I Hate Myself but I Love You

Chapter 35

Carmilla's POV

I speak up before Laura can retort. I've been around Mattie when she's been in a similar mood and it always ends with someone being her literal captive audience or with her viciously murdering someone. And when she's in that state, it's difficult to calm her down. "Laura's dad is here."

LaFontaine perks up, "Papa Hollis? Awesome! I have a few ideas about new weapons and surveillance technology."

"Laura's father is..." Mattie trails off, gesturing to me.

"He's that Hollis. He started the security company." I explain.

"Wait you know who my dad is just from that?" Laura questions.

"I haven't been living under a rock."

I can see Laura getting into a defensive stance. Challenging my sister never ends well. "We just got more blood. I'm sure you're all hungry."

Mattie scowls at Danny. "This one..." she pulls on the leash, making Danny gag before glaring at her. "Decided the ginger looked tasty and tried to bite them. That's when I put this leash on her. So feeding her might keep her from draining your pets. For a little while, anyway."

I guess I'll have to sleep at the foot of the mattress we got for LaFontaine and Kirsch to make sure Xena doesn't decide to have a midnight snack. I get blood from the fridge, handing one to Danny and Mattie before going back and getting more. I hand one to Laura and open the other fridge with my free hand.

"Hey Dr. Frankenstein. There's food in here if you're hungry."

LaFontaine grins at me. "Man, you are so whipped. You're being so considerate and thoughtful."

I give them a hard look. "I will slam your head in the fridge door."

They nod, "Shutting up now." They move past me and look through the contents. "There is so much sugar in here, Hollis. How do you not have scurvy?"

"There's fruit in there!" Laura protests.

"Fruit snacks, maybe." They tease her. I open the doors to the cabinets. There's two stuffed full of the junk food Laura picked up (she even hid a container of cookies under the sink but she doesn't think I know about that) and then one full of everything from apples to oranges. "Oh. Nice job getting her to get healthy stuff, Karnstein."

"As lovely as this is, what are we supposed to do now?" Mattie asks. "The Dean is possessing one of your little friends and there's still the giant fish god in the hole to worry about. Not to mention the fact that Mother's obsessed with the gates, whatever that is."

"I'm surprised you aren't running back to your Mother with your tail between your legs." Danny growls at Mattie.

"As much as I despise almost everyone in this room, I don't like to think what Maman would do if she got what the gates are hiding. That would be Armageddon, apocalyptic. Whatever it is, if she's this determined to get what's in it, it has to be powerful."