The Immortal Hunter(2)

Decker nodded, pretending he hadn't overheard the entire conversation earlier. He then commented, "It will allow you to stay close to Sam."

"Yes." Mortimer sighed, and then frowned and added bitterly, "If we're allowed to be together."

Decker grunted, mentally kicking himself for not realizing this conversation would lead right back to Sam and what was going on upstairs. He was trying to come up with something else to talk about when he heard the sound of a chair scraping across the hardwood floor overhead. It was followed by the soft pad of footsteps. "It sounds like they're done talking."

"Thank God," Mortimer muttered, but Decker couldn't help but note that he didn't appear relieved. If anything, the man was growing even tenser as he waited to hear his future.

Decker looked toward the stairs, watching as first Sam and then Lucian came into view. He didn't bother looking to his uncle, who was always stone-faced and hard to read. Instead he focused on Sam, but she was as expressionless as the man behind her, a result of being a lawyer, he supposed. A poker face probably came in handy there, he thought, and read her mind. What he found was a muddle of both anger and relief. It seemed Lucian had been his usual heavy-handed self, telling Sam point-blank the punishment would be death should she ever betray their people and give their presence away. But he'd agreed to allow her to be Mortimer's life mate without turning.

Decker also found that Lucian had managed to convince her to give notice at her law firm and come to work for the enforcers. Decker found that surprising because he knew that until meeting Mortimer, her career at the prestigious law firm had been the focal point of her life. It seemed, however, she'd realized these last two weeks that she didn't care for the fact that it had almost taken over her whole life, and while she wasn't ready to give up her sisters, she was willing to give up her present position to find the time to make a life with Mortimer. It had helped that Lucian had told her there were a lot of legal issues that needed tending when they hunted down and exterminated rogues. People could not just disappear in today's paper-plagued world. Not even immortals.

"Sam's agreed to work for us," Lucian announced as he stepped off the stairs. "She'll do what she can to help you organize the enforcer headquarters, and handle any legal matters that come up on the job."

Decker didn't miss the relief that flashed across Mortimer's face as he hurried to Sam and slipped his arm around her waist to draw her to his side. Engrossed in each other, neither paid attention when Lucian moved to stand in front of Grant and glared grimly down at the dark-haired immortal.

"I understand you've been having trouble getting your blood supply and have been forced to feed off of mortals?" he asked.

Grant nodded, fear plain on his face. When Lucian simply stared at the man, his gaze fixed, Decker was positive he was reading the immortal's thoughts. Apparently he was satisfied by what he found there, because he nodded and said, "Someone is already looking into the situation with the employee who was holding up your orders. I've also arranged for a generator to be delivered and installed so that your blood supply isn't ruined every time the power goes out up here. That should keep you from having to feed off the locals in future. But," he added sharply, "if you have any further problems, you're to call Mortimer at once. I won't forgive another incident like this."

Grant cringed back into the cold leather cushion at the warning. "It wasn't my fault. I-"

"You forget I can read your mind," Lucian interrupted grimly. "Pride is the reason you didn't contact someone about the problems you were having getting blood. That and the fact that you really prefer your meals warm, and the situation gave you the perfect excuse to feed off the hoof. If you really want to feed that way, you'd best move to Europe. It isn't allowed here. The next time a situation like this comes up involving you, you'll find yourself staked and baked. Got it?"

"Y-yes sir," Grant stammered.

Apparently satisfied that he'd made his point, Lucian glanced to Mortimer and then to Decker as he commented, "Fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any cleanup to do here. Grant, at least, had the good sense to take his meals in a wide area, feeding as far north as Parry Sound and all the way down to Minden. It means he's managed to avoid raising suspicion among the mortals, so you boys can gather your stuff and head-"

"Excuse me," Grant said timidly from the couch.

Lucian frowned and turned on the man. "What?"

The immortal shrank under his glare and then stammered nervously, "I never fed in P-Parry Sound... or M-Minden."

Lucian stared at him for a moment. "We had reports from other immortals who had spotted bite marks in Parry Sound, Burk's Falls, Nobel, Huntsville, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Minden, and Haliburton."

Grant shook his head. "I never went further south than Bracebridge. Gravenhurst, Minden, and Haliburton weren't me. Neither is Parry Sound to the north." He licked his lips and then suggested, "Perhaps I am not the only one who has been having trouble getting supplies."

Another moment of silence passed as Lucian apparently read Grant again. Lucian cursed and turned to Decker, saying, "It seems your work here isn't done. You'll have to split up and check both the north and the south, but first contact Bastien to see who else gets supplies from the Argeneau Blood Bank and might be having similar problems to Grant. We'll check with them first."