Alvie and Gabriel say goodnight and I go up to my room to find Finn under the covers sleeping like the dead. He’s completely silent, not snoring or anything. I strip off and get into some shorts and a t-shirt before slipping under the blanket, doing my best not to wake him.
It doesn’t take long for me to drift off. I dream that I’m tied to a chair in the middle of the dance floor at Crimson. Around me are standing a circle of vampires, their eyes glowing red. I struggle against the rope that ties me down and the rough texture grates against my skin. All of the vampires I’ve eve
r met are here, even Antonia and Howard Herrington, despite the fact that they’re both dead.
At the head of the circle is Jeremy Whitfield, he steps forward and a slow, snakelike smile curls around his lips, almost to the point of a rictus grin. My eyes keep focusing on the edges of his lips as they curl and curl. Then he begins to laugh quietly, but increasingly it gets louder and the rest of the vampires join in. Suddenly he steps closer and glares down at me from his massive height.
Then he opens his mouth and says, “Did you think you could fool me?”
I gasp and open my eyes, the cold December sunlight is shining through the bedroom curtains. My entire face is pressed into Finn’s neck and his arms are snug around my waist. Okay, this sleeping in the same bed thing can’t go on for much longer, it’s only been one night and already the boundaries have started to blur. I’ll sleep downstairs on the couch if that’s what it takes. I try to slip away from him, but he feels me move and pulls me closer.
“Quit it, would you?” Finn groans, still half asleep.
“I will if you let go of me,” I hiss and this seems to wake him up. His eyes open blearily and he notices how close we are. Then he smiles knowingly and removes his arms from my waist. I scoot out of the bed and run into the bathroom.
I’m too embarrassed to go back into the room and face Finn, so I head downstairs in search of breakfast. Rita, Alvie and Gabriel are already up and have made a feast of toast, eggs and fried tomatoes.
“Where’s your mum?” I ask Rita, as I sit down at the table and butter myself some toast.
“She’s not feeling well, she’s going to stay in bed for the morning.” Rita answers with a solemn note to her voice.
A minute later Finn pops in the door in only his boxer shorts, the magical poultice has shed his wound and in its place is perfectly healed skin. He pats Rita on the head, scruffing her dark hair. “Look at me,” he exclaims, “good as new. I’ll have to get you to see to me the next time I’m injured.” He’s got a massive grin on his face.
This makes Rita scowl like nobody’s business. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” she threatens.
Finn laughs merrily and gives her a comical pat on the arse. Her expression sours even further and I have to hold back my laughter.
She lifts up her cup of coffee and walks over to the table. “You’re lucky I need you to let me stay in your house or you’d be growing a tail right now Finn,” she tells him darkly.
He shakes his head. “Lighten up misery guts,” he says, before pulling up a chair beside me and plopping food onto his plate.
Rita clears her throat. “By the way Finn, you wouldn’t mind if I had my clients come see me here today? They usually come by the house, but obviously that’s not going to work until it’s rebuilt.”
Finn chews on a piece of toast. “You should be nicer to the people you want to ask favours from,” he says, and I can tell he’s enjoying himself immensely.
Rita lets out a heavy sigh. “I healed your stupid leg didn’t I?”
“I suppose,” Finn accedes. “Go on then, you can bring them into the living room and do whatever it is you do in there. Just clean up the mess when you’re finished.”
“Fine,” says Rita sharply, spooning excessive amounts of sugar into her mug.
My curiosity piques. “What do you have clients for?” I ask.
“Rita and her mum do spells for people,” Alvie answers for her. “Small stuff like minor love potions, cures for acne, that kind of thing.”
My eyes widen with interest. “Don’t they wonder how you do it?”
“Lots of people believe in magic,” says Rita. “You’ll find that once you can achieve the results they want they don’t ask a lot of questions. Besides, how else are we going to pay the bills?”
“I guess it’s as good a job as any, I like that you’re using your magic to help people,” I admit, and Rita seems pleased.
Finn’s leg brushes against mine, I glance at him quickly and he winks with a mischievous expression on his face. So he hasn’t forgotten how we woke up this morning then.
I throw him a look of annoyance. “Can’t you put some clothes on?” I ask.
“My house, my rules,” he answers happily.
“I definitely don’t mind if you want to walk around topless,” Alvie puts in, wiggling his eyebrows.