Blood Noir - Laurell K. Hamilton [149]
I stared at him. It was a Hallmark moment. I didn’t trust Hallmark moments; they were usually fake. I watched the first tear glitter down Frank Schuyler’s face, and had to believe that he meant it. I guess sometimes miracles really do happen.
Then we got our second miracle. Jason said, “Dad,” in a voice that sounded so weak, so un-Jasonlike, but his eyes were open, and he repeated it. “Dad.”
Mr. Schuyler held his hand tight and said, “Jason, I’m here.”
I got up to leave them alone. Men need privacy when they finally break down. Jason said, in that weak voice, “Anita.”
I turned and looked at him. “I’ll be back.”
He managed a very weak smile, then said, “Love you.”
I smiled. “Love you, too.” I wasn’t sure if the love was for his father’s benefit, to prove his heterosexuality, or if it was simply true. We’d never be each other’s one and only, but I think we might always be each other’s now and then. I was okay with that, and so was Jason. What more did we need?
56
JASON HEALED ENOUGH to fly home. His father has had one of those amazing remissions that you get sometimes with cancer. The doctors don’t explain it, they can’t, but they’re giving him a little longer to live. Not cured, no, but months instead of weeks, maybe. A little less pain to deal with. Jason’s planning on flying back alone to visit them all in a week or so. My excuse for not going is work; besides, I think that Jason and his family can handle it on their own.
The Master of the City of Charleston, South Carolina, mysteriously died. His human servant was Edmond, and his legal wife is Lorna. She’s free to marry Keith now, and if what I saw on the news is any indication, he’s going to do it. The marriage to Lisa is off, and I think Lisa is well out of it. So are the governor’s plans to run for president on a family conservative ticket. You can’t have your son being an adulterer with a vampire’s wife, and even worse marrying a vampire, and have it play well in the press.
Peterson told me that it was Chuck who used our room and us as a stalking horse for the vampires. Chuck’s defense: he thought we’d win. I guess no one expects vampires to use flash-bang grenades and tranquilizer darts. I’m still hoping to hurt Chuck in some way. I just haven’t figured out a justification for it that doesn’t seem petty, or illegal. If he vanished now, I think the cops would come knocking on my door.
J. J. is planning on visiting St. Louis and spending a few days with her old friend Jason. He’s the one man she’s never really gotten out of her system, and she’s the girl he might have married if she hadn’t liked girls as much as he did. They’re both still looking for Ms. Right. Maybe they’ll look together for a while. It was Jason’s fear of commitment that saved me from Richard’s version of the ardeur. But he’s pretty thrilled that J. J. is coming to visit. She’s already made noises that she’s cool with the vampire thing. Good to know.
I was cleared on the shooting. The two vampires actually had records as humans. They’d been bad guys when alive, and being dead had made them worse. The one guy really was a torturer. Someone you called in when you wanted information. He’d worked for some very bad people over the years. Apparently, in private, I’d done the world a favor. In public I was cleared, but we weren’t allowed to be so cheerful about it. I sleep just fine about killing them. My sleep is a little disturbed about Jason. I’ve had a few dreams where I find him on the floor again, or I realize it’s not Jason and it’s one of the other