Page 41 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

The men were all in the kitchen when Crispin and Abril entered. Every one of them was bustling around. Three large bowls of

salad that someone had made were already on the island. Steaming ceramic dishes of lasagna were even now being set on the

island too, but with hot pads to protect the granite. Butter, bread, and Parmesan cheese quickly followed before Crispin could

even usher Abril to her seat.

“What would you like to drink?” he asked as he got her settled.

“Oh,” Abril said with surprise and started to stand. “Water, but I can get it. I—”

“Sit,” he insisted, pressing lightly on her shoulder. “Allow me to fetch for you for a change.”

Abril sat back down, but was obviously uncomfortable doing so.

It was plain to see that she was used to doing things for others, and not having others do for her.

That was something he would have to change, he decided as he got them both a glass of ice water.

He had never met anyone who was so determined to do everything for those around her.

She deserved to have things done for her for a change.

Crispin suspected it would be a struggle convincing her of that though, as he carried the glasses back to the island and settled

beside her even as the others claimed their own chairs.

“Start your report, boys,” Lucian said, not even bothering to glance at Anders and Roberts as he gave the order.

Crispin glanced around with surprise at the words. Mostly he was surprised that Lucian had waited for him and Abril to be

present to hear the report from the men. But then he realized his uncle had probably already read the news from Roberts or

Anders’s minds himself. So, his uncle ordering them to give the report was really only for Abril’s benefit. And possibly for

Bricker’s and Decker’s too, he thought, since they were the only two immortals here that were younger than Roberts and Anders

and couldn’t read them.

“We had no problem finding the Bransons,” Roberts announced, and then smiled at Abril and told her, “They moved to Port Glasgow

by the way, and seem very happy there. They are not responsible for the bodies in the garden.”

“You are sure?” Lucian asked solemnly as Abril smiled with relief.

Roberts nodded. “Positive. They had no knowledge in their minds of the skeletons in or outside of the house. I think it must have been the couple before them, the Foleys,” he said firmly, and then frowned and added, “I suspect the Foleys must have stayed in the area for a while after the Bransons bought their house.

Or at least they stayed in contact with them, because we learned that Mr. Branson had wanted to put a patio around the side and back of the house when they moved in.

In fact, that had been his intention when they bought the house.

They had even already hired a contractor to do the job before actually moving in.

It was all arranged to start a couple weeks after they got possession.

“However,” he said now, his expression solemn, “shortly after moving into the house, Mr. Branson suddenly canceled everything.

He said digging up the garden to remove the plants and put in footers seemed a lot of work and expense for a deck, so he decided

to leave most of the garden, and simply lay stones to make a smaller patio, just big enough for a barbecue, a table, and a

couple of chairs.” Roberts paused a moment, and then added, “However, there is no memory in his mind of why he suddenly decided

against the deck. The decision was just suddenly there in his memory. It was not something he pondered or considered.”

“You suspect the Foleys decided on that for him and put it in his mind,” Lucian said solemnly.

Roberts nodded.

Lucian accepted that and then asked, “And the Foleys?”

Roberts grimaced apologetically, and admitted, “We were unable to find them. We spoke to their Realtor, but while they did use him to sell their house, they did not use him to buy the next one, and we could find no reference to them anywhere. At least not the right Foleys. There were Foleys in the directories, but not the couple we were looking for. That is why we were gone so long,” he added.

“We had to go and interview every Foley listed in the directories.”

“They have changed their name then,” Lucian said thoughtfully.

“That or they are squatting somewhere, or living with mortals they are controlling or something,” Roberts said. “Whatever

the case, the Foleys must be responsible for the bodies in the garden, because the Bransons are not.”

Lucian and the other men grunted with agreement. While Cassius and Roberts weren’t eating, the rest of the men were busy shoveling

food into their mouths while Crispin and Abril were still both just serving themselves their own lasagna.

“So, how do we find them?” Crispin asked as he set the serving spoon back in the lasagna dish.

Lucian was silent for a minute, apparently considering the matter, and then he announced, “Obviously, we cannot find them.

Therefore, we must hope that they try to break in again to dig up the indoor garden.”

Crispin was frowning over that when Lucian speared Abril with a look and said, “You are not to leave the house until they

are caught. And stay away from the windows. I do not want them reading your mind and learning that we have already found what

they are looking for. They could then just give up their attempt to get in, and disappear. Unfortunately, their trying to

break in again and getting caught is the only way to capture them at this point. If they’ve changed their name and so on,

it would be almost impossible to find them. All they have to do is pick up stakes and move again.”

Abril nodded in agreement, but said, “I wonder why they killed the immortal in the indoor garden? I mean, from what you said, Crispin, it sounded like rogues usually go after us mere mortals.”

Crispin didn’t answer right away, but considered her question as he chewed the lasagna in his mouth.

Just as he was doing so though, Bricker said, “Maybe they didn’t. Maybe it was the mortal victim buried with them in the indoor

garden that killed the immortal.”

Crispin nearly choked on the lasagna he was swallowing at Bricker’s words. When he coughed and sputtered, Abril quickly began

to pound him on the back, but her gaze was on Lucian as she asked, “There was a mortal body under the immortal in the indoor

garden?”

“More like beside it,” Decker said.

Crispin had picked up his water and gulped some down to finish clearing his airways. Now he set the glass back, and snapped,

“And you did not think to tell us this?” His gaze shot to Lucian. “Uncle?”

Lucian gave him a supercilious look, and announced dryly, “Crispin there was a mortal buried in the indoor garden with the

immortal.”

“Thank you,” he said with disgust and shook his head.

“Oh, right,” Bricker said with realization. “You were in having your talk with Abril by the time we came across the second

skeleton.”

“The immortal was female by the way,” Lucian announced. “And the mortal male.”

“Are you sure?” Abril asked with interest.

“There were high heels strapped to the immortal’s—what used to be her feet, and she was wearing the remains of what at one time had been a short black dress,” Lucian informed her. “The mortal skeleton was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and men’s boots.”

“Oh.” Abril nodded and agreed, “Probably a woman immortal and male mortal then.”

“Probably?” Lucian echoed with disbelief.

“What?” she asked with a grin. “You’ve never heard of cross-dressing?”

Lucian opened his mouth. Closed it. Then muttered something under his breath that even Crispin with his immortal hearing didn’t

catch before turning back to his food. He picked up a forkful of lasagna, paused, and then scowled at Abril and said reluctantly,

“As for your first question on why the rogue would kill an immortal, I suspect the rogue was mortal either directly before

or during the killing of the immortal.”

That caught everyone’s attention. Every man, including Crispin himself, was now staring at his uncle with surprise. Abril

was the only one unsurprised. Nodding as she scooped some lasagna up on her own fork, she simply said, “Makes sense.”

“It does?” Bricker asked with interest.

“Well, sure,” Abril said, seeming surprised that everyone couldn’t see that. “The story was that their son died, and Mrs.

Foley was paralyzed in a car accident,” she pointed out. “But a car accident wouldn’t kill or paralyze you guys. So, they

couldn’t have been immortal at the time of the accident.”

A smile was creeping over Crispin’s face at the fact that he had himself a brilliant life mate, when she impressed him some

more as she continued to speak.

“And, I don’t know how much blood you guys go through on the daily, but I’m guessing it’s not a crazy amount. I mean, I haven’t even seen any of you taking it in since arriving.”

“We have been taking it in , as you put it,” Lucian assured her. “We just have done it in our vehicles which are outfitted with special coolers to keep

the blood from going bad. We thought it best not to bring the blood inside and risk you seeing it and becoming alarmed.”

“Ah, that was sweet,” she said with appreciation, although Crispin suspected it was as much because she wanted to fluster

his uncle as that she truly thought it was sweet. And it appeared to work. Lucian looked a bit taken aback for a moment, but

then regained his usual scowl.

Cassius was the one who explained, “How much blood an immortal needs to consume daily varies depending on their age, their

size, and whether they have done anything that might make the nanos work harder. But the average immortal probably consumes

no more than one bag a day. Hunters usually live more strenuous lives that include more exposure to sunlight and injury and

such, necessitating their taking in anywhere from one to four bags a day. Older, and exceptional immortals can get away with