Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) (3 page)

"Damn the gal has some nice undies." Wade
held up a black lace thong.

For a second, Derek imagined Sloane wearing
the lacey item and had to shake his head of the image. "Put it
away, Wade."

"When did you turn into an old fuddy
duddy?"

"This is business, not let's imagine the vamp
in lingerie."

"So, you were imagining what Miss Sloane
McBride would look like in this baby," Wade teased.

"So help me,
Waddell.
"

"Now, you're just being nasty. Fine." He
stuffed the black panties in the drawer and went on to rummage
through another.

Derek opened the laptop and was pleased to
see Sloane didn't have it password protected. The first thing that
popped up was the calendar with a note:
Don't forget to pick up
Mom, Dad and Seth at the airport.
The date was set for next
Monday. The other date that caught his eye was: Dinner with Tim on
Valentine's Day.

"The family is out of town. We only have to
worry about Sloane." He turned in his seat to look at Wade. "She
marked her calendar for the fourteenth: romantic dinner with Tim.
That's tomorrow." He only took note of the date because newly
turned vamps tended to hang onto their previous life for sometime
after the change. Events that were important tended to be amplified
into an obsession.

"I wonder if dinner includes a blood cocktail
for two," Wade grumbled. "Did she say where they were going for
this fabulous dinner?"

Derek shook his head. "No. We'll just have to
hope Sloane will return to the house before then." He glanced
around the room. Her bed was made and sported a comforter with a
Celtic design of knots and spirals. A dark angel was the focal
point and centered in the middle, large and elaborate. The artist
was talented and it showed in the angles and detail of the face of
the fallen angel. The wings flowed behind the mystical being as if
the wind breathed life into it.

To the left of the bed stood a small bookcase
filled with books, and not just for show. The bindings were
creased. An E-reader of some sort sat on her end table next to her
bed, along with a glass of water and a camera. Not a digital, but
an older model before digital became the norm. This camera would
require talent to use properly.

He focused on the pictures adorning the
walls. They were black and white photos. A couple sharing a glass
of wine, an old man in the park feeding the ducks, a small child
holding an adult's hand and looking up at the woman with adoring
eyes, and there were other photos capturing different human
emotions. They were professionally framed, but he couldn't help but
wonder if Sloane took these candid photos.

He turned away. Blood drinker or not, Sloane
would eventually return. They always did.

"Look at this." Wade held up a picture frame,
showcasing two photos. One was of three children at a park with a
carousel in the background. Derek rose from his seat for a closer
look and realized it was Sloane, Tim and Trent. They were younger,
maybe seven or eight. The other was a similar photo with the same
backdrop, only this was a more recent photo.

"They have been friends for a long time,"
Derek said with a frown. He didn't remember Tim and Trent from
school, but then the McBrides hadn't lived here when he'd known
Sloane. Tim and Trent could be family friends not friends from
school. "We should expect Tim won't be pleased we
off-ed
his
brother. These three had a connection long before they became
vamp-hybrids. We have to assume Sloane will want to retaliate,
too."

Wade placed the photo on the top shelf of the
bookcase. "Yeah, joy. The fangers are bad enough without them
teaming up."

"I'll stake out the McBride's place," he told
Wade. "You go back to the Wilkins' home and see if Tim shows up
there. I'm thinking it will be the first place Tim heads once he
realizes his brother is missing. Axel will need the backup
especially if Tim flips out."

Wade picked up the photo again. "Seems a
shame we have to end the girl's life. Young, pretty and I like her
choice of panties."

Derek yanked the picture frame out of his
brother's hands. "That's why I'm staying here and you're taking
care of the boyfriend. Now get."

"Tim and Sloane may show up together
here."

"Maybe, but I see no struggle or blood, and
the family dog didn't appear agitated. There's a good chance Sloane
is only infected and hasn't fully changed yet." When a woman looked
like Sloane McBride, a boyfriend wasn't going to just look at her.
He would bet his best dagger, Tim Wilkins had nibbled on her neck
sometime in the last few days.

Wade gave a long sigh, but he headed for the
door. "I'll call you if Tim shows."

"Same here." Derek stared at the photo of
Sloane, who stared back at him with such life. She was happy, but
so were Tim and Trent and he knew that didn't help them in the
least. His gaze shifted to the laptop with the calendar marked with
Valentine's dinner with Tim
. She probably hadn't planned on
flowers and
fangs
. He placed the photo where it belonged and
headed out of the house, turning off lights and locking up.

He strode over to his old beat up car that
kept on running no matter what punishment he put it through. He
slid inside to wait. "There's no place like home, Sloane McBride,"
he murmured. "Unless you invite a vampire in."

Chapter Three

Sloane McBride pulled into her driveway. God,
she felt like crap—hot and sweaty and her stomach turned and
churned like someone had tied it in knots. She must be coming down
with that weird flu Tim's family had caught.

Thinking of Tim brought back the memory of
his last visit. He'd been aggressive, not that she hadn't like his
assertiveness at first, but it was so unlike him to be…rough.

She'd known Tim since the fourth grade—their
parents had been longtime friends—but she only recently started
dating him. They hadn't even slept together yet, but the way Tim's
hands slid over her body the other night, and the way he kissed her
with teeth, tongue and lips, she'd been considering the tumble into
bed. That is until he bit her neck, drawing blood. His impromptu
hickey put a damper on the mood. He was apologetic, but remained on
edge. If she didn't know better, she'd say he was strung out on
drugs, but Tim was straight laced as they come. He didn't even take
over the counter
meds if he could help it.

He told her he thought he was coming down
with something. Said his brother and sister were ill and had stayed
home tucked in bed for a better part of a week.

Tim ended up going home early, which despite
his weird behavior, she was disappointed. Her parents and her
brother were away, enjoying
Disney World
. Since, she hadn't
accumulated enough vacation time from her job at
The Arts Are
Us
, she was stuck house sitting.

Tim was supposed to spend the night while her
family was away. She wanted a more romantic relationship, which
proved difficult since she still lived at home with her parents and
a teenage brother who would most likely let it slip a boyfriend
spent the night.

She had two serious relationships in high
school. One was with a bad boy type, who knew how to make her toes
curl with just a kiss, and they had done plenty of kissing. He
wasn't big on conversation and she hadn't minded in the least, but
he moved away—suddenly—as she recalled. He didn't say goodbye and
she never heard from him again. The other boy was smart and cute,
but once he went off to college in Chico, California, things cooled
between them before a semester had passed.

She dated since, but nothing serious until
Tim finally worked up the courage to ask her out. Until he had,
she'd never considered dating him. Tim was one of her best friends,
more so than Trent who was the more outgoing of the twins with a
carefree attitude and not really interested in ever settling down
with one woman in the near future. She had more in common with
Tim—books, movies, photography—to name a few. Besides, wasn't
finding the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with
supposed to be your best friend, too?

Tim was working his way through college with
plans of becoming a high school English teacher. He was patient and
kind and his love for literature shone bright when he talked about
a book he had read or when he quoted a passage from Shakespeare's
sonnets, or one of Oscar Wilde's witty quotes. She knew Tim would
make a perfect teacher.

She reached for her purse and bags sitting on
the passenger seat. She'd picked up some cold and flu meds at the
drugstore, along with her fast food dinner. She was glad she didn't
work for the next few days. Hopefully by then she'd feel
better.

Once inside the house, she flipped on the
lights and headed to the back door where she could hear Lad whining
to be let in. "I'm coming." Lad let out a bark for greeting as she
sprung the door open. He nearly toppled her over as he jumped up,
resting his paws on her chest. "Down, boy," she half-heartily
scolded him as she rubbed behind his ears.

Once the greeting was out of the way, Lad
trotted to the center of the kitchen and sat down on his haunches,
wagging his tail and staring at the breadbox on the counter.

"Smart doggie, aren't you?" The family never
used the old breadbox that had once been her great-grandmother's.
Instead, they kept doggie treats in there and it looked like Lad
wasn't going to let her do anything else until she gave him one.
She opened the breadbox and reached her hand into the box marked
lean beef treats and tossed it to Lad. He promptly caught it and
padded over to his doggie bed in the corner next to the table to
enjoy the treat.

She strode to the oven and reached for the
teapot and shook it. There was plenty of water, so she turned on
the burner. A good cup of tea with honey and lemon would do wonders
to ease the flu symptoms she was fighting off.

She opened her fast food bag and grabbed the
hamburger. The scent of the cook meat hit her nostrils, making them
flare in protest. She opened the wrapper and sniffed cautiously.
Her stomach rebelled at the thought of taking a bite. She better
play it safe and just go with the tea tonight despite how her
stomach rumbled with hunger.

While the water boiled, she would change into
a pair of sweats. She was all about comfort when she arrived home
from work. She was halfway up the stairs when someone knocked at
her front door.

Lad's ears perked up and a low growl vibrated
from the back of his throat. Her gaze landed on her lab with a
frown. Lad usually loved everyone. Who could be at her front door
that had him agitated? She strode over to it and peeked out the
peephole. She half expected
Freddy Kruger
to be standing
there by the way Lad's fur stood up on end, and the snarl he
produced to go along with his
bad fur day
. She sighed in
relief when she recognized her visitor. She threw opened the door
with a smile.

Lad came bounding to the door, snarling in
rapid barks. She'd never seen him act like that—
ever
. "Lad,
sit. It's only Tim." She didn't understand her dog's weird
behavior.

Lad backed up, but his stance clearly
indicated he would take out Tim's throat if she only gave the word.
She turned toward Tim who gave her a nonchalant shrug. "Maybe it's
my new aftershave."

She pursed her lips. "Give me a sec. I'll put
him out back."

"Sure."

It took her a few minutes. Lad didn't want to
obey her. She had to drag him outside and sprint for the door,
slamming it shut, just to keep him outside. He continued to bark
and snarl, but she would have to ignore him for now.

She hurried to the front door. Tim still
stood there, leaning casually against the doorframe. He stood up
straight when he caught sight of her. For a brief second, she could
have sworn his eyes had an eerie glow to them, like a pair of eyes
looking back from a thicket, warning her of danger, but she blinked
and his eyes were the same soft brown color she'd remembered.

"Are you going to ask me in?" His brows
lifted in question. He must be feeling better. He looked a little
pale, not feverish. It was good to know the flu would only last
twenty-four hours.

"Sure, but I must warn you I think I caught
what you had a few days ago."

"I've already been exposed and I doubt I'll
catch it twice," he said.

She opened the screen and stepped aside. She
frowned when he didn't move. "Well, come in already."

His lips slid into a grin, but the smile made
her uneasy. Something was off with him, had been for a few
days.

Before she could shut the door, he pulled her
flush against him. She gasped in surprise and he chuckled. "Don't
be scared."

Funny, how those words sent a chill down her
spine. "I'm not scared."

"Your heart is beating fast."

Her brows drew together. "How do—" She didn't
have a chance to finish her question. He captured her lips and her
words were swallowed into a passionate caress. His tongue swept
inside her mouth and she met his passion, but something pricked her
lip and she drew back in alarm. Her hand flew to her mouth. When
she looked at her fingers, she spotted drops of blood coloring the
tips. "You bit me."
Again,
she thought the last to
herself.

"You say it as if it is a bad, thing." He
stalked toward her. This time there was no mistake; his eyes
gleamed with a weird sheen before turning red. Red? What the heck
was going on? When he grinned she caught sight of two pointed
incisors.
Vampire
came to mine, but that was insane.
Self-consciously, she touched the side of her neck where he had
bitten her the other night and stumbled back a few steps.