I went to the living room and found Wallie and Zoey on the sofa watching TV. Had they even packed anything today?
I sat in the chair in front of the large bay window. It had a great view of the vampire house. I moved the blinds just enough to look out at our neighbors. Not mine anymore. Hailey’s neighbors.
"They’re moving about in the front yard. Wait, is he mowing the grass? At night?" Sure enough, a man walked around the front yard with a push mower.
The kids got up and crowded around me, peering out of the blinds like a bunch of peeping Toms.
"We should go over there and meet them," Wallie suggested.
"I plan on it, but I feel I need an excuse to go over there." Plus, Drew would kill me.
Zoey said, "You can walk your pet tiger."
I laughed, picturing just that. "Um, Zo, people don't have pet tigers. Ever. I think humans have a law about it." If they didn’t, they probably should. Otherwise, some fool would probably go overboard and declare himself the Tiger King or something ridiculous like that.
"We could ask to borrow some sugar," Wallie said.
"They're vampires. They don't have sugar." At least I didn't think so. I didn't know a damn thing about them. Could they eat? "Okay, I'm going over." Drew would have to understand that I couldn’t wait for his help. I had to satisfy my burning curiosity.
As I stood and moved to the door, Wallie and Zoey followed. When I turned around and gave them a stern look, Wallie shook his head. "You are not going over there alone. No arguing."
I crossed my eyes at him. "You're as bossy as Drew."
Wallie snickered. "He told you not to go over there, didn't he?"
"He did. But he's not the boss of me."
Clay drifted over to stand between me and the door. "I agree with your boyfriend. By the way, will I get to meet him?"
That was the last thing I wanted to happen. "No. Drew is working a case and can't take time off to come here." I was more than a little thankful for that. I'd been thankful for a lot of things lately. "Now let's go borrow some sugar from the vampires. I mean, our lovely new neighbors."
Flinging open the door, I headed through the yard before anyone else could try to talk me out of it. I wasn’t going to miss out on meeting a new-to-me supernatural creature just because they may or may not be dangerous.
Wallie and Zoey hurried behind me. I eyed the man pushing the old-fashioned lawn mower. If I had to describe a stereotypical vampire, it would be this guy. Pale, tall. He had brown hair, but I couldn't see his eyes from the sidewalk. The only thing about him that I wouldn't say was typical of a vampire was the dude was freaking huge.
As we approached the walkway, the other people sitting around, seeming to be enjoying the moon, jumped to their feet. One woman, a sort of dumpy-looking guy, and a gorgeous man. They approached with the hot one in the front and the other two flanking him.
The lawn mower dude stopped pushing the manual lawn mower and walked over as I waved. “Hello,” I called. “I’m Ava. We wanted to come over and introduce ourselves.”
The one who seemed like he was in charge stepped forward. “I’m Jax. These are my brothers and sisters, Paige—” Jax inclined his head to the woman slightly behind him on his left.
The woman, who was black, yet somehow also pale, nodded her head once. Maybe they were brothers and sisters in the sense that Owen was my brother.
Jax nodded toward the lawn mower. “Ransom.”
The big dude grunted and moved to stand behind Paige. Jax nodded his head to his right. “And this is Leo.”
Leo didn’t look happy to see us. He snarled his lip slightly as he blinked.
“These are my kids, Zoey and Wallie.”
There. Now everybody nodded at everybody else. “We’re actually here to move out,” I explained. “You’ll meet a new neighbor in a week or two, Hailey.”
Trickling out my magic, I tried to see if any of them noticed me feeling my way.
They didn’t give any outward sign, but Zoey shifted behind me as the breeze picked up. Leo stiffened and his gaze flashed to Zo on my right.
All of the vampires shifted, where they’d been still—unnaturally still—moments before. They might not have realized Wallie and I were witches, but they’d smelled Zoey now. “Well,” I said brightly. “Nice meeting you. If you need any sugar… Don’t ask because we barely have anything in the house.”
We laughed, but it even sounded forced to my ears. Jax grinned, as did the lady whose name I’d forgotten and the big dude, whose name I’d also forgotten. Leo, the freaky-looking one, just bared his teeth.
“Oh, I noticed something, and I’m just far too nosy for my own good.” I tittered a little giggle. “It seemed like you guys were sunbathing the other night… At night.”
Jax nodded. “We have an allergy to sunlight.”
“Ahh.” I nodded as if that made all the sense in the world. “Right, right. Have a good evening.”
“You as well,” Jax said.
We turned back with Wallie and Zoey walking in front of me.
“Ava,” Jax said in a soft voice.
I turned with my eyebrows up. “Yes?”
He stepped forward, but I didn’t feel any sense of danger. He wasn’t out to hurt me. “Don’t worry about the moonbathing. Or anything else you might notice from this house.”
The man was looking me in the eye, like, seriously eyeballing me. “Uh, okay?”
“There’s nothing going on here that doesn’t go on at every other human household.”
He’d used the word human. I furrowed my brow at him. “Uh-huh. Whatever you say. Night, night.”
I joined the kids on the sidewalk, and we went back to the house together.
That man, that vampire, had just tried to compel me.
And now all I wanted to do was hide behind the curtains and watch the vampires.
Chapter Eight
I taped up another box just as the doorbell rang. We’d been making great time with the packing, sorting, and donating. Straightening slowly with one hand on my lower back, I glared at the door. I wasn't expecting anyone, and it was daylight, so I didn't have to worry about the vampy neighbors paying me a visit. At least I hoped not. What did I know about what vampires could or could not do? Maybe sunscreen would help them walk in the sun?
Wallie stuck his head out from the hallway and gave me a raised brow. “Ma?” He and Zoey had been packing up the bedrooms. All except mine. I’d done most of it, but I wanted to go through Clay's stuff alone. I wasn't ready for that yet, so I’d saved it for last and didn’t look forward to it.
As I crossed the living room to answer the door, Clay appeared beside me. "We have visitors." His brow was furrowed and lips set in a line.
What was up his...I snorted. "I have visitors. No one else can see you besides me, Wallie, and Zoey."
And for that reason, I wasn't worried about opening the door with Clay hovering beside me. Whoever it was would only be able to see him if they were dead or a necromancer. I’d checked last night. Owen had been contrite and apologized for not telling me before.