“Hello, Nikolai,” she purred as she sauntered forward and kissed him on the cheek. Her dark red lipstick left a faint print on his skin. Though Nik looked wary, a small smile played at his lips as his eyes ran over her figure. Whoever she was, he was openly interested. I saw an opportunity for mischief. “I see you've found a new… friend,” she said, eying me with disdain and ignoring Josh completely. Her delicate hand was still resting on Nik's shoulder. Nik’s smile turned into a grin as his eyes stayed locked on the other woman.
“Emma, what are you doing here?” His voice sounded both pleased and concerned. “This is Ash—a—er—newish member of the seethe.”
“Oh?” she asked, glancing between Nik and Mikhail. Mikhail was smiling at her. It was the most affectionate look I'd ever seen on him. When they didn't respond she turned back to me. “Is that all? Not your lover?”
I tried not to laugh in her face. Nik was turning into something like an annoying priest slash babysitter—the one you tried to run away from. And who in their right mind sleeps with their babysitter?
I smiled and shook my head. He was all hers.
“No? I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me,” she said. A smirked played at her lips as her slim fingers reached out and flicked one of my damp braids over my shoulder. “She's very… cute. You may call me Miss Tanner.”
“May I?” I asked in a sickly sweet tone mixed heavily with sarcasm. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Josh grin. The other men glared at me; it was the first time they had taken their eyes off of Miss Tanner. Whoops.
Miss Tanner suddenly had me pinned to the nearest wall. Double whoops! The back of my head hurt where it collided with the concrete. I blinked the stars away from my vision while she held me against the concrete, her forearm digging into my collar bone. It made it hard to breath. Before I could panic, Nikolai stepped forward and placed a strong hand on Emma's shoulder.
“Remember Miss Tanner, she is under our protection,” said Mikhail from his place across the room.
“Then you need to teach her manners,” Miss Tanner snarled.
Nikolai laughed. “You're one to talk. I recall those weeks in Greece. How many people did you offend with your lack of manners?” He carefully guided Emma away from me, his hand drifting to the small of her back. I had the sudden desire to stake her. “Now, Emma, what is it you want? As glad as I am to see you, I doubt this is purely a social call,” added Nik.
“Is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to see you?” she asked softly. If it weren't for my last mistake, I would have made a gagging noise. Or maybe suggest they get a room. Either way, it would have been cliché but funny. Instead, I held my tongue and glanced at Josh. The glint in his eyes suggested he was thinking of a similar retort.
“Maybe just a little,” Nik said with a smirk. He was flirting. Nik, the “Grinch who stole Christmas” was actually flirting. I felt my eyes bug-out.
“I'm here to collect a debt.”
Chapter Sixteen
“A debt?” asked Nik. And now the Grinch looked like a sad, drowned puppy.
“Have you forgotten the favor you offered me back in Venis?”
Nikolai’s wheels turned slowly as he remembered said favor. I glanced at Mikhail, who seemed content to let them continue with their verbal foreplay. He was still smiling at Emma. Evidently he really liked her too.
Nikolai sighed. “What is it you want? Since it’s clearly not me.”
“Who says it isn't you?” Emma purred as she pulled a folded piece of paper from the bust of her dress. I realize that paper is thin, but really, how did she manage to fit it in there? Her breasts were already spilling over the top. I sighed. Women. Or should I be more annoyed with men? “But business before pleasure…”
She handed the sheet to Nik, who glanced at it and passed it on to Mikhail. I caught a glimpse of the paper. It contained a list of some sort.
“What is it?” asked Nik.
“Just a collection of items belonging to Henry the Fifth. I'm starting a new collection and am hoping to get my hands on these items. In the past, they have been sold together. But I lost track of who has them now. When I realized I needed help finding them, I could think of no one better than you.”
“Is she talking about finding antiques or having sex?” I whispered in Josh’s ear. The others turned to scowl. Oh right, vampires and their super human hearing. Oops.
“When do you need them?” asked Nik, diverting everyone’s attention from my humorous blunder. Okay, Josh and I were probably the only ones finding it humorous.
“As soon as possible, really. I am planning a party around their debut in my collection. The party is in five days.”
“I wish I could, but Mikail has me doing a task for him at present,” said Nik.
Mikhail glanced up from the list.
“Still following Mikhail's orders?” Emma asked, her tone a mix of playfulness and sarcasm.
“I hold loyalty as a valued trait,” said Nikolai. “Give us a moment, Emma. Maybe I can talk Mikhail into freeing up my time,” he added, holding up a finger to forestall her from speaking.
Emma quirked the left side of her mouth up into a lopsided smile and sauntered out of the room.
Mikhail handed Nik the list. “It's your debt to pay,” he stated. “If you wish to pursue it, you may.”
“I'll need to leave Ashley here for her protection.”
Mikhail stared at Nik for a long, awkward moment. “Are you refusing to do your duty to the seethe? Ashley is your responsibility.”
“It won't be safe for her out on the streets.”
“That is your problem. I will not have her here for long periods of time. The seethe is a place of safety for our family. Her continued presence here threatens the sanctity of the seethe. I want her out when the sun sets again.”
“So you're saying I have to protect her, I just can't use our greatest source of protection to do it?”
Mikhail smiled as though he was simply asking Nik to get him a drink of water. “Are you suggesting you are not capable? Maybe Samuel… ”
“No.” Nik ground his teeth together. “I’ll repay the debt later.”
“I’d rather you finish this. Your debt is my debt. Besides, have you ever known Emma to ask for such a simple return to a favor? Normally she wants you to kill a dictator or something equally ridiculous. This should be easy. You can take Josh and Ashley with you.”
It didn’t sound like a suggestion.
I glanced between the two powerful men, feeling very uncomfortable, like the child in divorce court with the parents fighting over who had to take me. It wasn't a good feeling. All these problems were because of me. I was the remote detonator to a nuke, and I suddenly became grateful that my parents had never divorced.
“Josh, fetch Emma,” Mikhail ordered. A second later they returned.
“I will retrieve the items,” growled Nik, his eyes still flinging fire at Mikhail. Emma smiled brightly. The expression lit up her face in a way that made her genuinely beautiful. From the first moment I had seen her, I knew she was sexy, but real beauty has little to do with sex appeal. I saw why Nik was attracted to her. She was full of life and vigor. I couldn't imagine her doing anything half-assed or “just because.”
“Goodbye,” hinted Mikhail.
Josh took my arm and started pulling me toward the door. Nik pocketed the paper and guided Emma out.
“Josh, take the girl away. Nik and I have some catching up to do.”
Josh obediently looped his arm through mine and began tugging me away from the others.
“Later, all,” Josh said as he hauled me toward the lower level. He squeezed my arm slightly.
“Goodbye Miss Tanner,” I said, slurring the title into a curse. She glared at me, looking ready to lunge at my throat. Before she could, Josh jerked me into the stairwell. We descended them at a run. She had a temper, I realized belatedly.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Josh asked with a chuckle. “Emma is old
er and stronger than you.”
Josh pushed the door to his room open and waited for to me enter—a gentleman, as always, despite the mussed red hair and sandals. Entering his room felt a little like going home. It had been a place of solace and safety after first realizing what I had become. Coming back to it, when exhausted and frustrated, made me feel as though there might be something of normality left in this world.
Everything, from his fancy futon to his mint condition posters, was just as it had been when I first saw it. I sighed, letting the fear and uncertainty drip from my stiff shoulders. I knew it didn’t make sense. The room was hardly something I was familiar with, but it had provided me a safe haven when I needed one.
I glanced at Josh as he entered. Was it the room, or the person? A smile pulled my lips upwards. Josh was a true friend. I felt lucky to have him in my life. I forced the smile away, not wanting to share my epiphany just yet.
“So what's the story?” I asked to distract myself.
“What do you mean?” Josh pulled two blood bags from his fridge and guided me back to his futon.
“Nik and Emma. There's clearly a story!”
Josh grinned mischievously. “I don’t know all the details, but I do know they met in Russia around 1800, or so. And were together awhile.”
“Lovers?”
“Lovers,” he said with a nod. “For about fifty or sixty years. During a violent riot in France they got separated and had to flee the county. I think, but I’m not positive, that Emma left Nik and he barely survived as a result. It’s taken Emma a long time to get back in his good graces. Since then he somehow became in her debt, though I don’t know how exactly.”
“It seems she has succeeded in ‘getting back in his good graces’,” I murmured before trying to force a grin to my own lips. Though I knew I should find the whole thing very funny, I couldn’t; I just wanted to tear her head off. I tried not to think about what they might be doing.
Josh stared at me for a moment. “Not sure. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
He rose with a groan and moved to the dressers. He pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and a black T-shirt, tossed them to me, and nodded toward the bathroom area. “Go clean up and get some rest.”
“I don't suppose I can have a room of my very own?”
He shook his head. “Not until you’re a full member of the seethe.”
I sighed and pulled the curtain closed around the tiled section of the room.
When I emerged, Josh was already changed into a pair of black basketball shorts that hung past his knees. I shouldn't have been surprised by the sleek shape of his chest. It wasn't the bulky weight-lifting muscle that would turn to gelatin if he aged. Instead, his body was covered in long, lean muscles. He looked like an Olympic swimmer rather than a body builder. I was surprised to find myself ogling Josh. It just wasn’t right.
“You take the bed,” he suggested as he made himself comfortable on the futon. “The sheets are clean.”
I smiled and moved toward his queen size bed. I’d never met a man who would think about clean sheets for his guests. I’m not even sure if Jordan knew sheets were supposed to be cleaned on a regular basis.
I went to sleep with a sad smile on my face—thoughts of new and old friends mingling together.
Chapter Seventeen
We woke a bit before the sun went down. Josh was sitting up on the couch and reading an old, well-worn comic book. He was freshly dressed in his usual cargo pants and a new T-shirt—black with white text that read ‘I'm going to suck…’ I wondered what the back said. He leaned forward slightly and I saw the rest of the phrase. ‘… Your blood.’ Another ironic shirt for a vamp. It seemed like a warning… that no one would take seriously.
I sat down next to him and turned his comic book to see the title. It read ‘Wonder Woman’ in large, red letters. I cocked an eyebrow. “Really, Josh?”
“What? I like Wonder Woman. She cares about people equally. Fights for them just as fiercely as anybody else. It was an important trait during a time when some of the world believed certain people weren’t worth as much as others,” he added as he tapped the corner of the cover that revealed the date. It read 1959.
“Aren’t old comics supposed to be in fancy protective cases and chambers that control the humidity—or something like that?”
Josh laughed. “Though this one might be worth a few hundred, it’s not that valuable.”
I scoffed at him. Two hundred dollars seemed pretty valuable for a comic book to me. He must have read it in my eyes.
“Well, in comparison, I have a 1941 Wonder Woman that’s worth over twenty thousand. Now that one I don’t pull out and read anymore.”
My eyes grew wide. Was he serious? “Why not sell it then?”
“Cause it will be worth more the longer I keep it. Besides, at present I’m not hurting for money.”
I wanted to laugh at him, but I refrained. In comparison to Nik, he was struggling for money. Josh wasn’t Nik. He didn’t have the same expectations from life, and maybe that was a good thing. Wealth wasn’t everything, I had to remind myself—but it was sure something.
“I don't suppose I can get some clothing that fits?” I asked in an effort to change the subject. I didn’t want to say anything that would offend Josh.
Before Josh could respond, Emma waltzed in. “I can help with that.” I stared at her while Josh stood up. Emma ignored his presence entirely as though he were a non-entity.
Emma wore a dress I would expect Audrey Hepburn to wear with pearls around her neck. Her hair was done up in an elegant twist that matched the style of dress. It was quite the contrast with the skanky number she had on the night or, rather, morning before. She carried a small pile of dresses hung over her forearm and a large make-up bag in the other hand. “Into the bathroom with you, sweetie.”
I glanced at Josh, really hoping he'd provide me an excuse. His eyes were narrowed, but then he noticed my attention. An evil grin spread across his face while he motioned for me to obey. I swore at him in my head and hoped he read it in my glare. Josh was nice enough to draw the curtain around the bathroom. In the meantime, Emma started holding the dresses up against my body. She settled on a little, V-neck, green tea dress.
“So… how long have you been with Nikolai?” she asked.
I nearly choked as a sudden spurt of laughter tried to burst through my lips. “Oh, I'm not with Nikolai… ” I wracked my brain, trying to figure out how to cause some mischief. Wow, what was wrong with me? “But I see why you were interested in him. He is a bear in the sack!” While I spoke, she began applying make-up to my eyes. She nearly spread the mascara across my cheekbone. With a quick duck I managed to dodge the worst of the black smudge.
“How would you know?” she asked through thin lips as she wiped the black off my cheek. I could tell she was trying to stay calm, but a slight tremble in her voice made it clear I had hit a nerve. I had no doubt that she had had other partners during their time apart, but evidently it wasn’t okay for Nik to stray—not that he actually had, to my knowledge.
“Oh don’t panic. It was just once or twice. No big deal.” I felt like a slut saying all these things, but the controlled anger making her face glow kept me going. “I have no regrets, though. He really knows how to satisfy a woman.”
I heard a sudden crash from the other side of the curtain. Oops. I’d forgotten Josh could hear us. He knew I detested Nik, so he was probably enjoying this as much as I was—or at least that’s what I told myself. I’d better wrap this up, I thought while I pulled the borrowed T-shirt over my head and dropped it on the counter.
“If I stood a chance, I’d go after him myself. Don’t worry, Emma. He’s totally into you.”
I stepped into the dress and allowed her to zip it up for me. I felt her hands tremble against my back. “I hope you’re right,” she mumbled as she picked up the unused dresses and her make-up kit.
Just as I pushed the heavy curtain back for Emma to exit, Nik enter
ed. A quick glance around the room showed me Josh, sitting in one of his matching globe chairs, his eyebrows pulled together and the corners of his mouth jutting down into an uncharacteristic frown. Before I could inquire, Josh rose from his seat and left us in his own room.
Emma stepped forward, the muscles in her shoulders and neck tense as she stomped passed Nik. Like me, he couldn’t get a word out before she slammed the door shut. Nik turned his green eyes to glare at me before following her out. From my place in the confines of Josh’s room, I heard Nik stop her. It seemed safe to assume Josh was nowhere nearby.
“What’s wrong?” I heard Nik ask, though the door was closed between us.
“Her?” demanded Emma, the one word expressing far more than Nik could understand. Her tone was filled with subtext.
There was a long pause while I assumed Nik looked at her with confusion. I felt a giggle build up in my chest, which I forcefully pushed back down. The pause lengthened until Nik finally spoke up. “What about her?”
“You slept with her?” accused Emma.
“What?” demanded Nik almost before Emma had finished her question.
“Ash said that you…”
“Never!” snapped Nik, again cutting her off. After another lengthy pause, I had to move closer to the door, the mirth still fighting its way to my lips. Despite my new position, I still couldn’t make out what they were mumbling. They must have been standing very close together.
Finally, when I heard something that sounded like a whine from Emma, the laughter burst. I stumbled to the futon and collapsed on it, my sides beginning to burn. It had been a long time since I'd laughed so hard.
It wasn’t long before I heard the door open and hard footsteps march into the room. I blinked tears from my eyes and looked up at Nik. His face was an equally flushed color from the rage boiling up inside. He buffeted his way through the room, pushing a globe chair out of his way, and stopped at the edge of the bed. I looked up again, the sight of his holy rage bring forth another guffaw.
The Series that Just Plain Sucks: The Complete Trilogy Page 9
