I gritted my teeth against the urge to argue about Jenny again. “We all hate it. But I have a computer setup in my bedroom that works like a mirror. Help yourself. You’ve got mascara and lipstick everywhere.” I wondered what this sudden urge to tidy up was about. Was she still thinking to make a break for it? Just because she felt full of synthetic . . . I’d definitely keep a close eye on her.
“Seriously?” Penny darted into my bedroom and came out with the white laptop with the mini-cam. “This is neat.”
“It was a gift from Ian MacDonald. He’s a California vampire and a techno-genius. He invented it and a lot more cool things to help make the vamp lifestyle more livable. You’d love him. He’s a very clever guy.”
“Sounds interesting.” Penny quickly fixed her face, which unfortunately included adding a new coat of black lipstick, then closed the computer. “Makes me think, though. I need my stuff. From my apartment. How do I explain to my family and Jenny that I’m moving here?” She swept her gaze around my admittedly tired-looking digs.
“What’s wrong with here?” I’m not much for housekeeping and spend most of my time downstairs in my shop, but the mix of secondhand treasures and Ikea bookshelves wasn’t that bad. Especially when compared to dorm rooms and college apartments.
“Nothing, really. I like the location. Sixth Street is cool, though a little farther from campus than where I’m living now. Guess we can make this work. It’s near the end of a semester. Logical time to move, if I’d been thinking about it.” Penny sighed. “Didn’t mean to come off as critical. This place is nice, much nicer than my digs. Blame my attitude on the vampire thing. I’m still reeling. Who knew you guys even existed?”
“That’s because we’re careful, Penny. Your sire’s behavior could have put a spotlight on us.” I had been through quite a few near misses in my time. Rogues made life uncomfortable for all of us. “It sounds harsh, but the council did the right thing, taking him out.”
“Yeah, would hate to think he was still running loose out there, making more daughters.” Penny shuddered. “So I’ll move in here, learn the drill. But I need my stuff—research books, my big-ass computer and my cat. Damian said he arranged for someone to feed him every day, but I have to go get Booger.”
“You named your cat Booger?” I shuddered. “That’s cruel and unusual.”
Penny smiled for a moment. “What can I say? He’s fifteen and Jen and I have had him since he was a kitten. We liked the sound of the word and my mom hated it. So of course we kept saying it.” Her lips trembled. “My parents! God, I can’t just let them get old and die when I could turn them too. And Gram!” She grabbed me again.
“Oh, no, we are not turning your entire family into vampires, Penny. Just get that idea right out of your enormous brain. Sit, I mean it.” I could actually see her mind working this out as she slouched over to the couch again. Thinking about how the process might work. Hell, by the time an unleashed Penny got through, there would be a whole colony of vampires populated by her family, friends of her family, anyone her family thought deserved to live forever. It was worse than a freaking cell phone network. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of vampires could be made from this one brainiac teenaged vamp.
I sat on the sofa, tempted to pick up my own cell phone. It would be nice to call for help. No, that was the old Glory. I was going to handle this by myself. I’d just decided that when there was a knock on the door. I jumped up and ran my fingers through my hair. Why now? I knew who’d dropped by, and wished for a few minutes with my makeup bag and, good grief, a hairbrush.
“What’s up, Glory? You’re freaking.” Penny looked interested as there was another, louder knock.
“My boyfriend. Well, maybe we’re on break. Not sure. Anyway, he’s also my sire.” I glanced down at my well-worn robe. “Look at me.”
Penny grinned. “He’s not going away.”
“Gloriana, I can hear you in there. Open up before I knock this door down. I need to talk to you.”
“I’m coming, Jerry.” I sighed and opened the door. “I’m not dressed and I have company.” I gestured for him to come in.
“I certainly have no problem seeing you undressed.” He grinned, then came to a halt as he saw my visitor on the couch. “Who’s this?”
“Penny, this is Jeremy Blade, my sire. He turned me vampire in 1604.”
“Seriously?” Penny gazed at Jerry with a look I recognized. Yep, the girl was checking him out and liking what she saw. Who wouldn’t? Jerry was forever tanned and forever hard bodied with the broad shoulders and lean waist of a warrior who’d earned his physique in battle. He smiled with a slash of white teeth and stepped forward to offer his hand.
“Seriously. Jerry, Penny Patterson, a fledgling that I’m mentoring for the council.”
Penny had snapped out of her initial lust fog to jump to her feet. Jerry did that to people, made them come to attention. He was good at intimidating, though this time it wasn’t intentional.
“Hi.” Penny took his outstretched hand and shook it. “Glory just got stuck with me tonight. We’re still working out our arrangements.”
“Will you be living here or is Valdez still here?” Jerry turned to me.
“Oh, Rafe’s gone. Has his own place. Penny will be staying in the extra bedroom.” I sounded desperate to explain. Not cool. I made myself stroll to the couch and sit, pulling Penny down beside me like I didn’t care what Jerry thought. “Anyway, Penny was recently turned against her will. She’ll need a lot of guidance to work through the transition.”
“Of course she will.” Jerry sat in a chair. “Penny, I wonder if you’d mind giving Glory and me a few minutes alone together. Some personal business we need to discuss.” He gave her one of his charming smiles and Penny grinned back.
“No problem. I was about to go out anyway.” She glanced at me. “To pick up some of my stuff.” She grabbed her purse and tried to look innocent.
“Forget it. Go unpack. Your bedroom is at the end of the hall.” I grabbed her arm, marched her past her backpack and thrust it into her arms, then guided her toward her new room. “We’ll arrange to get your things soon. I’ll talk to Damian about it.” I leaned down to hiss in her ear. “You think I’m an idiot? You’d run straight to your sister because you feel full of synthetic, am I right?”
Penny flashed me a defiant look. “I am full. I could handle it. I’m not a child.”
“In this world you’re an infant. We’ll finish discussing your sister later.” I was sure she was going to nag me about it endlessly. I kept my gaze stern.
“Geez, get physical, why don’t you?” Penny rubbed her arm. “All right, I’ll unpack. Nice to meet you, Mr. Blade.”
“Call me Jeremy.” Jerry was on his feet, ever the gentleman.
“Jeremy. So you’re Glory’s sire. Does that give you the power to tell her what to do?” Penny glared at me. “Glory didn’t sire me, but she seems to think she did.”
“I’d listen to her, if I were you.” Jerry turned to look at me. “Gloriana’s advice will help you survive.” His eyes darkened as he studied me. “Our relationship is complicated. Much more than sire and fledgling. Gloriana can tell you about it if she wishes, but I’ve given up trying to tell her what to do.”
“Interesting.” Penny looked from Jerry to me and back again. “Well, guess I’ll put on my iPod and earphones, otherwise it seems my new supersonic hearing picks up everything within a hundred yards.” With a wave, she headed down the hall.
Jerry looked so yummy I wondered if I could drag him to my bedroom for that “private word” he wanted. He patted the seat beside him on the couch. Guess not.
“What’s going on, Jerry?” I sat beside him, not worried when my robe opened over my knees.
“I’ve got to go back to Florida for business.” He reached over and closed my robe. Closed it! Now I was worried.
“Still having management problems?” I scooted away to lean against the corner, putting several inches between us. He want
ed to be distant? I could play that game.
“Yes, the new manager I hired needs training and I should have stayed longer when I was there before.” Jerry stared at me. “The last time I left town, things happened here that I haven’t forgotten.”
Uh-oh. Those “things” had been my being unfaithful to Jerry with my former bodyguard. Jerry’s thoughts were blocked, no surprise there. I sat up straight, trying to decide if I should grovel or not.
“You can trust me, Jerry. Rafe and I are just friends now.” I didn’t block my thoughts and let him see the truth there.
“I know you two are friends. But Valdez wants more than friendship. And once a man has been with you, Gloriana, you’re damned hard to forget.” Jerry eased closer, his gaze hot.
“I think I heard a compliment in there.” I put my hand on his knee. “Jerry, I can’t keep apologizing and I won’t beg you to forgive me again. If you need more time . . .”
“I guess I do.” He stared at my hand until I pulled it back into my lap. “I’ve been thinking about our relationship.”
When a man admits he’s been thinking about stuff like that, it can’t be good. And I’d cheated. I was pretty sure having a demon inside me had made me weak enough to give into the urges I’d been feeling for my dear friend Rafe, but the urges had been there before the demon had come along and Jerry had figured that out. Well, actually, I’d burst out that info in a big confession. The whole fiasco had killed Jerry’s pride, his trust in me and maybe his love. No wonder he’d been “thinking.”
“Okay, spit it out, Jer. What’s on your mind?” I was strangling on my breath, on my knotted insides that had worked their way up into my throat. I couldn’t stand what he might say, but my imagination conjured up such horrible things, I hoped his words would be easier to take.
“I’m not over what you did. I keep seeing you and Valdez together.” Jerry thumped his forehead hard with his fists and I gasped.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I can say.” I wanted to reach out to him, but there was a wall between us as surely as if it had been bricks and mortar.
“I know. I heard your words, saw your tears. I know you love me.” This time he squeezed his head between his hands until I was afraid his skull would crack. Jerry was being really hard on himself, trying to erase that image from his mind. If only that would work.
“I do love you. I have for over four hundred years.” I couldn’t stand it. I grasped his hand and pulled it away from his head.
“You and I have a pattern. This on-again, off-again love affair of ours. It ends when you become frustrated with my high-handed ways, as you call them, and you usually cut and run.” Jerry opened his fist and gripped my hand. “You’d think I’d learn or you’d learn. That one of us would figure this thing out.” He pulled my fingers to his lips, his tongue touching my knuckles lightly before he let them go. “But we never have.”
“Yes, I run. I admit it. But we always agree that it’s time for a break first.” He blurred when my eyes filled with tears. “This time I stayed but . . .”
“Broke faith.” The words were clipped, cold.
Had I finally pushed him too far? Wounded him too deeply for healing? I reached out to him, wanting to feel his arms around me. Needing his strength. He dragged me against him and laid my head against his chest.
“I’m so, so sorry, Jeremiah. What can I do to make this right?”
Jerry took a breath and I heard the slow beat of his heart. “What’s done is done. If I can’t get that picture of you and Valdez together out of my head?” His arms tightened almost painfully around me. “Then I suppose that’s my problem.”
“God.” I held on to him, afraid to move or say another word. What could I say? He was right. This was for him to decide. I couldn’t erase the past.
“Killing him might help.”
I jerked out of his arms. “Don’t even joke about such a thing!”
“Who’s joking? Sending that demon dog to hell would go a long way to making me feel better.”
I jumped up. “Well, it’s not an option. Not if you’re interested in ever getting together with me again.”
He stood and faced me. “You’re not helping matters, Gloriana, by defending him.” He yanked me into his arms. “Forget him, damn it.”
He kissed me then, the kind of soul-stirring kiss that never failed to weaken my knees and remind me of who’d made me. This time? I had his words ringing in my ears, damning Rafe. A man I did love. But Jerry? I grabbed his hair and felt his fangs scrape my tongue as he kept kissing me. I kissed him back, pushing my body against his.
He finally raised his head, his eyes narrowed. “Trying too hard, Gloriana. Yes, I still want you, stupid to deny it.” He pushed his hips against me and it wasn’t news that he was hard. “But I’ve always been a fool for you. I even thought we would be together forever.”
“So did I.” I brushed his cheek, wanting that. Why did I even hesitate? Was it because I still felt his disapproval? And why had I ever been tempted by Rafe? Was it because my relationship with Jerry didn’t satisfy me on some level? Too many questions to just brush past this and pretend things were okay between us.
“I need to cool off.” He frowned and put some space between us. “And you need to be sure you’re ready to let go of Valdez as a lover.”
“I am. I have. Rafe understands that we’re done, Jerry!” I flushed and stared at his shirt, not wanting him to see how hard that decision had been for me. “The demon influenced me before or I never—”
“So you say.” Jerry shook his head. “But you and Valdez are close. You share secrets and keep them from me. And you love each other. You’ve said that more than once.”
“Yes, but as friends.” I met his gaze this time, though it wasn’t easy. Could I just be friends with a man I’d made love with? A man who could still make my heart race when his hungry eyes met mine? I’d have to, if I wanted to be with Jerry.
“Enough. We need to take a break.” Jerry turned and walked to the door.
“Jerry, no!” I threw myself on him, gripping his shoulders and pressing my breasts against his back. I laid my cheek against the soft cotton of his shirt.
“I’m going, Gloriana. I’ve said all I need to say.”
“I hate to see you leave like this, still so angry.” His muscles tightened under my arms as I held on to him. “Please stay.” My breath hitched. If I slid down to his feet and begged, dragged him to my bed, I might win the night, but not the battle. And we’d both hate me for it later.
“No, Gloriana. There is no point. You need to be around Valdez without that demon inside you and see where things stand between you.” He turned and took my hands, holding them between us. “I need to know where things stand.”
“I told you.” I gasped when Jerry shoved me away and opened the door.
“Oh, yes, you told me.” His face was set, his lips firm. He let me see his pain and I bit my lip.
“Next time block your thoughts, Gloriana, if you don’t want me to hear them. I’ll be back in two weeks. By then, I hope you know who you want. Because if it’s the shifter, I’ll be relocating. I can’t stay around here and watch.” With one last look that made my eyes fill, Jerry turned on his heel and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.
I leaned against it, my cheek against the wood. Sweet God in Heaven. What had I done?
Three
“You okay, Glory?” Penny had obviously taken out her earbuds.
“As well as can be expected. Jerry’s gone. Business trip.” I headed back to the couch. I might never get dressed again. Maybe I’d sell my business. Become one of those weird vampires who lived in a cave and flew with bats. I was so depressed I was thinking about giving up cute shoes.
“Did you two break up?” Penny hurried into the kitchen and came out with a bottle of synthetic. She shoved it into my hand. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks.” I took a swig. “Not a total breakup, hopefully. Just a time-out. Don�
��t worry about me. I always bounce back. I’ve had lots and lots of practice.” I pushed down the urge to throw myself on the couch and cry bitter tears. Nope, I had a job to do here. Might as well get on with it. But two weeks with Jerry gone. I ached already.
“So you guys have split before?” Penny peered at me like she was trying to break through my mental blocks. No way was I letting her into my thoughts again, though constantly keeping her out was a pain and a half. Literally. It always gave me a nagging headache and vamps can’t exactly take Excedrin.
“We’re taking a break. We do that sometimes. He’ll be back.” I stared down into my bottle, then determinedly shook off the urge to smack myself with it. “Now tell me about your transformation, Penny. How did that weird vampire get hold of you?”
Penny sighed and sat across from me. “This story won’t cheer you up. It was pretty pathetic.”
“I understand pathetic. I just barely stopped short of grabbing Jerry’s ankle and having him kick me off. And looking like this.” I waved my hand at my rat’s nest of a hairdo. “Spill.”
“I had a blind date. The only kind I ever have lately.” Penny made a face. “Surprise, surprise.”
“Nonsense. You’re full of potential. Jerry has a sister with hair that color. The Scots love it.” I smiled encouragingly. “Keep talking.”
Penny sighed. “Thanks. Anyway, I have had boyfriends, other lab rats who don’t notice things like how I fill out a pair of jeans.”
“News flash, Penny. I never met a man yet who didn’t appreciate a woman’s assets.” I looked her over. “I just don’t know why you’re hiding yours in baggy sweatpants and a sweater that’s two sizes too big.” I kept my feelings about her horizontal stripes to myself.
Penny blinked. “You want to hear this or not?”
“Sorry. About that night.” I waved my hand.
“Anyway, as I was starting to say, my usual dates had never taken me to a fraternity party.” She sighed. “Just once I wanted to have a normal college experience, you know?”
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