True to form, my Uncle rushed over as soon as he got the call. By that time Barran had made the  file my parents had compiled disappear. It turned out that it wasn’t a paper file, as I had thought, rather it was part of a computer database that my parents had created. After we deleted his information – which I looked over first – Barran went downstairs to make the call. I took the opportunity to copy the database and all the documents I could find, as well as anything that seemed work-related, onto a disk. I resolved to come back later and copy the entire hard drive when I had the chance. I had a feeling that Barran wouldn’t be the only one after information in the days to come.

I joined the two men…well, one man, one vampire…downstairs in the kitchen. They were discussing Barran’s reason for being at my place.
“I’m surprised you didn’t just come here and steal the information, Barran. You aren’t really known for trusting others.”
“He did come to steal it.” I felt the need to point that out as I walked into the kitchen.
My uncle frowned at me as I searched through the cabinets. “What?”
Barran cleared his throat. “I did. I broke into the house. As I told you, I had been informed that James and Callie were out in the field. I didn’t realize they had a chi- er – a daughter that would be in the house. Let alone did I know she was so tal-.”
“So,” I said brightly, “tea anyone?” I tried to shoot a glare at Barran, but he was facing the other way.
“What was that?” My uncle ignored my outburst. In sudden inspiration, I sent a mental jab at Barran and tried to make him realize that I didn’t want my uncle to know I could do all the things he had mentioned earlier.
“Um, I hadn’t realized she was so…tenacious.” I almost sighed in relief. He got the message and, thankfully, listened.
I felt more than saw my uncle’s frown. “Tenacious?”
I fought the urge to groan. Tenacious? At least he hadn’t gone ahead and blurted out ‘talented’ like I thought he would. That would have set off major alarm bells.
Barran nodded. “Yes, well, you see I startled her and I was hoping to force her compliance in helping me search the house-”and well…she shot me.”
Uncle Jake looked enraged. “Force. Compliance?”
“and well…she shot me.” Barran’s hands went up in a placating gesture. “Calm yourself, my friend, I merely meant to intimidate the housekeeper. I would never stoop to mental coercion.”
“See that you don’t. Dusty has exhibited no mental capabilities thus far.”
“Oh, thanks a lot.” I said, testily. He had the grace to look abashed. “I’m sorry, D, I meant that you didn’t have the talents the rest of the family had exhibited, not that you were, er…” he trailed off.
“Retarded?” I challenged.
“Um.”
I let out a dramatic sigh. “You wound me. Here I thought I had achieved great levels of cognitive ability and you crush my hopes by implying I belong in a football helmet and kneepads.” Uncle Jake smirked. “Well, I’m glad to know you finally advanced past sippy-cups and diapers.”"Oh, yes,” I added, “I’ve been wearing my big-girl panties for a while now.”
Barran, whom we had forgotten for a moment, started making a strangled, choking sound.
“It’s okay,” I said, “you can laugh.”
He turned to me, eyes black again, but shiny. “Diapers? Helmet?” He let out a short chuckle. Uncle Jake leaned toward him conspiratorially, “We even let her play with the pretty fire now.” He motioned toward the stove.
I laughed and went back to rummaging through the cabinets until I found the tea I wanted. I started a low fire on the stove as I pulled out my tea kettle – my parents had hated tea – and filled itwith water. I found my favorite coffee mug and rinsed it out before putting it, along with my tea bag, on a tray next to the sink. Then I leaned against the counter, waiting for the water to come to a boil. I was struck suddenly with how cozy the scene before me was, with all of us sharing the kitchen, and that this was the first time I’d felt a part of something since my parents had died. Strange that I should feel cozy with a vampire in my favorite chair. Then, I remembered I was supposed to be making explanations.
“Anyway, Barran told me why he was here and we worked it out.” I was hoping he’d
buy the short explanation instead of asking for details. I didn’t feel like sharing my emotional breakdown. I glanced at the clock. Midnight. I looked at the phone next to the stove, wondering if it would ring. To my chagrin, Barran began to explain for me.
“I had found her upstairs, you see. She had just closed the window I used to enter the house. She had found a gun, and I managed to knock it out of her hands – then she rolled under the bed to retrieve it. I pulled her out by her ankle, but by that time she had found the gun. She shot me dead center, Jake, you should’ve seen it.” He chuckled. “Didn’t seem too intimidated by it disappearing, either.”
“About that,” I said, “what happened to the bullet?”
Barran fished it out of his shirt pocket and held it up for my inspection. “It popped out before the wound started to close. I caught it before it hit the floor. Of course, at that point I was just trying to hold onto my guts. It hurt quite a bit.”
I remembered him clutching his stomach and winced. “Sorry about that.” The kettle started to whistle at me and I moved to take it off of the stove and turn the heat off. I turned with the kettle and poured the water over my tea bag. “Really sorry, this time, not fake sorry like before.”
“Fake sorry?” I looked at my uncle and sheepishly explained about my reaction to shooting Barran.
He seemed amused.
“So, what have you found out about this conspiracy I’ve come up with?” I asked, hoping he had a solution. “silverware” drawer. My uncle explained that he had come across the information earlier from another source, but hadn’t wanted to tell me about it because he felt I had been facing enough as it was. He said that that was why Brandon had accompanied him to the house. He wanted a lookout and bodyguard there in case someone came after me during the night. “When we left, ” he said, “we had determined that you weren’t in immediate danger. Anyone who had set up my family would be lying low for the next few days, if not weeks.” I nodded to show I understood. I wondered if I would need a bodyguard against people like Barran – or maybe worse – breaking into my home. Barran voiced that very concern. My uncle listened and tapped his knuckles on the table. “I should’ve thought of it myself. Dammit.”
Barran leaned forward, “Jake, the victims were your brother and sister-in-law, it’s doubtful that anyone would be playing with a full deck. I doubt that your niece is the only one who has had to deal with the trauma.”
“Well,” he said, “we’ll certainly post guards around the clock from this point forward.”
“Might I,” Barran asked, “provide security for the night? I think it would be best, actually, if our forces pulled together for this operation. If there are supernatural forces at play, you’ll want to fight fire with fire.”
Uncle Jake nodded, and looked at me. “You okay with having him here, D?”
I studied Barran for a moment. “Sure, why not? He didn’t kill me earlier, and now it’s too late. He’d be a suspect.”

“I assure you, I had no intention of doing so.Furthermore-”
Jake stopped him. “She was just joking, Barran. She’s got a sharp wit.”
I felt my face flush. “Sorry. I’m not used to watching what I say. I didn’t mean to offend you at all. I was just making light.”Barran took a deep breath. “I see. I accept your apology, Destrina. I shall try to keep that in mind to avoid future misunderstandings.”
I gave him my best lopsided grin. “You can call me Dusty.” I stepped toward him and offered my hand. He took it and gave a firm shake.
“Pax?”
“Pax.” I agreed.
Having dealt with the immediate situation, Uncle Jake gave his apologies and left swiftly, promising a “human contingent” to relieve Barran of duty at dawn. I looked at the clock again. One a.m. Just realizing it made me tired. I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand. I looked at Barran apologetically. “I hope you won’t think that I’m being a bad hostess, but I need to get some sleep. For me, this is rather late.” He nodded affably. “I quite understand. If you have no objection I will see you to your room and check its security before you go to bed.” I gestured toward the stairs, “Third floor, second door on the right.” He stood from his seated position at my table. “After you, my lady.”
I considered his form of address for a moment, then decided he must be a little old-
fashioned. His file, after all, had said he was anywhere from 300-500 years old. I grabbed my mug of tea and plodded up the stairs. He entered my room first. I heard him checking the closet, but when I heard him opening drawers I followed him in. He had his hand in my underwear drawer. “Hey! Paws off my stuff!” He actually jerked his hand away like it was burning. He shot me a dirty look. “I need to check if your room has been bugged.” I eyed him skeptically. “Fine. I’ll sit on my bed and watch.”  He gave a sharp nod. Testy. I sat in the middle of my bed, sipping tea as he rummaged through the rest of my things. He knelt to look under the bed. “Nothing but dust bunnies under there.” I pointed out. “I checked it out this morning.” He raised his head. “Indeed, it is clear of any technological devices. I will leave you to your rest.”
After he shut the door, I took the disk from my parents’ computer from underneath my shirt, wear I had tucked it into the waistband of my jeans for safekeeping. I found a permanent marker and labeled it “Techno Mix” before popping it into a pink cd sleeve and adding it to the growing pile of cds on my desk. Then I chugged my tea and padded over to my closet. I tossed my clothes into the laundry basket and changed into my favorite old t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants with frogs all over them. I covered another yawn, though there was nobody there to see it, switched my cd player on and crawled into bed. I fell asleep much more quickly than I had thought possible.
Sometime during the wee hours I woke up, feeling very alert. Once I realized something was up, I tried to keep my breathing slow and even. I was tempted to cover my head with my blankets and hide, but curiosity won out and I cracked my eyes open to try and peek around my room. I realized that the light coming from my computer’s monitor was what had woken me. It should have been turned off while I slept, but it was now on. I turned my head to look and there was Barran, sitting at my desk. Annoyed, I sat up. “What are you doing on my computer?” He turned to face me, rather casually and replied, “Trying to see if you had copied any of your parent’s data to your own computer.” I tried to look confused. “Why would I do that?” Barran, apparently wasn’t buying my story. “I know you must have, dear. You’re a very curious girl and I have the feeling you might think it wise to store away their information for yourself.” I shook my head. “No. I don’t want anything to do with that stuff. It got my parents murdered, remember?” Closing my eyes, I had to project sincerity and a little sadness. I heard Barran stir in my chair. My eyelids snapped open. “What is it?” He leaned back in my chair, threatening its balance. “Did you know that you projected your emotions quite clearly just now?” My eyes widened. “Really?” He nodded. “I kept your secret in front of your Uncle, for reasons I don’t quite understand myself, but if you keep playing around like that I won’t be the only one to notice.” I thought about that. “Would just anyone notice, or only…someone like you?” His mouth turned up a bit at the corners at my polite turn of phrase. “You mean vampires?” I nodded, feeling stupid about not coming right out and saying it. “Not just anyone could pick it up, but it isn’t limited to my kind. Your uncle is sensitive. He would notice. Especially if you tried astral projection again.” I frowned. “Astra-what?” “You don’t even know what it means?” He sounded incredulous as  he asked that. I frowned harder. He looked at me like he was sizing me up now. “Did your parents train you to use your talents?” I shook my head. “No. They never knew.” His eyebrows crept up at that.