“Fine. You are helping me.” She glanced back toward her bedroom and wrinkled her nose. “And I am kind of taking advantage here.”
“Great. That’s all I ask, that I know your schedule. Just stay out of trouble and we’ll be cool.” I picked up my purse and headed out.
Penny and Trey. Surely they could hang out without fallout.
Oh, Glory, when will you learn not to tempt fate?
Twelve
The shop was busy as usual for a Friday night, so it was almost midnight before I got a chance to call Jerry and let him know about the meeting with Ian. I hated to do it. He’d want to tag along and I wasn’t going to allow it. So we’d fight. I was right, of course.
“Seriously, we’ll be fine. No need for you to go with us, Jer.” I had taken this call to the back room since we were in a brief lull. Erin was handling the front.
“I don’t like you doing anything with a MacDonald when I’m not around. I’m coming over.” Jerry was in command mode.
“No, you’re not. This is important to Penny. She wants to meet Ian, scientist to scientist, and, if you’re there, it will be all about old feuds and macho posturing.” I frowned at the phone. I could practically hear Jerry seething. “Ian has no reason to hurt me. So you have no need to start up another war. Let me handle this.”
“It’s not ‘macho posturing’ if the man is a danger to you, Gloriana. The MacDonalds and the Campbells never miss a chance to hurt each other. I’ve told you that time and again. Remember the pain his diet drug caused you?”
“That was a fluke. And your feud is old news. You and Ian are ushering in a new age. A rational one.” I sank down in a chair. “Come on, Jer, relax. I’ll give you a full report when I get back. Better yet, come by the apartment and see the new furniture. I love it. We’ll be back before dawn. Use your key, let yourself in and wait for me. We can have some alone time before the sun comes up.” I picked up a black silk camisole that had come in from a shifter wanting to sell some old things. I loved it and it fit. I was going to put it on under my zebra print blouse, without a bra, and let Jerry discover it. Something to look forward to.
“You’ll call me if you need me? Where does Caine live now?”
I could tell I’d dangled the right bait and he was calming down. “No idea. I’ll call you from the car with the address. That way if I do need you, you can fly right out. How’s that?”
“It makes me feel better. Should make you feel better too. Don’t suppose Valdez is going along?” Jerry’s voice had hardened. He’d hated to ask that question, but actually probably hoped Rafe was doing guard duty.
“No, and I won’t ask him. It’s Friday night. A busy night at his club. He needs to stay there.” I opened the door into the shop and could see a new group of customers had just come in. “And we’re busy too. Got to go. I love you, Jerry. See you later?”
“Count on it. Take care of yourself, Gloriana. And the fledgling too.” He hung up.
I did feel that responsibility for Penny weighing heavily on me. She’d called at eleven and said she was heading over to N-V. Trey had been happy to hear from her and invited her to come listen to the band, then spend his lunch break with him at one o’clock. Penny had sounded thrilled and I sure wasn’t going to forbid her.
I had called Rafe and warned him that my fledgling was still shaky on the bloodlust thing and to let his waitstaff know to keep an eye on her around mortals. He’d have them serve her plenty of the synthetic they kept on hand for vampires, only without the alcohol. Fortunately, he’d been too busy to talk for long or he might have pried out of me my plans for later in the evening.
I didn’t need another of my overprotective males putting doubts in my mind about this meeting with Ian. I had enough of those already. Sure Ian was being great about rehabbing Ray, but he had his own reasons for wanting the rocker clean and sober. If he was going to use Ray as a guinea pig, he’d want him to be drug- and alcohol-free. Or at least that’s what Ian had told me on the phone. Worked for me as long as Ray benefited in the long run.
At least the shop was busy and I made some good sales to the Friday-night crowd. Time flew by so I was surprised when the phone rang and I noticed it was two o’clock already.
“Rafe? What’s up?” I knew this was closing time at N-V. He had to be really busy.
“Trey’s not back from his break. He left with Penny an hour ago and now he’s late. This isn’t like him, Glory. He knows I need him here for closing.” Rafe shouted at someone in the club. “Hang on.”
I could hear noise in the background as Rafe issued orders. Trey and Penny late. Surely they hadn’t . . .
“Okay, I’m back. I can’t leave but there’s a place not far from you where the shifters here like to hang out. The green belt along Town Lake. Can you go check it out? Trey’s not answering his phone. Maybe you could try Penny’s first.”
I looked around and seemed to be alone. “You don’t think the demons bothered them, do you?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past them. But they can’t do harm, just make their propositions.”
“Are you sure? Alesa didn’t abide by that rule. She attacked me when she was here. I also have a pair of ruined boots that proves they play fast and loose with the ‘do no harm’ clause. Damn it, Rafe, if they try to lure Penny to the dark side . . .” I hurried into the back room and grabbed my purse. “Where’s this place?”
“A few blocks over, the park that runs between First Street and the lake. You can’t miss it. Shift and you’ll see it from the air.” Rafe cursed. “If I could get away, I’d do it myself, but Nadia’s out of town and I have to be here.”
“I get that. I can handle this.” I stuffed my keys and a credit card in my pants pocket, then left my purse in the back room. When you shift, you really don’t want to deal with baggage.
“Thanks for calling, Rafe. I’ll let you know what I find out.” I shut off the phone, tried Penny’s number and got her voice mail. Not a good sign. I stuffed my phone into another pocket in my black jeans and hoped my blouse covered the bulges.
Damn it. The last thing I wanted to do right now was to confront a pair of demons. With luck, this was just Penny and Trey getting too friendly, too fast. I could understand that. The vampire libido and I were well acquainted. I’d already put on that cami and my bra was in the back room. Yeah, I was living on the edge, Glory-style. I’d let the girls loose for Jerry, but Ray would undoubtedly appreciate the view too.
I told Erin I was taking off and asked her to have Ray’s driver wait if I ran late. Then I headed out the back door. I was thrilled that no paparazzi were waiting to ambush me as I stepped behind the stinky Dumpster and shifted. I flew toward First Street just a few blocks away, staying close to the treetops once I saw the water. The lake here near downtown looks more like a river and they’d made a park out of the green belt on both sides of it. A small group of people clustered near the Congress Avenue Bridge, known for its bat colony. Maybe Trey had decided to show that to Penny.
I flew down for a closer look. No, I knew immediately from the smell that these were mortals and they weren’t into bathing. I flew along the water’s edge until I saw another group under some trees. Okay, now this looked promising. As I got nearer, the sugary smell hit me and I screeched.
“Guess we have company.” Spyte frowned at me as I landed and shifted.
“You bet you do. What the hell is going on here? You are supposed to leave my friends alone.” I saw Trey, frozen in place, but he blinked at me in a silent plea to get him out of there. Penny was rooted to the ground, but obviously had the use of her hands and head.
“Glory, these creeps think I’d be interested in their work. Can you believe it?” Penny growled at Caryon, who managed to look bored.
“It was worth a shot. You had such spunk the other night I figured you’d make a good harvester for us. I admired how you bit me.” He smiled at me. “And we’ve got Glory working for us now, so anything’s possible.”
&nbs
p; “No! Glory, you’re working for them?” Penny’s eyes widened. “He’s got to be lying.”
“I’m only getting one really rotten soul for him. To save Rafe from boiling in oil or whatever nasty things they might do to him.” I stalked up to Caryon and poked him in the chest. “I told you to leave my fledgling alone.”
“And I do what you tell me to, why?” He flicked me with a look that made my skin crawl. “What are you going to do to me?”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, you know. When Alesa was stuck in me, I learned what gave her heartburn. How’d you like a Bible verse marathon? Those give these losers migraines, Penny. And they really hate the ‘G’ word.” I glanced at Penny. “You got one for him?”
“Sure. Twenty-third Psalm. The Lord is my—”
“Not that again.” Spyte covered his ears. “Didn’t take this girl five minutes to figure out how to hurt us. She’s been saying that one over and over again ever since we showed up here. The girl’s a Bible-spouting torturer.”
“Oh, I’ve got thousands of them.” Penny grinned. “But ‘Fear no evil’ seemed to fit the situation.”
“Seems like you’re wasting your time, fellas.” I glanced at Trey. “And what about the shifter here? Did you proposition him too?”
“Of course.” Caryon grimaced. “Seems he’s just as good as the rest of your friends. No fun at all. Didn’t even cry when we set his tail on fire.”
“His tail?” I glanced from Trey to Penny.
“We were shifting. He was a fox.” She flushed. “I was a hound chasing him when the saccharine Satans dropped by.”
“But he turned them down.” I smiled at Trey. “Now that makes me happy. Let him go, Caryon. He needs to get back to work.”
“Whatever.” Caryon flicked his wrist and Trey was free.
“You son of a—” Trey lunged for the demon, but I got between them.
“No, just take off. Go back to the club and help Rafe close. I’ve got this. Penny and I have an appointment in a little while anyway. Date’s over.” I felt Trey’s anger vibrating through him. “Please. If you get into it with these two, you’ll only make it worse on all of us.”
“Penny? You want me to stay?” Trey turned to her and took her hand. Her feet were still firmly planted.
“Thanks, Trey. I’m so sorry you were caught up in this mess.” Penny glared at the demons, then at me. “Not anything else you can do here. Go, save your job. You’ve been absolutely great about this.”
“Call me later, please. Let me know how you are.” Trey leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.
Penny flushed. “Sure. Take care.” She watched as he shifted and flew off into the night. “Wow. He really is a nice guy.”
“Gag me.” Spyte staggered like he was going to fall down as he held his stomach. “Where do you find these creatures, Glory, Penny? Wimps R Us?”
“He’s no wimp. When you surprised us, he would have torn you apart if you hadn’t paralyzed him.” Penny glared at him. “That’s such a cowardly way to deal with people. Makes me realize who the real wimps are here.”
“Penny, why don’t you just be quiet so we can get out of here?” I put my hand on her shoulder. She was right, but that didn’t mean we were going to stand around and trade insults with these demons all night. So far they’d just talked. But I still had a pair of ruined boots to remind me they could do worse. And Alesa had almost ripped me to pieces in my shop when she’d arrived in town. Murder was definitely in their playbook.
“Fine.” Penny lifted her chin. “Let me loose so we can leave or I’m singing ‘God Bless America’ again.”
“There’s an incentive to hurry. The girl’s got the pipes of an orangutan in heat.” Spyte waved his hand. “I’m muting her.” And Penny was frozen head to foot.
“What now?” I put my hands on my hips. “I thought you wanted my cooperation?”
“We do.” Caryon smiled at me. “Progress report, Glory.”
I glanced at Penny, who, even frozen, fairly radiated fury and disappointment. With me. I was going to have to fix this with her. Later. I turned to Caryon as he looked significantly at my eyebrows.
“Fine. Progress. I’m calling Simon. He wants a relationship with his son and there are signs it’s badly enough to give up his goddess. If he gets free, it’s on Lucifer to get him on his team. So either of you got any ideas how we can destroy the queen of the energy vacuum pump?”
“You’re thinking of taking out the goddess herself?” Spyte rubbed his hands together. “Bold. We can’t help you with that. Rules.”
“Lucifer loved the idea. But he agreed. It’s all on me and my friends. Didn’t seem worried about luring Simon over later. The man’s nothing if not confident of his persuasive abilities.”
Ah. That got a reaction. Cary and Spyte exchanged glances. “Oh? Didn’t you know Luc and I had a little chat?” I smiled. “He’s obviously lost faith in your ability to handle this on your own. Wasn’t entirely happy with what you did to my lashes either, Cary.” At least I’d gotten proficient with the fake ones. No sign yet that my own were growing in.
“You’re lying. Luc would never demean himself by coming to see you.” Spyte nibbled at one of his black claws.
“Oh, he did. Showed me what I’d look like as a size six. Tried to tempt me with all kinds of, ahem, lures. Guess he really wants Team EV out of the way. Or it was just a slow night down at the old torture chamber.” I couldn’t look at Penny now. The memory of what had happened with Lucifer was too raw and even now the temptation was too shameful.
“Read her mind, Spyte. She’s telling the truth. We’re doomed.” Caryon sank down to the grass. “It’s the fiery furnace for us.”
“No, no, no, that’s so last century. Now he does this thing with electrodes and acid.” Spyte shuddered. “Fire would be like a cool bath on a hot summer day.”
“So now you know. Stop harassing me and my people.” I glanced at Penny. “I’ve got places to go, people to see. Keep distracting me and I’ll never get this done.”
“Whatever.” Caryon waved his hand and started muttering about power surges and microchips.
Penny was immediately free, jerking away from me when I tried to touch her shoulder.
“Let’s go.” I didn’t look back as I followed Penny to the street, which was deserted this time of night. She ran toward my shop, cutting through alleys and side streets. I decided that my high heels weren’t going to cut it and shifted, flying over her head, but keeping an eye on her. When she finally got to the shop, she was a little winded, but seemed okay. That is except for her attitude toward me. I ducked into an alley and shifted back, then approached the shop on foot.
“Penny, can we clear the air?” I waved at Erin through the window before we climbed into the back of the limo Ray had sent for us. Paparazzi shouted out questions about where we were going and asked for Penny’s name as they snapped pictures. I ignored them while Penny just got flustered. When the car took off I could see we were being followed. No big deal. I’m sure they’d staked out Ray’s house already.
“How?” Penny glanced at the partition between us and the driver. It was up and we could speak freely. “You spoke to Lucifer. You’re doing the Devil’s work. I really don’t like where this is going.”
“Neither do I, but I didn’t have a choice.” I sighed and leaned back. I needed to call Rafe and let him know we were okay, free and clear of the demons. In a minute. And were we free and clear? Good question.
“According to my grandpa, we always have a choice.” Penny picked at her black jeans. “But I guess I’m undead proof that sometimes we don’t.” She looked up. “This Destiny character is a really bad man?”
“The worst. And he and his followers are the only ones I’m helping the demons with, I swear.” I grabbed Penny’s hand. “Now you swear something.”
“What?” She looked alarmed and I realized I was gripping her too hard. I eased off.
“That you’ll keep an open mind about
Ian. Just because he’s a scientist, don’t jump on whatever he’s offering. If he even offers you something.” I let Penny go. This was so complicated. I couldn’t dictate her life. She was basically an adult. And she needed to make her own decisions. But she was so new to this world. And Ian was so . . . not. He was a master manipulator.
“Can you just relax and let me meet the guy and talk to him without freaking out?” Penny finally relaxed. “Tell me more about him. You took his diet stuff. And it worked. Any idea how?”
“Not a clue. But it gave me nightmares. Can you imagine? During my death sleep.” I checked the supplies in the mini-fridge in the space in front of us. Oh, yeah. High-quality synthetics in every blood type. I picked out two bottles of AB negative and handed one to Penny.
“Nightmares? When dawn hits, I’m dead. No dreams. Nothing.” Penny twisted off the cap from her bottle, took a sip and sighed with pleasure. “Mmm. This is the good stuff.”
“Only the best for Ian MacDonald. And, yes, that’s exactly what happens. Dawn hits, we die. You heard me, we call it the death sleep. So when I suddenly got nightmares after four hundred years, I couldn’t believe it.” I savored the taste of that superfine synthetic for a moment. “They were horrible. Terrifying.”
“Interesting side effect. What did Ian say about it?” Penny was obviously fascinated.
“Oh, he wanted to study me. Turn me into one of his personal lab rats. Claimed none of his other diet patients had ever experienced the same reaction.” I was having trouble slowing down on this delicious drink but I knew these were the only two bottles of this type in the fridge.
“Yes, you were an anomaly then. He’d want to know why. Did you at least let him have a blood sample?” Penny had already gulped down her bottle and set the empty in a drink holder. Typical newbie lack of control.
“No, I didn’t. He and Jerry have issues. An old clan feud. I couldn’t cooperate with Ian on anything, not with a war about to break out. Speaking of, I’ve got to call Jer and let him know where we’re going.” I pushed the call button for the driver and got Ray’s address, then pulled my cell out of my pocket.
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