[Venom 01.0] Venom & Vanilla

by Shannon Mayer

  “Okay, but wait, I don’t have your number!”

  I paused, unable to help myself. I gave him Roger’s. “Don’t take no for an answer from him when he tells you I’m not there.”

  “Okay!”

  Laughing to myself, I hurried to my car as the first flickering light of the police car came into view. I slid into my seat and slumped down. From the backseat Ernie peered forward. “You think they won’t notice the car with the silver paw prints they’ve seen at two crime scenes already?”

  I groaned and slumped farther into my chair, the fake leather squeaking like cellophane being rubbed together. A tap on the window brought my head up. Officer Jensen peered down at me.

  I rolled down the window. “Hi, Officer.”

  “Alena Budrene. How am I not surprised?”

  I batted my eyes up at him. Because that was about all I knew when it came to flirting to get my way. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t try to act innocent.”

  Carefully, I reached toward the keys in the ignition. “Officer, I’d love to stay and chat, really. You’re cute and nice, and wearing a uniform, which every girl loves, but I have things to do.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Remo is looking for you.”

  “Good for him.” I turned the key and the car revved. “So unless I’m under arrest, which I’ve done nothing to warrant, I’m leaving.”

  Ernie snickered from the backseat. “I knew you had a spine under that good-girl exterior.”

  Officer Jensen stepped back. “I’m going to keep watching you.”

  I pulled away, waving out the window. “Enjoy the view.”

  With nowhere to go, I headed once more for my bakery.

  “You going to make me something else?”

  I put a hand to my forehead. “No. I’m going to see if I can figure out where the heck Achilles has taken my brother.”

  Easier said than done.

  The bakery had a huge whiteboard, for jotting down notes and new recipe ideas. I wiped it clean and grabbed a marker. Making a quick list, I noted all the TV stations I could. And there were a lot.

  “But a TV station, that doesn’t make sense. There’s no room to fight,” Ernie pointed out. I ground my teeth in frustration, feeling Tad’s life slip further away from me.

  “What do you suggest, then?”

  A sudden rap of knuckles on the door behind us spun me around. I grabbed for the closest thing to me, which ended up being a wooden spoon.

  “That won’t work all that well,” Ernie said.

  I didn’t look at him. “I think it might work on a vampire.”

  “Ooohh, killed with a wooden spoon? A vampire would never live that down.” He snickered at his own joke.

  “Who is it?” I raised the spoon above my head.

  A high-pitched voice that warbled like a bird came through the door. “Hermes. I have a message for the Drakaina.”

  I looked at Ernie. He nodded. “He’s safe enough. Hermes is a neutral party, he has to be in order to deliver messages.”

  I walked to the door and flung it open. Hermes floated in the air, just like Ernie on the same kind of fluffy cream-colored wings. But that was where the resemblance ended. Hermes had bright-white hair that stuck out behind his head in a perfect swoosh, the windblown look resembling a certain brand of shoes rather well. His eyes were blue, and he was at least twice Ernie’s height. But where Ernie was a bit on the chubby side, Hermes was whip thin, and he had more clothes on. A white T-shirt and shorts along with a pair of Nike Air runners. Maybe the resemblance to the hair was on purpose. My lips twitched despite the situation.

  “I’m the Drakaina.” The words echoed in the room, and a curl of pleasure coiled in my middle. Almost as if the Drakaina part of me were sentient and knew that what I’d said had more meaning than just the words. That slowly I had begun accepting what I’d become.

  Hermes pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to me. “From Achilles. You want something sent back, I can wait.”

  I opened the paper and shook my head. “Ernie, I can’t read this. It’s all Greek to me.”

  “Ha-ha.”

  “No, really.” I held the paper up so he could see the Greek words. Ernie flew over to me and read the paper, his eyes skimming it quickly.

  “Not surprising, and it solves the problem of trying to find him. He’s challenging you to a fight. And he’s even given you his location.”

  “Where?”

  “CenturyLink Field.”

  The football stadium? “Wait, the original one or the new one in Bellingham?”

  Hermes bobbed his head. “Bellingham.”

  After the original field in the south of Seattle had burned down in the Supe Riots, they’d built a new one closer to the border, just north of Bellingham. The size of the field, the number of cameras they had there—it would be perfect for what he wanted. It looked as if Yaya was right again.

  I swallowed hard. “Does he say anything about Tad?”

  “Nope. And that’s not good. I hope . . .” His eyes darted to Hermes, who gave a quick shake of his head.

  “Sorry, I don’t know. I just grabbed the message and have been checking all the places the Drakaina has been spotted the last two days.” Hermes scratched the back of his neck and wove from side to side in the air as if he couldn’t remain still. “You sure you don’t have a message I can take back?”

  Ernie took the paper from me and grabbed a pen from my desk. He scratched something in Greek across the backside of the paper. “Here, take this.”

  Hermes snatched the message and was gone in a literal flash of light. The air sucked around us, drawing me toward the door. I shut it. “What did you say to Achilles?”

  “That you would meet him. But only if your brother remained unharmed.”

  I let out a soft breath. “Will he do that?”

  The look on Ernie’s face did not ease my worry. Something between a frown and a twist of his lips. “Achilles is a warrior. They can be unpredictable because they don’t always think but instead just rush in with their weapons out and their shields up.”

  I looked at the clock. We were supposed to meet Zeus in fifteen minutes. It would take us at least that long to get to the club. I itched to go by the stadium and see if I could at least see Tad and make sure he was okay. But even I knew that was silly. No doubt they’d be inside the stadium, not standing outside like a bunch of scalpers at a Backstreet Boys concert. And it was too far to get to Bellingham and back to Charlie’s Club in the fifteen minutes.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll figure this out. Everything will be okay in the end. That’s how these things work, you know.” Ernie flew to my left, so we were eye to eye.

  I snorted softly. “Have you read any Greek mythology lately? A happily-ever-after is about the furthest thing from a guarantee. The good guys don’t always win. The world isn’t always saved. People die, Ernie. I can’t lose Tad again. I lost him once; I can’t go through that again. Besides, if you’ll recall, I’m the monster. Not the good guy. I’m supposed to lose.”

  He flew around to the passenger side of the car. With his free hand he touched his left earlobe and poofed, for lack of a better word. I blinked at where he’d been only a second before.

  Movement inside the car caught my eyes. Ernie waved at me from the passenger seat. Well, that explained that. I slid into the driver’s side and buckled up.

  We headed into the city, and it wasn’t long before I noticed the same vehicle behind us. “I think I have a tail.”

  “Well you have a tail, that’s for sure. I don’t.” Ernie shuffled his butt deeper into the leather seat.

  “No.” I hurried us through a yellow stoplight. “I mean we have someone following us.”

  Ernie spun around and leaned over the back of his seat. “You mean the cop car?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Could just be going our way.”

  I frowned. “I’m starting to believe there is no such th
ing as coincidence. What do you want to bet it’s Officer Jensen?”

  “He is kinda cute. Has that exotic mocha skin and dark eyes.” Ernie grinned over at me. “I could shoot him with one of my arrows. Make him fall for you.”

  “I think not.” Though I did agree Officer Jensen was a handsome man, he worked for the mob boss who was also a vampire, who’d recently kissed me in a way that made every other man look dull and boring.

  Not a mark in Officer Jensen’s favor. “I keep telling you. I’m married. I can’t even think like that until the divorce is final.”

  “Which of course is never going to happen since the courts will treat you as if you are dead,” Ernie said.

  I glanced at him. “I may not have the paperwork started yet, but it is going to happen. You can bet your chubby butt on that.”

  “Except that the human world, where your marriage was performed, considers you a nonentity. If they gave you a divorce, that would be admitting you have rights. That would set off a ripple effect that would go through the entire world. There is no way anyone is going to let that happen. Certainly not a human judge.”

  My jaw dropped, and I inadvertently took my foot off the gas pedal. The car coasted to a stop in the middle of the road, and it wasn’t until the police cruiser pulled up behind me and flicked its lights on that I shook myself out of the paralysis that grabbed me.

  I steered the car over to the side of the road. Behind me, the officer got out of the car. Mocha skin, dark eyes indeed. Officer Jensen approached my window. I rolled it down and forced a smile up at him.

  “Officer, we have to stop meeting like this.”

  “I have a report that this car was stolen from a Barbie Bollinger.” He looked down at his notepad and then up at me. “I want to see the license and registration. Now.”

  “Hey, I thought we were developing a friendship. You know: your boss likes me so you have to be nice.” Oh dear, did I really just say that out loud?

  Officer Jensen’s face went a careful, neutral blank. “License and registration.”

  I didn’t have my license with me. I leaned forward and dug around in the glove compartment. I locked eyes with Ernie and whispered, “I don’t have all the paperwork.”

  He shrugged. “You don’t need it. Make him forget. You’re a damn siren. Use what you’ve got, girlfriend.”

  Use it. Like I’d come with an instruction manual as to being a Super Duper. Well, maybe I had, but I’d left it with Merlin. Dang it all. Then again, it had worked on Steven the receptionist. Kinda.

  I drew in a breath and sat back up. I smiled up at Officer Jensen. “I don’t need a license.”

  He frowned at me. “Yes. You do.”

  “You’re going to let me go and stop following me,” I whispered. He leaned forward.

  “If you don’t produce a license and registration in the next ten seconds, I’m going to haul you down to the station.”

  “Ernie, it’s not working!” I yelped as Officer Jensen opened the door and pointed at me.

  “Who is Ernie?”

  I looked back in the passenger seat. Ernie was gone. Of course he was. I slid out of my seat and stood up. In my heels I was taller than Officer Jensen. I stumbled forward, one of my heels catching in a bump in the road. Jensen caught me with a grunt. I looked up at him, our faces only inches apart.

  I breathed him in, and a strange sensation uncoiled inside me. A feeling as if I could see into Officer Jensen and everything he ever wanted in a woman. The need to be the one person a woman turned to. Different than what I’d done with Steven, but still . . .

  Officer Jensen wanted someone he could rescue and play the hero to her damsel in distress. Someone he could save. I went loose in his arms and let him hold me up.

  His eyes softened and he seemed to be drinking me in. “Alena.”

  “Officer. I have things to do. I need you to let me go.” The words purred out of me. “I need your help.”

  The words vibrated in the air, an undercurrent of tension that wrapped around Officer Jensen slowly, tightening until the hold I had on him was complete. His eyes never left mine.

  “I can help you.”

  “Thank you.” The words breathed out from my lips and into his mouth. He tipped his head as if he would kiss me. I turned my face to the side and the kiss landed on my jaw. “I have to go. You . . .” I was going to tell him to stop following me. But really, maybe having him on my side and with me wasn’t such a bad idea. “You tail me. Make sure no one sneaks up on us.”

  He smiled and gently let me go. “I can do that. I can protect you better than—never mind.”

  “Better than who?” I whispered, weighting my words with that same sensation of wrapping him up. He grimaced.

  “Better than Remo.”

  Well, that was interesting. “I thought he was your boss?”

  “That doesn’t make him good at looking after his people. Especially not the women he chases. You deserve better than him. He doesn’t know how special you are.” He touched my face gently. I stepped away, not liking the direction the conversation was headed.

  “I’ve got to go.”

  “I’ll follow. You can count on me.”

  I backed away, turned, and slid into the car. I slumped into my seat and Ernie puffed back into existence beside me. I glared at him. “Thanks for the help.”

  “Well, there was nothing I could do to help you figure him out without shooting him with an arrow. Which you said you didn’t want me to do, right?” He lifted an eyebrow and I shook my head. I did not want him shooting anyone with his arrows. “I jumped ahead. Zeus is waiting for you at the club.”

  I pulled back into traffic and drove the rest of the way to the club with a police escort. A few minutes later I stopped in front of Charlie’s Club. The majority of the people lined up were men. But not your regular, average-Joe men; no, these males stood out. Men dressed in leather and chains, some with masks on. Others holding long whips and leashes attached to others in the line.

  I turned to Ernie, a slow-growing horror rising through me. A den of iniquity was what I was looking at, and I knew it. “What kind of club is this exactly?”

  “One you’re going to stand out in like a sore thumb.”

  Sore thumb? Oh, if only that were the worst of my problems.

  CHAPTER 12

  After parking the car and making sure Officer Jensen didn’t follow me into the club, I squared my shoulders and put myself into the line. The men around me swiveled to look at me, more than one giving me raised eyebrows and a frown.

  The man immediately in front of me wore nothing but studded leather that included pants, shirt, and a face mask that covered him from his nose down over his chin. “You’re at the wrong club, sweetheart.” His words were remarkably clear considering his lips were covered.

  I stood a little straighter. This was business, and I could do that. “I’m meeting someone, thank you very much.”

  He tipped his head to the side. “You thinking of coming to the dark side?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  He flexed his arms. “I swing for both teams, I’d take you on if you’re looking for company. Show you the . . . ropes.” With a wink he held up a thin line of braided rope, quickly tying it into a complicated knot. “A tall beauty like you is hard to find.” I frowned and he laughed. “Oh, she’s cute when she’s angry.”

  Cute when I was angry? I shot a hand out and caught him around the throat without a thought. I lifted him up off the ground as easily as I’d lift my purse to check for change. “I don’t think cute and angry go together in the same sentence with me.”

  Ernie hooted with laughter while the man I held up kicked his legs and what I could see of his face purpled. The line around us pulled back, creating a perfect circle. But not one of them made a move to help their fellow leather-clad friend.

  “Now you’re getting the hang of this, Alena,” Ernie said.

  I dropped the man, more than a lit
tle horrified at what I’d done. “I’m sorry.”

  He choked at my feet, and rubbing his neck he slid the lower part of his mask off and took a deep breath. A white grin flashed up at me. “You’ll fit in just fine here.” He waved a hand behind him as he stood. “Jimmy, let this one in. She’s going to be fun.”

  I passed him and he pinched my bum as I scooted by. I whipped around and glared. He winked. “I’m just hoping you’re as feisty in the sack and that if I piss you off enough, you’ll give me a shot at that sweet ass.”

  I closed the distance between us, my anger making me bold. I poked him hard in the chest with two fingers, sending him stumbling back into the arms of the others in the lineup. “Not in a thousand years would you have a shot at me, donkey butt.”

  The crowd burst into laughter. “Did she just try to call you an asshole?”

  My fury evaporated under embarrassment.

  Hurrying, I made my way to the front of the line, the men parting down the middle to let me by. The bouncer at the front was shorter than me but about three times as wide. He wore only leather pants and had straps over his chest that strained when he folded his arms. Or tried to fold his arms. They kinda stuck out from his body because of all the bulk.

  “We don’t let women in here. There’s another club down the road—”

  “Let her in, Jimmy! She lifted me up with one hand, and I almost blacked out,” my “friend” from the line yelled. The rest of the men waiting rumbled with appreciation.

  “I’m meeting someone. Business only,” I said, fighting to keep my face blank and not flushed with embarrassment. This was for Tad, I could do this.

  Jimmy looked me up and down. “Doubt that.”

  Irritation flashed through me and I stepped up to him, looking down at his face. “I suggest you let me in, Jimmy. Or you’re going to find out just how honest your friend back there is being. Do not try my patience.”

  A low rolling hiss started up in my chest, and Jimmy backed up a step, his eyes wide. “What the fuck?”

  I didn’t wait for him to offer to let me in. Just strode up the final two steps and into the club before he could pull himself together. As soon as the doors opened, the sound of wild music poured out into the night, the heavy thumping bass accompanied by a tempo that made my blood jump in time. I wrapped my arms around my torso as the music crawled up and down my skin, blocking me from sensing anything other than its rhythm.