Kitty's House of Horrors (kn-7) by Carrie Vaughn (christmas read aloud txt) 📕

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.

Chapter 8

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