Chapter 39

The small self-serve refreshment area of the hospital was pretty much just a large room with a few couches, several tables and chairs, vending machines that offered everything from sandwiches to candy bars to soft drinks and coffee, and two flat-screen TVs that displayed the weather channel and an all-news station.

Soft music played in the background, and one of the walls was painted with a mural of the falls, a pretty rainbow over the water, flowers everywhere, and lots of wildlife gathered around the water. A note near the bottom said it had been done by Mrs. Dwyer's art students from Nocturne Falls High School.

The space wasn't as comfortable as the main cafeteria, but that was closed. And this room was thankfully empty, except for Remy and Darryl.

They'd gotten coffee from one of the machines and taken a table in the corner.

Darryl turned his coffee cup counterclockwise every so often. A nervous habit, Remy assumed. Darryl seemed like a good, upstanding man, but Remy admitted he might be a little prejudiced, seeing as how they were both law enforcement.

Remy leaned in. "You said you had questions."

"I do." Darryl shook his head. "Hard to know where to start."

"Just ask whatever comes to mind first. Doesn't matter to me. Nothing you ask will upset me."

"You sure?"

"We're brothers-in-arms, you and I," Remy said. "We've seen people at their worst, haven't we?"

Darryl nodded. "That we have."

"Nothing you can ask me will bother me. I promise you."

Darryl sipped his coffee, then set the cup back on the table. "Do you, uh, like the taste of … you know."

"Blood?" Remy supplied. He stifled his smile. It was a valid question and not the first time he'd been asked it. He'd have been more surprised if Darryl hadn't brought it up. "Well, it does keep me alive, so I've grown accustomed to it."

"Right, right." Darryl turned the cup again. "When you look at someone like me, a human, I mean, do you get a craving to … That is, how do I know you won't … Maybe never mind."

"I don't want to bite you or drink your blood. I feed on a regular basis, so that is never an issue. It's also pretty frowned upon in civil vampire society to drink from anyone who isn't a willing participant. Most areas, Nocturne Falls included, have blood banks that provide vampires with what they need."

"That's good to know." Darryl exhaled, letting out a long, slow, relieved breath. "Can you turn into anything else?"

"Like a bat?" This time Remy smiled. "No, but that would be something. There have been a couple times in my life being able to fly away would have been pretty useful."

"So you can't fly either?"

"No, but I can jump pretty high, and long drops don't bother me."

Darryl seemed to consider that. "What's the longest drop you've made?"

"So far, four stories."

Darryl's eyes rounded. "And you weren't hurt?"

Remy shook his head. "Landed on my feet like a cat."

"Holy smokes." Darryl appeared suitably impressed with that. "And you're real fast, too, right?"

"I am. Fast enough that human eyes can't track me."

"Get out." Disbelief filled Darryl's gaze.

Never one to disappoint, Remy used his speed to get up, grab two sugar packets and sit back down. He held the packets up. "Did you see me get these?"

"I… no. Did you just— Wait. How?"

"Told you. I'm fast. Vampire speed is something else. Our hearing and sense of smell are pretty sharp, too, but the shifters beat us at that. Although the shifters can't move as fast as we can."

"Shifters?" Darryl's brows pulled together. "Leonie told me about vampires and witches. Are you saying there are more kinds of people I don't know about?"

Remy drank some of his coffee before answering. It wasn't as good as what he made at home, but it wasn't bad. "Let me put it to you this way. Most legends and myths and fairy tales all have some basis in reality."

Darryl's eyes went big again, and a grave expression settled over his face. "Are you telling me the rougarou is real?"

"As real as you and I are sitting here having this conversation. Shifters of all kinds are very real. You've already met one."

Darryl frowned. "I have?"

"Sure. Birdie."

Darryl laughed. "Come on now. What is she? A real bird?"

"No, she's a werewolf. Not a rougarou. Those are a different breed. She's a wolf shifter. So is my boss, the sheriff."

"I'll be." He was quiet for a moment. Lost in thought maybe. Then he tapped his finger on the table. "You know, this explains a few things I've run across in my time as a cop."

Remy snorted softly. "Considering the town you work in, I bet it does."

Darryl rubbed his chin. "What else don't I know?"

"Let me think." Remy hesitated, not sure how to answer that.

"You know what?" Darryl swirled his coffee around. "Don't answer that. Better let me just sit a while on what I already know."

"I'm sure it feels like a lot to process."

"It does. But Leonie and I aren't about to stop being friends, so I'll come to terms with it soon enough." He tipped his coffee cup and peered inside. "Just about gone. Probably should get back soon before they think we've run out on them. I appreciate you talking to me."

"Anytime. I mean that." Remy shrugged. "Who knows, you might end up being my father-in-law one of these days. Unless I'm wrong and you don't like Leonie the way I think you like her."

Darryl's smile was suddenly a little shy, giving him the look of a much younger and very lovestruck man. "I've been in love with that woman a long time. Married someone else, who I cared for, but she couldn't take being a cop's wife. Anyway, Leonie has always done something to me no other woman has."

Remy nodded. "Boy, do I know that feeling. Ephie's been in my head since the first day I met her."

Darryl's eyes sparkled, and he pursed his lips for a moment. "Maybe they put spells on us."

Remy laughed. "No maybe about it."

Darryl's phone buzzed on his hip. He reached for it and checked the screen, then looked at Remy. "Leonie says they're about ready to let Ephie go. A little more paperwork to sign and she's free."

Remy closed his eyes for a second, his gratitude deep. He looked at Darryl. "That night at the hotel when I pulled her out of those flames…" He swallowed. "I had a moment where I thought, ‘I'm going to put her in that ambulance and never see her again.' Now she's ready to come home."

Darryl nodded. "I understand. It's been a rough few days. For all of us. But for you and Ephie, especially."

They got up and tossed their cups in the trash.

Remy stuck the sugar packets back in the dispenser. "It has been. I'm ready for some downtime. A few uneventful shifts, a few nice quiet evenings, just some peace and simplicity."

"Well, you'll get it. Now that Ephie's all right, I'm sure Leonie will want to head back soon."

They walked back to Ephie's room. Remy liked the man. He wasn't just a good guy; he was someone who could be a great influence on Leonie. "Be nice if you stayed around long enough to see the town a bit. Maybe come over to my place for dinner. Or we could go out. Whatever you want."

"That's a very nice offer. Thank you. But it's really up to Leonie. It's hard for a justice to take time off when court's in session."

"I'm sure."

They reached Ephie's room. Darryl stopped. "I'll see what I can do as far as getting Leonie to stick around a little longer. It would be good for her to see more of you and Ephie together. It would help her not be so afraid. I know she is. I also know, after talking to you, that she doesn't need to be. Heck, I didn't even need to talk to you to know that. Not after what you did for that girl."

Remy smiled. "Thanks."

"You saved that young woman's life. You didn't do that just to ruin it in some other way." Darryl put his hand on Remy's shoulder. "I'll talk to her."

"I appreciate that." Remy did, too. But he didn't hold out a lot of hope that Leonie was going to magically have a change of heart when it came to him or vampires.

Maybe a few years would make a difference. Or maybe it wouldn't. But as long as Ephie was happy, that was all that mattered to Remy.