Katie looked at her with gratitude, then shook her head. “You can’t. You have training tonight.”
“Screw training. This is more important. Jason always reminds me that family comes first. You let Silvia know that we will be eating out tonight and I’ll give Jason a call.”
Katie stared at her in disbelief as she walked out of the room, taking her phone from her pocket as she did so. “That girl is either very brave or very stupid,” she said to herself. “That is not a phone call I would want to be making.”
Sarah took a deep breath, bracing herself for the moment JD answered her call.
“JD.” Good. He was driving. That meant she wouldn’t have to face him as she planned to leave before he got to the Sanctuary.
“Hi Jason, it’s Sarah. I’m going to have to skip training tonight.”
“Why?” He could hear the stress in her voice so there had to be a good reason in her eyes, but not necessarily in his.
“Katie is upset. I’m taking her out.”
“Others can do that.”
“Others wouldn’t understand. She needs some girl time.”
“Alright, but you’re staying at the Sanctuary tonight and making up for it in the morning.”
The fact that Sarah didn’t argue told him he had made the right decision. “Is it anything I need to know about?” he asked.
“No. She just needs some time and some sympathy.”
“Okay. Take care of her. I’ll see you later.”
When she hung up, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone better than she had thought it would.
She took Katie to the café she and Alex had met in. She hadn’t been back since they had moved into their house and she didn’t recognise the man serving behind the counter.
“Does Joe still work here?” she asked as she ordered two hot chocolates.
“Yes, he usually gets in around ten,” came the reply.
“Tell him Sarah says ‘hi’ will you. He will remember me, I hope.”
She led Katie to the table she always used to occupy and explained the significance of the place.
They talked while they drank, about various unimportant things, anything that would take Katie’s mind off her sorrow. She seemed to be cheering up, so Sarah asked a question she had wanted to ask for a while.
“How come you never go out on dates? You’re young and attractive. I bet your clients must ask you out all the time.”
“Given my lifestyle, are you really surprised?”
“The boys manage it. Jonathon is hardly ever home from what I have seen.”
“That’s different. That’s just about sex. I’m looking for someone who would understand and accept what I do, not just someone who turns me on. So far I’ve never met anyone who fits both criteria.” She looked down as she spoke instead of meeting Sarah’s eye. She was lying, but about what Sarah wasn’t sure. She didn’t push her. If Katie was secretly seeing someone, she would tell her when she was ready and not before.
Katie then raised her head. “Craig got lucky with you.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Craig and I are not dating and you know it.”
“So what’s your excuse? You’ve been single for a long time now. Why are you not out there looking for mister right?”
“That’s easy. I compare every bloke I meet to Alex and nobody measures up.”
“Then maybe you should stop comparing.”
“Come on,” Sarah said, rapidly changing the subject. “I’ll take you back to my place and cook something.”
“I wish I knew how to cook,” Katie said wistfully.
Sarah stared at her in surprise. “You can’t cook anything?”
Katie shook her head. “I’ve never had the opportunity to. I lived with my parents until I moved to 14 and I was always too busy with study, work, training and hunting. Silvia takes care of everything at the Sanctuary so there has never been the need for me to learn.”
“We’ll soon see about that. Your first lesson starts as soon as we get to my place.”
Katie was enjoying herself, chopping vegetables and stirring pots all under the watchful eye of both Sarah and Sally, when Sarah’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and shut herself in the lounge before answering.
“Hi Jason.”
“How’s Katie?”
“She’s doing okay. She’s cooking at the moment.”
“Cooking? Katie?”
“Yes. She made a comment that she had never been taught so she’s having her first lesson.”
“Thank you.” His voice was filled with genuine gratitude. “You really are a good influence on all of them aren’t you.”
Sarah noted that he had said ‘them’ not ‘us’, but now wasn’t the time to have that argument. “Speaking of ‘them’, maybe you should all learn to cook.”
JD sounded amused when he asked, “Are you volunteering?”
“Do you really think I would pass up an opportunity to tell you what to do?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I already know how to cook. It was one of the things I had to learn on my year away. It’s a good idea though. Let me talk to Silvia. I’m sure she’ll agree.”
The meal was surprisingly good for Katie’s first attempt and she returned to the Sanctuary a much happier person than when she left.
At breakfast the next morning, JD announced that cooking lessons would begin that evening and handed around a roster. Jonathon was the only one to complain.
“I don’t need to learn how to cook,” he said.
“I disagree,” JD said. “I had to learn, so why shouldn’t you?”
“Why haven’t you brought this up till now?” He turned his attention to Sarah. “Whose idea is this really?”
She raised a challenging eyebrow at him, daring him to publicly accuse her.
He chickened out. “On second thoughts, don’t bother to answer that question. I can take a wild guess.” He then smiled at Sarah. It was not a nice smile. “Can I borrow the arena Saturday afternoon?”
“No.”
The fact that JD did not even think about it surprised everyone. As soon as he had seen the way his brother was looking at Sarah, JD knew he would make the request and it was something he could not allow. It had nothing to do with his feelings for Sarah. As their trainer, he had to draw the line somewhere and Jonathon’s request was crossing it.
“But−”
JD cut him off. “This is not up for discussion. If you want extra sparing practice I’m sure I can free up some of my time for you, but you will not go into my arena without me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal.”
Katie couldn’t resist teasing him. “Don’t worry Jonathon. I’m sure we can find you an apron that isn’t too frilly.” The look he gave her made her burst out laughing.
He doesn’t control your life you know
One Friday evening, Sarah was talking on the phone as she walked into the Sanctuary. “I’ve just got home. I’ll log on and call you back.”
“Hi Sarah,” Scott called out to her as she walked past the games room. She stuck her head around the door and saw he was playing some sort of first-person-shooter game.
“Don’t you ever study?” she asked.
“When I need to. JD called by the way. He asked me to let you know he’s running late. He tried to call you but he couldn’t get through.” He didn’t take his attention away from the game as he spoke.
“I’m not surprised. I’ve been on the phone the entire way home; hands free, of course. Problems at work.”
Scott paused the game and looked at her. “Do you realise you just called this place home twice in as many minutes?”
“Well it is isn’t it? The amount of time I seem to be spending here it feels like a home away from home.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m pretty sure it’s what Craig had in mind the first time he brought you here. You’ll have moved in here permanently before you know it.”
“Not a chance in
hell. Too many early mornings for my liking. Can you let Jason know I’ve stolen his office when he arrives please.”
“Sure.”
Sarah dropped her bag in her room then took up residence in JD’s office, closing the door behind her. Then she phoned one of her colleagues once more.
JD went straight to the arena as soon as he reached the Sanctuary, but it was empty. He found Scott in the games room, still shooting aliens, and asked if he had seen Sarah. Scott explained where she was and why, so JD headed to the kitchen. He poured a cup of coffee and took it to his office. He knocked on the door and wasn’t told to go away, so he went in.
Sarah was on the phone. “Ping me the location of the code and I’ll take a look,” he heard her say before hanging up. He placed the steaming cup in front of her and she looked up at him. “Thanks. Do you want your office back?”
“No, you’re fine. Is there anything you need?”
“Can you get my charger from my room? My phone is nearly dead. I think it’s in my bag.”
The request surprised him. “You trust me to search through your bag?”
“Any reason I shouldn’t?”
He didn’t bother to answer, choosing instead to simply do as she asked. Resisting the temptation to snoop, he quickly found her charger, returned to his office and plugged her phone in.
“Anything else you need?”
“A gun would be handy for whenever I find who screwed this up.” She was joking. At least he hoped she was.
“They’re in the safe and no, I won’t give you the combination.”
“You have guns?” she asked in surprise. “I thought they were useless against vampires.”
“They are, but they’re fun to shoot.”
“So when are you going to teach me?”
“I’m not.”
“We’ll see,” he heard her mutter under her breath as he walked away. He purposely left the door open so anyone walking past could check she didn’t need anything without having to knock. Unsure what to do with his unexpected free time, he got changed and went to work out alone.
There was no sign of Sarah at dinner time, so Craig filled her plate and took it to her.
She was on the phone again when he walked in and placed the plate on the desk. “I appreciate that, but with all due respect, the way I see it we have two options. I can work on the problem or I can keep answering your calls. It’s up to you.” She listened for the response then hung up.
“Who was that?” Craig asked.
“Justin Spencer.”
Craig choked. “The MD? You realise he can fire you for speaking to him like that.”
“Let’s hope I fix the issue then.” She tried to smile, but she could feel a headache coming on and she was no closer to fixing the issue than she had been a few hours before. Knowing that he could do nothing to help, Craig left her in peace.
It was late by the time everyone went to bed and Sarah was still working. On his way to his room, JD glanced into the office and saw that she had her head in her hands and was massaging her temples. He walked behind her and started to rub her shoulders.
“Thanks Craig. That’s just what I need. My head is killing me.”
“I’m not Craig.” He felt her stiffen as soon as she heard his voice and she slowly lifted her head. He gently pushed it back down again. “Do not even think about making any smartarse comments or I’ll stop.”
She remained silent as he worked on her neck, head, then back down to her shoulders once more. She was almost moaning with pleasure by the time he finished. He had very good hands.
“Has that helped?” he asked as he moved away.
“It has. Thanks.”
Before he left the room, Sarah called to him. “Jason. You’re not the cold, inhuman person you pretend to be, are you?”
He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her. “I don’t pretend to be anything. I am strict and a hard taskmaster, but I have to be. I do what I do to make sure everyone stays alive and nothing is more important to me than ensuring all of my students are as safe as they can be, given what it is we do.”
“But why have you built up such a barrier between yourself and the others? You obviously care for them a lot, but you never show it.” It was the first time he had shown any sign of really opening up to her so she was determined to get all she could out of him.
“It’s the only way to get them to obey my orders without question.”
“So why are you treating me differently, letting me see the other side of you?” She knew he was letting her get away with things he wouldn’t let the others, as long as they never found out. He was also letting her use his sword on a regular basis now, only taking it back from her when he heard someone approaching.
There was no way he was going to tell her the full truth. “I can be more lenient with you because if you stop following my orders, I can refuse to continue your training. With them, I don’t have any choice, other than to have them reassigned to a different Sanctuary, which I really do not want to have to ever do.”
“It must be hard on you though, having to keep your distance.” She had work to do, but for now this was more important to her, so she pushed her work from her mind.
“It’s just one of the sacrifices you make when you agree to become a trainer.”
“You mean you had a choice?” Sarah had always thought that he had been told he had to go away for training. It had never occurred to her that he had chosen to.
“Of course. Just because we all grew up in hunter families doesn’t mean that we had to follow in our parents’ footsteps. Everyone is here because they want to be, not because they have to be. Now I’m going to bed. If you’re still working past midnight, don’t get up in the morning.”
Before going to his own room, he snuck into hers and turned her alarm off. It was close enough to midnight that he was confident she wouldn’t finish before the witching hour.
He lay awake in bed for a long time before sleep eventually claimed him, worrying over whether he had revealed too much of himself to Sarah, that he had let his barrier drop too far. Only time would tell.
It was around 2am when she eventually found the problem. She phoned into work, told them what they needed to do, then dragged herself off to bed. She didn’t notice that her alarm had been turned off. She was too tired to do anything other than collapse onto the bed.
At JD’s request, Craig checked on her just before five. She was still fast asleep so he took her shoes off and moved her under the covers.
She was woken a little before eight by the smell of coffee. Someone had placed a steaming cup beside her bed and she said a silent thank you to both JD and Craig and to God for giving her friends who took such good care of her.
————————————-∞————————————-
It had been such a long time since Sarah had last gone out socially with her university friends that when she got a call one Friday night inviting her to go and see some male strippers with them she instantly agreed. It would be on a Saturday night so JD couldn’t complain, though she was sure he would be unhappy about it.
Before hanging up, however, she had an idea. “Can I bring a friend with me?” she asked. She was told she could and promised to call right back to confirm.
All of the hunters, except for JD, were in the games room when she entered. “Katie, are you doing anything on the evening of the 15th?” she asked.
“Not that I know of. Why?”
“Want to come and see some male strippers with me and my friends?” Sarah noted the looks on the men’s faces and had to suppress a smile.
“Sure. Count me in.”
“Katie,” Jonathon said in shock. “You can’t go and see male strippers.”
“And why not?”
“JD wouldn’t like it for a start.”
“What’s it got to do with him?” Sarah asked.
Jonathan smiled at her. “You can be the one to ask him that. But can I be there
to listen in when you do?”
Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “Sure.” Then she turned her attention to Katie. “So you’re in?” Katie nodded. “Great. I’ll pick you up about seven.” She then left the room to call her friend back.
Later that evening, at dinner, Sarah brought up the subject with JD. She said it so casually he thought he must have misheard her.
“Katie and I are going to see male strippers on the 15th and Jonathon said I have to run it past you.”
He could feel everyone’s eyes on him. “Did I just hear you correctly?” he asked, keeping his tone even.
“Yes. We’re going to see strippers. You don’t have an issue with that do you? Jonathon thought you would have.” She was challenging him and everyone knew it. He would have to handle this very carefully.
“Did he indeed.” He glared at his brother. He had set him up for this conversation and he would be made to pay. “Yes. I do have an issue with it, but unfortunately there’s nothing I can do to stop you.”
“You could order them not to go,” Scott said.
JD could see Doc watching him, assessing how he was handling the discussion. “It’s not on a training night for either of them and what they do in their own time I get no say in, unless it will affect their training in any way,” he said. “I could ask them not to go, but I really don’t want to put them both in a position where they have to ignore my request. I assume you already have tickets.” Sarah nodded. “So you aren’t asking my permission.” She shook her head this time. “So the only reason we are even having this conversation is because Jonathon said I needed to be informed.”
A smile spread across Sarah’s face as she nodded her head once more. She knew where it was heading and JD didn’t disappoint her. “Guess what you’re going to be doing while the ladies are staring at semi-naked men, brother dearest.”
“I have a date that night,” he said.
“Had,” JD said. “Cancel it. And come and see me in my office once dinner is over. We need to have a talk.”
“Well handled,” Doc said to JD once everyone else had left the dining room.
“Thank you. They like to test me don’t they.”
Vampire Hunters, #1 Page 14