Mr. Muse (8 page)

“Typical… Tell her to come in then leave.” He snorted in disgust. Now he was talking to himself like Missy. She’d kill him when he returned. Hmm, maybe he should get her flowers or chocolates. Didn’t most women like chocolate?

He turned to leave then paused. Better make certain the agent hadn’t left anything else for Missy in her office. He eased open the door, feeling like an interloper. The empty, darkened office was still and ominous, like it was waiting to see danger done and he was the target. Not even certain why he was taking precautions, he pressed his back against the wall and slid his hand along, searching for the light. A whistling sound close to his right-hand side caught his attention.

What the hell?
Sensing danger, Eric turned to bolt when something heavy crashed into him and he crumpled to the floor.

Eric lay on his side, fighting the waves of pain that gripped his head in a vise and threatened to squeeze him until his eyes popped. A pair of black work boots appeared in his vague, light-dimmed vision and he groaned as a thought hit him. No one had known it was him coming here. They’d thought it was Missy. She
was
the one in danger, not him.

He focused again on the shoes, but they’d turned away and marched out. They knew he wasn’t Missy and that meant they were still after her. She was a sitting duck because of him and his pride. He’d locked her in the room with the added security so she should be safe. But Missy being Missy would somehow get out of the damn suite. She delighted in driving him crazy and as soon as she stepped outside, she was a target. Pain ripped through his chest completely unconnected to his throbbing head wound.

This little sex-starved mortal had wormed her way inside him and Eric was damned if he’d let anyone get away with hurting her.

The ding of the elevator rang loud through the deserted office. They were getting away. To hell with that. Eric tried to haul himself upright and prayed his healing abilities would snap in quick. This might be his only chance to save Missy…

* * * *

Missy sniggered as she stepped out of the lift at her agent’s office. Eric would be angry she’d escaped the locked suite, but he should never have underestimated the power of a pissed-off woman. All it had taken was a phone call to maintenance and a bat-of-the-eyelid bimbo act. Hey presto…door open. They’d thought she was just Eric’s floozy who’d locked herself in and they couldn’t have been more helpful.

She sniggered again and pushed the office door open.
That’s funny, no receptionist.
Missy shrugged and strolled across to her agent’s office. The door was ajar and something stuck out.

“What the heck is that?” She crouched and peered at the object…

A hand.

“Oh shit, there’s a dead body in here.” She jumped back when the hand twitched and a moan slid out from behind the door. She knew the moan. It was Evil Eric, locker of doors. Missy shoved the door flying and narrowly missed him. Flipping the light switch on, she bent to his crumpled body.

“Eric, can you hear me? What happened? Where are you hurt?” Rolling him over, she removed her hand and saw blood trickling between her fingers, the exact same shade of her vamp-red nail polish. Nausea hit her stomach. The coppery scent of blood settled on her tongue. Oh, God, she hated the sight of blood.

Struggling for control, she regulated her breathing. Right now, shallow breaths would work better. In…out…in…out. She would
not
throw up on top of Eric.

Eric opened his eyes. “Missy, you’re here? You’re okay.”

“Ah, yeah, about that…”

“We have to get out of here. When they realize it wasn’t you in the office, they’ll come hunting for you.”

She bolted for the minibar and the hand towel hanging off it. “Here we go. This should stop the bleeding.” Missy dashed back and pressed the cloth to Eric’s head. Her stomach rolled like the ocean and she gulped back the football-sized wave of bile that threatened to explode. Damn, blood still freaked her out, no matter how many times she saw it.

“Listen to me. You were right. They’re after you, not me, and we need to get out of here.” Eric pushed himself to a sitting position and grabbed the wall for a brace.

“Really? That would make a great story line. Um, who did this?”

Eric swore. “Damn it. Listen, you fool. Somebody, probably your agent, wants you dead and we need to leave now.”

“All right, whatever you say.” She grabbed Eric’s arm and helped him to his feet. When he swayed, she wrapped her arm about his waist and urged him toward the elevator. This wasn’t the right time to tell him one other person knew she’d be here. By the time they exited the building, he was able to take his own weight, although she still kept her arm about him.

“Where’s your car?”

He pointed a little farther up the road and Missy followed his direction. Reaching the vehicle, she shoved him against it and searched his pockets for the key.

Eric groaned.

Please don’t let me hurt him.
Her worry faded when she noticed the flush across his cheekbones and the decidedly firming lump under her hands. Well, hurt he was not. Dragging her hands away from his pocket, she frowned and waggled her finger at him. “Weren’t you the one telling me we have to get out of here quick? Besides, I still hate you for the whole locked room thing.”

“I’m a man. We can be terminally ill and still get a hard-on.” He shrugged and snagged the keys out of his other pocket. “I’m fine now so I’m driving. Hop in.”

“Okay, where are we going now?”

“There’s a guesthouse out the back of the casino. We’ll go there. It’s right next to Kyla’s compound. They’ll be able to protect you and I can have a powwow with Kyla.”

That damn bitch Kyla
. “No way, no how am I going near the psycho bitch.” She crossed her arms and scowled at him. Missy didn’t care if Kyla was a cousin. They were way too close for her liking. Even if Eric pissed Missy off, he was still hers…at least for now.

“We need Kyla’s help and her men won’t let anyone hurt you. And she’s a bitch, not a psycho.”

“Fine, but the minute she touches you, she’s toast. Okay?”

“You jealous?”

“Nope, but I have a policy of not touching second-hand goods. I mean it, buster. One wrong touch or one evil word and I’m out of there, got it?” Missy stared straight ahead. Suddenly Eric meant more to her than research and it was scary. What sort of future could they have together?

Eric pulled into the casino grounds and drove around the back until he reached a fence and a guard box. He wound the window down and peered out. The guard waved him through and they pulled up next to a group of buildings.

Missy climbed out and slammed the door behind her. She sure as heck wasn’t making this easy for anyone.

“Well, well. Look what the Demi-God dragged in.”

Kyla’s syrupy tones oozed over her like slime from a toilet bowl. She’d hated this woman on first glance and second glance wasn’t any better. Eric grabbed her arm. He must be worried she’d bolt. He shouldn’t be. Before Missy went anywhere, she’d take a bite out of Miss Bitch here.

“Kyla, we need help. I got ambushed at Missy’s agent’s office. They thought I was Missy and tried to kill her.”

Kyla’s expression hardened and her eyes grew cold. Missy shivered at the transformation. Suddenly she didn’t look just like a bitch, but a predator too.

“Stay in the cottage. We’ll check the suite and the office then get back to you. Meanwhile don’t go off the compound. I’m leaving guards here to protect you. If you need anything, ask them.”

“Thanks, Kyla.”

She grinned and blew Eric a kiss. “Now, now, that’s what kissing cousins are for. Don’t forget to warn her about the puppies, a school of them just came in.
Ta-ta and kissy kissy.”
Kyla waggled her fingers and strode off.

“Now, Missy…” Eric turned to grab the hand rising to punch him in the gut.

“Don’t you Missy me. You lying bastard. What’s with this kissing cousin bit?”

“It’s nothing, she breeds with her own kind. A Muse relative of mine mated with Kyla’s line centuries ago, so we call ourselves cousins. Besides, we were kids and curious and it was just a kiss. Our respective parents would have kicked us if it went any further. That’s all.”

“Breeds? Curious? You people are sick. I’m out of here.” She turned and launched herself back into the car, crawling over the passenger side to reach the driver’s seat.

“Missing anything?” Eric swung the keys next to the window.

“Shit.” She rested her forehead against the steering wheel in resignation. She was here for the duration.

“I know this is hard for you, but you’re in danger. Those people want to kill
you
, not me. All those accidents were for
you
. Your house, the runaway car, your agent trying to kill you. You have to stay protected until we can track these bastards down, and Kyla is our best hope.” Eric grabbed the door and opened it for her.

Missy sat and stared at him blankly. “My agent? He wouldn’t hurt me. I’ve known him a long time.”

Sheer shock gripped her heart, made it beat heavily. These people wanted to hurt her, kill her? For what? She was a broken writer with only one good book in her. Missy didn’t have any money and her family was non-existent. What did they want? Reaction set in and she started to shake, gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles were painted white.

“Missy, listen to me. You’re safe here. No one can get to you. Trust me. The pack of wolves here would shred them. Come out of the car, settle in to the guesthouse and we’ll work this out. Your agent won’t hurt you.”

Wolves? What the hell is he talking about?
She shook the thought away and concentrated on the most immediate problem—namely her agent.

“
What makes you think it’s my agent? Other than it was his office and his phone call that lured me there?”

He opened the door and herded her inside the house. “He’s the only one who knew you were going there. Occam’s razor… The simplest answer is most times the right one.”

Missy pushed against the overprotective hand on her back and swiveled around to face him. “Ah, about that. I have something to tell you.”

“Missy…”

“The phone rang at the suite before I left. It was my ex, Andrew. He wanted to know if I was all right. He wanted to come over to tell me good news. I didn’t want to hear he’s getting married or anything so I told him I was going to my agent’s office.” She cringed and waited for the explosion.

“Now we have two suspects—your ex and your agent. Kyla will help us,” Eric growled, a scowl on his face.

Eric didn’t look happy at the mention of her ex, but the man was harmless. Eric wasn’t. He ate away at her control and her feelings. Missy sniffed. She knew she should be grateful to Kyla but the woman riled her.

“Either way, whoever threatened you is a dead man or woman,” Eric said. “Kyla will make sure of that. Her bite
is
worse than her bark.”

What a surprise
. Hopefully she’d swallow her own spit in her sleep and poison herself.

One could hope, couldn’t they?

Chapter Seven

Missy eased back on the couch with a sigh and sipped her soda. She was bored. Eric’s lover-like attitude had faded, to be replaced with a grim resolve to protect her.

Since the couch she sat on backed up against the window, Missy peered out
.
At one count, she saw five young men and four dogs.

“Is there a kennel here, Eric? I love dogs and wouldn’t mind seeing them. At least it would pass time.”

Eric sprayed what he’d been drinking over his pants. “Ah, there is, but you shouldn’t go there.”

“Why not? I’m not a dummy. I know how to approach a dog without scaring it.”

“The dogs are vicious. A new batch came in last night and haven’t been trained yet. You have to stay away until they can handle humans around them.”

Missy twitched her nose at the last comment.
Weird.
Why wouldn’t a dog be used to humans? Not like a puppy would hurt her, not unless they were mutants who ate humans. She snickered. Being a writer had drawbacks and her imagination was Olympic level strange. But as her ex went to great pains to tell her, reality did not involve witches, wizards and werewolves. More’s the pity.

What was Eric hiding? She’d check out the kennel the next time his back was turned. Just because she’d made love—no, make that sex
—
with him didn’t mean he was trustworthy. Even if he did make love like a God and was a nice, if a tad domineering, man.

The phone to the guesthouse rang and Eric picked it up. “Is it important? All right, I’ll come.”

He slammed the phone down and scowled. “I have to go to the casino for a while. There’s a problem with one of the other Muses. I won’t be long and you’re safe here. But don’t go wandering about. Those wild dogs I mentioned—the ones that need training—wouldn’t realize you’re a friend yet. Okay?”

Missy held back an anticipatory smile. She’d have a chance to go the kennels sooner than she’d thought. She wasn’t a dumb blonde and she knew how to handle animals. “Fine. Whatever you say. Could you bring some food back? I’m starving and there’s not much other than steak here.”

Eric nodded and left. At least this time he didn’t lock her in. Even so, the guards wouldn’t be as gullible here as the casino maintenance had been. She’d have to be careful. Tiptoeing to the door, she peered out through the curtains. Most of the guards seemed to be out here at the front. Good, considering the kennels were out the back.

* * * *

The kennels were housed in a solid, gray building, which lacked imagination. A plain square box with doors and windows that screamed ‘paint me’. Poking her head in the door, Missy eased inside. All she saw were bunks and the odd dog bed. Where were the cages, the kennels, to hold the new arrivals?

A small yip bought her mind back to the job at hand—finding those puppies. A flash of brown caught her attention and she turned to follow. She grinned at what greeted her. A pile of bedding and four wriggling puppies.