Kitty's House of Horrors (12 page)

“Yeah.”

She leaned forward. “He’s making Jeffrey and me nervous. Jeffrey says the guy doesn’t even
have
an aura.”

“Then you know more about what he is than I do.”

“Kitty, he’s your friend and you went through something together, I understand that. But that hypnotism, or whatever it was,
freaked me out. It’s not that he was inside my head, it’s like he’s still there. Poking around my senses, looking through
my eyes.” The expression in her gaze was wild.

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t begin to understand what she was experiencing. What was strange: I didn’t question what
she had told me. Odysseus Grant was capable of anything. “Why would he do that?” I said.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Maybe he doesn’t trust me to tell the truth.”

“Maybe I could talk to him. Hell, maybe you should talk to him—he’s not a mean guy.”

“I can’t do that!” She leaned forward, setting her head in her hands. “He scares me.”

Enough. This was getting out of control. “Tina, I believe you when you say something’s going on. But I also think this whole
situation is designed to manipulate us, make us paranoid until someone loses it and one of us shape-shifts or starts sucking
blood or speaking in tongues. So we just need to keep it together.”

Straightening, she took a deep breath. “Okay. Right. You’re right. I’m not going to freak out. But you will talk to Grant?”

“Yes. Tomorrow.”

She leaned over for a hug, and I complied. Poor Tina. She must have been even more sensitive to living in a house full of
weirdos than I was. All that strange psychic energy, with her in the middle of it. At least Jeffrey understood what she was
going through. Jeffrey—I smelled him on her hair. Just a little. As if she’d been leaning on his shoulder. Aw… I didn’t say
anything, but I wanted to. Later.

I loved the idea that at least one good thing might come out of this show.

I
couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning for a couple of hours. Maybe if I got up, took a walk, and drank another glass of wine,
I could relax.

Outside, the air had a predawn chill, making my breath fog. I loved mornings like this, especially waking up outside after
a full moon, naked, curled up with Ben, my skin tingling at the combination of warm bodies and cool air. I could enjoy the
world as it seemed to pause and take a breath before my crazy life started up again. Watch the sky get light, try to notice
the moment it turned from night to gray dawn to palest blue, then watch the sun rise.

I went down the path to the edge of the meadow. A mist lay across the valley, drifting over the surface of the lake, clinging
to the grass in the meadow, lacework fog waiting for the sun to burn it off. Atmospheric rather than obscuring. I felt better,
even if I wouldn’t be getting any more sleep.

Back at the lodge, Dorian was standing at the end of the porch, leaning forward against the railing and gazing out over the
clearing. I scuffed my feet up the path to make noise, so I wouldn’t startle him. He glanced at me slowly, like I’d woken
him from a spell.

“Hi,” I said. “I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see you in daylight, without the escort.”

He chuckled but didn’t offer any additional commentary. He might have been the quietest guy I’d ever met.

I should have left him alone to enjoy the moment, but I might not have another chance to talk to him without the vampires.
I kept my distance, watching him watch the world. The morning sun was still low in the sky, but it turned the valley golden,
the light seeming to paint every tree, every blade of grass. The sky was bright blue, and a hawk was soaring over the meadow.

“It’s a nice morning,” I said, wincing at the awkward conversational gambit.

“Yeah,” he said. “I like to do this sometimes. Stay up to watch the sunrise.”

“When Anastasia lets you off the leash?”

His smile turned wry. “It isn’t like that. I don’t have to ask her permission.”

“And you can leave her whenever you want?”

“I wouldn’t want to.”

I’d already gotten more from him than I expected. I should have quit while I was ahead. “Can I ask a personal question?”

He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no. He had a great smile, which suddenly made me want to ask what was so funny.

“Are you in training?” I said. “It’s my understanding that some people in your position are serving some kind of apprenticeship,
and that they hope to become vampires someday.”

“No, I’m not. I’d miss this too much to ever give it up.” He nodded at the sunlit world. “Anastasia’s offered. To turn me,
I mean. But I think I like being alive too much. I stay with her because we’re friends. It’s not so mysterious.”

“I’ve talked to people who’d give a lot to be in your position. Who’d jump at the offer to become a vampire.”

“I listen to your show,” he said. “And no offense, but a lot of your callers are either crazy or looking for attention.”

I decided I really liked Dorian. He’d never call in to my show, because he knew how to fix his own damn problems.

“Yeah,” I said, grinning. “Can’t argue. So what about the immortality? The power? You’re not attracted to that?”

“There’s the price for all that,” he said. “I’ve seen it up close. It’s not worth it.” He glanced away, shaking his head.

“You are wise beyond your years,” I said.

“If you say so,” he said. “Now. Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Fire away.”

“Are you one of those people who went looking for this? Did you want to be a werewolf?”

I said, “If the first question people ask about vampires is ‘How old are you?’ that’s usually the first question people ask
lycanthropes.”

“If you don’t want to answer, I understand—”

“I was attacked. I wasn’t looking for it.”

“You seem to have done pretty well with it despite that,” he said.

“It was either that or go completely crazy. I got pretty close to that, by the way.”

He glanced away for a moment. “That’s true of most of this, isn’t it? Cope or go crazy.”

“Any bets on which way Conrad will go when all this finally hits him?”

“He’s a basket case waiting to tip over.”

I giggled. Wouldn’t that be worth the price of admission? I turned back to the door. “I’ll let you enjoy your sunrise. It’s
been very nice talking to you, Dorian.”

“Likewise,” he said, with that gorgeous smile.

I left him to his sunny morning. It was hard enough to find a quiet moment of solitude around here without me wrecking it.

Next I called Ben, needing to rant to a friendly ear and hoping to get some outside perspective on whether we were all turning
freaky paranoid or if something weird really was going on. Not only was he already awake, he didn’t even let me say hello.
“Hey,” he said. “I’ve got something for you. A message from Rick.”

I perked up. “It’s about”—I didn’t even want to say her name—“what I asked you about?”

“Yeah. First he wanted to know if this is the Anastasia who’s medium height, Chinese, with a sense of humor.”

“Yeah, that’s her,” I said.

“Then he knows her. Met her a hundred or so years ago in San Francisco—and can I just mention how surreal it is talking to
Rick about this sort of thing?”

“What does he know about her?” This was the jackpot. I hadn’t expected Rick to know Anastasia; I’d been grasping, throwing
the name out there hoping he’d have some inkling of her reputation. It turned out vampires moved in a very small world indeed.

“She was the lieutenant of the Master of San Francisco. Sometime in the 1920s, a new Master took over and Anastasia vanished.
Rick said he was never sure if she left to save her own skin—or if she’d colluded with the new Master by betraying the old.
Since then, he’s caught a rumor of her every decade or so. She tends to keep her head down. He was surprised to hear about
her being part of this show. He’s not sure what her game is or where her loyalties are. He says he likes her but doesn’t trust
her.”

So much for my paranoia being all in my head. The slice of vampire soap opera didn’t help me much—I’d have preferred a definite
“friend” or “enemy” stamp to put on her. Even Rick telling me to get the hell away from her would have been some help.

“Great. Now what?”

“I don’t know. Just keep on sticking it out. Though Rick did say he’d be interested in any good gossip you could pass along.”

“I’m sure he would be. It’ll have to wait until I’ve figured out what’s going on here.”

Ben let out a long-suffering breath in preparation for a speech. It was kind of cute—we’d been married a year, and I could
already tell his mood by the sound of his breathing.

“Kitty, have you considered that maybe
nothing’s
going on? That maybe the whole reality show setup has you paranoid because you’re expecting there to be a plot? Maybe they’re
having you on.”

I rubbed my face. All this conspiracy was making me tired. “I hope you’re right.”

He hesitated, then said, “Okay. Now I’m worried. You’re supposed to argue with me.”

I chuckled. I didn’t want to argue. “The thing is, Tina’s really anxious, and she usually knows what she’s talking about.”

“All you can do is keep your eyes open. Kitty, I have to get going. I have to be in Cañon City this afternoon.”

Cormac’s hearing was in the morning. I said, “That’s way more important than my little issues. Break a leg.”

“I’m not sure that’s appropriate here, but thanks. And you be careful.”

“Ha—so you do think something weird’s going on.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Kitty,” he said, still in the long-suffering voice.

A
nother day in the funhouse began. My project before lunch was to corner Grant and talk to him about Tina. Jeffrey cornered
me first, when I was in the middle of a cup of coffee.

“Kitty, can we talk?”

Oh, why me? I’m a werewolf. I was supposed to be a scary monster, not everyone’s favorite confidante.

“Yeah, sure,” I said with a sigh. We settled on one of the sofas and leaned in close.

“I’m worried about Tina,” he said.

“Me, too,” I said. “She came and talked to me last night.”

“Whatever’s going on here, it’s affecting her deeply. I think hypnotizing her may have made it worse. I think Grant may have
opened her up to something dangerous.”

“Jeffrey.
What
exactly do you think is going on?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking forlorn, as sad as I’d ever seen him. “Everyone’s nervous, even the crew. But I can’t tell
if they’re nervous because they know something, or because they’re sharing a house with werewolves and vampires.”

“Here’s the problem,” I said. “Everyone’s convinced something freaky is going on, but nobody knows what. Maybe it’s psychosomatic,
maybe it’s all in our heads. We’re letting the atmosphere get to us. But if there is something, we need to brainstorm. Is
the place haunted? Is the whole show a conspiracy? If so, why? For what purpose? And who here is in on it?”

He shook his head. For all his talent, empathy, and insight, this was outside his experience. “I couldn’t even begin to guess
what it means. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

You’d think if we all pooled our experience, we could come up with something. I couldn’t imagine a more qualified bunch of
people to deal with any problem involving the supernatural. Excepting Conrad, of course.

I said, “Can I just say that I think it’s really cute that you’re so worried about Tina?”

That got him to blush. Ducking his gaze, he donned a wide, goofy smile. “She’s pretty special.”

I patted his arm. “We’ll figure this out. Don’t worry.”

Tina came downstairs then, and Jeffrey was at her side in a moment, walking with her to the kitchen and asking if she wanted
coffee. They looked like a couple of teenagers.

Maybe we should just chuck the whole freaking-out-Conrad storyline and call the show
Real World: Supernatural Edition.

T
oday was picnic-by-the-lake day. We had more beautiful weather, blue sky and blazing sun. We had a lovely spot, a narrow beach
of smooth gravel near a well-kept wooden dock suitable for parking canoes and jumping off of to swim. With the meadow and
mountains as a backdrop, the scene was postcard picturesque and would play very well on television. The half dozen of us who
took part had spread blankets on the ground and happily munched on another great catered meal.

Tina and Jeffrey sat on the dock, the cuffs of their jeans rolled up, dangling their feet in the water. Ariel stood at the
end of the dock in a cute bikini, black with white polka dots, an ensemble that was no doubt making Provost back in the production
room very happy. Lee was already swimming—fully human—and trying to get her to join him.

“But it’s
really
cold!” she complained after dipping in just a toe.

“It’s
great.
This is
perfect!
” he countered.

“Keep in mind, he’s used to swimming in the Arctic,” Jeffrey said.

“How about I just stay out here and
watch
you?” Ariel said.

Lee slapped the surface and sent a shower of water splashing at her. Predictably, she squealed. Unpredictably, she jumped
in after him and they started a full-on splashing water fight. Much laughter and shrieking ensued.

I reminded myself that I was supposed to be enjoying this. That I
would
be enjoying this if I hadn’t nearly convinced myself that all this was a front. I should have been sprawling out on my blanket
enjoying the scenery, but I was distracted, turned inward, gnawing on the issue like a dog with a bone.

Also present: Conrad and Jerome, who were talking sports together over chicken sandwiches. The vampires and Dorian were inside,
tucked safely away in darkness until nightfall. Odysseus Grant also joined us, which surprised me. I didn’t associate him
with bright sunlight. More like shadowy theaters and stage lights. He sat with his back against the trunk of a tall conifer,
up a little ways from the edge of the beach. His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows, but that was the only concession
to the great outdoors he’d made in his clothing. I was in shorts and a T-shirt.