Tamara also went upstairs to pack, although she packed a little more than Christine did. She had two sisters to take into account as well.

After she'd packed, Christine headed downstairs to see if Cal was still hanging around. Because while Niko had invited her, she had the feeling Cal was less than thrilled with the arrangement.

Cal was indeed around: he'd taken apart one of his guns at the table and was giving it a quick cleaning.

Christine sat across from him, watching him for a few moments.

"You won't have to worry about me invading your space for long," she said. "I'll find a hotel to stay in once we're in New York."

Cal blinked and looked up. He'd known she was there, of course, but he hadn't expected that.

"What?"

"Just because your brother offered doesn't mean you actually want me hanging around," Christine reasoned with a shrug. "I figured I'd make it easier on both of you so you don't have to actually kick me out."

Cal just shrugged.

"If Nik's okay with it, it's no big deal," he said, turning back to the pieces of his Glock.

"That's not what your look earlier was saying," Christine said, looking at the bits of Glock on the table. She didn't use guns, so she had no idea what any of it was, other than it had a trigger and went boom.

"Nik can be convincing when he wants to be," Cal said dryly. More like Nik had whapped him upside the head and given him a Look, but it was really all the same where Cal was concerned.

Christine snorted, poking at some of the parts with a fingertip cautiously. She looked almost wary.

Cal calmly and methodically put the gun back together, checking each part as he went. It was soothing, in a way.

Christine still eyed the gun warily when it was put back together. Sure, she had a gun, but she didn't use it often, and hers was smaller. His was practically a small shotgun disguised as a handgun.

Cal glanced at her and noticed her wary expression. He grinned, put away the Glock, and pulled out his Desert Eagle to clean.

Christine made a face. "Seriously? Now you're just doing it on purpose." She made a face at the Desert Eagle.

Cal shrugged.

"I like my guns," he said, grinning a bit as he took the Eagle apart.

"Guns are effective, at least," Christine said grudgingly. "But they're not fun."

"They're tons of fun," Cal disagreed. "When you use them right."

"I have yet to have a good experience with guns. Decent, yes, but not good." Christine shook her head. "Not to mention you've got a monster there."

Cal barely reacted to the word 'monster,' although there was the slightest hesitation before he smoothly began to clean the parts.

"Most times it pays to have a big gun," he said.

"I guess it depends on what you need a big gun for," Christine said with a shrug.

"Lots of things," Cal replied. "Gods, demon spiders, hell on legs, that sort of thing." And he wasn't even exaggerating.

"So, what, extermination is a normal thing for you guys?" Christine looked startled.

"Pretty much," Cal replied, nodding a bit. "It's a job."

"I'm sorry. That doesn't sound like a very good job." Christine frowned a bit.

"You kidding?" Cal asked. "It's great stress relief." He paused for a moment. "Okay, I'll admit that it's messy and complicated, but really, we're used to it."