Real Vampires Don't Wear Size Six (15 page)

“Sounds like a sorry excuse for a son to me.” Spyte started juggling a fireball and I gasped when it danced close to my hair.

“Hush, Spyte. I think they’re going to work for us.” Caryon smiled. “Start with Simon. We already told you we want him. Pull him over to us and all will be cool. For a while, anyway.” He flashed me with a little crackle heat from his red eyes. I jerked and blinked, my eyelashes stinging. Surely he hadn’t . . . “But don’t think you’ll be totally off the hook. Especially you, Valdez. You can’t just use your demonic powers and not pay and pay, now can you?” He winked.

“Simon should be enough for you. Let Glory help with this and then forget her.” Rafe kept me close by his side. “What do you say, Glory? Are you up for getting Simon as Lucifer’s plaything?”

“I hate Simon. Don’t care where he ends up, as long as it’s somewhere down below. But you and I both know, Rafe, that a deal with a demon isn’t worth shit.” I knew Rafe could feel me shaking from the truth of that statement. Example: Why were my eyelashes now crumbling crisps? That was a damned mean trick and totally undeserved. I shot Caryon a hard look and a pithy mental message. Of course both of these creeps were reading my mind.

“If you’re looking for guarantees, Glory dear, you can forget it. And you can buy excellent fake lashes at your nearest drugstore. Doesn’t hurt to have a reminder that we’re powerful enough to make you miserable if you think to wriggle out of any deal we make.” Caryon laughed when Rafe frowned, studied my face, then bit out a colorful curse.

“Relax, Valdez, they’ll grow back. Now you two get busy. And, Glory, there’s a bright side. You have your reflection.” Cue maniacal laugh. “Think. You’re going to give us the king of the EVs, who you yourself acknowledge is an evil man. He’ll only get what he so richly deserves—a hellacious afterlife.” Spyte hopped around in what could only be described as a demon version of a happy dance.

Caryon frowned at him. “He’s right. You know Simon’s goddess, who is a major slut, by the way, had probably planned to give him a cushy spot enjoying sizzling sex with her when he finally gets that stake he’s been cruising for all these years.”

“Yes, I bet she does. He worships her and has fed her energy for centuries from the poor saps he captures. He almost got
my
energy once.” I held on to Rafe. He’d actually come up with a solution I thought I could live with. But how did we pull this off? What did you do to get someone to sell his soul? Barter? Coercion? Would it help to do a web search for deals with the Devil?

“Relax, dear girl. We have a contract. When the time comes, we’ll make sure you know what to do.” Caryon clapped his hand on Spyte’s shoulder when he started to levitate. “Calm down, my man. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“Can’t help it. Lucifer is going to be
so
happy.” Spyte grinned, all fangs and candy breath. “Maybe he’ll even shut down the karaoke for a while.”

“Silence? That would be too much to hope for. One more screaming version of ‘Endless Love’ and I’m going to . . .” Caryon rubbed his forehead. “Never mind.” He gave Rafe and me a stern look. “This isn’t a done deal yet. And the penalty for failure is steep. Valdez is Exhibit A, Gloriana.” He glanced at Spyte and sighed. “Don’t you dare reveal your true nature!”

“I can’t resist, Glory doesn’t like them. Look at her, she’s freaking.” Spyte now wore face paint, red pants, a green polkadot shirt and a blue bow tie. He squirted us with water from his bright yellow flower, then tooted a horn, which made me flinch.

I clung to Rafe. Spyte was right, I didn’t like clowns. Yes, maybe it was a stupid phobia, but I’d never been comfortable around them. Leave it to a demon to zero in on it and take advantage.

Spyte danced closer to me and laughed when I cringed. “Going to cooperate now, Glory?”

“Leave her alone. She’s going to. Aren’t you?” Rafe looked down and I managed a weak nod. “Now back off, asshole.” He put his hand on Spyte’s loud shirt and shoved.

“Takes one to know one.” Spyte giggled and did a flip, landing on my table and squirting Caryon and Rafe with his flower.

“Now you know what we endure down there.” Caryon sighed and wiped the moisture off his face. “Clowns. Hell is full of them, the kind who like to torment kids. They actually have contests to see how many of them can fit into those little cars, then race, running over toys and Christmas ornaments.” He shuddered. “Exhausting.”

“Not as exhausting as watching you channel that loan officer who came down last week. Too bad you aren’t buying your apartment, Glory. Cary just loves a foreclosure.” Spyte gave me a creepy smile. “So he’s really pissy this trip. Even for you, Cary, that eyelash thing was low.”

“I left her eyebrows!” Caryon poked Spyte in his bulbous red nose.

“You sure you weren’t aiming for them?” Spyte squirted Caryon in the eye before they both vanished.

I surprised myself with a giggle, then buried my face in Rafe’s shirt. Before I knew it, I was crying bitter tears. Rafe’s arms were strong as he rocked me against him. I finally pushed back and took the tissue he’d grabbed from a box on the table. I blew my nose and wiped my wet cheeks.

“Sorry for the meltdown.”

“You earned it. That was pretty intense.” He leaned down and picked up the dress Spyte had knocked to the floor. “At least they’re finally gone.”

“But they can pop back in at any time.” I sat on the one chair in the room. “A deal with the Devil? You have any idea how that freaks me out?”

“Of course I do.” He knelt down in front of me and took my hands. “And I know this is my fault. Alesa came here for me and landed in you.”

“Well, now. I guess you owe me, don’t you?” I kept my face solemn and saw his stricken look. “Oh, relax, Rafe. You know I don’t blame you. Stuff happens. We all have baggage and you never could have predicted what she’d do. And I was the one who made you so mad you used your demonic powers. So I guess I can take some of the blame here.” I kissed his lips, briefly, not letting it get into too much.

“I appreciate your attitude. But I can’t let you accept any of this responsibility. Corralling Destiny for Lucifer is going to be tough. I have no illusions about that. I just want this to go away so I can keep you safe, damn it. I don’t want to lose you.” This time Rafe leaned forward, one hand threading through my hair when he took my lips, his mouth lingering as he plundered mine. I felt that kiss all the way down to where he’d worked my knees apart and slid in between them.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and sank in, meeting his greedy kiss with my own. Yes, I wanted him. Jerry had been right about that. And I loved Rafe. Enough to . . . ?

A knock on the door pulled us apart.

“Glory, you told me to remind you when it was nine thirty.” Erin called through the door.

“Thanks, Erin. I’ll be leaving from the back in a few.” I sighed and touched Rafe’s cheek. “Got to go.”

“What’s up?” He brushed back my hair.

“I’m meeting Nate. He asked for my help with Ray. Our rocker is back on the sauce, vampire-style.” I stood, with Rafe’s help, and walked over to the mirror above the bathroom sink.

“Oh, God! Look at me! Damn, Caryon. I can’t believe he took my eyelashes.” And of course my hair was a fright too. Add to that the fact that Rafe had kissed away my lipstick and I was a total freak show. I rummaged in the makeup bag I kept back there but didn’t hold out much hope.

“Wait here, I’ve got an idea.” Rafe patted me on the back and headed into the shop. I repaired my lipstick and got rid of the remains of my eyelashes with my powder puff.

“Here, put these on. You’re going to a rock concert. You’ll fit right in with the crowd there.” He handed me a pair of vintage Ray-Ban sunglasses.

“Shades?” I grinned at myself in the mirror. “Brilliant. And you’re right. Ray’s friends totally wear these at night. Especially if they’re hungover.”

“There you go. Now tell me something.” Rafe grinned at me in the mirror.

“Anything.” I attacked my hair with a brush.

“Two things.” Rafe turned my face toward his. “Holy crap. You really can see your reflection. I heard Spyte say something, but I guess I wasn’t really thinking about the ramifications. Doesn’t it just blow you away? After all these years?” He laughed.

Tears sprang to my eyes. Of course Rafe understood. He knew me so well. “Yes. But it’s a double-edged sword.” I turned back to check my face in the mirror. “I want to be able to do my makeup without that computer thingy Ian made for me but then I see that I never should have bought this sweater. Gold is not my color.”

Rafe frowned. “I see what you mean. I like you better in blue or red. Want me to run out to the shop and get you a different one? I know you like to look good when you see the rock star.”

I threw my arms around Rafe’s neck and smeared my lipstick kissing him again. “You are absolutely the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“And an idiot.” He laughed again and pulled back. “I know your size, which I realize you don’t like for me to say out loud. Just promise this is a mission of mercy and you won’t fall for that asshole again.”

“I promise.” I grinned, dropped the sunglasses, then turned to repair my lipstick again. In moments Rafe was back with a blue sweater that I’d been thinking about keeping for myself anyway. I swear the man was way too observant when it came to me. I blocked my thoughts. Jerry wouldn’t have a clue what size I wore or what color to choose for me. But were those necessarily qualities I needed in a mate for life?

Rafe grinned and ripped my gold sweater off and over my head in a smooth move that made me shiver. His admiring look and clever touches when he saw my cream silk bra made me do more than shiver. Okay, so maybe Rafe was more than a friend with good taste and an excellent memory. We definitely had chemistry and he had a libido to match mine.

As I playfully snatched that blue sweater and tugged it on, he pulled me to him again and told me about his club and what had been going on there. I was interested. We were both business owners and struggling to get things going in a new town. We had a lot in common and I was as comfortable with Rafe as I was with Jerry. More comfortable, actually. Because I didn’t ever have to worry that Rafe would try to order me around or control me. Hmm.

Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely accurate. Rafe could be pretty bossy when he was in protective mode. As usual, I was letting chemistry cloud my judgment. I put some space between us and pulled on those shades again.

“Got to go, Rafe.”

“Me too. If I didn’t have to be back at the club, I’d go with you. Have to admit, I’m curious about Caine and this breakdown. I thought he’d gotten a handle on the vampire experience.” Rafe walked with me to the back door.

“So did I. But then I spilled the beans about the synthetic blood with alcohol and his old dependencies came into play. I felt guilty about telling him at first, but that stuff was served to him at Flo’s wedding anyway, so it was only a matter of time before he found out about it.”

“Right. You aren’t that guy’s keeper, Glo. This mentor thing has to have an expiration date.” Rafe had always made it clear he didn’t like my relationship with Ray.

“He’s my friend too, Rafe. I care what happens to him.” I sighed. “Anyway, alcohol can bring on depression. It definitely made Ray think about what he’s lost.” I stopped next to my car. I wasn’t about to shape-shift out to the park. It was a beautiful spring night and I wanted to drive out there with the top down.

“The sun. I remember. Your friend Caine was all about the sun. Even owned an island in the Caribbean, didn’t he?” Rafe opened my car door for me and watched me fasten my seat belt.

“Guess he still does.” I smiled and touched Rafe’s hand. “You and I will have to get together tomorrow night and talk over this deal with Simon. You know he wanted to recruit me into the Energy Vampires. I guess we could use that to make contact. Some would consider the invitation to join a real honor.”

“But I bet you already told him where to stick that invite, didn’t you?” Rafe frowned. “Think he’d believe in your sudden interest?”

“Maybe. But the father-son angle is our best bet. I want to talk to Freddy and see how he feels about his father. If there’s a chance for them to have a relationship away from the Energy Vampires, then that would be a powerful motivator for Simon to switch sides.” I sighed. “If Simon has a natural father’s instincts. Who knows?”

“Can’t say I’m crazy about the idea of you and Simon within a hundred miles of each other.” Rafe leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips. “But I was desperate to get your tail out of a sling tonight.”

“Great image, Rafael.” I started the car. “Just promise me that none of this slips around Penny. My fledgling is mixed up enough as it is. I’ll just tell her the demons went back to hell after I refused to work with them.”

“She’s pretty smart. Won’t be easy fooling her.” Rafe watched me lower my convertible top with the flip of a switch.

“She’s got lots of school work coming up. I hope she’ll be too busy to notice what we’re up to.” I grabbed Rafe’s hand. “Ray’s trying to get Ian MacDonald to come to town. When Penny saw my computer mirror, she was intrigued by the guy who invented it. Can you imagine if she and Ian got together?”

“I’m afraid to. Didn’t you tell me she’s into chemistry too?”

“Yes, they’d be quite a pair.” I heard the click that meant the top was secured and I was good to go. “We can worry about that if it happens. Got to run. Call me tomorrow?”

“Sure. Be careful around Caine.” Rafe slapped the car hood as I backed out. “A drunk vampire is unpredictable as hell.”

Unpredictable as hell. I’d just had a demo of how unpredictable hell could be and it didn’t exactly encourage me. When I got to Zilker Park and realized I’d be one of a cast of thousands, I wondered if driving had been such a great idea. I parked in the darkest area I could find, near some trees, and shifted so I could fly up close to the stage and spot Nathan. A local band was opening for Ray and had the crowd dancing and pushing toward the stage.