We were a strange little family grouping: two telepaths and a fairy. During our breakfast conversation, I had to keep each male from knowing what the other was, and that was a real challenge. Hunter told me silently that Claude must be a vampire, because he couldn’t hear Claude’s thoughts, and I had to tell Hunter that there were some other people we couldn’t hear, too. I pointed out that Claude couldn’t be a vampire because it was daytime, and vampires couldn’t come out in the daytime.

“There’s a vampire in the closet,” Hunter told Claude. “He can’t come out in the daytime.”

“Which closet would that be?” Claude asked Hunter.

“The one in my room. You want to come see?”

“Hunter,” I said, “the last thing any vampire wants is to be disturbed in the daytime. I’d leave him alone.”

“Your Eric?” Claude asked. He was excited by the idea of Eric being in the house. Damn.

“Yes,” I said. “You know better than to go in there, right? I mean, I don’t have to get tough with you, right?”

He smiled at me. “You, tough with me?” he said, mockingly. “Ha. I’m fae. I am stronger than any human.”

I started to say, “So how come I survived the war between the fae and so many fairies didn’t?” Thank God I didn’t. The minute after, I knew how good it was that I’d choked on those words, because I could see by Claude’s face that he remembered who’d died all too well. I missed Claudine, too, and I told him so.

“You’re sad,” Hunter said accurately. And he was picking up on all this, which shouldn’t be thought of in his hearing.

“Yes, we’re remembering his sister,” I said. “She died and we miss her.”

“Like my mom,” he said. “What’s a fay?”

“Yes, like your mom.” Sort of. Only in the sense that they were both dead. “And a fae is a special person, but we’re not going to talk about that right now.”

It didn’t take a telepath to pick up on Claude’s interest and curiosity, and when he sauntered back down the hall to use the bathroom, I followed him. Sure enough, Claude’s steps slowed and stopped at the open door to the bedroom Hunter had used.

“Keep right on walking,” I said.

“I can’t take a peek? He’ll never know. I’ve heard how handsome he is. Just a peek?”

“No,” I said, knowing I’d better stay in sight of that door until Claude was out of the house. Just a peek, my round rosy ass.

“What about your ass, Aunt Sookie?”

“Oops! Sorry, Hunter. I said a bad word.” Didn’t want Claude to know I’d only thought it. I heard him laughing as he shut the bathroom door.