Real Vampires Live Large (33 page)

“Glory, look at me for a minute, will you?” Flo nudged me with the toe of her black suede boot.

“What?” I looked back, saw her expression and shoved the stuff aside to sit next to her. “Okay. I'm focused. What's up?”

“Simon. He's really important to me.”

“Oh, yeah?” I took my belt out of her hands so she wouldn't have a weapon. “Is he important or is it the drug he's plying you with night after night that's important?”

“What? You think I'm . . . addicted?” She looked indignant, then thoughtful. “I could skip a night without the drug. Maybe not even make love at all one night.” Flo made this sound like the worst kind of depravation.

Frankly, coming off my own dry spell except for the virtual variety, I didn't get it. Hey, I'd gone years without sex. Don't get me started about my life during Queen Victoria's mourning period. And I look great in black. Really. I'd gone back to England for a little trip down memory lane and got stuck there for decades. It's not easy going transatlantic when you won't shape-shift.

“Don't go to the EV compound after church. Come out with me. We'll do something fun.”

“What?” Flo was actually wringing her hands at the thought.

I wracked my brain. Fun. What did we do for fun besides shop? And the kind of stores we liked closed early on Sunday nights. We could watch a DVD or two or six, but even a chick flick filmfest can get old. In Vegas I could always catch a show or, before the intervention, play poker. No gambling in Austin.

“We can troll the Sixth Street clubs. Maybe pick up some guys to dance with.” Even I could hear my lack of enthusiasm for that prospect.

Flo grimaced. “I'm not in the mood to deal with mortals. And I thought you still had Westwood's people after you. Jeremiah wouldn't like you going out without the dogs. And I'm
really
not in the mood to drag those two around to the clubs.”

“Yeah, and what if Simon sent Greg Kaplan out with reinforcements to get me? Jerry
really
wouldn't like that.”

“Are we going to fight about Simon all night?”

I could tell I was stressing Flo out. Was it because I'd suggested she avoid Simon for a night? Hey, she didn't have to avoid him.

“No. He's your boyfriend. You sure don't need my permission to go see him. But do us both a favor and tell him you're taking a night off from the VV. See if he can think of something fun you can do together. Does he ever go out?” He must, he'd met Flo hadn't he? And come to think of it . . . “How'd you meet Simon anyway? Where were you?” I made sure I was still blocking any mind probe Flo might try. This info could be useful to Richard and the EV posse.

“We met in the park one night. I was a beautiful bird, just enjoying the fresh night air and he landed next to me.” Flo sighed. “I knew he was a vampire immediately of course. He smells delicious.”

“Which park? Do you ever go there together?” I had to make this interrogation seem casual, so I looked at the clock and jumped up. “Wow. I'd better get moving if we're going to make the opening hymn.” We both loved the music at Moonlight.

Flo watched me gather underwear and head toward the bathroom. “No, we never have gone back there. It's the one by Barton Springs. Very quiet at night. Maybe I'll have him take me there tonight. It will be romantic. We won't need the VV.”

“You might not need it, but are you sure Simon doesn't need for you to be under the influence?”

“Don't be silly. He never uses it himself and he's certainly never insisted I take it.” Flo smiled and headed for the living room. “He has an amazing capacity without it. Of course so do I.”

“Think about it for a minute, Flo.
Why
does Simon avoid it? Could it be because it's addictive?”

“I'll prove to you that I'm not addicted. Tonight.” Flo grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “I'm calling Simon right now to set up our date. I'll meet him in the park after church. No VV. Just a romantic setting and us together.”

“Good.” I went into the bathroom. Maybe I should call Richard with this information. If he was determined to put Simon out of business, this would be a prime opportunity to get the king of the EVs alone. Of course he wouldn't be alone, Flo would be with him. And she'd probably defend him, since that seemed to be her knee-jerk reaction lately. It wasn't like me to rat out a friend. But if telling Richard where he could ambush Simon would get Flo away from the EV, I could deal with the guilt.

I jumped in the shower still not sure what I should do. Maybe just finding out if Flo was addicted to the VV would be enough for tonight.

When I came out of the bedroom, dressed and ready to go, Lacy was back with the dogs.

“No way am I splitting it with you fifty-fifty. My money, my human form buying the tickets.” Lacy was eating some of the Cheetos I'd bought for Valdez after the fire. I'd gotten a little carried away with gratitude and had sprung for a case of Big Grabs. She was tossing every other bite into Valdez's mouth.

“My idea, sweetheart. We hit, we split.” Will paced around the living room.

“Would someone clue me in?” I picked up my purse and checked to make sure I had my cell phone. “What are you arguing about?”

“Lottery tickets, Blondie.”
Valdez caught another Cheetos with a snap of his jaws.
“Someone here seems to have a little gambling problem.”

“It's not a problem.” Will put his head on Lacy's knee. He frowned when she tried to give him a Cheetos. “I don't want your cheap snacks. I want champagne, caviar, a winning lottery ticket.”

Lacy grinned and looked at me. “He talks me into going into the mini-mart around the corner and buying a few tickets, then he thinks I'm going to split the fortune with him.”

“Do you actually think you have a chance of winning? I don't waste my money on such as that.” Flo came up behind me and slung an arm around my shoulders, like she wanted to forget our earlier fight. Which was good for me. I hate living in a war zone. And Simon was bound to be a temporary blip on the Florence Da Vinci radar. No man lasted long with her.

“I gave her my lucky numbers. And she bought quick picks with the rest. I say we have a pretty good shot.” Will nudged Lacy's knees. “Come on, pretty lady. Agree to a split and I'll make it worth your while.” I swear if a dog could leer, Will was doing it with a wiggle of his furry eyebrows.

“What makes you think I'd be interested, dog boy?” Lacy grinned at me. “What do you say, Glory? Is the fur face here worth half a jackpot?”

“See for yourself, lass.” Will was suddenly in human form, naked, of course, and too close to Lacy.

“Will! You know that's against the rules.” I looked, of course. A fine looking male body is always a treat, even if it is a Kilpatrick male.

Flo's arm dropped off my shoulders. “
Dio mio.
You are in excellent shape, William.”

“Of course I am. That's why Blade asked me to do this gig.”

“Blade is doing you a favor, asshole. Get back in dog form before I tell him to dock your pay.”
Valdez looked like he was itching to take a chunk out of Will's well-toned ass.

“Yeah, you'd be a bloody snitch, now, wouldn't you?” Will strutted around the room, not the least bit self-conscious while three women looked him over. I tossed him a throw pillow.

“Cover yourself. Valdez is right. You're supposed to stay in dog form for the duration.”

“Just giving Lacy here a preview of things to come.” Will grinned and held the pillow over his impressive package. “And if we win together, Lacy my love, there's a little boutique hotel in Paris that has a rooftop hot tub. You and me and the Eiffel Tower in the background, baby.” He dropped to his knees in front of Lacy. She was flushed and no longer smiling. “What do you say, lass? Fifty-fifty?”

“Half of nothing is nothing.” Flo had lost interest since Lacy was getting the male attention. “You won't win.”

“I agree. Fifty-fifty.” Lacy reached out to touch Will's handsome face, like to check if she was really seeing what she was seeing. Then Will was back in dog form. “God, but you're fast at that. It takes me a full minute to shift.”

“I got the knack, baby. Wait until Paris. You'll see what else I've got the knack for.” Will trotted up to me, a grin on his furry face. “As for Blade, his little paycheck won't matter if I hit the jackpot.”

Valdez was by my side, his leash in his mouth.
“Will's lying low, Glory. Gambling debts. Like someone else we know, he's got a serious problem. We need to take him to a GA meeting.”

“Yeah, I figured that out.” Gamblers Anonymous. I'd spent a lot of time in those meetings. I hadn't even checked them out since I'd arrived in Austin, but talk of winning the lottery reminded me of the lure of easy money. Not that money had
ever
come easy to me.

I clipped on the leash, then grabbed another one for Will. “Behave, Will. Lacy, you want to go to church with us?”

Lacy was still a little bemused. I wasn't sure if it was Will's shifting speed or his human form that had her that way. “No, thanks, I'm staying home and catching some things. I mean catching up.”

“Hey, cat girl, you do what you got to do to survive. Right, Valdez?” Will looked at Flo. “And, Florence, if Paris doesn't work out, I've got a line on a villa on Capri that you and I could check out together.”

Flo looked thoughtful. “I love Capri.”

“Would you women snap out of it? The guy's a loser, in debt to some serious muscle, and shedding fur on your clothes.”
Valdez chuffed and bumped against me.
“Glory, tell me you're not falling for Prince Charming here.”

“No way.” Blame it on VV hangover, but Will's naked body was burned into my brain. A hot tub in Paris, a villa in Capri. He did have interesting ideas. “I say Will needs an intervention and a twelve-step program. And I should know.”

Twenty-One

The entrance to the church was crowded as always. Flo and I nodded to acquaintances, sniffed out a few fellow vampires, then settled into seats near the back. I have an unfortunate habit of levitating when I get into singing along with the choir. It's like Heaven is calling me. I rise, literally. A female vampire about CiCi's age sat next to me. She'd helped me before when I'd had liftoff during a song. She was English, wore pretty hats and expensive suits, and smelled vaguely familiar and not just in a vampire way. I pondered the smell during the first songs, then forgot all about it.

Flo and I dig this church because of the message. Happiness, making the most of life, the fact that God loves you no matter what you might have done in the past. The hunky charismatic Pastor John seemed to look right at us even from the big screen TVs placed around the huge sanctuary. He exhorted us to look forward, not back, for the source of satisfaction in our life. Good idea. Back was not so great.

I glanced at Flo and wondered what her forward looked like. The preacher asked us to bow our heads and try to focus on what we really wanted in our future. I closed my eyes and saw a successful shop, good friends and Blade. Richard drifted in there too. Probably because we'd seen so much of each other the night before. He did have an incredible body and—

The woman next to me gave me a sharp elbow in the ribs. Oh, yeah, one of those damned, excuse me, darned mind reading vampires. She sent me a mental message to remember where I was. Church. Not the place for thoughts of hot male bodies and—

Oops. Another elbow. Flo looked over at me and grinned. She hadn't missed the byplay. She met the woman's eyes, lost her smile, but nodded. Like maybe she really did know her. I tried to read elbow lady's mind, but had no luck. The music started again and I was off and running. I fought the urge to fly up toward the ceiling and had to concentrate to stay down and inconspicuous.

The service was over and we were shaking hands with those around us when elbow lady finally spoke.

“Gloriana, I'm Sarah Mainwaring.” She smiled. “I believe you know my son.”

“You're Richard's mother?” My mouth dropped open. Wow. If Richard had been a crusader and this was his mother . . .

“A lady never reveals her age, right, Florence?” Sarah smiled at Flo who wasn't looking all that thrilled.

“Signora.” Flo bobbed her head and made a move like she was ready to leave.

“Wait! I'm surprised I haven't seen you at some of the vampire meetings, Mrs. Mainwaring. Or with Richard.”

“Please call me Sarah, Gloriana. I'm afraid my son and I don't always agree on things.” Sarah gave Flo a look, like maybe his fling with the Italian bombshell had been one of those not agreeing issues. “We usually go our separate ways.” She gestured, her hands graceful. “You don't see him here, for example. I think he's worried I've become a heretic. We were Catholics so very long ago.”

“Weren't we all.” Flo muttered, putting her hand on my elbow. “We left Glory's dogs outside, Sarah. See you around. ”

“Please come by my shop sometime.” When I'd first seen this lady, I'd felt drawn to her. Like CiCi, she was a motherly type, one of the few female vampires not still twentysomething. I know, I'm hopeless thinking I could have a mother figure in my life, but Sarah was English, from the feather in her black felt hat, to the tips of her sensible leather pumps. She reminded me of my roots.

“Thank you, Gloriana. You're most gracious.” Sarah held out her hand and I took it.

Whoa. What kind of trick was this? I felt the zing from my palm to my toes as Sarah probed my mind, digging in my dark corners like a miner looking for gold. I was afraid all she'd find was bat guano. I threw up a block, but it crashed against a brick wall. Finally I managed to wrench my hand from hers. I breathed a sigh of relief when the connection was broken.