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Chapter 15

When I next openedaway at the other end of our suite, four o&039;clock Our bedrooloomy, thanks to all the heavy curtains, so I stretched and sat up, swung ht about what to do

Sinclair was still-ha, ha-dead to the world besideout, palm up His normally pin-neat hair was a ruffled dark htly parted

I watched his chest for a long timethreeflesh; he ar comparably, of course) He wasn&039;t a corpse, he wasn&039;t dead He wasn&039;t alive, either

Undead

Stupid word, I&039;ve always hated that word

This was the part of every day when I deeply pitied my husband, and I would never tell his-pity wasn&039;t one of them He didn&039;t have to sleep all day, and he could stay ahen the sun came up (unlike yours truly, ould drop like a puppet with her strings cut as soon as it was dawn) but he could never, ever go out into the sun

I, however, could

So I got to my feet and checked on BabyJon, e&039;d set up in the suy who invented the port-a-crib? A genius of Jonas Salk proportions

Anyway, he was in his crib, flat on his back with his little arms in the "this is the police, put your hands up" position If he grew up to be anything like the Ant, he couldn&039;t practice that position soon enough

I couldn&039;t help but s, it was unfortunate that my father and his wife died But BabyJon wasto the new sleeping schedule After all, I can&039;t have a kid running around during the day when I sleep No, BabyJon was officially on graveyard shift now, and for a long time to come

I wondered what I would tell him when he was older "Mom, why is there an unconsciousto worry about, dear, Mommy just wanted a snack"

Hmm Better rethink that one Later Besides, since he&039;d be growing up with us, he&039;d probably think it&039;s norht and never eat solid food Or age Or poop

A problem for another time, so I popped into the bathrooht? Soht chat with the Wyndhams, a castle employee had unpacked our clothes and stocked the bathroo minty fresh, I left the bathroo-sleeved blue flannel shirt I was always cold, and had long since donated all my tank tops to Goodwill I slipped into my Cole Haan Penny Air Loafers and was ready to face the day What was left of it, anyway

I had to walk through the rest of the suite, and after a second I realized that our suite was on the west side of the castle Okay,mansion That looked, topretty thoughtful Never let it be said that olves weren&039;t polite hosts-I only had to look around our guest suite to see that But I drew all the curtains anyway, just to be on the safe side I didn&039;t want to take the set burned The sun wouldn&039;t go down for another four hours or so

I stepped out into the hallway, pulled the door closed, and nearly fell over Jessica, as all but lurking in the doorway of the suite directly across from ours

"You know, they did let you have that roo you&039;ll use it, as opposed to lingering in strange hallways"

She responded to me with, "Girl, I am bored outta my tits"

"Can we have one cross-country quest without talking about your tits?"

Her pretty dark eyes went narrow and thoughtful, and she caressed her cheek with a long fingernail colored jack-o&039;-lantern orange After a thoughtful pause, she shook her head "I don&039;t see how"

"I figured" I scanned the hallway and listened hard: it was as empty as it looked "Want to find the kitchen? Maybe whip up a-"

"If I have to look at another s to barf in one of your Beverly Felded death" We fell in step and, e reached the main staircase, I pointed in the direction of the kitchen-or whatever rooetables

"How can you be bored in the middle of a Pack of olves?"

"Easy They&039;re not talking to ht there, the east wing&039;s over there, one of the indoor pools is through there, the weight room is over there-but I&039;m a cipher here"

Jessica, well used to my blank expression, correctly interpreted it as "I am unfamiliar with that word; please explain" and added, "I&039; A zero This is about vampires and olves, which, thank God, I&039;m neither No offense"

"Who could be offended by that?" Idown the last four steps "That way Then a right So, they&039;ve been nice to you at least?"

"Sure"

"Good Listen, I think it&039;s really good that you&039;re here-"

"You&039;re the worst liar in the galaxy"

"Shut up Anyway, I sort of forced BabyJon on Sinclair-"

"This I already knew The entire street knew," she added thoughtfully

"-because we&039;re his parents now and we have to learn how to be a fa I don&039;t know anytime soon?"

"-but I can&039;t watch hi him-much-but you know he&039;ll only be cute and cuddly with you With hed "With everybody else, it&039;s colic city"

"Sorry, Jess I can&039;t help that But I appreciate you watching out for him for me"

She waved it away, and obediently turned left when I pointed We were now in a slightly narrower hallway, on hardwood floors this ti

"At least you got the boy trained Sleeps half the day and half the night"

"He&039;s really very sweet," I whined

Jessica snorted and straight-ar, the Wyndha tables-the kind you could chop anything on-with long legs Another big table, es Another door, which led to industrial-sized freezers I could s a kitchen garden-on every wall The s on the opposite wall overlooked the Atlantic

"I could get used to this," Jessica co just like it You&039;ve probably got enough money in the sofa cushions for a down paye while I slid onto a bar stool "I like the place in St Paul"

I nodded Shoot, before the mansion, she&039;d lived in an ordinary house in the suburbs She had never lived rich, dressed rich, ate rich, or looked rich It was one of her ry, are you?" Jessica had extracted an apple and a Diet Coke Wait&039;ll I ratted her out to Marc! He considered diet pop one step up from muriatic acid, whatever the hell that was

"Naw Sinclair and I snacked on each other for a while last night I&039;o nuts and accidentally chew on one of the locals-"