Her Perilous Wolf by Julie Steimle (best e book reader TXT) 📕

Troy grinned at him. “Obsidian blade?”

Shrugging, Doug thought they were wasting their time. However, he played along. “Sure. That’s… that’s a sharp blade.”

Troy smiled at him, patting Doug’s shoulder “It’s ok. You don’t have to humor me. I know I am weirding you out.”

Doug sighed with relief.

“Let me get you that book.” Troy turned and walked to a cupboard which, once open, exposed a number of books with peculiar titles. One of the volumes was Doug’s own book about blood pathology. He had published that under the pen name, Dr. Brokehouse. Next to it was a book entitled A Practical Survival Guide About and For Vampires by Dr. William McAllister. Troy took it down and handed it to him.

“You might find it amusing,” Troy said. “Dr. McAllister wrote it with his sister Eve—”

Then it dawned on Doug. “Wait a second. Dr. McAllister? Is he a blonde haired, blue-eyed Nordic kind of guy who specializes in bites?”

Troy nodded. “The same.”

Doug took in a breath. “I’ve met him.”

Troy leaned back, blinking at him. “Really? When?”

“My daughter was attacked by cougar this summer. He checked out the bite on her arm at the request of Mr. Deacon…. His son was in the hospital at the same time. Car crash.” Doug felt a shiver go through him. “It was the same time Randon told me about you and your research.”

Troy nodded approvingly. “Ok then. So you know he is a good doctor.”

Taking the book, Doug held it up. “But why did he write this kind of thing?”

“Partly a joke.” Troy chuckled. “It payed for his college. But also, near their home was a vampire colony. His adoptive sister Eve was from that colony. Eve’s birth father had left her with his family when she was a baby, and she sort of has a similar condition to mine. The book was used to amuse the skeptics while at the same time educate those people who were in the know. It’s written rather tongue-in-cheek, full of vampire myths as well as real conditions that vampires deal with—as well as how to ward them off.”

“And how do you ward one off?” Doug murmured, feeling like he was entering the Twilight Zone, though his son Skyler would have called it the Upside-down.

Troy grinned with full teeth, his canines sharp and surreal to look at. “Garlic, my man. Eat lots and lots of garlic.”

Of course.

Yet Doug asked, “Did that save you?”

Sadly shaking his head, Troy murmured, “Nope. And I ate garlic in every meal those days. But they weren’t trying to bite me. They were trying to poison me.”

Doug exhaled hard, nodding.

“I think our time is up.” Troy then gestured to the door, indicating that Doug leave for the day. “I can pack up tissue samples for you to take home and test. Or if you want, we can schedule times when you can come over to use the lab. I’d put your fingerprint into the computer, but I’m afraid that someone might figure out you are coming here.”

“What about the security cameras?” Doug gestured to them. “Does Deacon Enterprises have access to them?”

Troy shook his head. “Nope. There is only one internet connection in the entire apartment, and that is a land line with one port. The security feed is closed, and I regularly clean it out, updating what I want.”

“Are you sure?” Doug asked as they stepped through the door, entering the closet once more. “I mean, if you truly have that dangerous of a condition, you’d think you were the one under surveillance.”

Troy laughed as the lab door closed behind them, nodding. “I used to think that. When I first moved here and the lab was built up, I had the suspicion that this was more of a prison for me, except…” he shook his head. “I have lots of freedom of movement and—”

“They could track your cellphone,” Doug said, concerned. Troy had it bad. He felt sorry for him.  

Grinning wider, pushing open the closet door so they were back in the living room, Troy nodded, “Yeah. I know. But I found out that wasn’t so.”

“Proof?” Doug laughed, breathing in the fresh air again, glad his office wasn’t through a mystery closet.

“I won’t get into details, but…” Troy shook his head. “Something happened last year that proved to me that I was not being spied upon. Or tracked.”

“Such as?” Doug watched him carefully.

Shrugging, Troy said as he strolled to the kitchen to put away food stuff, “Someone I knew was murdered, someone I didn’t like, and I was the prime suspect.”

Doug drew in a breath.

“If they were tracking me,” Troy said in earnest, “They would not have even bothered to accuse me. They would have known where I was whenever I was. They would have just looked at the security feed. But instead, the cops came and questioned me just like everyone else. Rick gave me privacy. In fact, he made sure I had privacy and autonomy.”

“And yet you resent him…” Doug murmured, having cued in on that. Troy was always being diplomatic when it came to the Deacons.

Troy merely shrugged. “He rubs me the wrong way. He…” Troy laughed, shaking his head more and blushing. “He is too hot for his own good, and a lot of trouble.” Then looking around the place, he added, “That, and he has a real thing for your sister, and I can’t quite reconcile to that.”

Doug raised his eyebrows. Was Troy saying he was attracted to Rick and jealous of Audry?”

“I met her barely,” Troy continued at a murmur, chuckling as he put away the bread and placed all dishes into the sink where he began to wash them. “I bought a tee-shirt from her just to bug Rick.”

Doug laughed, following him into the kitchen. “Which one?”

Troy cast him a ‘you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me’ look. “The wolf of course. It totally embarrasses him.”

Once more, that entirely confused Doug, and Troy could see it. He laughed more.

“But anyway, this apartment used to be hers,” Troy explained, drying off the silverware and putting them away. “She lived here with Silvia before Silvia married my best friend Randon.”

“Oh!” Doug looked around again. That was why the apartment was familiar. He had seen pictures of his sister and Silvia in and around the apartment building. She had been explaining her sudden move to family at the time, just in case they needed to find her. Vincent had used the pictures to find her immediately and had told everyone about how awesome the place was.

Troy went over to the counter, drying off his hands and picking up what looked like a business planner. Maybe it had been in a drawer and he had taken it out when Doug was not looking. Doug did not remember seeing it. “So, which should it be? I send you samples, or do you want to play cloak and dagger with my roommate Bobo?”

“I thought you said his name was Robert.” Doug followed him, glancing at the planner. All sorts of dates and meetings were marked inside—including one that said, Dinner with the Spades on Sunday.  

Shrugging, Troy said, picking up a pen, “It is, but we call him Bobo. Your sister knows him pretty well. If you ever mention him, she can tell you all about him.”

Doug nodded, though he doubted he’d have that conversation soon. Audry was happily busy in Africa and hardly in communication with anybody. He frowned, glancing back at the closet door. Murmuring, “You have the best lab for this. But I don’t know. Do they really think it is a bad thing I’m working in close proximity to you?”

Troy nodded. “But it’s stupid. I’m not going to bite you, for pity’s sake. I need your help. You know more about blood pathology than I have ever seen—like I said.”

Turning a little, trying not to seem alarmed, Doug asked, “Have you ever bit anybody?”

“No,” Troy muttered, rolling his eyes. “That’s why it’s stupid. I’m not the kind.”

His indignation reassured Doug in a peculiar way. It was sinking in that the man was technically a ‘vampire’ on the terms of blood only. He clearly despised a group that called themselves ‘vampires’. They evidently had ruined his life.

“Perhaps we need to corroborate with Dr. McAllister before we proceed,” Doug suggested. “If indeed we are dealing with bites, and he is the foremost expert in that.”

Troy angled his head, thinking on that. He nodded. “Good point. We can go today if you want. Do you have time? Or do you need to get home?”

Drawing in a deep breath, Doug nodded. “I have time now. I didn’t know how long this with you would take.”

To that, Troy chuckled. He went to get a hooded jacket. “Ok. Today it is.”

Chapter Eight

The good doctor was in when Troy and Doug showed up, but only just. It was near the end of his shift. Troy had texted him to let him know they were coming—or rather that he was coming with a friend. Troy was not one to elaborate via technology, just in case someone was listening in. Doug noticed Troy had a naturally paranoid nature—with good reason of course, but it made him wonder if maybe Troy had not been entirely honest about his belief that Rick would not spy on him. Of course his paranoia could have some from another source. After all, it did not happen to everyone that a group of self-proclaimed vampires stalked you since you were a kid, caught up with you just to pour poison blood down your throat.

Nurse McAllister greeted them, smiling politely at Troy, much in the way of someone who wanted what was best for a person, but did not quite agree with him. She had a sort of Marissa Tome, Italian look about her, including the spunk. She introduced herself as Jane to Doug, who in turn shook her hand and gave his first name. Troy insisted he not mention his family name, just in case.

“But why?” Doug whispered Troy as they followed Jane to her husband’s office in the clinic.

“To protect your family,” Troy hissed back. “There are those who are watching the good doctor and his wife intently, as they are connected to a number of… uh, important people. If your name gets rumored about, it might be bad for you and your sister.”

Nurse McAllister glanced back, puzzled over that, but did not vocalize any objection. She halted at the door. “He’s in here. I don’t think he has a patient.”

She then knocked on the door and opened it. “Honey? Will? Your final appointment has arrived.”

“Tell them to come in.” His voice came from behind a curtain, which after a second he drew back as they stepped into the room and Jane McAllister closed the door. When the doctor saw Troy, he smiled genially—looking exactly as Doug remembered. But when his eyes set on Doug, he stared, then did a double take, drawing in a breath. His eyes whipped back onto Troy. “You brought him here? You—” He stiffened. “You met. You weren’t supposed to meet.”

“That’s my fault,” Doug said, raising his hand apologetically. “I wanted to meet the man behind the blood.”

But Dr. McAllister marched up to Troy like he would clobber him. “What