Judith chuckled softly and came to rinse her cup. “I think you may be right about that.” She nudged me away from the sink. “I’ll clean up here. Go throw your clothes in the dryer.”

I spent the rest of the morning helping Judith with housework, although she wouldn’t let me do anything too heavy because I was still recovering from the attack. There was something comforting about doing mundane chores after such a crazy night. Laundry and vacuuming have a way of grounding you when your life seems like it’s about to spin out of control.

By the time Roland showed up for lunch, the house was spic and span and I was learning how to make a chicken rice casserole, which Judith guaranteed that Nate would love. It was the kind of thing I should have learned from my own mother, if she’d cared enough to stick around. I hoped Judith saw how much it meant to me because as usual I couldn’t find the words to say it out loud.

After lunch, Roland borrowed his mother’s car to make good on a promise he’d made to me. We drove down to the small Presbyterian Church in the Knolls and he spent two hours teaching me to drive. Judith’s car was a stick and it took me most of the lesson to get the hang of the gear stick and all the pedals. By the end of the lesson, I’d managed to drive once around the parking lot without stalling or popping the clutch.

“Can’t I learn on an automatic?” I whined after the car jerked forward for the hundredth time.

“Not if you want to learn anytime soon. Looks like the truck will be out of commission for a while – a long while.”

I quit complaining after that. He had worked and saved for two years to buy that old thing and now it was ruined because of me. When I tried to apologize he dismissed it. Apparently, he and Peter were some kind of local heroes after last night since few werewolves get the chance to tangle with a crocotta, especially a pack of them. I wasn’t sure if that honor was worth losing his wheels but Roland seemed to think so.

At three o’clock I decided I’d hidden out at Roland’s long enough. Judith put my casserole in a carrier and I rolled up Nikolas’s jacket and stuck it in a plastic bag with my ruined coat so Nate would not see them. Roland drove me home in his mother’s car and I couldn’t help but wonder more than once where Nikolas and Chris were today, if they were following us right now. After last night, I was torn about them hanging around. I definitely felt safer knowing they were nearby, but I couldn’t spend my life being followed and watched all the time. There were things in my life, secrets that I couldn’t share, and they would be hard to conceal if I was forever under surveillance. Hopefully, the vampires would give up soon and the Mohiri could leave and let things go back to normal. Judith told me that Maxwell had beefed up patrols in New Hastings today. The crocotta had struck too close to home and the werewolves were worried about their own families. With the increased werewolf presence and the Mohiri warriors, New Hastings was probably safer right now than it had ever been.

Nate was at his computer when I got home. I stopped in front of his office door and held up the carrier. “Judith taught me how to make a casserole,” I gushed like a kid who’d just learned to tie her shoe laces. “Chicken and rice.”

“Really?” He eyed the carrier with anticipation. He didn’t say it but I could tell he was happy – not because of Judith’s cooking, but because I was spending a lot more time with Roland and Peter. For once I agreed with him. Despite all the bad things that had happened in the last few weeks, I was happier than I’d felt in a long time.

Dinner was nice. Nate had two helpings of casserole and we were both more relaxed than we’d been in a while. That didn’t stop him from noticing that something was off with me. “Are you feeling okay? You look a bit pale.”

“Just tired. We stayed up late last night and I helped Judith around the house today.”

“Cooking and housework?”

“Hey, I do housework,” I protested even though we both knew how much I disliked it. I’d rather gut fish down on the wharf than clean the bathroom.

Nate smiled like I’d said something funny and I scowled at him.

“Why don’t you ask Judith if you can stay with them while I’m at the conference next week?” He said. “That way you won’t have to be here alone? Imagine what you could learn to cook in five days.”

Nate had started going to an annual writer’s conference in Boston two years ago, once he finally realized I was old enough to get along without him for a few days. Five whole days of total freedom. I loved Roland and Judith, but no way was I giving that up.

“Are you kidding? I’m going to order from Gino’s every day and dust off the Buffy DVDs.”

He grimaced. “Pizza and vampire slayers. What more could you want?”

“Hey, you should be glad I’ll just be lounging around in pajamas,” I said with a sly grin. “Although I could call up the cute drummer I met at the party last night and see if he wants to hang out.”

His eyes widened in dismay. “A drummer?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry. He’s also taking college classes in case the band thing doesn’t work out.”

The look on Nate’s face was priceless. “College? How old is this boy?”

“Um, twenty, I think.” I had no idea how old Samson was but I was having too much fun to stop. “So really he is more of a man than a boy when you think about it.”

Nate’s expression of horror was so funny I couldn’t hold back my laughter any longer. “Breathe, Nate, I’m just messing with you. I mean, I did meet a very nice guy but nothing happened. Of course, that might not be the case if I was a normal girl who was going out and dating and all.”