Real Vampires Have More to Love (8 page)

“I get it. You can’t say no to him. Too bad.” He glanced down the hall toward his bedroom. “So you do your thing, I’ll do mine. Batting your eyelashes at me to get me to dance at your party is pretty lame, Glory. Instead of worrying about shit like that, you should be taking care of this Westwood threat.”

“I can’t figure out what to do, so I move on to something I
can
deal with. Won’t you help me out, Rafe?” I didn’t do the flirting thing this time. Rafe was right. It was a cheap ploy, and we were friends who should be able to be straight with each other. I couldn’t play naughty games with Jerry and then lead Rafe on. It wasn’t fair. To which one of them, I wasn’t sure. My body still throbbed from Rafe’s sexy dance moves.

“I’ll think about it. Now if you ask me to help with your security, then I’m in. I’ve got guys I can call. I’m sure Blade will pay the freight again for bodyguards.”

“I don’t want that.” I leaned against the wall next to my bedroom door. “But, Rafe, what am I going to do? I can’t kill two mortals who have the misfortune to have had a crazy father. I feel bad enough that I robbed them of a dad.”

“Westwood needed taking out. This may play out the same way, and you can’t feel guilty about it.” Rafe’s voice was hard. I understood. He’d felt the sting of one of the hunter’s arrows too, after throwing his body in the line of fire.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. That night, when we’d had the “showdown” as Rafe called it, was still way too vivid a memory. I’d managed to wrestle Westwood’s crossbow away from him and pull the trigger. Then I’d been hustled away from the scene. My last sight of Westwood had been of him bleeding out with one of his own arrows in his gut.

“You could always run.” He pulled me to him, his look of sympathy making me feel weepy.

“It’s tempting.” I took a breath. “Damn it, Rafe, I don’t want to leave Austin, but if I stay here, I’m risking all my friends. Those vamp-detector glasses will spot every vampire who comes near me. The Westwoods might decide to use them for target practice.” I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t see a way out.

“I’m here for you, Glory. We’ll figure this out together.” Rafe gave me a comforting hug, nothing sexual about it, and I relaxed against him.

“Thanks, Rafe. I like your friend Nadia. I know you’ll make a success of this club.” I pulled back and touched his cheek. “She can stay here as long as she needs to.”

“Appreciate that. But I checked with Damian. He’s got a secure house she can rent, and I’ll set her up there. She likes her own space. And she’ll be bringing in other people to work in the club.
Her
people. More vamps and shifters she trusts to watch over her during the day.” He glanced in the bathroom. “She use up all the hot water?”

“Yes. But I’ll just shower when I get up. ’Night, Rafe.” I was sinking fast. Dawn couldn’t be very far away. I opened my bedroom door and kicked off my shoes. I hoped Rafe could help me figure out a way to beat these Westwoods. Because right now I felt like waving a white flag and getting it over with.

Five

“Where are you going?” Rafe stopped me the next evening as I was stuffing my cell in one pocket of my jeans and my credit card in the other.

“To work. By way of the roof.” I reached up and patted his cheek. “No worries, pal. I’ve got a plan.”

“Care to share?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the couch. “You know Vivien Westwood’s not going to give up after one failed attempt. And her brother will quickly figure out that you’re still in town.”

I’d filled Rafe in about the night before. No choice. He’d threatened to go to Blade and offer up some bodyguard buddies for hire if I didn’t come clean with every excruciating detail, right down to Viv’s hair color and where I’d tossed the arrow I’d pulled out of my shoulder after the attack.

“I get it. So I’m going to go up to the roof, shift into bird form and fly down to check out the alley. If I see it’s clear, I’ll shift back and go into the shop, Glory as usual.” I jumped up, grabbed my keys and stuffed them in with my credit card. Didn’t like the added inches on the hips, but unavoidable.

“And if it’s not clear?” Rafe frowned, obviously trying to decide if I needed him as backup. But I knew he and Nadia had an appointment in a few minutes to sign papers.

“Then I sneak inside. I know better than to take on the crossbow queen and her hulk by myself again, thank you very much.” I smiled. “Relax, Rafe. I can shift now without freaking out. I’ll use that to my advantage. Once I’m inside the shop, I’m sure I’ll be okay. The Westwoods wouldn’t dare do something stupid like attack me in front of witnesses.”

“I hope you’re right.” Rafe put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m coming up on the roof with you. I want to watch how you handle the alley.” He shook his head when I started to object. “Old habit. Let me do this. It’ll only take a few minutes. Nadia’s still working on her makeup. I’ll be back before she’s got her eyeliner on straight.”

“Don’t interfere, Rafe. I
am
handling this. But if you want a front-row seat, for purely entertainment value, come ahead.” I slipped out of his grasp and headed for the door.

“Cocky, aren’t you? I hope that doesn’t work against you.” Rafe grumbled as he followed me up the stairs. On the roof, the sky was clear and the stars were out. It was a beautiful night. Too bad. A little cloud cover would have helped. But then the lights were out in the alley so that was okay. Not that I needed them to see Vivien and her tough guy crouched behind my Suburban. What? Did they think I’d go back to my car that wouldn’t start?

Maybe I
was
feeling a little cocky, but that was way better than the depression and defeatist attitude of the night before. I’d decided to have a little fun at Viv’s expense.

“Here goes.” I glanced at Rafe. “Payback for that hurt Ms. Westwood put on me.”

“Damn it, Glory. Be careful.” Rafe was talking to the flutter of my wings, as I’d already shape-shifted into a small brown bird that could land on a wire behind my stalkers without being noticed.

I settled on the wire and got into some mind reading. Interesting. Viv was aggravated that she’d broken a nail on that crossbow the night before. I chirped with pride when she blamed her misses on what she called my supersonic speed. Her sidekick called the whole thing a pain in his ass. But a paycheck. So he’d crouch here all night as long as he was getting the big bucks. Didn’t believe in this vampire shit. No way. But something was up with the chick from the night before, standing up to them like that. He could usually intimidate women with his size. I chirped again.

Back to Viv. Now she was worried about the rustling sounds coming from the Dumpster. Didn’t blame her. I’d smelled a rat as soon as I’d landed. And roaches. Trust me, I may be a bloodsucker, but I’m as freaked out by insects and rodents as any other sensible person. Phil the exterminator and I were bosom buddies, so to speak. I flashed cleavage and got the shop checked out twice a month at half price. Of course my own phobia didn’t mean I couldn’t use Viv’s to my advantage . . .

“You believe in vampires, Sean?” Viv moved closer to Sean when there was another rustle and a squeak from the Dumpster.

“Seems like that’s a question you shoulda asked yourself before you shot at that woman last night, Ms. Westwood. My answer is hell no.” Sean just barely kept from laughing. He was thinking that it was a shame rich people were nuts, but maybe he could use it to his advantage.

“Daddy was so sure. You saw his house. It’s full of vampire stuff.” Viv grabbed Sean’s arm. “Did you hear that?”

“What?” Sean pulled out a sidearm.

“I think there are rats out here.” Viv was having a hard time concentrating on vampires. Didn’t blame her. “Anyway, if the woman wasn’t a vampire, why didn’t she call the police? I wounded her last night.”

“Lots of reasons people don’t call the police. Maybe she’s running a little something illegal out of her shop here.” Sean shrugged and put his gun away. “I don’t see anything. You ready to leave?”

“Five more minutes. I’d like to talk to this woman. See what she and Dad had going. Maybe she can tell me where Daddy is or if ”—Viv’s voice cracked—“he’s alive. Those bodyguards swore she killed him. Maybe she was after his money. Wouldn’t have to be a vampire to be a greedy bitch.”

“True enough.” Sean sighed, obviously resigned to waiting.

A roach scuttled out from under my car, and he casually smashed it with his sneaker. Viv and I both jumped and squealed. Luckily mine came out as a chirp.

Greedy bitch? Westwood had come after
me
. I hopped off my perch and landed behind Viv. Another shift and I was ready to show Viv how a real monster worked. Not that Sean would have considered what I had in mind such a freak-out. But Viv would go absolutely nuts. Not even a glance at Sean’s lethal size twelves could stop me. Hey, I was pissed.

I eased around beside her really nice boots, gray suede, and crawled up the sole to the edge of her jeans. Inside gave me an interesting perspective and a fragrance in a “the woman used a really expensive body lotion” kind of way. It was almost too much as I headed north. I got to the top of her boot and hit the inside of her knee.

“Oh, my God!”

She jumped, and I slid a few inches down a well-waxed and toned calf. Her squeal could have shattered glass. Nice.

“Ms. Westwood? What is it?” Sean’s deep voice was hushed and worried. “You see her?”

“No! There’s something, oh, oh, crawling on me!”

I scampered up until I was in ick territory, way too close to a pair of sheer black panties, then made a circuit of her thigh, doing a little impromptu break dance that made her squeak and screech. Plenty of room for dancing since she hadn’t favored tight jeans. She hopped around, doing a pretty good high kick until she jarred me loose. I slipped down to the top of one boot and almost fell inside, hanging on to the rim with both claws or whatever the hell cockroaches call those things they grab with.

“Hush, now. Someone could hear you. I reckon if there’s something illegal goin’ on in that shop, your girl could have muscle helping her. You want them to come check this alley?” Sean’s voice was soothing, and Viv froze, proving she wasn’t as dumb as she looked. “Where is it? Point and I’ll kill the sucker.”

Uh-oh. I clung tightly to my perch. I really didn’t want to end up inside, next to Viv’s bare foot. These were obviously last year’s favorites, if you get my drift. What had seemed like fun now wasn’t.

“Don’t hit me.” Viv shook her leg. “This is stupid. I don’t feel anything now. Must have been my imagination.”

Easy for her to say. At least I was slipping down the outside of her boot now and ready to run for freedom.

“There goes your imagination, lady.” Sean sounded gleeful. Viv shrieked.

Guess she’d seen me. I put on vamp speed at the sound of Sean’s shoes behind me. Could I be one of those flying roaches? I was all set to take wing when I was hit from behind and slammed into the brick wall at the back of the shop. I fell to the pavement and lay dazed and still. I knew better than to struggle to my feet. It was dark and from the sweet smell I figured I’d landed in, oh, great, a puddle of molasses from Mugs and Muffins next door. I’d be invisible to a mortal.

“Got him, Ms. Westwood. Ready to call it a night?”

“Yes. I need to talk to my brother. This vampire thing is nuts. Daddy was, sorry to say it, a little nuts too. That will makes no sense, and I’m not doing this. We need to lawyer up and see what we can do to get the estate settled.” Viv sounded determined. “But we need to find Daddy or his, um, body. This Glory St. Clair may have killed him. She looked like the kind of woman who would go after a rich man and take advantage.” Viv sniffled. “Poor Daddy. Bet he tried to break up with her and she wouldn’t accept it.”

How did
I
get to be the bad guy? I wanted to shift and tear out her throat. I even tried to move my foot, but the sticky mess held me prisoner.

“Is some money missing? Maybe you need to check your daddy’s accounts.”

“Good idea, Sean. I find checks made out to this St. Clair woman, I’ll make sure you get a bonus. A very generous bonus.” Viv’s voice faded as they headed out.

I lay there, utterly miserable, and decided to console myself with a taste of my bed of pain. Because that kick hadn’t exactly been a love bump. Molasses. No, maple syrup. Mmm. Too bad I couldn’t do more than lick my wing. Mortals would have enjoyed a stack of pancakes with this stuff. I’d heard the coffee shop made killer muffins with maple syrup and brown sugar. I wallowed in self-pity, dreaming of a muffin and wondering if I should try to shift back to my vampire self. I dreaded it. I’d ruin my outfit if I went to Glory form while lying here.

“Glory, what were you thinking?” Rafe stared down at me.

I figured that didn’t deserve an answer so I closed my eyes and stayed put, silent and mortified. A cockroach covered in maple syrup. Could I be more wretched? Sure. I could lie here and be reamed out by Rafe. And I had it coming. I’d pulled a stupid, impulsive stunt and had no defense.