Sleeping With the Entity (25 page)

“Nothing,” Nick growled. “You’ll show me nothing.” He never used to growl before Daniella came into his life. Or his afterlife.

Tanya pouted but wisely stepped away.

“We don’t want to keep you from your designated task,” Doc Boomer said. “If you are unable to fulfill your duties, you can delegate the job to someone else.”

“Just not me,” Bruce said. “Because that’s not the way I roll.”

“And I may not be able to do a good job because I had prostate trouble before I was turned and while it hasn’t gotten any worse, it hasn’t gotten better and frankly I’m not sure I’m up to the job if you get my meaning,” Doc Boomer said.

“You’d think we’re all a bunch of has-beens, but we all have plenty of young and fit and powerful vampires working for us here in Vamptown,” Lois said. “Not as powerful as you, Nick, but I’m sure they are up for the job.”

“There’s no time to waste. What’s it going to be, Nick? You or someone else?” Doc Boomer asked.

Nick’s glare and his bad mood intensified. Hell yes, he wanted to have sex with Daniella, and not just because of the legend. But he did not appreciate being ordered to do so by the council. “This entire discussion is ridiculous.”

“It’s not a discussion, it’s a ruling,” Doc Boomer pointed out.

“Are you worried about performing in front of the cameras? We agreed to turn off the surveillance cameras in Daniella’s bedroom while you do the deed,” Bruce said. “It’s not like we want a vamp sex tape showing up on the Internet.”

“I’m sure there are already some on YouTube,” Neville said. “Not that I’ve ever checked them out myself.”

“The thing is, Miles blew up your car,” Bruce said.

“I had noticed that,” Nick said curtly. “Hard to miss the still-glowing charred remains and all the firefighters.”

“They want to talk to you, by the way,” Bruce said. “And the police also want to ask you a few questions. I don’t think we’re going to be able to compel our way out of this one.”

“I’ll go deal with them now,” Nick said.

“Don’t take too long,” Bruce called after him. “Remember, you’ve got a date with destiny and Daniella.”

Nick approached the first cop outside the bar. “I’m Nick St. George, the owner of the Jaguar that went up in flames.”

“I’m Officer O’Malley and this is Officer Romalotti. Damn shame about your car,” the cop said.

“That’ll teach you to buy foreign,” his slightly overweight partner said. “Just kidding.” He flipped open his notebook in his hand. “Any idea who would want to blow up your vehicle?”

“No,” Nick lied. Human law enforcement didn’t have a chance against vampires, so they were never involved in clashes and disputes between the clans. The less contact between the two worlds, the better—and the less chance their existence would be discovered.

“Any enemies you can think of?”

Nick shook his head.

“Any unhappy customers at the bar lately?”

Another shake of his head.

“Any pissed-off ex-girlfriends?”

“No.”

“Thank God the explosion didn’t damage the cupcake place,” the skinnier cop said. “My wife loves those cupcakes. Especially the red velvet and the cookies ’n’ cream. I’m more partial to the Killer Chocolate myself.”

“The maple and bacon ones are great, too,” his partner said. “I never would have thought of putting them together in a cupcake. Have you tried them?” he asked Nick.

“No.”

“Not the chatty sort, are you?” chubby cop noted.

“No. I think this car explosion was just some sort of Halloween high jinks,” Nick said, on the verge of compelling them both to agree with him. He didn’t have time to stand around here making small talk with Chicago’s finest.

“Seems like more than a prank to me,” skinny cop said. “Lucky thing no one was hurt. Where were you when the explosion occurred?”

“I was upstairs visiting a friend.” Nick pointed to Daniella’s apartment above the cupcake shop.

“Hey, the cupcake maker lives there,” chubby and chatty cop said. “So you two are friends?”

“You could say that,” Nick replied.

“Tell her we think her cupcakes are the best.”

“I’ll do that.”

They stood around a little longer, gathering more information from him, like his driver’s license number and his car insurance card. Then they got another call and had to leave. “We’ll let you know if we find something,” skinny cop said. Nick thought he was O’Malley but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t really pay that much attention to humans normally.

“Halloween.” Chubby cop shook his head. “Every doped-up dickhead, every gang banger, every moronic asshole is out looking for trouble.” He grinned. “Best day of the year to be a cop.”

His partner laughed. “Yeah, right.” He paused to talk into his shoulder radio before speaking to one of the firefighters. Nick kept his distance from his still-smoldering vehicle. He vaguely heard them discussing preserving the chain of evidence for the investigation. Nick was more concerned with preserving his patience at the length of time this was all taking. He could only hope that Daniella was coping okay with Pat.

*   *   *

Daniella laughed at Pat’s latest tale. “Mary Todd Lincoln really said that to you?”

“She did.”

“I can’t believe you went to Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration ball.”

“You know there were some who, off the record, tried to say that the man who assassinated Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, was a vampire. But it’s not true.”

“Were you at the theater that night?”

“No, I was back here in Chicago. I did have some interaction with Lincoln when he was still in the state legislature down in Springfield. Spoke to him in a tavern one night. He was a strange-looking fellow. People said he was a rube, but he was one of the smartest men I ever met. And believe me, I’ve met plenty over the centuries.”

“How many centuries?”

“Three or four, I lose count.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Not everyone would think so. Getting back to Mr. Lincoln, you may have heard about the novel claiming he was a vampire hunter and that vampires were to blame for slavery. Neither is true, of course. There were a few vampire plantation owners, but most were human. Sometimes it seems that every bad thing in the world is blamed on vamps. Although it is true that Miles the Mustache did play a big role in the most recent global economic crash. He did the same in the stock market crash of 1929. But most of the time, humans don’t need any help in doing evil deeds. They are more than capable of accomplishing them without any outside influence.”

“I guess druids don’t have as bad a reputation as vampires.”

“They like to stay under the radar.
Far
under the radar, as in off it entirely.”

“I’m still having a hard time processing all this,” Daniella admitted. “I mean, it’s only been a week since I discovered that vampires exist—and now I hear that I’m some sort of weird hybrid. It’s all too much.”

“It explains a lot. Why you couldn’t be compelled. Your strength of spirit and determination.”

“Do you ever just wish you weren’t a vampire and that you could live a normal life?” she asked.

“For me a vampire’s life
is
normal,” Pat said.

“I suppose after a few centuries, I can see how that would happen. You’ve heard that rumor has it I may have a smidge of vampire blood?”

“We need to have Doc Boomer draw some of your blood to substantiate that.”

She instantly grabbed her arms and hugged them close to her body. She wasn’t real eager to have a vampire draw her blood. How would that even work? Did he use his fangs to do it instead of a needle?

“We would have a human draw your blood and turn the sample over to Doc Boomer,” Pat explained. “He runs the Happy Times Emergency Dental Clinic.”

“So he’s a dentist and a vampire. Those are his qualifications? This Doc Boomer wouldn’t just drink my blood from the test tube, would he?”

“No.”

“I meant if there was some left over after the test.”

“The answer is still no. You have a lot of druid blood, I suspect, and that would have a negative effect on a vampire.”

“So no vampire should suck my blood. That’s a good thing. That means Miles couldn’t kill me by draining me.”

“But there are plenty of other ways he could kill you.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” she muttered. “How come my regular doctor never found anything weird in my blood?”

“He didn’t know what to look for.”

“And you do?”

“Doc Boomer does. If you agree, we can have a phlebotomist here in ten minutes.” At her blank look, he added, “That’s a medical technician who specializes in collecting blood samples.”

“Do you have someone on call or something? Do they bring you blood the way the pizza guy would deliver takeout?”

“If you don’t like that option then maybe your brother could do it. He draws blood from people.”

“From dead people. Trust me, that makes a difference. A
big
difference.”

“Then the phlebotomist it is.”

“Hold on. What’s the purpose of getting my blood?”

“To verify the amount of vampire blood in your system.
A smidge
isn’t exactly a scientific term.”

“I’m going to have to give that some thought, so don’t go calling anyone just yet.” Daniella jerked nervously as her cell phone played Suz’s ringtone, the opening to Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.”

“Hey you,” Suz said cheerfully. “Happy Halloween.”

“Are you home now?”

“No. I’m still in Rome. I’ve decided to stay another week or so.”

“Why?”

“I met a man. An incredibly sexy Italian man. He’s from Milan, the fashion capital of the world. So I’m going with him to check out some clothes and food. Have I mentioned the food is awesome?”

“You haven’t said much at all because our phone connections have been so bad.”

“Right. I just didn’t want you worrying about me.”

“I am worried about you. How long have you known this guy?”

“Long enough.”

“You haven’t been there more than a week.”

“Eight days.”

“And you’ve already hooked up with some complete stranger?”

“He’s incredible in bed,” Suz said.

Daniella didn’t have enough to worry about with vampires and druids and her dad getting engaged out of the blue. Now her best friend was taking off with … wait, she didn’t even know. “Email me this guy’s name and contact info in case he’s a criminal or something.”

Suz laughed. “You are so cautious.”

“You wouldn’t think so if you knew what was going on around here.” The words slipped out before Daniella could stop them.

Suz, being Suz, latched onto them immediately. “What do you mean? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Car-exploding vampires? No problemo. A piece of cake … cupcake. A Black Magic Banana cupcake. Too bad druids couldn’t do spells. Or could they?

“You’re fading out,” Suz said. “Talk to you later.”

“Don’t forget to email me the info on that guy of yours,” Daniella ordered.

“You were wise not to give your friend any details,” Pat congratulated her.

“It was hard not to. We tell each other everything. Have you ever had a friend like that?”

Pat nodded.

“Is Nick someone like that for you?” she asked.

“Are you kidding? Nick doesn’t tell anyone everything. In fact, he tells as few people as little as possible. I’m surprised he told you as much as he did about his past.”

“I probably hounded it out of him.”

“Nick is immune to hounding.”

“Not when I do it.”

“Apparently not. What’s your secret?”

“I have no idea. It’s not like I can tempt him with my cupcakes or anything,” she said.

“I think Nick does find you tempting.”

“How do you know that? What has he said about me?”

“Don’t you want to hear more about Abraham Lincoln?” Pat said. “Or Potter and Bertha Palmer?”

“No, I want to hear about Nick.”

“Then you’ll have to ask him. Have you thought about the phlebotomist issue?”

“No. I got distracted by Suz telling me she’s not coming home now but is instead hopping off to Milan with some sexy Italian guy whose name I don’t even know. And did you hear that my father is engaged to some woman he’s only known a few weeks? Sure, they knew each other in college, but that was a long time ago.”

Pat checked his watch. “Nick should be back soon.”

“Right. Like he’s going to want to talk about human relationship issues.”

“It’s not my favorite topic, either. About that blood sample…”

“Is that all you vampires think of?” Seeing the look on his face, she said, “Forget I asked that. How much blood are we talking about here? Can’t we use something like those diabetes testers?”

“Unfortunately we don’t have a druid tester.”

“Too bad. How much of my blood would you need?” she asked.

“Hold it right there,” Nick growled as he stormed into her apartment. “What the hell is going on here? What’s with all the talk about taking blood?”

“Calm down,” Pat told Nick.

“He wants a phlebotomist to take a blood sample of mine and have Doc Boomer check it,” Daniella said.

“Check it for what?” Nick demanded.

“Its druid and vampire factors, I guess. Did you know you’re not supposed to drink my blood because I’m a druid and it could be bad for you?”

“I never had any intention of drinking your blood.” Nick turned to confront Pat. “What have you been telling her?”

“Not as much as I could have,” Pat said cryptically.

Daniella didn’t like the sound of that. Neither did Nick, judging by the look on his face. His eyes were so expressive. They could go from stormy to flinty to smoky.

Right. So the sexy vampire has great eyes. Stay focused here
.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Daniella demanded. Her question was aimed at both Nick and Pat and she was rather proud of how forceful she sounded, especially considering the fact that she’d just been distracted by Nick’s awesome eyes.

Pat’s gesture toward Nick clearly indicated that he was leaving this one for Nick to answer. “Nothing you really need to know.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” she said.