Bliss (The Custos) (27 page)

Preacher pocketed the number and I wondered if he would use it. "What’s up with you lately?" I asked. Ever since the night London was Blissed out he had acted like he was itching for a release, a fight or a woman or hell maybe even some hard core Chronic blunts.

Preacher smiled and shook his head. "Lot on my mind mate."

I sucked from my bottle of Bud. "Use that number and get back to normal." He gave me a look that said I didn’t have a clue and I wondered if Preacher had secrets unknown to me. "What?" I asked and he knew I wanted all the details.

When he told me he had been celibate for almost ninety years I was dumbfounded. How did I not notice? "Your Princess made a point that night but now....." He didn’t finish the sentence and really how could he. The marathon sex London and I had been having was probably a shot in the back and I felt like a prick.

"What? Like you’re afraid now?" I asked wondering if it were even possible to forget how. Fucking was plain and simple. Place tab A in slot B. It was basic instinct.

"No, just not... Fuck off will ya." Preacher said his voice showing his distress at my question. "I wouldn’t know how to get a girl in the sack for fucks sake. Happy now?"

I tried my best to be supportive but I was laughing inside. Preacher was so true to his soul, to the core of him that only he would worry about hitting on a woman. All the years I had assumed he was getting some strange on a regular basis, he was busy treating himself to the one fist dance. Fuck how was this even possible? "Ok Preach look. It's simple, I think...." Fuck if I knew. When I had hit on women in the past it came as a second nature, even with London I fought against it and gave in. "Wait, didn’t you take London's friend Brittany home that night?"

"Good hell no, I have standards Cash and that girl was a soul sucking fiend of a different kind." I laughed because he was so right. How London had put up with the plethora of stupid that filled those girls’ minds was beyond me.

How was I supposed to teach him? Is that even what he wanted? Before I could ask Leushus and Bastian came by. "Anything exciting?" Bastian asked and eyed the waitress as she came back. Sure now she was willing to get me my refills. Humans were so fucking shallow. We ordered another round and took a seat at a nearby table that just became available. By available I mean we walked over and made them move. Even on men, a group as old as us all using Infatuation would clear the entire bar if we wanted but we only wanted the table and the four semi large men that were taking it up moved like their seats were on fire. Every now and then it was fun to mess with the living. All in good fun.

"Same old same old like every night this week." Preacher said and reached for the joint behind his ear. Sure smoking weed in a bar would normally be a red flag, but anyone who bothered him would forget why the instant they spoke.

Like I said, all in good fun.

"Want to split up?" I asked thinking maybe we should try the casino. The waitress came by again and though I liked her ingenuity, she was getting annoying. I leaned over to Preacher and nudged his arm. As if to say
hit on her buddy
, but I think my trying to help only pissed him off more. I told her we were set but she stood their looking at me like I was crazy.

"You’re sure, there’s nothing you need?" She asked implying way more than a refreshing cocktail.

"Positive now scamper off." Leushus said and waved her off. The girl looked completely dumbfounded, like we were the crazy ones. Unless her tits milked beer and her pussy shot gold coins, nobody at the table was intrigued.

"Loose her number Preach, I think she's a little fried." Preacher laughed and reached into his pocket for the post it she had handed me. Pulling out his lighter he opened the note and struck the Zippo. Just as the edge caught on fire, he blew it out and said "Holy shit we're a dumb buncha' fucks." and handed me the note.

I know who you’re looking for. Be subtle when I come back by.

"Fuck." I said and started scanning the club for the little blonde waitress who we just insulted. I handed the note to Leushus who in turn gave a loud "Fuck" of his own, followed by Bastian.

"There she is." I said and waved her over. The poor girl looked even more confused now but she made her way through the cluster of drunk and horny humans. "Sorry about before, we just read your note." I said keeping my voice low and making it look like I was trying to entice her.

She looked hurt that I hadn’t jumped the second she handed the note over. Feeling guilty for being rude I offered an explanation. "Not because you’re not a little hottie, but because I'm taken. I assure you if I were available I'd have looked." That seemed to make her feel better and I wondered if maybe all humans were this shallow. God knows my Princess would have been outraged if she were in this woman’s place.

"I can’t talk here. My shift ends at midnight and can meet you somewhere safe?"

"Ever hear of a club called Doubt?"I asked

"Yeah, on the strip close to Freemont right?" She said, her eyes darting around. Whatever this was about she was freaked and made sure she was aware of her surroundings.

"Yeah, say one am?"

"You sure it's safe to talk there?" She asked her voice still low but this human knew we could hear her.

"Trust me it’s the safest place for what we are gonna be discussing."

She nodded and said she would meet us there. Taking more drink orders to hinder any suspecting eyes she left the table. I looked at Bastian. "Stay here until she gets off. If there is
Nex
here watching her they'll assume your human and no threat." I looked at my watch. "We have about an hour till midnight I'm gonna head over and talk to Klem, see if he can let us use his office to meet with her." I looked to Preacher and Leushus who seemed game with whatever. "I'll stay; I need to find someone to take the edge off, if ya catch my drift." Leushus said with a smile. Yeah I knew what he was looking for. I looked at Preacher hoping he would stay and follow Leushus's lead but he stood to leave with me.

"Cool, we'll meet up at one." I walked over to the waitress and handed her a hundred dollar bill and took the shot I had ordered. I nodded confirming our meeting later and leaned in. "Big guy over at the table in the blue shirt will be staying. Leave with him when your shift is over." It wasn’t a request and she knew it and nodded.

Preacher hung back and talked to the waitress for a minute before she dropped her head bashfully and nodded. "Ask her out?" I asked as we made our way to the elevator.

"No, told her if she fucked with us I'd kill her."

Stopping dead in my tracks I looked at him completely amazed. "Way to get on her good side Preach, I bet she's even more gung ho to trust us now. Talk to London and learn a little about women." Shaking my head I stepped in the elevator and laughed.

"Fucking Preacher."

*

London

As far as babysitters went I had to admit, this hit the charts. His name was Stupor and he had been a friend of Cash's for ...a while. That’s how it worked with my dead boys; they had friendships that spanned nations and centuries where as I felt like the twenty four years of friendship with Brittany had been twenty three and three quarters to many.

He stood in the doorway to the living room with a bowel of ice cream in one hand and steel magnolias in the other. "I think Cash should hire you as a permanent babysitter." I smiled and took my bowl as he started our movie. "So tell me that you have known Cash long enough for some good stories."

He laughed and took a seat close to me on the couch and wrapped an arm around me. "Girl I know things that would scare that pretty hair out your head." Stupor said and laughed before getting serious. "He aint never looked at a girl like he looks at you though. I'll testify to that
sug'
."

Stupor had told me that he was a slave for a rich white family in Tennessee that had accused him of making to the moves on the Plantation owner. "I told them. Hell. No. But to believe a black man in those days was unheard of, a gay one at that? No they set to kill me. Cash swung in valiantly like a knight in shining armor, well more like death with a dagger. He gave me the option of what I wanted to choose, but the life as a Vampire sounded good, and I got to kill as many evil white dudes as possible. How could I pass it up?"

I laughed. "Seriously, he saved you too?"

"Too?" He asked his perfectly trimmed eyebrows rose.

"He turned Preacher too."

Stupor nodded. "He saved Preacher, same as me." We got silent after that and watched the movie. It was inevitable for Julia Roberts to die. I had seen this movie a thousand times but it always got to me. It got to Stupor too, because we were sobbing by the time Sally Field started screaming she wanted to hit something and hit it hard. By the time we had bawled our eyes out and I ate another bowl of ice cream while Stupor made himself another Cosmo the unbelievable happened.

I was talking about how living with Cash and Preacher had seriously damaged my style. "It's not because they don’t know that I am talking it's that they don’t bother to pay attention."

"Mmm Hmmm Girl I know. Two years ago Preacher helped out in New York where a gang of Nex were attacking a private school. He showed up in black ankle socks and high tops. Had I not known what he could do in a fight I would have sent him on his way to get a makeover stat."

I started laughing because I not only believed it but I could top it. "No I saw him wearing a member’s only jacket just a few weeks ago with a pair of wranglers. I could have forgiven the mistake had he not worn the two together."

"Cash does pretty good though, he always looks good." He said it with a wink, and the truth was how he could not find my Vampire to be as hot as I did?

"One night when we were leaving a bar he actually told me to grab my purse thingy." I laughed but my tone was dead serious. "You know that the purse thingy was my Michael Kors Runway clutch?"

Stupor jumped from the couch and dashed to the kitchen then back in less than two seconds. Vamps still creped me out with how fast they could move, hell Leushus would just disappear. "Look." He said and I stopped dead, I actually found it hard to breathe. In his hand was a very rare piece of merchandise that my sad little life had been missing.

"Is that the Braided Grommet bag?" I asked breathless. It was the very bag I planned on buying the second I reached Washington. Bellevue had a mall with a giant Michael Kors inside and I had planned to treat myself-

My thoughts were cut off and so was my amazing mood when Stupor switched from awesome gay friend to Custos Nex and swooped me up in his arms to get me from the room before every window exploded from the outside in, but through all of this nothing was more terrifying than the three Nex standing in our way.

It could have been the entire double chocolate cherry chunk, or the four glasses of chardonnay I'd had but everything seemed to be in slow motion. It must have been the wine though because Stupor was flying daggers and punches while I hid in a ball in the corner. Anyone who has ever been in a situation similar to this and said they didn’t imitate my actions is a fucking liar. That or a Vampire. I was scared to death and as I watched stupor in his entire power tear the
Nex
apart I could only shudder as more piled in through the windows. How was this possible? Vampires could only come in if invited; it was the human’s only true form of defense. Yet as I cower in the corner
Nex
piled in like Christmas came early and it was all you could eat at the blood bank.

I knew the order on me was alive. If I showed up already turned or worse dead every
Nex
would have signed their own death warrant. Thank God for small favors. My brother had every intention of turning me himself and with that knowledge came some serious obligations. Stupor was meant to fall in battle tonight. This was an ambush meant for him, if he was busy protecting me than I was easy pickins. They under estimated me.