Ruby Shadows (2 page)

I
had invited my new friends Taylor and Addison over for a wine and
pedicure party and somehow the time just flew.
Of course, once the wine started
flowing we sort of forgot about the pedicure part of it. I had
managed to get at least one coat of cherry red paint on my toes but
Addison’s were only half done and Taylor’s were pretty
messy.

That was because Addison insisted that her pregnant best
friend shouldn’t be breathing paint fumes (even if they were just
fingernail polish paint) and offered to paint Taylor’s toes
herself.
However,
this was about three glasses of wine into the evening and the
effect looked like…well, like someone who’d had three full glasses
of white wine had done the job. Not that Taylor seemed to mind—she
was enjoying herself as much as Addison and I were, even if
she
was
sticking strictly to
non-alcoholic beverages.

For a vampire and a Vampire Auditor (I know—weird combination,
right?) they were pretty fun girls. They had a few little inside
jokes since they’d been friends since college but they never made
me feel like an outsider. And we had plenty to
gossip about, considering everything
the three of us had been through in the past month. Right now,
though, all anyone wanted to talk about was the baby.

“
I
swear
Victor talks
at least as much to my tummy as he talks to me,” Taylor told us,
rubbing her belly and grinning.

“
And why not? He’s got to get to know his daughter.” Addison
patted her best friend’s tummy, which was already beginning to get
a tiny bit rounder. “He’s gonna make a great dad, you
know.”

“
I
know.” Taylor was absolutely glowing, her cheeks pink and healthy.
You would never have guessed that she was a vampire to see her—not
that she strictly was anymore. A combination of Victor’s blood and
a well placed prophesy meant she was able to do things most
vampires couldn’t, like go out in the sun, eat solid food…get
pregnant. You know, that kind of thing. “He’s already building a
crib,” she continued.

“
What? He’s already putting together the crib? But
I
wanted to buy you that,” Addison
exclaimed, filled with drunken indignity. “You haven’t even had
your baby shower yet!”

“
No, no—I don’t mean he’s putting it together from a kit,”
Taylor said. “He’s actually
building
the crib from scratch. He went out and got the wood and sanded
it down and stained it…” She shook her head, a fond light in her
blue eyes. “It’s going to be gorgeous when it’s done.”

“
Not half as gorgeous as the baby, I’ll bet.” I grinned at
her. “If she looks like half you and half Victor, she’s going to be
quite a little princess.”

Taylor laughed.
“Victor says he hopes she looks just like me. But I can’t help
wishing she’d get his eyes.”

“
The kind that turn wolf gold during the full moon?”
Addison asked.

I thought she
might have gone too far but I didn’t say anything. And besides, it
was something I’d been wondering too, even if I wasn’t quite drunk
enough to say it. Would Taylor’s daughter take after her mother or
her father? Or was the kid going to be half vampire and half
werewolf—a kind of vamp-were hybrid?

Taylor
looked
grave. “I wouldn’t mind but Victor hopes not. He’s afraid if she
comes out a were she might inherit his curse.”

“
But if she comes out as a vampire, she won’t be able to go
out during the day,” Addison pointed out. “That kind of puts a
damper on your play-date prospects with other babies.”

“
Maybe she won’t be either one,” I said thoughtfully. “I mean,
really, both you and Victor have a human side—maybe she’ll just
inherit that and be purely human.”

“
Then she’ll just be the kid with the weird parents,” Addison
said cheerfully and hiccupped.

Taylor made a face
at her and took a sip of her sparkling water. “Look, just because
you don’t want kids yourself…”

“
And believe me, Corbin was plenty grateful I don’t,” Addison
said. “He was all long-suffering and ready to be willing to adopt
with me but I could tell how relieved he was when I told him I’d
rather not have any.”

“
Vampires live a long time and you’re tied to him,” I pointed
out. “You might change your mind after a few hundred
years.”

Addison shrugged,
apparently unconcerned. “Maybe. Until then, I’ll be happy just to
be the cool aunt.”

“
Well, the main thing is that your baby is healthy,” I
reminded Taylor. “And that was the first thing Grams said when she
told you that you were pregnant.”

“
And she’s always right about that kind of thing?” Taylor had
an anxious look in her deep blue eyes.

“
Always,” I reassured her. “She’s got one hundred percent
accuracy when it comes to anything baby-related.” Which made it a
shame that she didn’t have any grandkids to chase after. But since
I had to be so careful not to get mixed up with the wrong
man—meaning any man not willing to wait until I was absolutely sure
of him to have sex—Gram’s house was sadly without the pitter-patter
of little feet.

Hey,
you
try
telling a guy he doesn’t get any nookie until you’re sure he wants
to stay with you for life. It’s kind of a first date killer. Or a
fifth or a fifteenth for that matter.

The creaking of the
front door pulled me out of my gloomy thoughts and Grams walked
into the room with her massive handbag over one arm.

“
Gwendolyn, you didn’t tell me you were having company
tonight,” she said.

“
Oh, sorry! We didn’t mean to stay so late,” Addison said and
she and Taylor jumped up.

Taylor came
over to greet my Grams. “Your ears must be burning, we were just
talking about you—you know, about the way you first told me I was
pregnant and said my baby girl was healthy?” She looked at Grams
beseechingly.

Grams smiled—she
really had taken a shine to Taylor.

“
Just need a little more reassurance, do you,
child?”

“
Well, it’s still too early for an ultrasound and I don’t know
what they’re going to see when they do finally do one—” Taylor
began.

“
What they’re going to see is a healthy baby girl. Just like
the one you dreamed about.” Grams pressed her fingers lightly to
Taylor’s abdomen. “And don’t you worry about her taking after you
or your man. She’s going to be her own special person with her own
special talents. You’ll see.”

“
Oh, thank you!” Taylor’s eyes were shining as she gave my
Grams a spontaneous hug.

Grams laughed
and hugged her back. “Just you be sure to bring her over for me to
see her when she comes out,” she said. “I love children and I’ll be
happy to say a blessing over her for you.”

“
I
will,” Taylor promised. She looked at Addison. “Well, we’d probably
better get going. It’s late and Victor will be worried.”

“
Not before we help clean up, though,” Addison said, gesturing
to the two empty wine bottles (I’m ashamed to admit I killed an
entire bottle myself), the sparkling water bottle, and all the
pedicure paraphernalia lying around my Grams’ faded floral
couch.

“
Don’t be silly,” I told them. “I’ve got this.” I could tell
Grams was tired and ready for bed but she can never rest completely
easy when there are guests in the house. She always feels like she
needs to be offering them a big glass of sweet tea or cooking them
her special gumbo or something like that.

True to form, she
opened her mouth and asked if either of the girls wanted anything
before they left.

“
I’ve had enough. More than enough.” Addison giggled and
pointed to one of the empty wine bottles. “Corbin will probably get
tipsy if he even takes a sip from me tonight.”

“
Good thing you’ve got a designated driver, then,” Taylor said.
She turned to my Grams. “I don’t want anything to drink but would
it be possible to get one of those delicious homemade dill pickles
of yours?”

“
More than one,” Grams said smiling. She didn’t let Taylor
leave until she’d packed her up with a whole bag of her homemade
pickles. The mason jars she always uses for canning clinked
together as she handed the bag over.

“
Oh, thank you!”
Taylor was ecstatic—she can’t get enough of my Grams’ pickles.
They were one of the very first things she ate after the prophesy
allowed her to start consuming human food again and ever since,
she’s hooked.

I hugged both girls
and we made promises to see each other again soon. But before they
left, Taylor whispered in my ear,

“
All clear so far?”

I knew what
she meant. She’d overheard my last conversation with Laish. The one
where he was yelling at me and warning me that if I hadn’t closed
that door into the Abyss, I was going to have trouble. Taylor felt
personally responsible because she was the one I’d gone to save.
I’d broken all kinds of Celestial rules when I snatched her from
the edge of the pit and supposedly, I was going to have to pay the
price. But so far, other than the bad dreams about the thing with
no head and long, yellow teeth, I was fine.

“
All clear,” I told her, not mentioning the dreams. No point
in freaking her out over something that was probably just a product
of my own guilty conscience, right?

Taylor looked
relieved. “Good. Let me know if that changes.”

“
I
will,” I promised although there was nothing she could do if
it
did
change. “Now you two had
better get going—it smells like it’s going to rain.” I glanced
anxiously at the murky black sky revealed outside Grams’ trim front
door. The scent of ozone was heavy in the humid night breeze,
making me shiver.

“
Not just rain—it’s about to be a monsoon.” Grams put a hand to
her back. “My spine is aching like the devil’s using it for his own
private xylophone. Arthritis never lies—it’s gonna go a gusher
pretty soon.”

“
We’d better go for real then.” Addison gave a little wave and
Taylor pulled me in for one more quick hug.

“
Be safe,” she whispered and then they hurried off into the
damp Tampa night.

I went back
inside and began cleaning up the remains of our little party. But
as I was picking up the living room, I found a little scrap of
something dried and black hidden under the couch. It was a tiny
piece of demon’s breath—the black flower with a blood red spot in
its center that only grows in the Shadow Lands—Hell’s front
doorstep.

I
sank down on the couch and contemplated the little scrap. Laish had
given it to me the fateful night I had worked the spell to free
Taylor from her blood bond with Victor. That had been a big
misunderstanding and their bond was back now and stronger than
ever
. But it
wasn’t their bond or the ceremony I had worked that I was thinking
of. No, what I was thinking of was the way I had “paid” Laish for
the sprig of demon’s breath he had given me.

Remember I said that nothing is for free when it comes to
demons? Well, it’s not. Laish
had demanded a kiss—one single kiss—that was all. It
had seemed a simple enough payment at the time. I was sure it
wouldn’t affect me. And yet somehow when he had taken my face
gently but possessively between his hands and pressed his mouth to
mine, I felt like I was melting and burning at the same time. My
body started trembling, my heart was knocking against my ribs like
it was looking for a way out, and my knees got so weak I could
hardly stand.

All that from just
one kiss.

The worst thing was, Laish
knew
how he was affecting me. I could see it in those damn
bewitching ruby eyes of his—could read it in that self-satisfied,
arrogant smirk he had on his face when he finally let me go. I had
wanted to wipe that smirk off his face with my fist…and at the same
time I had wanted in the worst way to grab him and kiss him again.
Kiss him and more, so much more…

“
It’s late, Gwendolyn. You going to turn in for the night?”
Grams asked me.

I jumped
guiltily and shoved the scrap of demon’s breath into my jeans
pocket. “Yeah, Grams, in a minute,” I muttered.

Look at you,
I lectured myself, getting off the couch to finish my
cleaning.
Getting
all hot and bothered over a demon. A
minor
demon at that. He’s not worth it, Gwendolyn. Pretty
to look at but he’s got no soul.

Which was true. You can’t form a love bond with a
soulless demon—not
that
you’d want to
in the first place. And not that I would ever see Laish again. I’d
told him to stay away from me the last time I saw him and he’d
finally taken the hint. I didn’t miss him a bit—so why couldn’t I
stop thinking about him?

“
Well, I’d better get these old bones to bed. Hope it’s not
too damp in there,” I heard Grams murmur.

I knew what she
meant at once—outside the rain was pouring down in a solid sheet of
water. Which wouldn’t be a problem except Grams’ bedroom had a
small leak in the far side of the ceiling. It’s not a huge
leak—more of a drip, really, and we were going to get it fixed as
soon as we had a little more money. But the extra dampness in the
room made Grams’ arthritis so much worse she could hardly sleep in
there on rainy nights.