Blood and Guitars (17 page)

I caught Mark’s scent before he opened the
back door, which I hadn’t bothered to lock. I ditched Trey’s
painting of his guitar and turned down the music a bit before Mark
had finished climbing the stairs.

I could feel his eyes on my back, and
although I still wanted to be mad at him for the way he had acted
the other night, I couldn’t help but realize how much I had missed
having him around. He was, after all, the only one aside from
Antonio who cared enough to worry about me.

Mark cleared his throat unnecessarily, and I
turned slowly to gaze at him. He was standing there looking all too
guilty and holding a particularly pricey bottle of Vidic
blood-laced wine. I sighed, wondering where to start.

“I was a jerk,” he said simply.

“Bit of an understatement, don’t you think?”
I asked, but my voice was light. I projected the image of a
donkey’s rear end into his mind to let him know I had better words
in mind for him than jerk.

He grinned at me and held up the bottle.
“Truce?”

I considered him a moment before nodding. He
smiled and walked toward the kitchenette to fetch glasses. “But
only because you brought the good stuff,” I added.

“You know, for a minute there I thought you
were going to kick me out.” He chuckled half-heartedly.

“It’s not too late,” I said as I watched
him.

“What’s been going on since I … uh, saw you
last?” He was trying to sound casual.

I’d already made up my mind that he couldn’t
know about Trey, but I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to lie to
Mark. He is a vamp, after all. And the closest thing I’ve had to a
best friend since Aden. Okay, so outright lying probably wasn’t the
best idea. I opted for partial truths instead.

“Just work.” It was sort of true. I had
managed to varnish a few pieces while Trey had been here
painting.

“Work?” Mark glanced around the studio,
searching for new works of art that he didn’t recognize. There
really weren’t any, save for the piece I was working on when he
walked in.

“Yeah,” I defended. “Just painting, hanging
out, and listening to music and stuff.” Also true. I had spent most
of the afternoon and early evening at the studio with Trey
listening to him sing.

Mark seemed to give up on his question of how
I’d been spending my time as he handed me a glass of blood-laced
wine. I took a sip, the delicious taste exploding on my tongue.
Never mind that I’d already had a glass tonight. This was the good
stuff, containing one of the rare blood types that only one in a
thousand humans has. My mind fogged for a second and then cleared
once I swallowed. Mark gave me a satisfied look and I sighed. He’d
always known how to get on my good side.

I scribbled a line on the lyric sheet in
front of me and then picked out the melody on my acoustic guitar to
make sure it fit. I’d been writing a new song ever since lunch over
an hour ago. My mind had been swirling with lyrics since I’d
climbed out of bed. I just couldn’t help it. It was like I had the
old magic back, except that it was even better this time. I could
pretend I didn’t understand it, but the truth was being around
Aurora had awoken something deep down inside of me. Something I’d
buried a long time ago. Kissing Aurora was both nerve-wracking and
thrilling, and despite the mystifying feeling that lingered in my
gut every time she was around, I longed to be in her presence.

I heard the sound of Cowboy’s nails tapping
on the hard floors as he approached the doorway of my studio room
and looked up at me.

“Hey boy,” I said, dropping my hand. The dog
reacted by trotting over so I could lift him into my lap. His
tongue snaked out into the air over and over, trying to reach my
face and making me laugh. He’d been feeling a little neglected now
that I was back to work. I’d made a detour on the way to Aurora’s
place last night and dropped Cowboy off at Jonas’s house for his
sister to watch. He’d been happy to see me when I’d stopped by to
pick him up later, but had shown his displeasure at being left
behind by moping during the ride home. He was back to his usual
self again today, even though I hadn’t done much with him.

“Okay.” I looked into his puppy dog eyes.
“Let’s go out back so you can practice your mad fetching
skills.”

His ears pricked up and he scrambled down off
of my lap and headed out of the room in high gear. I put my guitar
away and followed him out of the house to the back yard where he
was already scanning the lawn for his favorite ball. He gripped it
in his mouth and ran toward me, dropping it proudly at my feet.
“Good dog,” I told him, bending to pat his head and pick up the
ball. He waited impatiently as I tossed the ball across the yard
and then burst after it in a way that made me envious of his
energy. I chuckled as he trotted back to me with it, dropping it
for me once more. I picked the ball up and tossed it further this
time, taking a deep breath of the cool fresh air the breeze was
carrying in from the sea.

When he’d had his fill of fetching, Cowboy
followed me into the house where I got him some fresh water to
drink and watched him lap it up happily. Then I remembered that I
hadn’t told Aurora how to get to the house yet. I put my address
into a text along with some brief directions and a message saying
that I was looking forward to tonight and sent it. Now I just had
to figure out what to cook for her tonight. I glanced around the
living room and saw the remnants of a magazine and a stray sock
that Cowboy had claimed while I’d been writing. Apparently I had
some tidying up to do as well.

I dined on Mac & Cheese for lunch, not
wanting to exhaust my culinary skills before tonight. When I’d
finished eating, I halfheartedly lectured Cowboy as he followed me
around the house, watching with amusement while I cleaned up the
messes he’d made. When the house looked presentable again I put on
a hat and sunglasses, grabbed my wallet and keys and headed for the
store to pick up a few things for dinner.

Waking up to the sound of Trey’s voice made
it less torturous to drag myself out of bed. I’d set “Filtered
Ache” as the alarm on my phone, and I let the thirty second loop
play several times before I could bring myself to turn it off. I’d
been at The Waking Moon until five this morning, hanging out with
Mark and letting him fill me in on all the latest vamp gossip. I’d
gotten some work done while we’d chatted as well, so the night
hadn’t been a complete waste. As I took a shower and got ready for
my date with Trey, I was glad I’d had the forethought to ask him to
make it eight o’clock instead of seven. It gave me an extra hour
before I needed to be there. I imagined that most humans really did
eat earlier than that, but Trey hadn’t seemed to mind at all. Maybe
our schedules were more in sync than I initially would have
guessed. By seven I was ready to leave the house but I needed to
make a stop on my way. I did a shot of blood from my stash for a
quick pick-me-up and then headed out the door. First I drove to The
Waking Moon to get Trey’s painting. I’d left a note for Kacie
asking her to have it framed at the place across the street for me.
When I’d checked my phone for messages after waking up, she’d
texted me to let me know it was finished and waiting for me. Sure
enough, when I walked in the back entrance it was sitting on the
desk along with a note from Kacie.

I’m sure he’ll love it. I want all the juicy
details later! -K

I rolled my eyes and smiled, dropping the
note in the waste basket. She’d suspected all along that Trey and I
might have a thing for each other. Then she’d seen the painting and
his signature at the bottom and she’d guessed that I’d had him over
one night to paint and begged me for details. I hadn’t give her any
then and although I wasn’t about to start now, she was
relentless.

The black frame looked great on Trey’s guitar
painting and I knew he’d like it. I picked it up and carried it out
to my car. I opened my phone’s inbox and found the other text I’d
received today, which was from Trey, and reread the address and
directions before pulling out of the parking lot and onto
Cleveland.

When I made the turn onto his street fifteen
minutes later, I checked for a third time that the address
coincided with the text Trey had sent me. It was a part of town I
hadn’t really visited, full of big houses with perfectly manicured
lawns. I slowed down as the house numbers got closer to the one I
wanted. I slowed the car to a stop in front of a huge
Mediterranean-style mansion. I couldn’t even call it a house. It
was enormous. I stared for a moment, reminding myself that I should
have expected as much. I was just still adjusting to the idea of
Trey’s celebrity status. He was such a normal guy to me, albeit an
exceptionally cute one.

As I walked across the stone drive, Trey’s
painting in hand, I wondered if his home had ever been featured on
Cribs. I was standing between two columns that looked like skinny
bowling pins. They were supporting a large arch, with an extension
of the roof on top. I climbed five steps and knocked on a mahogany
door that had probably been carved by hand. Within seconds I could
hear a dog yapping on the other side. For a brief second, I
wondered if I was at the right house. Did Trey have a dog? Before I
could ponder further, the door opened and Trey’s irresistible
half-smile greeted me. At his feet was a small black and brown
miniature pinscher. The dog had quit barking and was looking up at
me curiously.

“Hey,” Trey greeted. He stepped forward and
kissed my cheek sweetly. “Did you find the place okay?” he asked as
he stepped aside to let me in.

“Drove right to it,” I said with a smile.
“But you could have warned me that I was looking for an entire
estate.”

He chuckled as he closed the door behind us.
“I was a little overeager when I went house hunting,” he said. “I
may have overdone it.”

I glanced around, seeing the spacious family
room and the kitchen further back. All the floors were made of
stone, probably something expensive and imported. “I like it,” I
observed truthfully. A big fireplace was in the center of the
family room and Pier 60 hung right above it. “I see you found a
place for the painting.”

“Of course,” he said. “That spot was a little
bare and this room was kind of boring until I put that there. I
love it.”

“I’m glad.” I had to admit, I was really
happy to see the painting displayed so well in the main part of his
house. “Now you just need a place to hang your own masterpiece,” I
said, holding up his guitar painting.

“You framed it.” He grinned from ear to ear.
“That’s awesome. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“You’ll have to help me find a spot for
it.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem.” I
couldn’t resist another joke about the size of his house. He
laughed and set the painting aside. “Do any of the guys from the
band live here with you?”

“Nah. ” Trey shrugged. “My mom lived with me
in the beginning before she remarried. Now it’s just me and
Cowboy.” Upon hearing his name, the little dog trotted over to Trey
and whined up at him, begging for attention.

“How old is he?” I asked as Trey bent down to
scratch behind the dog’s ears.

“Six months. He’s still just a pup,” Trey
said.

That explained why the dog wasn’t growling at
me and going crazy. Older animals are more wary of vampires.

“He’s cute,” I added, but I didn’t bend down
to pet him. No reason to push my luck. “Something smells
delicious,” I said. I’d caught scent of the dinner he was preparing
before he’d opened the door.

“Dinner isn’t quite ready yet,” he explained.
“If you want, I could give you the tour.”

Trey gestured with a hand for me to walk
through the spacious living room. “This is where Cowboy and I hang
out,” he said. “But the really cool thing in here is this.” He
walked to a book shelf that was built into the wall near the far
corner and pulled on a book, only instead of coming off of the
shelf into his hands it caused the entire book case to swing out on
a hinge just like something out of a movie. I gawked and stepped
forward to peek into the room behind it. Trey grinned and said,
“Hidden wine cellar. I don’t really use it. But I still think it’s
cool.”

“It’s more than cool.”

What I would give to have one of these, I
thought. It was like every vampire’s dream to have a hidden place
that big for storage. I mentally stocked the place with blood laced
wine and wine coolers. Oh the fun I could have. I reluctantly
stepped back and Trey pushed the book case back into place,
covering the cellar again.

“It’s great for hide-and-seek,” he added.
“After I bought the place I talked the guys into playing a game.
After thirty minutes of hiding in there and listening to Chase
search adamantly for me, I finally had to give in and just come
out. The look on his face was priceless.”

“Any other secret rooms I should know about?”
I asked as Trey led me past the kitchen.

He chuckled and said, “If there are I haven’t
discovered them yet.”

Cowboy followed us to a room Trey called his
“studio.” There was a computer and some sound equipment, although a
much simpler setup than I’d seen at the recording studio. The
closet doors had been removed and some custom shelves installed to
hold a bunch of guitars.

“Do you actually play all of these?” I ran my
fingers along the strings of a deep blue acoustic guitar.

Trey nodded and put his hands in his pockets
as he watched me. “It adds a little variety to my life.”

I grinned up at him, knowing that his life
was anything but boring. It was hard not to be jealous of the
spontaneity of it all. I gazed at all of the stuff on the walls.
There were several Catalyst awards in big frames, including the one
I had seen in Ken’s book. There were also pictures of Trey with
other famous musicians. Then I spotted something strange hanging on
the wall. It was a black guitar, but something was weird about it.
The texture was all off. Then I realized it was made out of Lego
blocks.