Free The Vampire's Warden by S J Wright Page B

to Nelly or Alex as I slowly walked toward the gate separating us. I fingered the key that unlocked the gate. What was I in for if I let these two onto my property? I nodded a greeting at Dr. Fleming.
     
    Coming to a stop at the large metal gate illuminated by the low beams of my truck’s headlights, I cast each vampire a hesitant glance.
     
    “ Dr. Fleming, if I let these two onto my property, can they be expected to be peaceful?”
     
    The female gave me a half smile with her painted-red mouth and raised an eyebrow, “She’s feisty.”
     
    The doctor cleared his throat, “The Council has given their word that there will be no trouble.”
     
    Miss Skank sighed and turned to the doctor with a tremendously bored look, “Can we please get on with this?” Her accent was hard to define, “There’s much to discuss and I hate getting this mud all over my Pradas.”
     
    Dr. Fleming came forward with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, “You’ll need to invite them in after you unlock the gate.”
     
    “ Invite them in?” My thoughts were all jumbled up. Between my physical exhaustion and the shock of having a couple of vampires in front of me giving me major attitude, I felt like my brain was working in slow motion. I rubbed my hands over my face and then gave each of the vampires a steady look.
     
    “ If I invite you onto my property, do I have your word that you will not cause any type of harm to anyone,” I paused for a minute to consider my words carefully before continuing in a stronger voice, “Anyone human or vampire ?”
     
    There was a spark of excitement suddenly between the two of them. They nodded quickly and then shot quick looks at each other that defied any explanation I could figure out. Trusting them completely was out of the question, given the fact that they were undead and presumably sucked the life out of humans. However, if they were truly from the vampire Council, they had a responsibility here. I only hoped they took their jobs seriously.
     
    “ What are your names?” I asked, preferring to be direct.
     
    The female raised her chin an inch and met my eyes without hesitation, “I am Luanna Rustovski.”
     
    “ And you?” I gestured at the male.
     
    He took off his glasses and rolled his dark eyes in exasperation, “My name is Gunter Hastings.”
     
    Finally, I decided it was safe so I pushed the little key into the locked front gate, unfastened the chain, and opened it. As the creaky old thing swung away from my push, I realized I had taken my first real action as the new warden. The decision had been made and somehow I knew there was no turning back.
     
    “ Come in.”
     
     
     
    “ You should have told me they were coming.” Alex hissed in my ear.
     
    I was starting a pot of decaf for the doctor and myself when he had accosted me in the kitchen. I gave him a dirty look and jerked my head toward the sitting room where our three guests were waiting, “Hush!” I peeked around the corner to make sure we were alone, then grabbed his arm, and marched him to the pantry. Once there, I spoke as low as I could and hoped these vampires did not have that super-hearing ability I had read about.
     
    “ I didn’t know exactly when they would be here, Alex. Besides, I didn’t know that it was really any of your business.”
     
    His eyes widened, “Not my business? I’m here to help you, Sarah. How can I do that if you don’t tell me what’s going on?”
     
    “ Give me a break. I never exactly asked for your help, now did I?” Without realizing it, my voice had risen in frustration. I did not want to get into an argument with Alex at that point, but with all the other crap going on around me, I knew I was nearly at my boiling point, “Listen, if you want to help me, and then get out of here. Go try to find Messenger or something. But I do not need your overprotective, unasked-for bullshit right now.”
     
    I took a deep breath, put on my best friendly