Sam snorted at the suggestion. “Oh yeah, like that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Alex agreed with a grimace and then shrugged. “I’ll think of another way.”
Silence fell briefly in the car, and then Alex twisted around to peer at Wyatt and said, “So, you’re a bodyguard by trade?”
Wyatt nodded.
“Have you ever guarded anyone interesting?” she asked with curiosity.
Wyatt shrugged. “Depends on who you think is interesting. I’ve worked with actors, actresses, musicians, politicians, and the wealthy.”
Alex looked impressed, and then asked, “Who was the most interesting?”
“Elspeth,” he said at once. When Elspeth turned to him with surprise, he smiled wryly and pointed out, “The others were all mortal. You guys are the most interesting people I’ve ever met.”
“Ah,” Alex said with a grin. “What a sweet talker.”
Wyatt smiled faintly, but asked, “So Elspeth is one hundred forty-two. How old are you girls?”
“Okay, so not such a sweet talker,” Alex said on a laugh, turning forward in her seat.
When Wyatt frowned slightly and glanced to her, Elspeth reminded him gently, “It’s rude to ask a lady her age.”
“Even an immortal?” he asked with surprise. “I mean, since you guys all look young and hot, I didn’t think it would be an issue.”
“Nice attempt at a save,” Sam said, smiling at him in the rearview mirror. “And while that may be true for Elspeth and others born immortal, those of us who were turned still tend to be a little self-conscious about our age. Give us a century or two and that might change, but right now . . .” She shrugged and returned her attention to the road.
When Wyatt glanced to Elspeth, his eyes wide, she raised her eyebrows. “You look surprised. You thought Alex and Sam were born immortal?”
“They’re sisters. I just assumed . . .”
Elspeth nodded. “Sam was turned first. She met Mortimer while at their family cottage up north. Mortimer and a couple of other hunters were in the cottage next door. They were on the job at the time looking for a rogue immortal in the area.”
“And then I spent ages trying to find life mates for my sisters,” Sam told him with a wry shake of the head.
“Sisters?” Wyatt asked at once. “There are more of you?”
“One more,” Alex told him. “Our youngest sister, Jo. She found her life mate next.”
“Yeah, and that nearly gave me a heart attack,” Sam muttered.
“Why?” Wyatt asked with curiosity.
“Jo’s life mate is my cousin, Nicholas Argeneau,” Elspeth told him with a smile and then explained, “He was kind of considered rogue at the time.”
“Fortunately, that was all cleared up,” Alex told him lightly. “And then I met my life mate, Cale.”
“My brother,” Elspeth told him, and when his eyebrows rose, she shrugged. “I have a lot of family.”
Sam snorted at the claim, and said, “The Argeneaus were one of the original Atlantean families. They’ve been making babies for millennia. You can’t turn around without tripping over one.”
When Wyatt turned to her with curiosity, Elspeth shrugged and admitted, “I have relatives I’ve never even met yet.” Noting his shock at the comment, she quickly added, “But then, until recently, I didn’t get out much.”
“That’s an understatement,” Sam said dryly. “And in point of fact, you haven’t really got out much since moving to Canada either.”
“What?” Elspeth met Sam’s gaze in the rearview mirror with surprise.
“Well, you haven’t,” she pointed out. “You’ve mostly worked, shopped for furniture for your apartment, and spent your downtime relaxing with Meredith.”
Elspeth frowned. What Sam said was true, but—“I’ve only been here six weeks,” she pointed out defensively. “And I had to buy the furniture. Besides, once I’m done with work and shopping, I’m usually tired and Meredith is soothing and . . .”
“I wasn’t criticizing you,” Sam said gently. “There’s nothing wrong with being a homebody. It’s probably why you were able to withstand your mother’s overprotectiveness and controlling for so long without going crazy.”
Elspeth turned to peer out the window as she considered Sam’s words. She wasn’t a homebody. Was she? She wanted to go out and party with the girls. She wanted to go to movies, and shop, and . . . well, do whatever it was normal people did when they didn’t have a mother hovering over them and restricting their every move. Didn’t she?
“Here we are.”
Elspeth glanced up at that announcement from Sam to see that they were pulling into the Walmart parking lot.
“So,” Wyatt said, glancing out the window as Sam found a spot near the back of the lot. “The sun’s still peeking over the horizon. I thought since you were out a little earlier than this when I followed you to The Night Club that the sun wasn’t a problem for you. But Sam mentioned the sun-filtering film on the SUV.” Raising his eyebrows, he asked, “Is the sun a problem? Is having to walk so far in it going to be an issue?”
“No. We’re fine,” Elspeth assured him solemnly. “It’s not like we burst into flame when sunlight touches us. It just does the same kind of damage it does to mortals, only a little more of it. At least, for those of us who were born immortal,” she said and explained, “We’re trained from childhood to avoid the sun, so having had minimal exposure to it, our skin tends to be more sensitive.”
“Then why do you avoid the sun?” he asked as he pulled on his jacket. “I mean, if your skin reacts the same way as ours—”
“Because unlike mortals, the nanos immediately repair the damage,” she explained.
“And they use blood to do it,” he said with understanding.
“Exactly. We try to avoid anything that will force the use of more blood.”
“Cold has the same effect,” Alex announced now. “The body tries to keep the body temperature regulated and uses more blood to do it.”
Sam added, “A lot of things do that. The heat in the summer means more blood is used to cool the body. Exposing ourselves to lots of people and the germs they carry means the nanos work to remove those before they can make us sick, and so on and so forth. Basically, pretty much everything forces the nanos to work harder and use more blood.”
“Then we’ll make this shopping trip a quick one,” Wyatt announced, opening his door, and letting the cool air in.
They didn’t just walk quickly through the parking lot; they were quick in the store too. Elspeth had never been a browser, meandering the aisles and looking at all the things she didn’t need or couldn’t afford. She knew what she wanted, and found them fast—a purse, a wallet, new lipstick and another blush, hairbrush and perfume. They were headed for the till when she saw the pocketknives. Pausing, she looked them over quickly and then selected one with a black blade and handle.
Wyatt was at her side the entire time, always with one hand on her arm or at her back. But she didn’t mistake that hand as anything but all business. She knew it was so he could move her where he wanted if something happened, because his other hand hovered constantly by the front of his coat, ready to slip in and whip out one of his guns. This man wasn’t the Wyatt she had met in Meredith’s hall and kissed on the back porch. This Wyatt was a soldier—straight, stiff, and braced for action. His gaze was narrowed, examining each passing shopper and searching the surrounding area for trouble. Actually, it was kind of disturbing, causing her tension level to ratchet up several degrees. Elspeth was glad to be done and head to the checkout.
The Apple store followed, but was an equally quick trip. Elspeth was able to get a new phone, but left it turned off until she could charge it properly.
They were just leaving the store to head for the car when Sam’s phone rang.
“It’s Mortimer,” she announced after glancing at the screen. Pressing the button to accept the call, she said, “Hello,” and then her eyebrows rose as she listened . . . and listened . . . and listened. Finally she said, “Okay. I love you too, honey,” and put her phone away.