The first thing I did when I woke the next morning was touch the chain around my neck to make sure the cross was still there. As soon as my fingers touched it, a sense of security eased the tension in my muscles. For the first time since Carl showed up, I felt really relaxed in bed and ended up dozing off again. A loud knock on my bedroom door a while later woke me properly.
Bleary-eyed, I practically fell out of bed trying to see what was going on. Peter stood outside my bedroom door, eyeing me with a smug grin.
“Thought you wanted to be early?” he said, clearly delighted he caught me unawares.
“Shut up,” I croaked as I shoved past him. “Lemme shower. Put on the kettle.”
“Face is better I see,” he called after me.
I checked in the bathroom mirror and sure enough my face was almost totally healed. A shadow of a bruise remained, but it was so light that a touch of concealer would cover it.
“Who is that guy?” I muttered, wondering what else Eddie could come up with.
I took a quick shower before heading into the kitchen. Peter and Carl were both sitting on the sofa eating sloppy breakfast rolls in silence.
“One on the counter for you,” Peter said, his mouth full.
I glared at him suspiciously, but he seemed in good form, so I figured it was worth trying out the food. I was pretty hungry, even with the chain around my neck. The food looked greasy but tasted delicious. Peter raised an eyebrow as I wolfed it down.
“Quick metabolism,” I told him, my cheeks flushing. I had always had a huge appetite. When I was a kid, my grandmother went through a phase of trying to starve the demon out of me. It didn’t work. I got so hungry that I bit a kid in school. My fangs hadn’t grown yet, but it scared her enough that she went back to feeding me properly.
“Why are you here so early, anyhow?” I asked Peter after a few minutes, breaking the awkward silence.
Peter crushed the greasy wrapper from his food and stood to throw it into the bin.
“Figured we need some sort of plan before we go storming vampire bars,” he replied.
“So how are we working the bar?”
He sat back down next to Carl, who had fallen asleep again.
“Think he’s okay?” Peter asked in concern.
I shrugged. “Can’t be great. He nods off a lot. I sort of ordered him to take care of his needs, didn’t mean it quite like this.”
To my surprise, Peter laughed out loud. “What?” I asked.
“If he starts taking care of all of his needs in public, I’m holding you responsible,” he said, waiting for me to catch on.
My cheeks burned with embarrassment as it dawned on me what kind of needs he was talking about. Peter laughed heartily again at my expression.
“Don’t be twelve,” I said, trying to look serious.
“Okay, okay,” he said, making an attempt at sobering up. “So, he does whatever you tell him?”
“Just about,” I said.
“I wonder if he understands what’s going on. Must be awful to have no say in anything you do.” Peter grimaced in disgust. Then he caught my stare, and a glimmer of regret flashed across his face.
“So, yeah, the bar,” he said. “I know a girl who works there. Where did you find Carl?”
“An alleyway off Herbert Street.” I could never forget that detail.
