Lei truly regretted that this had become necessary, but she had warned Arthur of the consequences of disturbing the balance between human and vampire ...too severely. And the balance had been disturbed, if not in the way that he had intended or believed. When she had entered dormancy the prior morning, the city had been full of ferals. In fact, there had been more vampires in the city than had ever existed before in the entire world. But, by the time she had woke this evening, only a handful. "I honestly didn't know if I could get there or not and I asked him to hold on."Mack, I hate to ask and I wouldn't if it weren't important," I said. "Do you know anyone who could fly me to Richmond tonight?"Rick jumped in and said he could probably have someone fly me there in about an hour. He was on his cell phone before he even finished speaking.I told Jack to tell Bailey I'd be there in about five hours and hung up.I was rushing around trying to gather items I'd need when it hit me. I would. I put my arms around your shoulders and pull you into a close embrace. Immediately I worry that I have pushed the bounds of acceptable behaviour, but you seem to snuggle in closer, so I hold onto you as I breathe in the fragrance of your subtle perfume.We sit there for many long moments, none of us saying a word, both of us comfortably enjoying the peace and mutual trust of the moment.You close your eyes and allow your full weight to relax back against me, your head resting on my shoulder, you. During the day Friday, I had received a call that I would need to pay for the appraisal. I asked for the appraiser to call and I would charge it. The company was paying for a number of items connected with the purchase and loan. This was one. I would just submit it for reimbursement. The appraiser called and we completed the transaction. He said that preliminary information suggested that the property would appraise high enough to cover the loan and more. He would perform the appraisal Monday.