Bite Me If You Can Read online

Chapter Eight

 

  "Wait!" Lucian hurried up the hall. He caught up to Rachel and Etienne as they stopped to don their shoes and coats. "What about the girl?"

  "You mean Leigh?" Rachel asked pointedly.

  "Yes. Leigh. "

  "What about her?" She shrugged into her jacket. "Marguerite asked us to come explain things to her, but you already have. "

  Lucian waved that away impatiently. "She needs training. She has to learn to control her teeth and all those other things a new vampire needs to know. "

  Rachel arched her eyebrows with amusement. "That's your problem. What's the matter, Lucian? Scared of her?"

  He stiffened and stared at her coldly. "I've been alive too long to be afraid of anything, or anyone, in this world. "

  "Hmmm. Yeah, you've seen and done a lot in your life, I suppose," she agreed, then added, "Accept live. "

  "Rachel," Etienne said in warning tones.

  "Explain yourself," Lucian snapped.

  "Have you loved anyone in your whole life besides that pitiful excuse for a man who was your brother?"

  "I gather someone's been telling tales about the dead," he said, sending a glare at Etienne.

  "Are we talking about you or your brother when talking about tales of the dead?" Rachel shot back. "Jean Claude was the only person you've cared about in several thousand years, and he wasn't worthy of it. Well, now you have a woman in that kitchen you can't read, or control, and we all know what that means. "

  "It means I'm tired and need to sleep so that I can read and control her," Lucian said shortly.

  She gave a snort. "Yeah, you tell yourself that. "

  Rachel turned to the door, then paused, and suddenly turned back. "Try to read me. "

  "What?" Lucian blinked in surprise at the challenge.

  "Let's find out if it's just tiredness. "

  "No," he said at once, but despite himself, his mind instinctively sought out hers at the suggestion. Lucian stiffened at the one thought that drifted to him.

  Coward.

  Spotting his reaction, Rachel smiled. It was a wide, satisfied smile. "You can read me. . . despite being tired. "

  Lucian neither denied nor acknowledged it, but his mind was in an uproar. He had read Rachel and he'd barely been trying.

  "But you can't read Leigh," Rachel continued, obviously enjoying herself. "She's your life mate. . . and you should be scared silly. "

  Lucian's eyes narrowed. "And why is that?"

  Rachel smiled. "Knowing what a cold bastard you are, you'll probably mess this up and drive her away. Then you'll miss out on the best thing that might have happened to you. "

  Lucian ground his teeth together but didn't fight back. He was hoping once Rachel had vented her spleen, she might be able to get past her anger with him. It would make things easier on everyone.

  Reaching out, she patted his shoulder and smiled. "Let's hope the loss doesn't turn you rogue so that we have to hunt you down and terminate your ass. I wouldn't want to upset Marguerite or Lissianna, who -- despite everything -- both seem fond of you. "

  Rachel then walked out, leaving Etienne frowning after her. Shaking his head, he turned to his uncle to offer lamely, "It's past our bedtime and she's tired. I'm sure you'll do fine with Leigh. Give me a call if you want any advice. "

  Lucian stared after the departing man with disbelief. Etienne was the last person he'd go to for advice. Dear God, he had nearly messed up his own relationship with Rachel, and would have lost her if it weren't for the intervention of his mother. Besides, Lucian told himself as he closed the door behind them, Rachel was wrong. Leigh wasn't his life mate.

  He leaned his forehead on the cool wood and closed his eyes, Rachel's words playing through his head. The young woman disliked him, and it colored everything that had to do with him, but -- despite his denial of it -- everything she'd said might be true.

  One of the signs of a life mate for their kind was an inability to read their minds or control them. Except for his long-dead wife, Lucian had never encountered that problem before -- not with a mortal or a newly turned individual -- and this wasn't the first time he'd been tired in his life. Added to that, he suspected their minds had connected while he'd slept on Lissianna's bed. He suspected he'd not had his own wet dream, but shared Leigh's. That was another sign of a life mate.

  If it was what happened, he told himself.

  Either way, he was suddenly feeling confused and unsure, something else he very rarely felt. He didn't know what was happening, and didn't even know what he wanted to happen.

  A life mate. A companion to live out eternity with. Someone of his own to love and greet the sunset with. It was what most immortals seemed to long for, but caring and loving meant being vulnerable to pain if that person was injured or died. Lucian had already suffered that once. He'd lost his wife and two young daughters in the fall of Atlantis. That loss wasn't something he wanted to experience anew.

  Straightening, he shook his head and told himself to take it one problem at a time. Right now he couldn't read or control Leigh. If it was a simple matter of exhaustion weakening his abilities, that was fine. After he rested he'd be able to read her. But if it wasn't that, if he couldn't read her even then. . . Leigh could be a life mate for him, and that meant being faced with the possibility of loving. . . and the chance of losing that love once more. Was he willing to give her up now, rather than suffer the pain of losing her later? Probably not. A life mate was a rare and wonderful gift. Having experienced it once, Lucian knew that, and he also knew -- if she was his intended life mate -- he'd do whatever it took to keep her.

  Sleep, he told himself. Despite being able to read Rachel, he was sure he just needed to rest and then would be able to read Leigh. All of this worry might be for nothing.

  But he couldn't sleep right away. He had to contact Bastien, or Mortimer and Bricker to see how the hunt for Morgan was going. He also needed to arrange for cleaners to give the house a proper going over.

  Lucian supposed he'd also have to arrange for groceries for Leigh. She was newly turned so would still want to eat. And he had to find someone to teach her how to control her teeth and those other things she needed to know to survive as one of them. He simply didn't have the patience for it. Unfortunately, Etienne and Rachel obviously weren't willing, and he still didn't want to trouble Lissianna and Greg with it. Lissianna wasn't just close to giving birth, she was also in the midst of moving. The couple had sold their apartment and bought a house outside the city where they could raise their son or daughter. But that still left Jeanne Louise, or Thomas.

  "Lucian?"

  He turned slowly, almost reluctantly. Leigh had come out of the kitchen and now walked down the hall toward him. And she looked tired, he noticed. "Would it be all right if I went and lay down for a while? I seem to be tired again. "

  "Of course," he said quickly, relieved not to have to deal with her at the moment. Between his exhaustion and the business he had to take care of, he didn't have time to handle her, too.

  Nodding, Leigh moved past him to the stairs, then hesitated. "I appreciate you bringing me here and taking care of me. I'll try not to be too much of a burden. " She paused, then added, "I know you'd rather be out hunting Morgan. It's important he's stopped before he turns some other unsuspecting human. I'll understand if you want to go. I'd muddle through somehow. I mean, you guys had to learn it all on your own after the fall when the nanos changed you. I'm sure I can figure it out as I go along. "

  Lucian felt his heart soften. She looked so small and lost as she made that offer, he knew she was hoping he'd reject it. He found himself with the unexpected urge to take her in his arms and make everything better. Instead, he simply said, "Go to sleep, I'll find someone to help me help you. I'll make some calls while you rest. "

  Lucian sensed her hesitating at the foot of the stairs as he picked up the phone to, yet again, dial Thomas's number. It wasn'
t until the phone began to ring in his ear that he heard her quiet footsteps move upstairs. He let the phone ring several times before hanging up, then moved into the library to settle at the desk and use the phone there to make his calls.

  First, he called the cleaning service that took care of his own home. Unfortunately, it would take a while for them to get a crew together on such short notice and the best they could do was promise they'd have someone at the house later in the day. He then called Mortimer's cell phone. He woke the man from a dead sleep, only to learn that Morgan appeared to have dropped off the face of the earth, as had the Donny that had escaped with him. There had been no more charges on the credit card since his last call. Morgan had apparently holed up somewhere, so Mortimer and Bricker were taking the opportunity to rest.

  He called Bastien next, waking him up as well. Lucian didn't apologize, but simply asked him to get to work on getting replacement credit cards and ID together for Leigh when he could, a task he realized was impossible the moment Bastien asked for her full name. Lucian couldn't believe it, but he had no idea what her full name was. Frustrated, he promised to get the information when she woke up, and then tried to call Thomas again. . . and again without success.

  Jeanne Louise was his last hope at that point, and Lucian dialed her number with his jaw clenched, then almost sagged with relief when the phone was answered.

  "Hi! This is Jeanne Louise. "

  "Jeanne Louise?" Lucian said quickly. "This is -- "

  "If you're calling, you must be one of the few people in the world who hasn't realized I've gone on vacation with Mirabeau," her voice continued, and Lucian slumped in the desk chair as he realized it was an answering machine message.

  "If it's urgent, page me, but otherwise I should be back from Europe in two weeks. See you then!"

  He set the phone back with a sigh. Lucian considered paging her, but realized if she was in Europe, she wasn't much use to him. It appeared the universe was against him. A situation he wasn't used to at all. He liked to get his way, and worked to make sure it happened. He wasn't doing so well at the moment, however.

  Despite the possibility that she might be his life mate, or perhaps because of that, Lucian was more determined than ever not to train her himself. It was as bad an idea as a husband training a wife to drive, in his opinion, but it looked like he had no choice. He'd be training Leigh. . . unless he went over and hunted down Thomas in person. He was considering doing just that when he became aware of scratching at the French doors behind him. Standing, he moved to the door and shifted the curtain to see Julius on the other side, looking pathetic in the early morning fog drifting around him. It seemed he was ready to come in now.

  Lucian opened the door to let the dog back in, then ignored him and moved to the leather couch against one wall to lay down. He would take a nap there until the cleaners arrived, then figure out whether he should hunt down his nephew or not.

  Leigh slept for four hours, but was still weary enough when she opened her eyes that she might have rolled over and gone back to sleep if her conscience had let her. However, she was very aware that she'd done little more than sleep during the forty odd hours since escaping the house in Kansas, and felt guilty for such sluggardly behavior.

  A hard worker by nature, Leigh normally slept no more than six hours and filled the other eighteen hours of the day with work. Turning or no turning, sleeping this much didn't feel right. She forced herself to get up and went into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face, then went downstairs in search of her host.

  After a quick walk through the main floor, she found Lucian in the library. He was fast asleep on the sofa with Julius curled on the carpet before him. Leigh's gaze moved curiously over Lucian as she approached.

  He was a handsome man while awake, but his features had a cold, hard cast to them. In sleep, Lucian looked much different. His features were softer, as innocent as a child's, and she found herself smiling as she paused beside the couch.

  Leigh petted the dog absently when Julius lifted his head, then bent over Lucian and brushed a stray lock of pale hair away from his cheek. When he murmured in his sleep and turned his cheek into her touch, she felt her heart give an odd little kick in her chest.

  Smile fading, she withdrew her hand and simply stared at Lucian. It had been a long time since she'd had such a reaction to a man. Not since escaping the disastrous marriage she'd fallen into at twenty, a mistake it had taken her three years to flee. Once she had, however, she'd sworn to never again put herself in a position where a man had power over her. She'd taken her independence back and liked it. Even now, seven years later, she wasn't ready to risk it on another man. She'd been there and done that, thank you very much.

  Straightening, Leigh glanced around the room. Her gaze landed on the phone and paused there. It was noon according to the clock on the desk, which meant it was more than a day since Donny and Morgan had kidnapped her. Her absence would definitely have been noticed by now and people would be worried. She should really call Coco's and assure Milly -- her day manager and best friend -- that she was fine. She would also have to make arrangements for someone to replace her as night manager at the bar until she returned.

  Her gaze slid back to Lucian and her mouth twisted. Even without asking, she suspected he wouldn't be pleased if she made the call, but Coco's was her business, her responsibility. Turning away from the sleeping man, she headed for the door.

  Julius immediately got to his feet and lumbered after her. The dog followed her out of the room and along the hall to the kitchen, where he dropped to lay by her feet while she made coffee. There was just enough to brew one more pot, and she was still weary enough to need it.

  Leigh's gaze slid repeatedly to the telephone on the wall by the door as she worked, her thoughts distracted by the call she would need to make. Her staff at the restaurant were the closest thing to family she had. A motley crew of runaway wives and abandoned men, they seemed drawn to Coco's and considered her family in return. . . which could be something of a problem at times.

  Leigh smiled to herself faintly as she poured water into the reservoir. Troublesome as their affection and attitude could be, she wouldn't have it any other way. They worked together, played together, and celebrated the holidays together, closing off the restaurant to share a big meal and to open gifts. More important than all that, they cared about and looked out for each other like a family would. Which was rather ironic, she thought now. She hadn't been looking for family when she'd arrived in Kansas, she'd been fleeing the only family she had left -- Kenny, her abusive husband.

  She'd actually chosen Kansas City because Kenny had always denigrated it, but in the end she loved living there. With a population under 450,000, it was big enough to have everything, but small enough not to be as dangerous as New York and the other really big cities. She'd found the people warm and welcoming.

  Switching on the coffeepot, Leigh turned away, her eyes landing on the doughnut bag sitting in the center of the kitchen table. Crossing the room, she peered inside to see that there were still a couple of walnut crunches left.

  When the coffee was ready, she doctored it with sugar and the powdered milk they'd used that morning, then carried the mug to the table and pulled the bag of doughnuts toward her. Julius was immediately at her side, and Leigh smiled faintly at the dog.

  "Hungry?" she asked.

  Julius inched closer and sat on his haunches as he licked his chops. A sucker for the big-eyed, begging look, Leigh shared the doughnuts with him and decided he was a nice dog. He was a little silly looking with his wrinkly face, was as big as a small horse, and seemed to drool an awful lot, but he was also friendly and well-mannered.

  "That's it," Leigh announced as she gave him the last bite of doughnut.

  Julius accepted the offering, then immediately dropped to lie on the floor as he consumed his last bit of food.

  Leigh watched him, then glanced toward the
phone, knowing she couldn't put off the call any longer. Moving to the telephone, she wiped her hands nervously on her borrowed joggers, picked up the receiver and dialed the number to the restaurant.

  While eating, she had tried to come up with an excuse to explain her sudden absence and being in Canada. She could hardly leave Canada out of it when she'd have to leave this number with Milly in case there was an emergency, and it was obvious this wasn't a Kansas number. Since Milly knew she had no family left, claiming she'd been called north by a family emergency wouldn't work, so she'd settled on the lie that her best friend from Harvard had been in a terrible car accident and she'd rushed up here to offer her support. She hated to lie to Milly, but couldn't think of any other way to explain her sudden absence.

  Unfortunately, when the phone was answered and Leigh told her tale, the silence that followed was so long she knew her lie hadn't passed muster. She didn't understand why until Milly finally announced, "The police came to the restaurant with your purse yesterday. "

  Leigh felt her heart lurch. Her purse hadn't burned up in the fire. Donny and Morgan had left it where it fell. The idiots.

  "Some lady a block over from your place let her dog out to relieve himself, and when he came back, he brought your purse with him," she continued. "The woman called the police. "

  The German shepherd, Leigh recalled. He must have found it just moments after she was knocked out. He must have carried it home like Lassie. Great.

  "Leigh?" Milly sounded concerned.

  She forced a laugh and lied. "It was stupid of me. I got the call on my cell phone and was so distressed I guess I dropped my purse when I hurried home. I didn't even realize it was missing until I got inside, and then I thought I left it at the restaurant and didn't want to take the time to go back for it. "

  Silence echoed down the phone line until Milly finally asked, "How did you buy a ticket to Canada without your credit cards?"

  Leigh stiffened, but had always been a quick thinker; living with Kenny had taught her well.

  "I have a backup credit card at home. An old habit from when I was on the run from Kenny," she said. While she'd been on the run, no one had known her circumstances, but Milly now knew all about her past. The woman shared a similar one.

  "Uh-huh," Milly said. "And how did you get in your house? Your keys are still in the purse. "

  Leigh licked her lips nervously. "I keep a spare under the flowerpot on the front porch. "

  "Your cell phone was apparently in your purse, too. Hard to be distracted by a phone call if your phone is in the purse you leave behind in your haste. "

  Leigh sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Milly was smart. It was why she'd promoted her to manager after buying Coco's.

  "And just how did you cross into Canada without some form of ID?" Milly asked.

  Game, set, match, Leigh thought unhappily. Releasing her breath on a sigh, she let her hand drop to her side and straightened her shoulders. "Milly, I'm fine. Really. And I am in Canada, and I'd appreciate it if you'd overnight my purse to me here. "

  "The police have it," Milly said quietly, the tone of her voice saying she was still worried and wasn't happy.

  "The police?" Leigh echoed dully.

  "They seemed to think it was all pretty serious. First Donny went missing, then you disappeared and your purse was found lying in the middle of a sidewalk in the early morning hours. Everyone here's been a bit shook up, wondering who would be next. "

  "Of course," she murmured, her mind racing.

  "In fact, the police told us that if you or Donny made contact, we were to find out where you were and have you call them. . . then we were to call them ourselves," Milly informed her.

  Leigh clenched her fists, hardly aware of the way her nails were digging into her palms as panic crept up on her.

  "Do you want the officer's name and number?"

  "Just a minute, I need to grab a pen and paper," Leigh said, then pressed the phone to her chest. Her mind bounced wildly around inside her head as she tried to figure out what to do. It wasn't until her gaze landed on the labels beside the speed dial buttons on the phone that her thoughts cleared. The first button was labeled BASTIEN, the second read BASTIEN NYand she distinctly recalled Lucian saying that Bastien was the man to go to when there was a problem.

  Well, she couldn't wait until later in the day. Breathing out slowly, she snatched up the pen that hung from a cord attached to a message board beside the phone, then put the receiver back to her ear.

  "Go ahead, Milly. What's the officer's name and number?" she asked, then wrote it down as the woman read it out. Leigh made her repeat it once, then told her she'd call her back and hung up. She then lifted the receiver again and immediately pressed the speed dial number for Bastien in New York.

  The phone began to ring at once, and Leigh took a deep breath to steady herself, then winced when a sleepy male voice growled, "Hello. " She'd woken him up.

  "Hello. Bastien?" she asked.

  A grunt of acknowledgment was her answer, and Leigh took another deep breath then plunged in, "I'm sorry I woke you, but it's important. My name is Leigh Gerard. I'm. . . er. . . " She paused, at a loss, then asked, "I don't suppose you've heard of me?"

  "I have if you're the Leigh my uncle brought back from Kansas," Bastien answered, sounding suddenly awake and alert. She heard the rustle of material and suspected he was sitting up in bed to take this call.

  "Yes, that's me," Leigh said, relieved she wouldn't have to explain who she was.

  "Has something happened, Leigh?" Bastien asked. "Are you or Uncle Lucian hurt?"

  "Oh, no," she assured him quickly. "I mean something has happened, but no one's hurt. " Feeling guilty for waking him and then making him worry, Leigh explained about her phone call and what she'd learned, as well as the unfortunate events she'd set into motion.

  "So you see," she said at the end, "whether I call the police or not, Milly will, and I'm not sure what to do. If I call, they'll ask all the questions she asked, and I just don't know how to answer them. But if I don't call, she'll no doubt tell them what I said and -- "

  "I understand, Leigh. " Bastien sounded soothing, then cleared his throat and asked, "Can I ask you how you knew to call me?"

  "Oh. . . " She hesitated. "Well, Lucian said you were the one to go to if there's ever a problem. So when I saw your number on speed dial, I. . . well, I called. I thought you might know what I should do. "

  "I see. " There was a pause and then he asked, "Where's my uncle?"

  "Asleep on the library couch," she answered.

  "Right. " She heard more rustling, a lot of it, and suspected he was getting up and getting dressed. "You did the right thing by calling me, Leigh. I'll take care of this. "

  "Oh. " She blinked at the phone. Just talking about it had calmed her and made her feel more in control. Frowning, she said carefully, "I appreciate that, Bastien, but I didn't mean for you to solve this for me. I was just hoping you might have some idea how I should handle it. I didn't expect that they'd have left my purse behind so I wasn't prepared for the questions and -- "

  "It's all right, Leigh. Lucian was right when he said I handle these kind of situations all the time. "

  "Not for me," she said quietly. "I'm used to handling my own difficulties. "

  Bastien was quiet for a moment, then said, "Leigh, I don't want to take away your independence, but this is not a situation you're equipped to deal with yet. A phone call won't handle this. The officer and Milly and probably several other people at your workplace are going to have to have personal visits. Their memories will have to be altered and partially erased, and your purse retrieved. You're just starting to turn and can't do that. I'm afraid you're going to have to let me help you this time. "

  "But -- "

  "This isn't just for your sake, but for all of us," Bastien interrupted. "Anything that draws attention to one of us, draws attention to all of us.
Do you understand?"

  Leigh let out a slow breath. "I understand. "

  "Good. " The tension left his voice at her assent. "Now, you just relax and let me deal with it, and have my uncle call me when he gets up. All right? I may be in transit so have him call my cell phone. "

  "All right," Leigh said quietly, and wrote down the number he rattled off to her, writing Bastien's cell beside it. "Thank you, Bastien. "

  "You're welcome, Leigh. Keep a copy of that number yourself in case you need me again, okay?"

  "Okay," she agreed, then said good-bye and hung up.

  Leigh then stood there for a moment, frowning to herself. She really was used to handling her own problems, and wasn't terribly comfortable passing this one on to someone else. On the other hand, she knew he was right and she wasn't yet equipped to deal with it.

  She considered the phone for a minute, recalling that she'd told Milly she would call her back, then picked up the receiver and dialed the restaurant again.

  "Did you call the police?" Milly asked the moment Leigh identified herself.

  "I. . . Yes, but he was on another line when I called," she lied. "He must have been on the phone with you. "

  "Not me. I was caught on the phone myself," Milly told her. "Donny called. "

  "Donny?" Leigh asked sharply.

  "Yeah. He called and asked for you. "

  "What did you say?" Leigh asked.

  "I said you weren't here, you were visiting a friend in Canada, and then told him to call the police just like I told you. "

  "You're sure it was him?" she asked with a frown. Leigh had assumed that she'd heard the last of Donny.

  "As sure as I can be. He's got a pretty distinctive voice, Leigh. "

  She nodded to herself at that comment. Donny wasn't originally from Kansas City either. He was a transplant from New Jersey with a thick Jersey accent. He'd never told her why he'd moved, and she hadn't asked. She'd learned during her time hiding out from her husband that it was best not to ask questions of others that you didn't want asked of yourself. It was a habit that was hard to break now that she was no longer on the run.

  "He's not with you, is he?" Milly asked, and Leigh stiffened in surprise, her hand tightening around the phone.

  "No. What would make you think that?" she asked with amazement.

  "Well, he went missing, then you did -- "

  "No, he's not here. But he's obviously fine. Don't worry about him, Milly," Leigh said, then shifted the conversation to the restaurant. She gave her instructions on who should fill her position as night manager while she was away, discussed expected deliveries and bill payments, as well as orders that would need to be put in over the next couple of days.

  It was a long call, made longer by Milly's constant attempts to pin her down on when she'd be returning. Leigh was evasive and just kept steering the conversation back to business. She had no idea how long this would all take. She hadn't thought to ask either Lucian or Rachel and Etienne how long a turning took. In the end, she told Milly she'd call her back the next day with a date for her return, then said she was getting off to call the police and hung up.

  A glance at the clock told Leigh she'd been on the phone for more than an hour, and she grimaced to herself. She was in Canada, it had been long distance. She'd have to make arrangements with Lucian to pay for the call. She had no intention on sticking them with the bill when these people had rescued her from Morgan's house and were caring for her through the turn.

  Making a mental note to herself not to forget about the two calls to Milly in Kansas City, or the call to Bastien in New York, she ripped off the top page of the phone pad. Leigh copied Bastien's number from it onto the fresh sheet of paper left behind, then folded the original and slid it into the tiny front pocket of the joggers she wore. He'd said to keep his number in case she had any more problems, and she intended to do that.

  A whimper from Julius drew her attention then, and Leigh glanced to where he sat on his haunches, staring at her from across the room. The moment she looked his way, the dog stood and nosed the door beside him. It was wood with a window in the top half. Fortunately, the sunlight outside was blocked by a dark blind.

  When Julius whimpered again and continued to nose the door, Leigh raised her eyebrows and walked toward him. "What's the matter, fella? Do you have to go outside?"

  Pausing at his side, she used one finger to lift one of the flaps on the blinds and found herself looking out on the backyard bathed in sunlight. Releasing the blinds, she glanced down at Julius.

  "Are you a mortal dog, or an immortal?" she asked, then felt stupid. Not once had anyone mentioned the possibility of turning a dog. He was most likely mortal.

  Shaking her head at herself, Leigh unlocked the door and pulled it open, relieved to see there was an awning outside the door that kept the sun from creeping in to touch her. Reaching for the handle of the screen door, she opened it as well and held it while Julius slid outside.

  Once he was clear of the door, she let the screen close again and watched him run around the yard, sniffing here and relieving himself there. The backyard was huge, stretching the distance of a small football field, but Julius didn't move more than twenty or thirty feet away from the door at any time. Even so, he spent a long time jaunting about the yard, and she leaned against the door frame and simply watched, her thoughts drifting over the events of the last day or so and how her life had changed.

  When a scratching at the door caught Leigh's attention, she shook her thoughts away and focused on the dog standing on the other side of the door. It seemed Julius was finished relieving himself on every available bush and was ready to come back in.

  Smiling faintly, Leigh opened the door, then closed and locked both the screen door and the wooden inner door behind him. She then crossed to the cupboards to take another look for food. Her stomach was actually beginning to cramp with hunger. Leigh supposed she'd need more food than usual as her body adjusted to all the changes it was going through.

  She'd just opened the cupboard doors when the doorbell chimed. Leigh stiffened with her hand on the cupboard door, briefly frozen. When the sound came again, she recalled Lucian sleeping in the library. Afraid the noise would wake him, she turned away from the cupboard and hurried out of the kitchen.