Blood and Guitars

by Heather Jensen

  The fact that Damir smelled Trey on me made me nervous, although I didn’t know why. It was good that Damir was assuming the human he could smell on me was someone I had fed from, but I still sighed in relief when the elevator doors finally opened. I moved to slip inside but Damir’s firm grip on my arm prevented it.

  “I’ll consider it a great personal insult if you don’t stay,” he said, his voice like a low growl. “Enough of these games, Aurora.”

  My eyes flashed dangerously as I met his gaze. I pulled myself out of his grip and said, “Consider yourself insulted.”

  I stepped into the elevator and pressed the lobby button. The elevator doors closed on Damir, straight-backed, and furious. I sighed in relief and willed the elevator to move quickly. I’d really done it this time, and part of me wondered if Damir wouldn’t take the stairs and wait angrily for me below. What about tonight had made Damir believe things would be different between us? I certainly hadn’t done anything to give him that impression. Maybe it was because I was so obviously refusing him among the elite of our kind, his Synod Elder grandfather included. I’d obviously wounded his huge ego. Thankfully, Damir was nowhere to be seen as I made my way through the lobby and found my waiting cab.

  “To Clearwater,” I said as I slid into the seat and closed the door. I only wished Trey were on his way back home with me, putting some distance between him and the group of vampires that had gathered in the bay.

  Chapter 37

  Like any normal vampire, I slept the entire next day and woke up around seven feeling somewhat prepared to take on the night. I downed some blood from my stash before I showered and dressed. I’d given Kacie the day off today, and although we weren’t open for business I still needed to get to The Waking Moon to varnish some pieces. I hadn’t heard from Trey since we’d exchanged a few texts when I was about an hour outside of Clearwater early this morning. He’d wanted to be sure I made it back to town safely, and I’d had to pretend I’d already arrived so he wouldn’t worry.

  I let myself in the back door of The Waking Moon and found the notes Kacie had left for me on the desk. Two pieces had sold to one person and she’d already taken care of packaging the paintings up and arranged a pick-up time with the shipping company for tomorrow. I walked into the showroom, surveying the empty spots where the sold paintings had hung, and trying to decide which paintings I had sitting upstairs would best replace them. I didn’t know when Trey planned on being back in town exactly, although, in retrospect, I should have been better prepared. I was still buzzing a little from the jolt of blood I’d had, and that was probably why I was able to sense him coming before he neared the building. I reacted by slamming my elbow into the large glass window near the front door, shattering it. Then I sighed, knowing I was just going to have to turn around and clean up the mess.

  “Come on in,” I called out as I heard Trey open the back door. He let himself inside and closed the door behind him, walking around the corner into the showroom with a huge basket in his arms.

  “Hey.” He smiled at me. Then he lowered his eyes to the floor and the shards of glass that were lying at my feet. His expression changed to an apologetic one. “Ouch.”

  I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “I guess it could have been worse. It’s more of a mess than anything. The plastic I put up last night wasn’t doing much good,” I lied.

  With some effort, he set the basket down away from the broken glass and then straightened, walking toward me. I let him encircle me in his arms, resting his hands on the small of my back. He pulled me up against him and kissed my forehead before saying, “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.” And I was, mostly because I hadn’t come up with a cover story that didn’t involve destroying my own property. At least it had been a believable one.

  “I missed you last night,” he added, resting his forehead against mine so he could meet my eyes. “That hotel suite kind of sucked without you.” There was that half-smile I loved so much.

  I grinned back at him, and instantly felt better now that I was in his arms. “I’m sorry.” I hated that I’d lied to him, choosing to ignore the simple fact that I was still lying to him that moment, and had been lying to him by omission since the beginning. “I wish I could have stayed with you.” That was the truth.

  “What do the police say?” he asked, scooting a particularly large piece of glass aside with his shoe.

  “Not much,” I shrugged. “Probably just some kids in need of cash.”

  “Have you called someone to get the window replaced?”

  “I was just about to do that.”

  “Do you have the window measurements?”

  I blinked at him. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.” Not surprising considering I only just managed to break the window before he got here.

  “No big deal.” He gave me a little squeeze before he let go and stepped back. “Do you happen to have a measuring tape around here?”

  I retrieved the small tool box I had up in the loft and Trey measured the window for me, calling out the numbers so I could write it down on a notepad.

  “Make the call.” He put the measuring tape back in the box. “I’ll help you get this mess cleaned up. Where’s a broom?”

  “Closet in the back.”

  He disappeared around the corner and returned a minute later with the broom and dust pan. He began to sweep the glass into a large pile in the middle as I went to the back and pulled out a phone book. I called three places before someone agreed to come out and replace the glass tonight. My little cover story was turning into a hassle. At least I’d get the glass replaced tonight and be done with it.

  “Someone will be here within the hour,” I explained as I walked back into the showroom, Trey was emptying the dust pan into the garbage can. He swept up the last slivers of glass and the floor was clean again.

  “I’ll take this to the dumpster out back for you.”

  “Thanks.” I watched as he carried the bag of broken glass toward the back door. What had I done to deserve such a great guy? But the answer was clear. I didn’t deserve him, plain and simple. I carried the broom and dustpan back to the closet. When Trey came back inside we walked into the showroom. A breeze came in through the hole where the window should have been and I breathed it in. Trey touched my face, turning me to face him.

  “You sure you’re okay?” He ran his thumb along my cheek.

  I nodded. “I’ll be better when I have my window back.”

  “Well, maybe this will distract you until that happens.” Trey pulled me toward the basket he’d carried in when he’d first arrived.

  “What is this?” I questioned as he bent down to pick it up.

  “VMA goodies.” He grinned. “Let’s go upstairs and have a root beer while you sift through the stuff.”

  “Me?” I furrowed my brow at him in confusion.

  He chuckled as he led the way up the stairs. “There’s always girly stuff in the goodie bags, too. I thought we could go through it together.” We reached the top of the stairs and he set the basket down on the floor. “For instance, I don’t think I’ll have much use for these.” He reached into the basket and produced a pair of blue silk designer panties with lace.

  I laughed and took them from him. “Are you sure?” I held them up. “The color really brings out your eyes.”

  “I think I’ll get by just fine.” He sat down on the floor by the basket and I retrieved two root beers from the little fridge across the loft. We spent the next thirty minutes rummaging through the stuff and sorting it into two piles: his and mine. There were energy drinks, which I insisted he add to his own pile (they wouldn’t have done me a bit of good anyway). Another item Trey was quick to add to my pile was a 24-karat gold eyelash curler. Not that I needed it, he added, but he definitely wasn’t going to keep it. There were several vintage MTV tees that I made Trey model for me. He made me laugh by strutting around my loft like a male runway model, posing at every stop. There were several pairs of sunglasses (I c
laimed the feminine ones), and a paid vacation on some island I didn’t recognize.

  “We’ll just share that one,” Trey had said confidently, grinning and looking up at me from under his dark eyelashes. I was so thoroughly distracted by the elaborate and impractical gifts in the basket and Trey’s runway walk that I forgot I was expecting someone until I heard the truck approaching out front. Trey went with me to greet the repairmen. The oldest of the two asked a couple of questions and inspected the window frame for damage before they set to work removing the remains of the old window so they could install the new one.

  I wondered if Kacie would notice it had been replaced, but since it was just solid glass like the original, I doubted it. That would be one less person I’d have to explain the new window to.

  Chapter 38

  The flickering yellow light of the nearest streetlamp bathed everything in its glow as I gazed at the view from inside The Waking Moon.

  “What do you think?” Aurora cocked her head to one side as she stared at the new window.

  “Uh … it looks just like the last one.” I shrugged, hoping she hadn’t been expecting a more elaborate answer. It was a window. What more could I say?

  “Good.” She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled in satisfaction. “That was the goal.”

  “Have you eaten anything tonight?” I asked. She hesitated for just a heartbeat and I added, “I’ll go get some take-out and bring it back.”

  She bit her bottom lip and then smiled at me. “Okay.”

  I called the nearest Italian place that was still open and ordered a couple of different pastas that sounded good.

  “I’ll try to get a piece varnished while you’re gone,” Aurora said as I fished my keys out of my pocket.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told her, going out the back where my SUV was parked.

  I was only gone for fifteen minutes, and when I got back and climbed the stairs to the loft I saw that she was nearly finished varnishing a painting I hadn’t seen before. I set the food down on the table and went closer to get a better look at it. The painting was of two contrasting scenes, each on opposite sides of the canvas. The image was split vaguely down the middle by a separation of color. On the right half was a night scene with dark hues and a full moon occupying the top right corner. On the left was a day scene, the sun rising up over a distant tree line. Stuck in between the two images was a girl. Aurora had painted a thin jagged tear that disrupted the images, running from one corner of the painting all the way down to the other corner on the bottom, ripping at the girl in the center where her heart would have been.

  Aurora brushed one more stroke across the bottom right corner and then set the brush down.

  “This is incredible,” I wrapped my arms around her from behind, hugging her tight to my chest.

  She turned her head to smile up at me. “I’m glad you think so.”

  I gave her a light kiss and then pulled back, staring at the painting again. “I don’t know where you come up with this stuff, but it’s amazing.”

  “That’s how I feel about the songs you write.”

  “Yeah, but it’s different.”

  “How?”

  “I sing the stories I want to tell people,” I explained. “You … you don’t have to say a word. It’s just there.”

  “Well, I guess it’s a good thing you picked up a guitar in high school and not a paint brush,” she said with a grin. “The world just wouldn’t be the same without that sandpaper voice of yours.”

  My cheeks grew hot and I squeezed her lightly, wishing I could hold her forever as I breathed in the smell of her hair. “I could write a whole song about this painting if I looked at it long enough.”

  “I think that’s a good idea. Then you could name the album after the song and we’d already have the cover finished. It would make my job easy.”

  “And lose the one excuse you have to hang out at the studio with me all the time?” I teased. “I don’t think so.”

  Then, in typical Trey fashion, my stomach gave a loud grumble. Aurora laughed and said, “All right, all right. I can take a hint.”

  I chuckled, releasing my hold on her, and she began opening the Styrofoam containers of food I’d brought back. There was ravioli in a marinara sauce, chicken fettuccini Alfredo and a bunch of breadsticks. I pulled up two chairs for us to sit on and she handed me a plastic fork, taking the other for herself.

  “Thanks for your help tonight.” She took a bite of ravioli and chewed it thoughtfully.

  “It was nothing, really.”

  She gave me a small smile and then bit her bottom lip. It was obvious something was on her mind so I waited patiently for her to explain. After a moment she finally spoke up. “How do you deal with it all?” Her gaze was intense, her eyes filled with genuine curiosity.

  “What exactly?”

  “You know … fame.”

  I smiled and took a deep breath. “I bet last night was kind of weird for you, huh?”

  She gave me a one-shouldered shrug and said, “I think the weird part was that it didn’t seem weird at all for you.”

  “I must be a better actor than I thought,” I said with a grin. “Some things you never get used to.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I still get nervous when I have to go in front of a crowd. It’s a little different if it’s one of our shows, but even then I feel it.”

  “You didn’t look nervous.” She took a sip of the root beer she hadn’t finished earlier.

  “That’s a good thing.” I grinned at her.

  “What about all the fans? Do you get used to that?”

  I took a deep breath, considering her question. “The fans are just like having a ton of friends. You kind of get used to being recognized everywhere you go, and being approached for autographs and pictures and stuff, but I’m always a little surprised that anyone cares enough about our music to approach us. We have the best fans in the world. We’re really lucky.”

  “Everyone in the band is really talented,” she said. “I don’t think it’s just luck.” I smiled at that and she grinned back, adding, “Plus, your lead singer is hot. That’s got to help.”

  I laughed out loud, glad that I’d managed to swallow the mouthful of fettuccini beforehand. It would have been all too typical for me to spit pasta everywhere. “You planning on coming to the studio tomorrow night?” I asked her when I’d recovered.

  “Sure.” She sipped from her root beer again. “How close do you think you are to finishing the album?”

  I bit the end off a breadstick and considered her while I chewed. “We’ve got fifteen songs finished, and several more to work on. The goal is the end of the month. If we were done recording before October our record label would be really happy.”

  “I bet you’re anxious to get it finished so you can share it with the fans. They seemed pretty excited when you said you were working on a new record last night.”

  I nodded. “It’s always fun to have new material to work with, but my life gets pretty hectic when a new album drops.” I took a bite, chewed and swallowed before I spoke again. “I’ve never really minded before. I like to stay busy so the schedule and the traveling doesn’t usually bother me, but…” I paused, searching for the right words to explain.

  “But what?”

  “But I’ve never really had a reason to miss home until now.” It was something that had been gnawing on the back of my mind since the first night I’d kissed her. Saying it didn’t necessarily change much, but at least she knew. That alone was a weight off my shoulders. Aurora smiled at me and I saw a hint of sadness in the depths of her green eyes.

  She was going to miss me, too.

  I wracked my brain as I tried to come up with a way to console her. I could always fly her out to some of the shows. I didn’t want to disrupt her life, but I was sure she wouldn’t mind a few visits. We could talk on the phone, or via our laptops, but the truth was things were about to get really
complicated. There really was no way around it.

  “I guess we’ll just cross that bridge when we get there.” She was trying to be optimistic, and I appreciated the effort. I just wished our lives weren’t about to pull us in different directions.

  Chapter 39

  I was pretty sure I was being followed. I’d taken a detour on my way to Karatz’s house, but the black Lincoln Towncar behind me hadn’t missed a beat, staying half a block behind me the entire time. Of course, this wasn’t the first time the paparazzi had found me at home, and I was pretty certain the guys and I had generated some buzz at the VMA’s, especially since I’d mentioned we were about to put out another record. Still, these guys behind me weren’t going to get a very good shot from that distance, even with a wicked lens. Without much hope of losing them, I got back on course and headed for the studio again. At least the studio was located in Karatz’s backyard. The photogs would have to do some serious fence-climbing and bush-hiding to get any kind of a shot. Not that I would put it past them. We wouldn’t have to worry about it long, though. It would be dark in an hour.

  As I pulled through Ken’s driveway and around to the side of the house, I was disappointed to see that Aurora wasn’t already there. It would have been nice to have her inside before I arrived, paparazzi in tow. The less she was subjected to the crazy stuff that came with being around me and the guys, the better.

  O’Shea was in the sound booth recording feedback when I walked into the control room. Ken was sipping coffee and watching Joshua as he lay on a baby blanket on the floor nearby, chewing on a toy turtle.

  “Hey,” I said. “Just a heads up. There may be some photogs hiding in the bushes. I tried to lose them on the way here but they were pretty determined.”

  Karatz gave an exasperated sigh. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll let Serena know.” I raised the blinds in the window so I could watch for Aurora to arrive. Chase pulled in first with Aurora just behind him. I walked out to greet them, giving Aurora a quick kiss and earning a gagging noise from Chase.