Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [785]
If Riker hurt Peter and Becca . . . I wasn’t sure I wanted to see what Edward would do to him. I prayed as we rode through the darkness, “Please, God, don’t let them be hurt. Let them be safe.” Riker could be lying. They could already be dead, but I didn’t think so. Maybe because I needed them to be alive. I remembered Becca in her sunflower dress with that sprig of lilacs in her hair, laughing in Edward’s arms. I saw Peter’s sullen resentment when Edward and his mother touched. I remembered the way Peter had stood up to Russell in the restaurant when he threatened Becca. He was a brave kid. I tried not to think about what could be happening to them right this second.
Edward had gone very, very quiet. When I looked at him, the dark crystal vision showed me further into him than I’d ever seen before. I didn’t have to guess whether he cared for the children. I could see it. He loved them. As much as he was capable of it, he loved them. If someone hurt them, his vengeance was going to be a thing of great and awesome terror. I wouldn’t be able to stop him no matter what he wanted to do to them. All I would be able to do was stand and watch and try not to get too much blood on my shoes.
54
IT WAS A DARK night. It didn’t seem to be cloudy, just dark, as if something besides clouds was blocking the moon. Or maybe that was just my frame of mind. The one thing I’d wanted to avoid while I was doing my favor for Edward was dealing with Edward at his most illegal. We’d picked up Olaf and Bernardo at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere with those empty rolling hills stretching out and out into the darkness. There had been no cover except some scrub bushes, and when Edward stopped the car and cut the engine, I thought we’d have a wait ahead of us.
“Get out. We’ll need to suit up.” He’d gotten out without waiting to see if I was getting out or not.
I got out. The silence seemed as big as the sky overhead, an immense emptiness. A man stood up not five feet in front of me. I had the Browning pointed before the man held a flashlight under his face and I realized it was Bernardo.
Olaf had magically appeared on the other side of the road. There was no ditch on either side of the road. There was nothing on the side of the road. What was even more impressive was that they began lifting large black bags of equipment out of that same nowhere. If we’d had the time, I’d have asked how they did it, though I doubt I’d have understood the answer. Training probably. Training I didn’t have, though it might be nice to get it.
Of course, most of the things I hid from could have heard Bernardo’s and Olaf’s heartbeat no matter how well hidden they were. It was almost a relief to be up against mere humans. It meant you could at least hide in the dark.
Twenty minutes later we were on the road again, and Edward hadn’t been joking on the suiting up part. I’d had to strip to my bra and put on a Kevlar vest. It was my size.
Which meant it had to be a special purchase because Kevlar doesn’t come in my size off the rack.
“It’s your prize for spotting all the weapons,” Edward said. He always knows just what to buy me.
I needed to adjust the shoulder holster after putting on the vest, but I was told to do it in the car. I didn’t argue. We had less than ten minutes to get to Riker’s place. My T-shirt didn’t quite fit over the body armor. I mean it did fit, but not well. Bernardo handed me a black, long-sleeved, man’s shirt. “Put it on over the T-shirt. Button it up part way after you’ve got your holsters adjusted.”
The shoulder holster was just a matter of readjusting straps. The inner pants holster just didn’t work once the vest was on. I put the Firestar down the front of my jeans and angled it until I was as happy as I was going to get with the way it fit. It still dug into my stomach, but I wanted it where I could