchet and began yelling at their friends to hurry.
Several voices shrieked, ”Oh, my G.o.d, it's Lee Nicholas!”
Several more shrieked, ”Lee, I love you!”
Tony's car was across the street and half a dozen houses down. Lee had found a spot barely twenty meters away. ”Run!” Tony gave him a shove. ”You can make it to your car!”
”What about you?” Lee demanded as the shrieking lost vocabulary and degenerated into a primal fannish keen.
”Don't worry about me, once you're gone, they'll calm down.”
”What if they don't?”
”d.a.m.n it, Lee, run!” Just for a second, Tony was sure he heard an overwrought soundtrack, then Lee turned and sprinted for his car, digging out his keys as he ran.
A chime as the doors of the new Mercedes SUV unlocked.
”Amy!”
”Already here.” She glared across the hood as Lee raced for the driver's door. ”And do you have any idea how much gas one of these things uses?”
”It's bio-diesel!”
”No s.h.i.+t?” Half in, she leaned out for another look and nearly went flying as Lee pulled away from the curb. She dragged herself in and as the door closed, Tony heard Lee getting an earful of Spanish profanity.
At least Tony thought it was profanity. He didn't speak Spanish.
News to him that Amy did.
As the crowd realized they'd lost a chance to get up close and personal with the actor second billed in the opening credits of the highest rated vampire detective show on syndicated television, they turned their nearly hysterical, thwarted gaze on Tony. Just in case Lee hadn't been impressive on his own, Tony was wearing his show jacket to impress the homeowners.
The crowd didn't know who he was or what he did, but they knew he was with the show.
They were between him and his car.
He'd never make it.
This was not the time for discretion.
Bright side, no one would believe this lot anyway.Tony grabbed for his focus, reached for his fly, and snapped out the Notice Me not.
There was a security guard on duty at the first construction site. A six-foot-four ex-cop from Ghana, he was studying to be an EMT. With an exam coming up, the odds were good he'd have never noticed a quiet visit tucked in between his appointed rounds, but Henry leaned just enough to raise the odds a little more and then went out to meet Tony.
Although the last of the evening's commuters kept the traffic fairly heavy over on Norland Avenue, Ledger Avenue-where the condominium complex was being built-was nearly empty. Henry heard Tony's car before he saw it. Even knowing it was there, it was nearly impossible to keep his attention on it. He found himself distracted by the hearts beating all around him; by the scent of blood, warm and contained; by the hundreds of thousand of lives that could be his for the Hunting.
Snarling, he forced himself to watch as the car stopped and the driver's side door opened and...
There was a woman singing in a third-floor apartment across the road. The song was melancholy, and it told him he'd be welcomed should his Hunt take him to her door.
A touch on his shoulder.
He whirled, grabbed a fistful of fabric, and slammed someone, something to the pavement-the familiar scent registering a moment too late.
”f.u.c.king ow, Henry! That hurt!”
”Tony.” Lying at his feet. Heart racing. Glaring up at him as if this was somehow his fault. ”I see. You used the Notice Me Not again.”
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