Tall, Dark & Fangsome ib-5

by Мишель Роуэн

  I stood, frozen in place, feeling sick as I watched him suffer. I pressed up against the door, wanting to leave, but finding it difficult to move.

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “Nothing.” His voice caught as a shudder went through him. His teeth were gritted. I was willing to bet my bottom dollar that nobody had ever seen Gideon like this before. So weak and needy and pathetic. The thought didn’t make me feel the least bit better.

  “Maybe I can call a doctor—” I offered lamely.

  He looked up at me with glassy eyes. “I don’t want you to see me like this.” When I didn’t budge, he raised his voice. “Leave me! Now!”

  “Fine with me.” I turned around, opened the door, and left Gideon alone to his suffering and solitude.

  I didn’t care if he was in pain. This was the man who held my life in his hands and was forcing me to do what he wanted.

  I hated him.

  And, even more than that, I hated the small part of me that didn’t hate him. It was very inconvenient.

  Chapter 4

  M aybe I should have taken the diamond earrings after all.

  No. I pushed the thought away. In fact, I tried very hard to push away all my thoughts about Gideon, his pain, his plans, and his new scar-free but still evil face. My thoughts, however, had other plans as they continued to churn through my tired cranium.

  I left the hotel and walked quickly down the sidewalk, my arms crossed tightly over my chest. I wanted to call Thierry and go see him, but I couldn’t. Which sucked. Besides, I really didn’t want him to find out that I was seeing Gideon on a regular basis behind his back.

  I’d fully planned on tonight being the last time I came to his hotel like an obedient Girl

  Scout, but now he’d presented me with something I couldn’t simply forget even if I wanted to.

  The grimoire. Did he really have it or was he just messing with me?

  Was the Red Devil really as bad as Gideon suggested? I mean, I had figured he didn’t go around giving people fashion advice or handing out gift certificates. He was an immortal vigilante, after all. It was possible that he’d done some super-nasty things in his life to achieve his reputation—things that I might even consider evil.

  But was that enough proof to stick an apple in his mouth and offer up his head on a platter just so I could get what I wanted?

  I felt sick at the thought. I wished I could be a little more heartless. Just a smidge. Nice girls don’t get the corner office, after all. They get trampled on. And, well, cursed.

  Speaking of heads-on-platters, I sensed something then. It was strange. I didn’t actually hear any footsteps and I didn’t see anyone, but on a deeper kind of vampire-sense level I felt that someone was following me. The sensation of ants doing a conga line down my arms was a tipoff.

  And I had a funny feeling I knew who it was.

  “I figured you’d be better at the stalking thing,” I said a little shakily to the silence as I approached the nearest bus stop. There was no one else around. “But you’re definitely no ninja, are you?”

  “I guess I’m a bit rusty.” The Red Devil’s voice sounded strange, as if he was trying to make it sound lower and raspier than it really was. Maybe he had a cold.

  Did vampires get colds? I made a mental note to Google that later.

  I didn’t turn to look at him. I was too busy feeling a tug-of-war of emotions. On one side I was wary of him after what Gideon said. On the other side I was still embarrassed about what had happened earlier with the fledgling.

  Bottom line, the night had only reminded me how terrible my curse was and how desperately I wanted it to be ancient history.

  If the Red Devil hadn’t stopped me earlier—

  A shudder ran through me at the thought.

  “Who did you just visit?” he asked.

  Uh oh. I’d forgotten about my new bodyguard when I’d casually sauntered into the lair of the vampire hunter.

  “My aunt,” I said quickly. “She’s in town for a few days.”

  “You’re lying. Tell me who you saw.”

  The jury was out on whether this guy was bad news or not, but he wasn’t making a great second impression on me. “None of your business.”

  “Your safety is my business.”

  “Thierry must be paying you very well.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Is Gideon staying here?”

  Busted. The Red Devil was bossy, but insightful. I made a mental note.

  I licked my dry lips nervously. I still didn’t want to turn my head and meet his masked face. “Look, I know I shouldn’t be here. I know it’s dangerous and whatever. But it’s not as bad as you think. He wanted me to pick something up for him and I did. That’s all.”

  “You’ve done this before tonight as well?”

  “A couple of times.” I hesitated. “But there’s no reason you need to tell Thierry about this. Or about what happened in the alley earlier. I don’t want him to be worried.”

  “You keep a lot of secrets from him, do you?” His voice was cold.

  I swallowed. “Unfortunately, I have to.”

  “I see.”

  “No, you don’t. You don’t know him. He’d take this totally the wrong way.”

  There was no reply.

  I chanced a look over my shoulder. There was no one there anymore.

  Leaving right in the middle of an awkward, unfriendly conversation? That was rather rude.

  Who was that masked vamp, anyhow? I wondered as I waited at the bus stop. I planned to catch a ride back home to the small house George and I shared, even though I had yet to give him any rent money.

  I wondered where the Red Devil had been hiding out for a hundred years. What made him stop helping people? What made him return? Thierry wouldn’t tell me anything, but I was burning with curiosity.

  Would he tell Thierry that he’d seen me leaving Gideon’s hotel? I sure hoped not. I’d tell

  Thierry the next time I saw him. Get it out in the open and deal with his reaction then.

  I’d also tell him about Gideon’s bargain—the Red Devil for the grimoire. I’d originally wanted to wait until my issues with Gideon had been resolved before I dealt with the curse, but now I saw that there was no time to waste. I had to de-curse myself or somebody was going to get hurt. It was only a matter of time.

  But was his nausea-inducing deal the only way to save myself? Had I completely painted myself into a corner when it came to dealing with my thirsty nightwalker?

  My life had become one big sensible-footwear-owning question mark.

  George wasn’t home when I arrived, but someone else was.

  “Twice in one night?” I said. “I’m a lucky girl.”

  Thierry was waiting for me inside the little house. Silently. In the dark. You know, like a regular, everyday boyfriend.

  I moved toward him for a kiss, but stopped in my tracks when the look on his face registered with me. He rarely showed any emotion. I’d trained myself to read him pretty well, but even I ran into difficulties when he got all expressionless.

  He wasn’t expressionless at the moment. He looked angry.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

  Oh, damn. The Red Devil was a total gossip ghoul.

  Maybe he had a blog and a Facebook page, too.

  “About what?” I decided to play coy even though I knew it was pointless.

  “You’ve been seeing Gideon, but haven’t mentioned it to me. I was under the impression you hadn’t seen him since that first night. That you didn’t have to see him again until the full moon.”

  I threw my purse and coat onto the sofa, trying to seem at ease when I felt anything but. “I have to see him. If I don’t do what he says then he might go all homicidal and kill everyone like he threatened to, remember?”

  “So he’s forcing you to come to his hotel against your will?”

  “No, he’s not exactly forcing me.” Damn, this was complicated. And it was
all my fault.

  “He actually asks politely. It’s not a big deal.”

  “If it wasn’t a big deal you would have told me about it.”

  “In the three or four minutes we have together these days?”

  “The reason we can’t be together at the moment is his threats. Or do you forget that small detail?”

  “I don’t forget it for a moment.”

  He shook his head. “Gideon is well known for his ability to charm others. Don’t let him make you believe he is anything other than a killer.”

  “I haven’t forgotten that.”

  “You haven’t?” His brow furrowed and his hard expression finally softened. “I know you have a great capacity for compassion, Sarah. Don’t let that get in the way of your better judgment.”

  “It’s not. I wish the Red Devil hadn’t told you.”

  “I’m glad he did.” He drew closer to me and stroked his cool hand against my flushed cheek. “He told me about what happened with the fledgling as well.”

  I cringed. “That I went insane and almost tore her throat out?”

  He shook his head. “That you tried to help her.”

  “And then I tried to tear her throat out.” I hugged him tightly and inhaled the light, spicy scent of his familiar cologne.

  “But you didn’t.”

  “Only thanks to Red. Whoever he is.” I looked up at him. “Are you going to tell me more about him?”

  “Perhaps he will remain as much a secret as your meetings with Gideon Chase have been.”

  There was a strange edge to his words.

  I raised my eyebrows. “Don’t tell me for one moment that that’s jealousy I hear.”

  He leveled his gray gaze with my own. “I know all too well that you have a soft spot for hunters you feel you might be able to redeem.”

  I tensed in his arms. “Gideon isn’t redeemable.”

  “And you mustn’t ever forget that.” He brushed his mouth against mine in a kiss that helped me stop thinking about all of my problems for a moment.

  “Can you stay tonight?” I whispered against Thierry’s lips.

  “Do you want me to?”

  I slid my hand under his shirt to feel his warm skin. “Very much.”

  A smile twitched on his lips. “Then—”

  There was the sound of a key in the door and his gaze flicked to it.

  “—unfortunately it will have to wait for another time.” Thierry’s smile faded. “Please be careful, Sarah. And please don’t see Gideon again alone. It’s too dangerous.”

  The next moment he was gone from my arms and the room.

  George entered the house and looked at me standing in the dark all by myself. “Oh, hey.

  Feeling better?”

  I sighed. “Until I was interrupted.”

  “Did you have fun with the mysterious Mr. G?” he asked and waggled his eyebrows.

  I forced a smile. “So much fun they should lock me up and throw away the key.”

  “Well, I’d love to hear the details, but I’m exhausted. As Scarlett says, tomorrow is another day.”

  It was. And I wasn’t entirely convinced that was a good thing.

  The next morning, I felt something poke me in the shoulder and it yanked me out of a perfect, dreamless sleep. I liked perfect, dreamless sleeps. They were my favorites and very rare these days in my usual sea of nightmares. I pulled the covers off my face and glared at my intruder.

  George smiled down at me. “Morning, sunshine.”

  “What is it?”

  He had the cordless phone in his hand. “It’s your friend Claire. She says it’s urgent.”

  That jolted me the rest of the way awake. I grabbed the phone. “Claire? What’s going on?”

  “Sarah, I have good news. I found someone who can help you.”

  Claire was an old high-school friend of mine who had been present at the reunion when I’d been cursed. Since she was also a witch, she’d done her best to help, but it hadn’t worked out. She left to go home to Niagara Falls with the promise she’d keep trying.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.” My heart was already doing a Rockette kick of joy at the thought I might not be dependent on Gideon to break my curse.

  “He’s a wizard and he can see you today. He’s moving somewhere in Europe really soon, so you need to get your butt over to Mississauga while he’s still in this country.”

  I jotted down the info she gave me, a phone number and directions to the place, which was twenty minutes west of Toronto. “This is fantastic. How did you find him?”

  “Honestly? On Craigslist. But he’s completely reputable. He specializes in breaking curses and his track record is amazing. Or so he says. The best part is he’ll only charge you two thousand bucks.”

  My eyes widened. “That’s a lot of money.”

  “Trust me, these kinds of things normally cost way more.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have two thousand dollars I can borrow, do you?”

  She laughed at that. “Sorry, no. Why don’t you ask your dreamboat of a boyfriend for the money? He looked like he was loaded.”

  I cleared my throat. “We broke up.”

  She actually gasped. “But you seemed perfect for each other.”

  “You are the only person I know of who thinks that.” I glanced at George, who stood nearby with a curious expression. “We’re not together anymore. I’m moving on. Know any rich master vampires you want to set me up with?”

  “Don’t forget dark and miserable,” George added.

  “Can’t say that I do,” Claire replied. “But maybe this wizard is single. He sounds nice enough in the e-mails we’ve exchanged.”

  “Thank you so much for this, Claire. I’ll let you know how it all turns out.” When I clicked off the phone I looked up at George. “Doing anything today?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Am I possibly chauffeuring your non-car-owning self somewhere?”

  I nodded. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s only the difference between my future happiness and utter, complete misery.”

  He looked torn. “I have a job interview later.”

  “The strip club?”

  “It’s a nightclub with male entertainment. ‘Strip club’ makes it sound so tawdry.”

  “I’ve been there. It is tawdry.”

  “I know, isn’t it great? Unfortunately I’m just interviewing to be a waiter, not the talent. I apparently have no rhythm.” He sighed. “But one can dream.”

  I glanced at my digital clock. It was 9:00 A.M. “We’ll be back by noon. At the latest.”

  “Promise?”

  “Cross my broken, cursed heart.”

  “Okay, get dressed. We’ll leave in ten minutes.”

  I felt a jolt of something. I think it was happiness. I wouldn’t know. It had been a long time since I’d felt that particular emotion in such a pure and undiluted sense. I kind of liked it.

  “First we have to stop by Amy’s,” I told him. “I need to ask her for something.”

  “What?”

  “A loan of two thousand bucks. Unless you want to spot me the cash.”

  “Amy’s it is,” he replied quickly.

  A half hour later we pulled up at the curb across from my friend’s house. I tried not to get too excited at the prospect of breaking my curse but had a difficult time staying relaxed.

  This could be it. A substantial loan of money away from being relatively normal again.

  Without wasting any time, I bounded up to her front door and rang the doorbell. George decided to wait in the car.

  A few moments later the door slowly opened inward. I gazed at the interior of Amy’s small townhome and then looked down.

  Barry Jordan glared up at me.

  All you need to know about Barry is that he became Amy’s husband after they fell in love and he sired her on their first date. He was short. Short, short. He had a tendency to wear small tuxedos and angry expressions, alt
hough at the moment he wore a royal-blue bathrobe and an angry expression.

  He was also Thierry’s… I guess manservant was as good a term as any. They’d known each other for three hundred years, since Thierry had rescued Barry from being displayed and abused in a traveling fair. This act had won Barry’s fierce loyalty from that moment forward.

  Oh, and Barry hated my guts with a fiery passion.

  From nearly the first moment we met he thought I was trouble, an opportunist, and a gold digger. Not necessarily in that order.

  I wondered if he’d be willing to loan me some cash.

  “You,” he said ominously.

  “Well, hello there,” I replied, deciding it was best not to provoke him in any way. Too much rode on everything going swimmingly today. “Might I speak with your lovely wife for a moment?”

  “She’s not here. She’s getting her nails done.” He glared at me with distaste. “Go away.”

  He was giving me the evil eye so intensely it burned a bit. It was really too bad that the moment he started to believe I was genuinely in love with Thierry I’d had to “break up” with him, thereby confirming Barry’s original opinion of me.

  Oh, well. Can’t win ’em all.

  “Who’s there, Barry?” a familiar voice said, and Thierry stepped into the front foyer. Our eyes met and held.

  As far as Barry knew, this was the first time we’d seen each other since we officially ended our relationship. Even Barry, who I knew wouldn’t betray Thierry for any price, couldn’t be trusted with this info. There was too much at risk.

  I really wanted to run to Thierry and throw my arms around him and finish what we had only barely started last night. I wanted to tell him about the grimoire and the appointment with the wizard today. But I couldn’t say anything out loud.

  Too bad, really. He was a total ringer for the money.

  I wasn’t a gold digger, seriously I wasn’t. But come on. The man I loved wore a different black, tailored Hugo Boss suit every single day. That had to count for something, didn’t it? Other than a high-end, yet oddly monochromatic taste in clothing.