The one thing that Erin looked forward to after an arduous yet successful job was to take a bath, lie on her bed, maybe watch some crappy TV, and bask in the night's glory until she falls asleep. After all, she felt like she deserved it—she had just flawlessly completed a job, got paid for it pretty handsomely, got herself her usual sandwich order, and even got another to give to Alaric, out of the goodness of her cold, uncaring heart. So yeah, she was feeling pretty good about herself, as if she had suddenly channeled her inner Mother Theresa—even though she highly doubted that the woman would approve of her line of work.
That excitement for her routine, however, was quickly squashed as soon as she opened the door to her apartment.
The stink of something burning was the first thing that
