Enemy Mine

Chapter 55

Bonnie and Clyde lifted their heads but neither left their positions on the couch when Vincent emerged from his bedroom. He had changed into a pair of faded jeans and donned a charcoal V-neck, looking more relaxed than he had in days, and he offered me an easy smile as he leaned over to kiss me and pat the dogs on their heads. Damn this sucked, since I was about to hit him with a wrecking ball.

"Did you get a chance to meditate?" he asked as he deposited his phone on the coffee table and walked to the kitchen.

"Yes, but I don't think it was as successful as yours. You look like you've been training with a yogi."

He shrugged as he filled a glass of water from the fridge. "I've been meditating since I was five. I barely heard your phone ring." He held my gaze over the counter as he drained his glass halfway. Was he waiting for me to tell him who called?

"Sorry about that. I should have silenced it." I took a deep inhale before giving him the information he wanted. "It was Christoph. Sounds like he's going to return to the hive and keep us in the loop."

Vincent adopted a satisfied smile, but his intense eyes told a different story. "I suspect there was more to the conversation than that. You're about as relaxed as a yogi with a steel rod in his back." He said this as he walked over to join me on the couch. "What else did Christoph say?"

I bit my lip, then realized what I was doing when Vincent stared at my mouth. "Do you really want to hear about it now? You look so calm and peaceful."

"If it's bad news, then this is the best time to hit me with it. What's up, Reese?"

"It's Willem. He's really depressed. Probably suffering from post-traumatic stress. Christoph is concerned he might do something stupid if he's left alone. I've been trying to think of ways to keep a closer eye on him."

It took Vincent a moment, but my words finally registered, and he responded with an eyebrow tweak. "What's going through that clever mind of yours? Is it something I'm going to be guilted into then regret afterwards?"

"Geez. Is that how you always feel when I ask for something?"

"No, I'm sorry." He patted my knee as if I were a dog. "Finish what you had to say."

Suppressing a scowl, I continued with my train of thought, although I was only proving him right. "Willem is my grandfather. I need to do something. And one idea keeps popping into my head. It's crazy, but it would serve more than one purpose, or more than one person, depending on how you look at it. Mr. Pearlman is eight-four, and Willem is about that. They're both from the same era, with no family..."

"Reese..." Vincent dragged out my name like a curse, letting it die on his lips.

"I've only had twenty minutes to think this through, so humor me," I went on. "Christoph also said the longer he stays at my place, the more likely his fellow demons will think he's the traitor, and they might not let him back into the hive."

Vincent nodded sagely. "I thought of that too. Go on."

"If Willem could bunk with Mr. Pearlman for a few days and spend time in the company of a man his age, he might snap about of his slump without prescription drugs. It also gives Mr. Pearlman a full-time care taker."

Despite my well-made points, Vincent's face didn't budge from its rigid position. If I didn't already know him, I would feel insulted. "Listen to yourself, Reese. You're asking a gollum domus to open their doors to a demon. That is unheard of."

"The demons opened their door to Petula and my mother."

"That was for their own gain," he snapped. "How do you think a move like that would look to the magister council?"