Real Vampires Don't Diet (38 page)

This was bad news. And Sienna was leaning into him, smiling and tossing her hair. Great, nothing like starting a vampire coven of rock stars with Ray as the first in the circle. I wouldn't put it past Luke to use some mind control on Sienna to get her interested. But, unfortunately, he was hot enough not to need it.

Nathan hovered nearby, obviously trying to decide whether taking on a vampire would be a suicide mission or not. I could read his mind easily. He was determined to be the one to leave here with Sienna. That determination, along with his rare blood type, made him a marked man. I grabbed Ray's arm and whispered instructions in his ear.

Blade walked in just as Sienna was signing her charge slip. He looked around, quickly assessing the situation like he always did. What he saw obviously didn't make him happy. He ignored my huddle with Ray for the moment and crooked his finger at Lily. Surprisingly, she walked up to him.

"What the hell is this gang doing here?"

"I had to bring them somewhere. I wanted to see Glory's shop." Lily kept her chin up and didn't sound a bit defensive.

"I don't like it."

"Lily is welcome here." I felt Ray's arm slip around my waist but decided flinging it off would be undignified. "She was very helpful earlier."

"With what?"

Hmm. Not a question I wanted to answer. Of course at that moment a cab honked out front.

"I'll be right back, babe." Ray grinned and kissed my cheek, then headed to the back room. He came out with a pale, weak and reeking Barry who staggered through the store and out to the waiting taxi. Since Barry also smelled strongly of vampire, Jerry didn't have to look far to figure out what Lily had needed to help with.

"What's wrong with Barry?" Sienna rushed to the publicist's side.

"Food poisoning. And an accident with a Dumpster. Grab the door, would you, Sienna?" Ray was handling Barry gingerly, like he really didn't want to come away with milk slime on him.

"A Dumpster?" Sienna stepped back when she got a whiff of him. "God, what else was in there?"

"Don't know. I'm lucky to be alive," Barry mumbled. "Ate bad clams, maybe, or something in that martini at dinner. God, I feel weak. Don't touch me, Sienna. Maybe it's the flu. Might be contagious."

Bad timing. The cabbie heard that and sped away.

Ray looked at me. "Okay, looks like I'm giving you a ride to your hotel, Barry. Glory, baby, see you later. Nathan, you take Sienna to her hotel for me. I'm counting on you, bud." Flashbulbs popped. Paparazzi. "Fellas, give us a break. My publicist got food poisoning. You want a headline? Israel Caine on mission of mercy. Takes ailing friend to doctor. What? Not sensational enough?" Ray shot the finger. Okay, that got him some flashes.

I shook my head. Sienna followed him out, Nathan behind her, his arms full of clothes. The paparazzi went crazy, screaming questions. She stopped and posed.

"Here's your story, guys. This little store is the place to come to meet hot guys. I personally saw five of them in thirty minutes and not one of them had on a wedding ring. I don't know what Glory St. Clair is doing, but she's a man magnet." Sienna turned and blew me a kiss, then headed down the sidewalk. Nathan was by her side, and he turned to give me a grin and a thumbs-up. The photographers trailed them, asking Nathan to spell his name for them.

"Oh, great. Now we'll become the next singles' hook-up scene in Austin." I slammed the shop door before the cameras turned on me.

Bri giggled. "And what's wrong with that?"

Drac growled and looked at Lily. "Yeah, I'm all for it. Time for me to hook up with someone new." This time it was Lily who shot the finger before she stormed out of the shop. Jerry looked at me, then went after her. Which left me alone with Valdez, Bri and three of the nastiest vampires I'd ever met. Good times.

Top

Next

bat.jpg

Jerry was back in less than thirty minutes. It just seemed like an hour. Because I had some regular mortal customers I had to protect from my blood-sucking ones. I finally left the customers to Bri and got the three stooges into the back room to tell them more about West wood. Valdez stayed with me, ready to defend me if the vamps made a wrong move.

"Guys, I'd really like to see you go after this hunter. Valdez took an arrow in the hip right back here in my alley. Israel Caine was shot in the arm."

"Sounds like the guy's not that swift with his bow and arrow." Benny smirked. "We get the drop on him and he's ours." He pulled his ax out of his cape and ran his thumb over the blade. The resulting droplet of blood had all three guys murmuring excitedly.

"Relax, hotshot. If he was an easy get, we'd have taken him down already."
Valdez stayed between me and Drac's ax.

"He's a freakin' billionaire and has lots of high-tech toys he plays with. No tellin' what he'll come up with next."

"This one of them?" Benny picked up my water cannon and played like Rambo, he and Drac doing mock battle until a bored Luke called a halt.

"Can we get down to business, gents? I, for one, could use a drink. Drac fed, but, Benny, you and I might get lucky if we head out now."

"Listen to Valdez. Remember Westwood took out MacTavish, Lily's father." I was glad Lily hadn't returned. She didn't need to hear this. "The creep takes the fangs as souvenirs, then leaves the bodies in the sun to go up in smoke."

"Mr. Sensitivity, eh?" Luke pulled a derringer out of his cape. "We'll get him. For Lily."

"Thanks, guys. She'll appreciate it." Drac kept opening the door into the shop. Watching for Lily? Or for another hot girl to hit on? I really didn't like him.

"Westwood's been in Europe and he just got back. I've got a map here of his ranch. Maybe you can figure out a way to get the drop on him there." I pulled out one of the copies Jerry had left in the shop the last time there had been a Westwood hunting party. This finally got Drac's full attention. The three men huddled around the map while I eased out of the back room and came face-to-face with Jerry.

"I told Lily not to bring them here again." He looked past me to where the three gestured and talked strategy. Luckily the loud music kept my customers from overhearing. And the black capes they wore were not unusual for this part of town at this time of night. There were two other Goth types in the store right now.

"She's got her hands full. I don't think she can control any of them, though she tries." I reached behind me, gestured for Valdez to come on out, then shut the door. "Ray and I are having a 'party' at his house on Wednesday night. For, um, our Siren. Those three could be our backup plan. In case Simon and company don't show. Think Lily's heart will be broken if we have to use them?"

"I don't know about her, but mine sure won't be. I'll talk to her." Jerry put his arm around me. "I hate that you've had to deal with this creature by yourself. I want to help any way I can."

"No." I smiled to take the sting out of it. "Circe wants men." I glanced at a customer who was only a few feet away browsing the purses. "You're just her type. I don't want you anywhere close to where she can get her claws on you."

"I'm a man who can handle himself, Gloriana. Or have you forgotten?" He moved in on me, pinning me against the door.

"Ooo. Honey, I heard that." The customer blushed and looked Jerry up and down. "Why don't you take him somewhere private where you can work out your differences?"

"Great idea." Jerry grinned and bowed in the woman's direction. "Glory, we have our marching orders."

"I can't leave. Bri needs my help." Just then Lacy walked in, early for her morning shift. "Well, maybe I could slip out. After you make sure the back room is clear, if you know what I mean."

"You bet." Jerry grinned and winked at the customer who seemed rooted to a spot in front of the purses. "Madame, tell the clerk that your purchase is to be charged to Jeremy Blade. My treat."

"Oh, are you kidding?" She looked around, like what could she buy that would break his bank?

"Jerry, that's a little extravagant, don't you think?"

"Not at all. You can send me a bill, can't you, Glory?" Jerry watched the woman stop in front of the fur coats. "This is a vintageclothing store, not Tiffany's. How bad can it get?"

"Hey, it can get pretty good from my point of view." I grinned, sent Valdez to his post by the shop door, then followed Jerry into the back room. Benny was arguing with Luke about the best way to approach the West wood ranch.

"All right. Listen to me." Jerry's voice had the ring of authority and the three men actually stopped and looked at him. "The guards on that ranch all have the vampire detection glasses. They'll make you before you cross the fence line unless you shapeshift into something small and crawl inside. Try that." Jerry turned to me. "Glory, you got a picture of West wood?"

"On my laptop. Give me a minute." I ran back to the counter and grabbed my computer, then brought it to the back. I quickly accessed the file that took me to the picture of the ordinary-looking man who had made my life hell for longer than I wanted to remember. "There he is."

Drac snorted.
"This
is the guy who's been stalking you?" He elbowed Benny, then said something in a foreign language that made Luke and Benny laugh.

I glanced at Jerry who was so not laughing. He stepped up to Drac, his hands fisted.

"Listen, you piece of shit. Go on out there and try your luck. Bring back Westwood's head and then you can mock the Austin vampires all you want. Until then, keep your filthy mouth shut."

I looked from Jerry to the suddenly silent and sullen Drac and his buddies. I really wished I was better at languages. But it was obviously time to get them moving on out of here before we had a smackdown that would disrupt the business on the other side of the wall.

"Uh, okay. Now about the ranch. You guys have a car?" I put my hand on Jerry's fist, just as a precaution.

"Why?" Benny seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Forget I asked. You shape-shift and fly everywhere?" I couldn't imagine it since I personally don't like doing it at all. The very idea of shifting whenever I wanted to go somewhere turned my stomach. "Okay, just head out, then when you get close to the ranch you can have your discussion about strategy out there." I could see Jerry was spoiling for a fight and taking out his daughter's boyfriend would be worse than a bad start to their relationship.