The Accidental Vampire (26 page)

"You were out of your head, Elvi. She knows that. If the situation had been reversed and Mabel had been the one turned that day, or if it had been Casey, how would you feel?"

Elvi released a shaky sigh. She'd carried the guilt of that episode in her heart for five years and it wasn't going to wash away that easily. And she didn't want to think about it. It was time for a change of subject, she decided.

"Are you ready to talk about what happened earlier between us yet?" Victor asked suddenly, and Elvi glanced at him with alarm. This was not the topic change she'd wanted. She was not ready to talk about the possibility of their being lifemates.

When a brief, panicked search of her mind didn't turn up any ideas for another topic change, Elvi simply leaned forward and kissed him. In her experience, that was always a good way to silence a man. At least, it had always worked with her husband.

It worked well with Victor too, she realized when he caught her by the waist and drew her off the sofa to settle on his lap in the wicker chair.

Smiling against his mouth, Elvi slid her arms around his shoulders, and then stiffened when a sudden sharp pain exploded between her shoulder blades and vibrated outward, stealing her breath and consciousness.

"Elvi?" Victor murmured uncertainly when she went limp in his arms.

Pulling back, he used a hand to catch her face by the chin and tilt it back, frowning when he saw her closed eyes and pale, slack face. Concern immediately claimed him. It was one thing for her to faint at the climax of their lovemaking, that was normal for immortals on first joining, but they'd hardly started here.

"Elvi?" he said again and gently slapped her cheek. When he got no response, Victor started to move the hand at her back, intending to lift her and set her on the sofa so he could go get a wet cloth or something, but he froze when his hand brushed something hard.

Tugging her forward against his chest, Victor peered over her shoulder and down, his heart stopping at the sight of the arrow protruding from her back.

Chapter Fifteen

"I guess this means the first arrow wasn't an accident, and answers the question of who the target is," DJ murmured as he watched Victor pop another bag of blood to Elvi's teeth.

Victor grunted. In truth, he'd rather have been the target himself than see Elvi like this. He'd been frantic when he realized she'd been shot. Standing with her clasped against his chest, he'd crossed the sunroom, glancing out at the dark yard beyond as he passed the window. He hadn't seen anyone below, but the shooter could have been hiding in the shadows.

Leaving the hunt for her shooter for later, Victor had carried Elvi into her room to tend her, grateful that DJ and Mabel had chosen that moment to return home and that the younger immortal had come in search of him.

DJ had taken one look at Elvi on the bed with the arrow in her back, and promptly yelled for Mabel to bring blood up at once. He'd then slipped into Elvi's bathroom for some towels, and settled on the opposite side of the bed, offering support and encouragement as Victor began the incredibly delicate task of removing the arrow without causing further damage.

Mabel had arrived with blood just as Victor finished pulling the arrow. Much to his relief, Mabel hadn't gone into hysterics. She'd been upset and demanded to know what had happened, but hadn't gone about shrieking or fainting or anything of that ilk. Modern women, it seemed, were a sturdy bunch.

"Her wound is healing," Victor muttered as he switched blood bags. He'd already given her four bags and her wound was obviously closing. At least it certainly looked smaller to him, still she wasn't showing any sign of waking yet, but there would no doubt be internal damage to be repaired as well.

"The men are wondering what's going on," Mabel announced, returning from another blood run. "My bringing up all this blood has tipped them to the fact that something is going on."

"What did you tell them?" Victor asked, taking the blood from her and setting it on the side of the bed.

"Nothing, I just waved away their questions, and came back up here."

"They'll follow her up then," DJ said with a frown.

"They already have," Edward announced from the now crowded doorway.

Elvi heard the murmur of voices and wondered fuzzily who was standing outside her coffin talking. It was only when she opened her eyes that she recalled she no longer slept in a coffin. She was on her stomach in her bed, and her room was full of people. Victor, Mabel, DJ, Harper, Alessandro, and Edward were all there from the voices she could hear.

"Who would want to hurt Elvi?" Harper was asking with dismay.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," Victor said grimly.

Elvi frowned, trying to understand what they were talking about. Hurt her? Had someone hurt her? She'd barely asked herself the question when she spotted the bloody arrow on the side of the bed and recalled sitting on Victor's lap in the sunroom and a sharp pain in the back.

So that had been the source of the pain. She stared at the bloody arrow and recalled the one that had narrowly missed them at the furniture store. Elvi had been sure then that it was an accident and, if not, then it had been meant for Victor. She'd lived in Port Henry her entire life. No one here would harm her, she'd thought. And still thought that.

Elvi briefly struggled with what had happened, trying to make sense of it, and then stiffened as an idea struck her. She turned cautiously onto her back, relieved when there was no pain. It seemed she was healed.

"We must find who did this," Alessandro said furiously. "They can not hurt the Elvi. She is good woman, so bella, so sweet."

"Yes, and we will have to guard her until we do," Harper murmured.

"Then you'll be guarding the wrong person," Elvi announced, drawing their attention as she managed to sit up. While there was no pain, she was feeling a bit weak and suspected she needed more blood to replace that used up in the healing.

"Elvi." Victor hurried to the bed, concern on his face. "You shouldn't be moving around yet."

"I'm fine," she assured him, but was frowning at the weakness hampering her and asked, "Is there more blood?"

"I'll go get more," Mabel assured her and rushed from the room as the men moved to surround the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Harper asked, his face lined with concern.

"Fine," she repeated, then admitted, "A little weak maybe, but fine."

"What did you mean we'd be protecting the wrong person if we guarded you?" Edward asked curiously.

"I wasn't the target," Elvi announced.

"Elvi," Victor said, shaking his head. "You were shot in the back. You had to be the target."

"I don't think I was," she argued pleasantly.

"Well, I doubt I was. They'd hardly shoot through you to get to me."

"No, but—" Elvi fell silent and smiled at Mabel as she rushed in with four more bags of blood. Murmuring a "
thank you
," she accepted the bag Mabel held out and slapped it to her teeth, giving herself the time to try to find a way to explain what she was thinking. By the second bag, she'd decided that showing would be more effective than trying to explain and slid her feet off the bed to stand up.

"What are you doing?" Victor asked, sounding alarmed. "You shouldn't be up yet. Allow your body time to—"

"I feel fine," Elvi said with exasperation as she took the second empty bag away. "I'm not suffering any pain, and most of the weakness is gone thanks to the blood."

"Yes, but a little rest wouldn't go amiss," Harper said, cutting off whatever Victor had opened his mouth to say. Judging from his expression, it hadn't been as diplomatic as Harper's words and she suspected he'd done the man a favor by cutting him off.

"Probably," Elvi said agreeably as she accepted a third bag from Mabel, then added firmly, "and I will after I make one trip downstairs."

There was rumbling all around at this announcement, but Elvi ignored the men and leaned to whisper in Mabel's ear. When she'd straightened and her friend nodded, Elvi turned to the men.

"Come with me and I'll prove I wasn't the target," she said, then slapped the latest bag to her teeth and headed for the door.

The men followed, protesting the whole way, but Elvi ignored them, merely glancing back to see that DJ wasn't one of them following. She smiled around the bag in her mouth when Mabel caught the man's arm and urged him the other way, toward the door to the sunroom.

"Elvi, this is ridiculous," Victor said impatiently as he followed her downstairs and into the kitchen. "You should be resting and recuperating, not—You aren't going outside!" He exclaimed, catching her arm to draw her to a halt when he realized she was heading for the door.

"It's perfectly safe… for me. Maybe you should wait here, though," she suggested with sudden concern, but really wanted him to see this too. Her gaze slid to the others. "Do you think you could position yourselves around Victor in case the archer is still here? I don't think he'll shoot if he can't get a clear shot."

"Don't be ridiculous," Victor snapped when the men voiced their agreement. "I'm not the target—Wait for me," he snapped when she turned to head out of the house.

Much to her annoyance, the men decided it was better safe than sorry and surrounded both she and Victor the moment they were outside. Shaking her head, Elvi merely directed them off the deck and to the back of her property. Once there the whole group turned to peer up through the sunroom windows.

"What do you see?" she asked.

"Is that the DJ in the sunroom?" Alessandro asked with surprise, obviously not having noticed he hadn't come out with them.

"Yes," Elvi said, noting that only his upper body was visible from this angle, then repeated, "What do you see?"

There was a moment of silence as the men cast perplexed looks her way, then Harper said, "DJ sitting in the sunroom."

"No, you don't," Elvi argued.

"Si, we do," Alessandro assured her.

"No. You see the silhouette of DJ sitting in the sunroom," she pointed out. "The light is behind the chair and prevents you from distinguishing features."

"True," Edward acknowledged. "But—"

"Okay!" Elvi called out to the house and the dark shape of DJ began to shift, mutating and then separating into a seated DJ and a standing woman as Mabel repositioned herself beside the chair.

"What just happened?" Alessandro asked with confusion. "Is that the Mabel?"

"Yes," Elvi said. "She was sitting on DJ's lap, just as I was sitting on Victor's when I was hit by the arrow."

"They wouldn't have seen you," Harper said with realization. "Just his silhouette."

Elvi turned to Victor. "They were aiming for you. I just got in the way."

When he didn't argue, but stood frowning at the couple in the sunroom, she added, "I'll call Teddy about this in the morning and see what he can do. In the meantime, it might be better if you stay in the house… and away from windows."

Elvi found herself harassed back into bed after this little exercise. She didn't argue. The little jaunt had exhausted her. She obviously wasn't fully recovered yet. Leaving Mabel and the men to debate what they should do about the unknown assailant who seemed to be after Victor, Elvi trudged upstairs to her bed and fell asleep almost at once.

Of course, going to sleep so early had her waking early and Elvi opened her eyes to a treat she hadn't enjoyed for a long time; sunlight was backlighting the dark red blinds of her room, not getting in, but lightening them to a rose color. Smiling at the sight, she glanced toward the digital clock and caught her breath. It wasn't even noon yet. She could go out and work in the garden.

Pushing the sheets aside, Elvi hopped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. She was in and out of the shower and dressed in record time, and then flew from her room.

"Good morning," Mabel greeted her with surprise as she came around the corner into the kitchen-dining area. "You're up early."

"So are you." Elvi smiled at the woman. Mabel had started out working the day shift in the restaurant, but had found herself staying up later and later to keep Elvi company through the long lonely hours of the night when nothing in their small town was open. The woman had eventually adjusted to a later shift as well.

"'DJ and I went to bed right after you," she murmured. The blush that rose up to cover her cheeks seemed to suggest they hadn't spent the entire time sleeping.

Turning her face away to hide a grin, Elvi moved to the refrigerator and retrieved a bag of blood. She had the first bag while standing there with the fridge door open, then grabbed a second bag and slapped it to her teeth, closed the door and walked over to deposit the empty bag in the garbage can. Elvi then walked over to peer out the window while she waited for the second bag to disappear.

A little sigh slid around the bag in her mouth as she peered out at the sunlit yard. Maple trees, spruce trees and lilac trees lined the sides and back, interspersed with irises, rose bushes, climbing clematis and various other flowers. A birdbath sat near the back right corner by a white bower and as Elvi pulled the now empty bag from her teeth, she chuckled at the sight of two birds splashing and flapping around in it.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so close to the window," Mabel said with concern.

"Victor said I could go out in sunlight," Elvi reminded her as she threw out the second bag.

"Yes, but it will weaken you," Mabel told her. "You want to avoid it as much as possible."

Elvi snorted at the suggestion. Far from wanting to avoid it, she wanted to run out there and roll around naked in it. God, she'd missed the sun.

"Mabel's right," DJ announced coming into the kitchen from the foyer. "The more exposure you get, the more blood you will need."

"But I want to go outside in the garden," Elvi said and frowned at the childlike whine in her own voice. She turned to peer out at the yard, feeling like a penniless child staring through the window of a sweetshop, mouth watering over the sight of all those lovely treats, but knowing she couldn't have them.