The Dark-Hunters (250 page)

It was a Katagaria bear pack who owned the bar. Inside the walls of Sanctuary, anyone was welcomed. Human, Apollite, Daimon, god, Arcadian, or Katagaria. There was only one rule: You don’t bite me and I won’t bite you.

Sanctuary was one of the few sacred areas on this planet where no paranormal being could attack another. And the bears would gladly keep Simi occupied until Ash was able to rejoin her.

Simi chattered endlessly until they reached the saloon-style doors of the bar.

“Are you coming inside?” she asked Tabitha.

Before she could answer, Tabitha saw Nick Gautier headed toward them. Since Nick’s mother worked at the bar, he was an almost constant visitor there.

“Ladies,” he said with a charming smile as he joined them.

“Nick,” Tabitha said in greeting.

Simi smiled warmly. “Hi, Nick,” she said, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. “You going into Sanctuary, too?”

“I was planning on it. What about you two?”

Tabitha’s phone rang. “Hang on,” she said to Nick and Simi before she answered it.

It was Marla in hysterics.

“What?” Tabitha asked, trying to understand Marla’s words that came out in staccato between her sobs.

She glanced at Nick, who was watching her with a frown. “How about Nick Gautier—”

The question was cut off by Marla’s scream of terror.

“Okay, okay,” Tabitha said, realizing immediately why Marla was upset. Nick was wearing one of his heinous Hawaiian shirts along with ragged blue jeans and a pair of tennis shoes that looked as if they’d been fed to a garbage disposal. “Stop crying and get dressed. I’ll get someone, I promise.”

Marla sniffed. “You swear?”

“Cross my heart.”

“Thank you, Tabby. You’re a goddess!”

Tabitha had serious doubts about that as she hung up. “Nick, can you entertain Simi for a little while? I have to go prevent a disaster.”

Nick grinned. “Sure,
chèr.
I’ll be more than happy to keep Simi company if she doesn’t mind.”

Simi shook her head. “You know, I really like them blue-eyed people,” she said to Tabitha. “They’s all quality.”

“You two have a good time,” Tabitha said as she left them and rushed for Chartres Street.

*   *   *

Valerius was blow-drying his hair when he heard a commotion in his bedroom. It sounded like Gilbert and …

Turning off the dryer, he left the bathroom to find Gilbert trying to pull Tabitha out of his bedroom.

“Forgive me, my lord,” Gilbert said as he released Tabitha. “I was coming to let you know you had a visitor when she followed me into your rooms.”

Valerius couldn’t breathe as he saw the impossible. Tabitha back in his home.

An unexpected happiness consumed him, but he refused to even smile.

“It’s all right, Gilbert,” he said, amazed at how even his tone was when all he really wanted to do was grin like an imbecile at her. “You may leave us.”

Gilbert inclined his head before he obeyed.

Tabitha swallowed at the amazing sight of Valerius wearing nothing but a damp burgundy towel wrapped around his lean hips. It seemed completely incongruous to find him like that. With his imperious air, she would have thought him to have a collection of silk bathrobes or something.

His dark hair was damp and loose, framing a face that was chiseled to perfection.

Wow, he looked good like that. He’d probably look even better naked like he’d been when he jumped out of her bed …

She squelched that thought before it got her into trouble.

“To what do I owe this honor?” he asked.

She smiled. Oh yeah, he was perfect for what she needed … and she didn’t even want to contemplate that double entendre.

“I need you dressed.” Tabitha paused at the thought. Yeah, right, there was something seriously wrong with a woman who said that to a man this finely made.

“Excuse me?”

“Hurry and dress, then meet me downstairs.” She shooed him toward the bed where he had a suit laid out.
“Fretta! Fretta!”

Valerius wasn’t sure what stunned him more, her wanting him dressed or her speaking Italian.

“Tabitha—”

“Dress!” Without another word, she left his room.

Before he could move, she opened the door and stuck her head back in. “You know, you could have dropped that towel, slowpoke … oh, never mind that thought. Keep your hair down and make sure you wear something really elegant and expensive. Preferably Versace if you have it, but Armani will do, too. And make sure you wear a tie and bring your coat.”

Completely baffled and yet oddly curious about her request, he exchanged the suit on his bed for a black Versace silk and wool blend with a black silk shirt and matching silk tie, then opened the door.

Tabitha turned as the door swung open and she felt her mouth go dry. Her jaw dropped.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known he was gorgeous, but …

Oh … my!

It was all she could do to breathe. She’d never seen a man wear a totally black suit before but it was haute couture of the first right. He looked debonair and regal.

Marla was going to die!

That is, if Tabitha didn’t die first of hormonal overload poisoning.

“You know, I’ve always heard people say it should be illegal to look that good, but in your case, it really is true.”

He frowned at her.

Tabitha grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the stairs. “C’mon, there’s no time to waste.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“I need a favor from you.”

Valerius was oddly flattered by her request. It was extremely rare that anyone ever asked him for a favor. Those were things most people reserved for people they considered friends.

“What do you need?”

“Marla needs an escort for the Ms. Red Light pageant.”

Valerius stopped immediately. “She what?”

Tabitha turned to face him. “Oh come on, please don’t be a prude here. You’re Roman, for heaven’s sake.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I have some innate qualification to be an escort for a transvestite. Tabitha, please.”

She looked so disappointed that it actually made him feel guilty.

“Marla has been practicing for this for months now and her guy cancelled on her tonight. Her number-one competitor bribed him to escort her instead. If Marla loses, this will kill her.”

“I have no desire to be paraded around a group of gay men.”

“It’s not a parade … exactly. All you need to do is walk her out in the very beginning when they introduce her. It’ll only take a few minutes and that’s it. C’mon, Val. She spent a year’s salary on this gorgeous Versace gown.”

Tabitha looked up at him with the most pathetically heartfelt gaze he’d ever seen. It absolutely melted him.

“There’s no one else to call on such a short notice. She needs a really elegant man. Someone who’s first class and I don’t know anyone else who fits the bill. Please? For me? I swear I’ll make it up to you.”

Personally, he’d rather be beaten and killed … again. And yet he couldn’t find it within himself to disappoint her.

“What if one of them gropes me—”

“They won’t. I promise, I’ll protect all your…” She arched a brow as she looked at his derriere. “Assets.”

“And if anyone
ever
learns of this—”

“They won’t. I’ll take it to my grave.”

Valerius let out a long breath. “You know, Tabitha, anytime in my life I have ever sought to help anyone, I’ve only made it worse for them. I have a bad feeling about this. Something will go wrong. Watch and see. Marla will fall off the stage and break her neck, or worse, her big wig will catch on fire.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “You’re being paranoid.”

No, he wasn’t. And as she led him toward the front door, every horrible memory of his life played through his mind … The time when he’d felt sorry for Zarek and had tried to soothe him after a beating. His father had then forced him to beat Zarek more. He’d pulled back the strokes, hoping they wouldn’t be as painful as the ones his father had given Zarek. Instead, he’d ended up blinding the poor slave.

Then when he’d tried to keep Zarek from being caught outside the confines of their villa, he’d caused his father to pay a slaver to take Zarek away from everything the boy had known.

As a first-time general, he’d had a young soldier under his command who was the last surviving son of his family. Hoping to keep the youth away from the battlefield, he had sent him as a messenger to another Roman camp.

The boy had died two days out from an attack by rogue Celts who had stumbled across him.

And Agrippina …

“I can’t do this, Tabitha.”

Tabitha paused on the front steps to look at him. There was a catch in his voice that told her this wasn’t him being ridiculous.

She actually felt a wave of fear go through him.

“It’ll be okay. Five minutes. That’s it.”

“And if I cause Marla to be hurt?”

“I’ll be right there. Nothing bad is going to happen. Trust me.”

He nodded, but she felt his reluctance as she tugged him toward the taxi she’d left waiting for them. Getting in, she gave directions to the driver to the Cha Cha Club on Canal Street.

It barely took them fifteen minutes to get there. Tabitha paid for the cab while Valerius stood on the sidewalk looking like he was ready to bolt, especially since some of the club’s clientele had already taken notice of him.

“Don’t worry,” Tabitha said as she joined him. “They really won’t bother you.”

Valerius couldn’t believe he was doing this. He must have lost his mind.

Tabitha took his hand and led him through the bright pink double doors.

“Hey, Tabby,” a bouncer at the door called. He was large and muscular, wearing a sleeveless T-shirt. His dark brown hair was cut short and he had a Celtic band tattooed around his exposed biceps. At first glance he appeared intimidating, but his open, honest smile stole the ferocity from him.

Tabitha pulled out her wallet to pay their cover charge. “Hi, Sam. We’re here to help out Marla. Is she in the back?”

“Put that away,” Sam said, pushing her wallet back toward her. “You know your money’s no good here. Yes, Marla’s in back and please go help her. My boyfriend’s about to lose his mind because she won’t stop crying.”

Tabitha winked at him. “Don’t worry. The cavalry’s here.”

Valerius took a deep breath as he followed Tabitha into what had to be the scariest place he’d ever been. Personally, he’d rather walk straight into a nest of Daimons who were armed with chainsaws and guillotines.

But by the time they reached the bright yellow door beside the stage, he felt a little better. Though many of the men in the club stopped to gawk at him, none of them made a move toward him.

“Don’t worry,” Tabitha said as he walked past her. “I’ve got your flank covered.”

Valerius jumped as she pinched his butt playfully. “Please don’t give them ideas.”

She laughed at that.

They walked through a crowd of people who were in the process of applying makeup, wigs, and elaborate dresses. Marla sat in a back corner, wailing while another man flitted around her, complaining. Her bald head was covered by a pink net turban and her makeup was completely wrecked.

“You’re ruining all my hard work, honey. You have to stop crying or I’ll never get it fixed in time.”

“What does it matter? I’m going to lose. Damn you, Anthony! All men are pigs. Pigs! I can’t believe he’d sell me out.”

Valerius felt bad for Marla. It was obvious this pageant meant a lot to her.

“Hey, babe,” Tabitha said. “Buck up. We got something a lot better than old Tone. In fact, both he and Mink will die when you step out with this by your side.” She pushed Valerius forward.

“Hi, Marla,” he said simply, feeling like a complete and utter jackass.

Marla’s jaw dropped. “You’re going to do this for me?”

He glanced over his shoulder to see Tabitha watching him closely. There was actually fear in her eyes that he might back out.

God knows, he truly wanted to.

He really, really didn’t want to go through with this. But Valerius Magnus was tougher than this. He had never run in his life and he would do this favor for Tabitha no matter how distasteful it might be to him.

Straightening himself, he turned back to Marla. “I would be honored to be your escort.”

Marla let out an ear-piercing scream as she jumped up and grabbed him in a hug so hard that he feared his ribs might crack. She screamed even louder as she left him and grabbed Tabitha up into a hug that brought Tabitha’s feet off the floor.

“Oh, girlfriend, you are the best friend anyone ever had! Imagine Marla Divine going out there on the arm of the only straight man in the house. Girl, they will die of envy.” She let go of Tabitha. “Carey, get over here and redo my makeup, pronto. I need to be fabulous! Fabulous!”

Carey was smiling at Marla’s dramatics. “Sit down, darling, and you will be.”

While Carey worked on Marla, Valerius and Tabitha stood off to the side, out of the way.

“Thank you,” Tabitha said. “Really.”

“It’s okay.”

Tabitha watched Valerius. Before she could stop herself, she wrapped her arms around him and smiled up at him and laid her head against his chest.

Valerius couldn’t breathe at the sensation of her hold. His heart thudded at the sight of her head lying against him, at the warmth of her body pressed against his. An unexpected tenderness swelled inside him.

He reached up and lightly stroked her hair while he hoped nothing went wrong with Marla because he was helping her.

The last time he had tried to help someone had been over a year ago when Acheron had asked him to help fight Daimons off a Katagaria wolf pack. He’d gone willingly but during the fight, Vane and Fang, the two wolves they’d been helping, had lost their sister to an ill-placed Daimon strike. She’d died in her brothers’ arms.

The sight haunted him to this day.

Valerius had told Vane that anytime he needed him, he’d gladly lend his sword arm to the wolf. Luckily, Vane had never needed him.

You’re being ridiculous.

Perhaps, but it wouldn’t bother him so much if he was the one who bore the brunt of it. The disaster always seemed to fall onto the ones he tried to help.