Page 21

He reached for his head.

He was sure he’d worn his headset when he last remembered being in this room.

Now it was gone.

He looked at the coffee table, and saw it there, next to an empty, crumb-filled wrapper the kid must have left there after a morning snack.

Reaching over the table, he grabbed up his headset, fitting it to his ear. After making sure he could no longer hear Tai moving around upstairs, he yanked off the blankets and rose to his feet. He fought a feeling ofdéjà vuagain, remembering how weird he’d felt the last time he remembered being awake.

Was that all just some crazy dream-hallucination?

Had he actuallyseensome fucking guy on the couch?

He found that deeply unlikely now.

He also had a hard time convincing himself ithadn’thappened.

It all looked and felt so damned real.

He pushed it out of his mind. He couldn’t think about it now.

The kid was right. He needed to deal with this.

Wynter must be freaking out.

Something must have happened. Maybe something in New York.

Nick was still technically on leave, but there were reasons Morley, his boss, and the NYPD in general might want to call him back in. Nick was mostly recovered from the attack he’d suffered on his last case in San Francisco, anyway. He had two more days, then he was scheduled for another official NYPD physical.

Assuming he passed, he would be back on duty Monday.

Maybe they decided to move up the timeline for some reason.

The instant Nick switched on his headset, pulses and lights flashed and pinged at him, informing him of urgent messages.

Nick cursed, sending a brief impulse to Wynter.

I’m about to answer the door,he wrote to her via the text function.I have the kid in the hiding space. I’ll call you as soon as I know what the hell happened… but I wouldn’t contact me before then, just to be safe. I’ll call as soon as I can. Promise.

He remembered their previous conversation and frowned.

We might have to wait on the beach and the movie though, honey. They wouldn’t have come all the way out here unless it was something big.

He sent the message.

He scrolled the list of marked-urgent, incoming messages as he grabbed his boots from over by one of the chairs. He would have preferred a clean pair of socks, but he threw on the dirty ones he’d left inside the boots, not wanting the cops waiting around inside Wynter’s home any longer than absolutely necessary.

Really, he didn’t want them coming inside at all.

If he wore the boots, they might not have to.

“I’M COMING!” He shouted the words, shoving his first socked foot into a boot. “I’LL BE RIGHT THERE! I’M COMING RIGHT NOW!”

He slammed his other sock-covered foot into a second boot. He hit a pressure point on the side of the semi-organic material, and the straps tightened. Nick fought to decide if he should run upstairs and grab a winter coat. He was a vampire, so he didn’t get cold, but he knew from a human perspective, it was chilly and windy outside, being fall.

Nick normally dressed the way the humans around him dressed.

He did it if only to avoid calling attention to what he was.