A Girls Guide to Vampires (45 page)

"Joy's safety is tantamount in my mind," Christian answered. "Given the circumstances, you have my full cooperation. There are one or two members of my staff I can put at your disposal if they are needed, and I myself will be available as soon as my duties as host are completed."

"I'm never, ever wearing this damned scarf again!"

"Thank you. I will appreciate your help," Raphael said with a polite little bow to Christian.

Roxy raced up, breathless and pink-cheeked. "There you are! Renee has been waiting for you! She has to use the little girl's room. Come on, come on, you can eat your scarf later." She grabbed my wrist and started tugging me in the direction of the tables.

"I am happy to be of service," Christian said, making Raphael an equally polite bow.

"I don't like either of you anymore," I told them.

Raphael just smiled and released his death grip on my scarf, taking me by one arm as Christian took the other. With Roxy clearing a path ahead of us like some deranged flower girl, I was frog-marched back to the rune table.

Renee happily hoisted herself to her feet when she saw me approaching, waving an expressive hand as she waddled off for the nearest portable toilet Raphael put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me into the chair. I bit his thumb.

"Stay here until I come to fetch you," he told me.

"I no longer recognize you in the Republic of Joy," I loftily informed him. "Our diplomatic ties are severed."

"Unsever them," he growled, "or the Country of Raphael will be forced to declare your republic a protectorate."

"Dictator," I muttered.

"For life," he agreed. "Stay here."

"You sound like something's going on," I said suspiciously. "You sound like you're doing exactly what you told me not to do. You wouldn't be planning an attempt to prove Milos is the murderer and clear your name with Bartos, would you? You are! You are planning on catching him! Well, you can just let me help, buster I'm supposed to be the one you turn to in time of trouble! We've done the sixth
step,
I demand that you turn to me for help!"

His gorgeous amber eyes lit with a fire from within. "You do an alpha female quite well. I expect our children will give us nightmares.
Stay here
."

With a squeeze to my shoulder and a look that left no doubt in my mind that he meant every word he said, he waved Christian ahead of him. The two stood talking together for a minute, then parted and headed off in opposite directions.

"That's so romantic," Roxy sighed, watching them.
"Bitter enemies pursuing the same woman, their love for you bringing them together."

"Romantic my Aunt Fanny," I snapped, and would have said more but the woman waiting to have her runes read coughed politely. I apologized for the delay and gave her the "think of a question" spiel, using her moment of indecision to whisper to Roxy.

"I'll need you to help me a little later
Obviously
, the Bobbsey Twins are going to make a stink if I try to talk to Milos by myself, so you'll have to help me get away from them."

"Talk to him? Why do you want to talk to him? He's a killer! I have to say I'm with the guys on this, Joy. Let the police handle the situation. Let Raphael do it—if he's a spy, he'll know all about truth serums and stuff. Let Christian mind-meld with him, but there's no reason for you to talk to him by yourself."

"Raphael doesn't see the truth, he's too stubborn. He needs my help whether or not he realizes it. Besides I won't be by myself," I said, shaking the amethyst runes in the bag. "I'll have you."

There wasn't much she could say to that, not with me laying out the runes and telling the woman what they said, but she sure sent me a look that promised retribution at the earliest possible moment. I grinned back.

Sometimes silence truly is golden.

Chapter Nineteen

I read runes for another two hours, looking up periodically to find either Raphael or Christian watching me. I ignored both of them, as well as the two men Christian posted on either side of the aisle. There were just no words to adequately express my disgust with either overprotective, pigheaded, domineering man. Individually, I could have dealt with them; working together, they were almost impossible to conquer.

Almost.

"Are you done here?" Raphael asked as I was tucking away my stones.

I started to glare at him,
then
realized he was looking at me with a strange expression on his face. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

He sighed and waited for me to finish putting things away, then took my hand and steered me toward the long lawn. "Yes, something's wrong, something is very wrong, but unfortunately, I find myself in a position—"

I had a sudden premonition of what he was going to say.

"—of needing to ask you for help."

"Yes," I said immediately, squeezing his hand and all but jumping up and down with the warm glow of pleasure that filled me. He needed me! He wanted my help! He finally acknowledged the fact that I was the one who was put on this earth to aid him in his greatest hour of need.

"You don't even know what I want you to do," he answered, pulling me to a halt behind the aura photography booth. His lovely eyes were grim.

"I don't care, I'll do it."

"It's dangerous—" He ran a hand through his curls,
then
shook his head. "Hell, what am I doing? It's too dangerous for
you,
I can't ask you to put yourself in that sort of a situation."

"Yes, you can. Raphael, I trust you. I know you'll keep me safe no matter what I have to do."

He stared at me for a moment,
then
took my face in his hands. "Baby, I wish there were another way, but—"

"I'll do
it,
I'm happy to, honest."

"There's no time to come up with another plan—"

"I'll do it, Raphael, I'll do it! Do you hear me? I'LL DO IT!"

"—and Bartos feels that you are the key… I know he's right, but still—"

"I'll make a very good key," I promised. "I'll be the best damned key there ever was. Let me help you, please!"

He looked me straight in the eyes, indecision mingling with regret and love in his face. He kissed me, hard and fast, his mouth gone before I could respond. "I need you to help trap Tanya's murderer."

My legs went a bit weak at his words. "Anything, Bob, I'll do anything you need me to do. Um… this wouldn't involve guns, would it? Because I don't like guns, and I don't know how to shoot one."

He turned us toward the long lawn, where the main stage was set up. "No guns. You have to do everything I say, exactly as I tell you."

I saluted him.
"Aye-aye,
mon capitaine
."

"I'm serious, Joy. If you do anything, anything that I don't instruct you to do, I'll pull you out. Do you understand?"

"I'm your woman," I reassured him. "I won't even breathe without your express permission."

He sighed again and nodded to Bartos as we passed him. "I don't like it, but… hell. Paal and Christian's men will stay with you until it's time to bring you to the caves."

Excitement rippled through me at the thought. Here I was, madly in love with a dashing spy and he needed my help to catch a killer. Could life get any better?

It could, as a matter of fact. Raphael stopped at one side of the stage, his thumb rubbing gently on my wrist. I smiled secretly to myself. Now he would tell me everything, now he would bare his soul and take me wholly and completely into his confidence, proving without a doubt that he trusted me with his life.

"Paal will bring you to me after the magic show," Raphael said before turning to speak a few words with Henri. Then he left—he just left, walked off without even a glance back at me.

So much for trust.

By the time I stopped glaring at Raphael's disappearing figure, the crowd was gathering to sit on the ground before the stage. It was a low wooden structure about two feet off the ground, ringed with large black speakers used later by the bands, and backed by an area of draperies hung on a metal frame. Roxy had told me how much she enjoyed Dominic's magic act, saying it was surprisingly professional, much better than the phony vampire act he put on. Since I couldn't shake the two watchdogs who stuck to me like glue, and because I wanted to tell Roxy the latest news, I searched the crowd until I spotted her, following her to the spot near the stage she had staked out earlier.

I whispered the plan to her,
then
spent several long minutes rehashing my feelings for Raphael until Roxy finally had enough.

"Be quiet. Dominic is going to do this really cool disappearing trick. He goes into a glass box, it fills with smoke, and when it clears, he's gone. Then they do the smoke thing again, and voilà! He reappears. It's really great. I can't figure out how he does it, since the box is made of glass and they twirl it around on stage so you can see all the sides."

"Hrmph."
I sat with my arms crossed and pouted slightly. I'd much rather talk about Raphael than watch some silly magic act.

"I wonder if he's going to do what he did last
night?
"

"What's that?" I asked
,
toying with the brooch Christian had lent me.

"Dominic went into the box, and Milos came out of it. I didn't know Milos was a magician, but he did some pretty amazing things after that. You should see what he does with three eggs—"

Onstage a couple of the fair workers wheeled out a large glass cube that rested on a dolly. Dominic did a little patter about the powers gained from his time studying the black arts.

I turned to Roxy, puzzled by what she said. "What do you mean, Milos is a magician? He was on the stage with Dominic? That can't be! Raphael said Tanya was killed right before he found her—her body was still warm.
I know, I touched her."

"I don't follow you," Roxy said, her attention still on Dominic as he explained the illusion to come.

"Try this: If Milos was on stage doing a magic trick, he couldn't have killed Tanya."

Slowly her head turned to look at me. "If he didn't, who did?"

A wave of gooseflesh ripped down my arms and back as I looked back at the stage. "It couldn't be…"

"Oh my God," she breathed, her eyes huge.

I watched as Dominic strutted across the stage, tall and elegant in stark black with a red ruffled shirt. He flashed his fangs, playing up his vampirism to the crowd. He was working them like a veteran of the stage, teasing and playing with them until they yelled out their excitement.

"Dear Lord, it must be him. I always thought he was joking when he insisted he was a vampire. I mean, it was just all too ludicrous, what with those fake teeth and all. But what if he believes it? What if he really, really believes he's a vampire?"

Another wave of chill hit me. I gathered up my skirt and stood as the crowd yelled at something Dominic said. "I have to go tell Raphael. He thinks the murderer is Milos. I'm willing to bet you he doesn't know that Milos finished the magic show last night!"

Roxy tugged at my skirt, trying to pull me back down. "Joy—"

"The perfect volunteer!"
Dominic bellowed from the stage, leaping into the crowd and heading straight for me, his hand held out. "
Mon ange
, if you will assist me?"

"What?"

"He was asking for volunteers, you fool. Too late—he's got you now," Roxy muttered.

"What? What?" I stared stupidly at the hand Dominic held out for me. I didn't want to touch him—he was a murderer! The crowd started cheering.

"Come,
mon ange,"
Dominic said with a full-fanged smile. "Assist me. It will be over quickly, I assure you."

I wondered if he had said the same thing to Tanya. Dominic grabbed my hand and started hauling me back through the crowd. I debated accusing him there on the spot of Tanya's murder, of screaming for help, or of kicking him until he let me go so I could run to Raphael. In the end, I decided that it was better to not make him suspicious, so I made no complaint when he jerked me onto the stage and dragged me over to the glass box.

He kept a hold on my hand while he helped me into the box, doing a spiel about his powers and how I would be sent to the underworld to await his command to return. It was a bit creepy, considering Tanya. As he turned to close the lid on the box, he hissed, "Do not fear,
mon ange
. As soon as the smoke fills the outer layer, the trap will open and you will escape. Crawl under the stage to the rear. Antonio will be waiting for you there."

"Crawl? I'm supposed to crawl?" I asked as he closed the lid, getting a little panicky at the thought of being shut into a box with a bunch of smoke. I crouched in the box, my head pressed up against the top of it, the lights and the crowd blurring a little through the thick glass. Dominic waved his arm dramatically, and the box began to fill with smoke, obscuring my vision.