Love Your Entity (8 page)

“Because it could be a ghost?” he mocked.

“Because this is an old house and it could have electrical issues.”

“Electrical issues wouldn’t make the doors slam or windows open.”

“The house might not be plumb. If there’s a slight angle to the floors then strange things can happen.”

“Have you noticed any particular floor at an angle?”

She looked around. “This one.”

“How can you tell?”

She pulled a marble from the pocket of her jeans and set it down. Sure enough, it rolled away from the door and toward the sleeping bag Ronan had thrown on the floor to distract her in case she came snooping. He definitely didn’t want her looking in the basement and finding that casket. She was sure to wonder where he slept if he hadn’t created some semblance of human normalcy.

Why the hell did she have to be so …
everything
? Stubborn, sexy, strong-willed, and smart.

The jeans curved over her butt as she bent down to retrieve her marble. He’d noticed the way she’d checked him out when he’d bent down to pick up a book in her bedroom earlier. He could tell she’d liked what she’d seen. So did he.

And that was a problem.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said.

He seriously doubted that. Because he was thinking of kissing those lush lips of hers. She really did have a very kissable mouth, curvy and full.

“You’re wondering what I’m doing with a marble in my pocket,” she said.

Wrong.

“It’s kind of a good-luck thing. I’ve had this marble since I was a little kid.” She rolled the glass ball between her fingers.

He wished she’d roll his balls between her fingers. He was instantly hard.

When he stayed silent, she finally said, “Well, I guess I’ll head back downstairs and get something to eat.”

“You do that.” His voice sounded like he’d gargled with gravel.

He slammed the door after her, then opened it again to call after her, “
I
did that. Not some damn ghost!”

She turned on the stairs and gave him the finger.

Ronan slammed the door again then started pacing the room. He needed to forget Sierra and focus on his mission. He’d been here two weeks and had yet to even figure out what key Voz wanted, let alone where to find it.

Voz had told him next to nothing when he’d entered into this agreement with him. That alone should have been a red flag. But this was his only chance to save his sister Adele’s soul.

She was an innocent in all this.

Ronan shoved his hand through his hair. He had to focus. But his hatred for Voz momentarily blinded him. How dare he show up here. Ronan already knew that Voz didn’t want him to succeed, but he’d never considered the possibility that the Master Vampire would show up uninvited here in Vamptown.

Was he uninvited? Or had Damon or Nick approved his visit? He couldn’t come out and ask them directly or they’d know Voz had been here, and if they hadn’t approved the visit then they might toss Ronan out. If the Vamptown Council didn’t approve you then you weren’t part of their clan and you were not welcome here.

During his nearly hundred years of indenture to Voz, the Master Vampire had told Ronan that his sister Adele had lived a long life, found love, had had a family, and peacefully died at the age of eighty-eight.

But the moment his years of slavery were done, Voz told him the truth. That Adele had died from the Spanish influenza of 1918 that had killed millions and that Voz had been holding her soul in limbo until now.

Ronan had nearly torn Voz’s throat open, not caring that doing so would kill him and all the others that Voz had turned, not caring that he probably had no chance of killing him because the Master’s powers were so strong. Indeed, upon hearing Ronan’s feral growl, Voz had waved his hand and sent Ronan crashing into the stone wall of his castle in Romania.

“You can’t hurt me,” Voz had said, “but even if you could, doing so would insure your sister’s soul will never be saved. I’m the only one who can save her. And I will if you just do one little favor for me.”

Ronan had wiped away the blood trickling from his temple. “What do you want?”

“A key.”

“What kind of key? To what?”

“It’s in that family house of yours. That’s all you need to know. Oh, and the fact that you have until midnight on Valentine’s Day to find it. If you do, then I will free your sister’s soul.”

“And if not?”

“Then you will return to being an indentured vampire.”

“For another hundred years?”

Voz had laughed. “No, for all eternity.”

“How do I know you will keep your end of the bargain?”

Voz put his hand on the family coat of arms carved into the stone wall of his castle, the crest right above Ronan’s head. “I swear it on my family’s honor.”

Voz might be devious and evil at times, but he did value his family’s honor. He’d been turned during the Crusades and valued loyalty. He didn’t care whether it was given willingly or not.

“Remember, I let you end your indenture early because of good behavior,” Voz had said.

“Big deal. You freed me three years early.”

“It
is
a big deal,” Voz said. “Do you accept my offer?”

Ronan had no choice but to agree. Their conversation had taken place a few weeks ago, yet the emotions still roiled deeply within his gut. Hatred, betrayal, guilt.

At that time he’d been so sure of his ability to save his sister’s soul. Now desperation was setting in. Which was precisely what Voz wanted.

He supposed he should be grateful that Voz hadn’t tortured him about Adele’s soul earlier in his indenture. But Ronan suspected that was because Voz wanted Ronan to remain loyal. Had Ronan known the truth, he would have been harder to control.

As it was, Ronan had to fight the rage that threatened to unbalance him.

Returning to the present, Ronan stared at the hardwood floor. Could the key be hidden beneath one of the floorboards?

He knocked on the floor, using his vamp superhearing to try and detect any differences that would indicate a storage space. If the key was only a few inches long then this was a useless test. Perhaps he should get a metal detector.

“Stop that pounding,” Sierra shouted from downstairs. “Do not make me come up there!”

Since he’d just ripped up several floorboards, he didn’t want her returning, so he left things as they were and went down to confront her. He could hear her banging around in the kitchen.

This arrangement was not going to work as long as Sierra kept hassling him. He had enough issues to deal with at the moment. He didn’t need some paranormal author who apparently wrote hot sex scenes getting in his way.

Voz was right. Ronan couldn’t afford to allow Sierra to distract him. He needed to try and compel her again.

As Ronan entered the kitchen from the hallway entrance, three dinner plates came flying through the air. They were headed straight for his head.

Chapter Seven

Ronan instantly caught all three plates. His hands moved faster than a mortal could see.

Sierra stared at him in amazement. “How did you do that?”

“I’m good with my hands.”

“You moved so fast. It’s like the plates were in the air one second and in your hands the next. Are you a juggler or something?”

“Or something. The question is, why were you throwing plates at me?”

“I wasn’t. They um … slipped out of my hand when I was getting them out of the cabinet,” she said.

Another lie. She really did not have a poker face. “Really?” Ronan said. “They slipped out of your hand?”

“I didn’t throw them at you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Okay, now she was telling the truth.

Sierra knew she was no good at lying. At least she wasn’t good at it with Ronan.

Maybe in the beginning she’d been better at lying by omission, as in not telling him she saw ghosts, but the more time she spent with him, the harder it was becoming to keep her secrets. She needed to turn the spotlight off herself and back onto him. “You never talk about your life before you came here. Why is that?”

“I’m not real talkative.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“You don’t talk about your life before you came here.”

“You already know I’m a writer,” she said.

“I
guessed
that,” he reminded her. “You didn’t volunteer the information.”

“Because I’d just met you.”

“And I wasn’t wearing any clothing. Is that why you don’t trust me?”

“I didn’t say I don’t trust you. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t allow you to stay in the same house with me,” she said.

“You lock your bedroom door at night.”

“Apparently I didn’t do that last night.”

“Do you frequently have nightmares?” he said.

“Sometimes. How about you?”

Darkness seemed to descend upon his face. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. She could feel the emotions vibrating from him.

“You also never told me much about your supposed claim to this property,” she said.

“My family has ties to it.”

“You used to live here?”

Instead of answering, he said, “Your great-uncle never lived here.”

“No, he didn’t. He bought it as an investment property and then rented it out. But he had a hard time keeping renters for very long.”

“My bad,” Ruby said, raising her hand. She was sitting on the kitchen counter, swinging her feet. “At first I liked the company, but then I got frustrated when they couldn’t see me so I scared them off.”

“What are you looking at?” Ronan demanded.

“Nothing,” Sierra said.

“You seem to look at
nothing
a lot,” he said. “I can’t help wondering why that is.”

“And I can’t help wondering why you still haven’t told me anything about your life.”

“What do you want to know?” he countered.

“How about where you lived before this?”

“Here and there,” he said.

“That’s real specific. If you don’t want to answer the question, just say so.”

“I don’t want to answer the question,” he readily admitted.

“Fine. Be that way.”

“I don’t want to answer it, but I will. I spent a lot of time in Europe.”

“Doing what?” she said.

“Traveling.”

“Were you a travel guide or something?”

“Or something,” he said.

Sierra was losing what little patience she had left. “When I asked how you were able to catch those plates so fast, you said you were something like a juggler and now you just said you were something like a travel guide. Which is it?”

“It’s complicated. I’ve done a lot of things in my life.”

Pissed off at his attitude, she said, “How about male stripper? Have you done that?”

“Are you asking me to give you a demonstration?”

“I’m asking you for the truth, but apparently that’s too much for you to handle.”

“Right back at you.” His voice was curt. “You didn’t mess up your room yourself. Who did it?” Stepping closer, he looked deep into her eyes. “Tell me who did it.”

She had to clap a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from speaking.

“Who did it?” Ronan repeated, his voice darkly hypnotic.

“It was me,” Ruby piped up to say. Jumping down from the counter she floated close to Sierra, breaking the spell Ronan seemed to have on her.

“It was me,” Sierra repeated.

“Like hell it was.” With that, Ronan stormed out of the house.

*   *   *

“She’s asking questions,” Ronan said as he joined Damon at the All Nighter Bar and Grill.

“I hate when that happens,” Damon replied.

“Yeah, me too.”

“So what kind of questions was Sierra asking?”

“Stupid ones,” Ronan said, drinking half a bottle of blood before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He’d had enough of being polite.

“Well, she
is
human. Naturally her questions will be stupid.”

“
She’s
not stupid.”

Damon sighed. “Why don’t you just tell me what she said.”

“She wanted to know where I lived before I came here.”

“And you told her what?”

“That I was in Europe.”

“Doing what?”

“Yes, that’s what she asked next.”

“And you said?”

“Not much.” Ronan’s voice reflected his impatience.

“Wise move,” Damon congratulated him. “Then what’s the problem?”

“She wants to know more.”

“They always do.”

“You speak like someone who has experienced this yourself.”

“Zoe knew I was a vampire the first time I met her,” Damon said. “And I knew she was a witch. I knew and wasn’t happy about it.”

“Just as I’m not happy about Sierra’s presence. Have you figured out yet why Sierra can’t be compelled like other humans?” Ronan asked.

“We’re still working on it.”

“How long is it going to take?”

“She’s hasn’t even been here two full days yet.”

“I’m on a deadline.” The words slipped out and Ronan instantly regretted saying them.

“What kind of deadline?” Damon’s voice turned hard.

“She gave me two weeks to stay in the house until her lawyer comes back. I have to get rid of her before then.”

“That’s it?” Damon asked suspiciously. “There’s no other deadline?”

Ronan shook his head. He was lying but it had to be done. He couldn’t reveal the bargain he’d made with Voz. Instead he focused on his cover story. “The longer Sierra stays, the bigger the risk that she’ll discover what I really am.”

“And what you are really?”

“A vampire.”

“And?” Damon demanded.

“And what?” Ronan said.

“You tell me. There’s something else going on here.”

“I’ve already assured Nick that no one in Vamptown has anything to fear from me.”

“What about those outside of Vamptown?”

“Is it so hard for you to consider the fact that I just want to return to my home?” Ronan said.

“Yeah, it is hard for me.”

Ronan tried turning the conversation to Damon. “Where was your home when you were human? Was it here in Chicago?”

“No.”

“See, you don’t like talking about your past either.”