Tall, Dark & Fangsome

by Michelle Rowen

  “You obviously don’t know my mother very well.”

  I thought I knew what Gideon wanted. Now that he knew my search for a curse solution had fallen through, he figured I was desperate enough to give him the Red Devil in exchange for that grimoire.

  He was right about that.

  I didn’t know the guy. Maybe he was evil. Maybe he did deserve to end up on the wrong side of Gideon’s stake.

  Then again, maybe he didn’t.

  That teeter-totter style of thinking wasn’t going to get me de-cursed. I twisted my fingers through my chain. I needed more time to figure everything out. I’d have to put him off a bit longer. As long as I could.

  * * *

  I tried to have a nap after George dropped me at home and then went to his job interview. I couldn’t sleep. No big surprise. The events of the day repeated over and over in my brain like bad Mexican food.

  So I paced. And I watched TV. And I researched stuff on the Internet.

  Vampires didn’t get common colds. It was very good to know.

  Then I tried to find out as much as I could about Gideon Chase. There was lots of information and some very flattering pictures with him and a variety of arm candy at movie premieres and fancy restaurants. He gave money to charity. He bankrolled wings of children’s hospitals.

  He was a freaking hero. At least, on the surface.

  I had to dig a little deeper to find any references to his even being associated with the vampire-hunter organization. Most regular web surfers wouldn’t pay any attention to that at all, considering 99 percent of the world was ignorant or in denial of vampires existing outside Hollywood. They might think it was just a rumor—much like my nickname of Slayer of Slayers. Or that vampires were completely fictitious. To them, Gideon Chase was simply a billionaire—a rich, handsome dude who liked to travel and have fun.

  Now he was—as far as everyone in the rest of the world believed—dead.

  And about to be resurrected as a vampire in two days, courtesy of me.

  I could totally sell the film rights if I lived long enough.

  Amy obviously got the message that I’d been looking for her earlier because she called me late in the afternoon wanting to meet me for coffee. Since I didn’t have any plans aside from my eight o’clock meeting with Gideon, I decided to stop obsessing about my problems and meet up with her.

  I dragged my butt to a place called Bodacious Bean, a local Starbucks rip-off that had a mighty fine Colombian hazelnut blend. Amy was already there, sitting at a table in the corner of the café. She had a moccaccino and a piece of banana bread in front of her.

  Another vampire fact: Some vamps could eat solid food without wanting to immediately vomit out all of their internal organs. Other vamps, like me, didn’t have that luxury.

  Amy could eat anything she wanted. And she usually forgot that anyone might be different from her.

  “Banana bread?” she offered.

  I waved a hand. “No thanks.”

  I sat down across from her and slid my sunglasses up to the top of my head. The always busy Yonge Street was the view from the window, and it looked like your average bustling, chilly Sunday in late February.

  She seemed as if she was attempting a smile, but failed. Her mouth seemed to be stuck in Downward Dog. “How are you, Sarah?”

  “You sound a bit melancholy. Your manicure didn’t go very well?”

  “It was fine.” She looked down at her airbrushed French manicure with her ring finger sporting both a ring with a tiny diamond—courtesy of Barry—and a tiny airbrushed bat on the nail itself. “Barry said you stopped by.”

  “I’m surprised he’d even mention it considering how much he hates my guts.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know why he’s so cranky lately.”

  “Lately?”

  “He said that Thierry was there when you were there and you looked extremely unhappy about that.”

  “He said that?” I took an awkward slurp of my coffee.

  She nodded gravely and I frowned at her. What was up? She was far from her bubbly blond self today.

  There was silence for a long time.

  Amy let out a long, shaky sigh. “I’m worried about you.”

  My eyebrows raised. “Moi?”

  She nodded. “I know you’re trying to convince everybody that you’re okay, but I can see that you’re not. Sarah, we’re friends. You can’t lie to me.”

  This wasn’t starting off very well. “I don’t know what you mean. Everything’s fine and dandy. Wonderful, really.”

  “I know that you said you were the one to break things off with Thierry, but that’s not true, is it?”

  I felt sick. Was I so bad a liar that I couldn’t even convince Amy? I loved her to death, but she wasn’t the brightest star in the sky. She normally accepted news as it was presented to her, with no questions asked. I’d told her that I’d finished things with Thierry and she’d believed it. Been happy for my break from “that miserable jerk.” Those were her exact words, actually.

  “Of course it’s true. I broke it off.”

  “Then why were you over at my house earlier wanting to talk to him?”

  I took a moment to visually scan our general surroundings. Since Gideon seemed to know what I was doing all the time, I was sure he had somebody spying on me right now. But who? The convincingly distracted-looking group of teenagers? The old woman with the double espresso over by the rack of overpriced, hand-painted ceramic coffee mugs? The guy with the seeing-eye dog and the chai latte? He looked shifty. For that matter, so did the dog.

  “I went there to see you, not him,” I explained. “The fact Thierry was there was coincidence only. I can’t help it if your husband happens to be my ex’s slave boy.”

  “I really don’t like that term. I prefer valet.”

  “Right. Well, whatever he is, I didn’t stay very long. Didn’t want to intrude on whatever he, Thierry, and Veronique were meeting about.”

  “It had something to do with the Ring,” she said. “They contacted Thierry recently.”

  The Ring? Very interesting and enough to near-painfully pique my interest. The Ring was the vampire council, based in California, that had representatives spread across the entire world. They’d been interested in me when my Slayer of Slayers reputation came into being.

  I frowned. “I wonder what they want now?”

  “It’s your curse,” she said matter-of-factly. “They heard about it and they wanted to know if you’re a threat to life, liberty, and the vampire way.”

  My eyes widened. “And?”

  “I know Thierry defended you. He said that the curse is a temporary condition and doesn’t reflect on you overall.”

  My hero. “That was sweet of him.”

  “Although he did tell them you’re extremely unpredictable at the moment.”

  Bad hero. “He said that?”

  She shrugged. “That’s what I heard.”

  I’d only met one member of the Ring’s elders before. He’d tried to kill me. Even though he was crazy, it didn’t leave me with a favorable impression of the organization.

  “So that’s why you wanted me to meet you here?” I asked. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m not going to freak. Thierry can handle the Ring, and as long as I have my gold chain I’m not a threat to anybody.”

  Yeah, as long as I keep it around my neck. Forever. A flash of the fledgling’s scared, pale face came to my mind. And the tasty pulse at her throat. I dug my fingernails into the side of the table until my knuckles whitened. Then I forced myself to take a shaky sip of my coffee.

  “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?” she asked pointedly.

  I shook my head. “Amy—”

  “And he’s the one who dumped you, isn’t he? Not the other way around?”

  Oh, it was pointless to try to convince her otherwise once she’d made up her mind. She might not be a Rhodes Scholar, but she was relentless. “You got me. Thierry’s the one who bro
ke things off. I was just trying to save face when I said it was me.”

  She looked distraught by my false admission. “I knew it.”

  “I’m doing what I can. It’s over. It hurts like hell but I’m trying very hard to accept it.”

  I had lied so much lately that I was honestly surprised my pants weren’t literally made of fire.

  “Barry did say he couldn’t believe you would be the one to walk away.”

  “I just bet he did.” I refrained from rolling my eyes. “So, just relax. It’s no big deal, okay? I’m fine. I’m accepting the way things are slowly but surely.”

  “He left you just when things were really difficult… with your curse.” Her expression tensed. “I always knew he was a selfish jerk. First, cheating on his wife with you—”

  I cringed at that. “I wouldn’t exactly call it cheating when Veronique knew and was fine with everything.”

  “Still.” Tears were actually welling in her eyes. “Oh, Sarah, I don’t want to tell you this, but I have to.”

  I leaned over the table and grabbed her hand. “Oh, my God. Amy, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “I… I saw Thierry an hour ago in a restaurant down the street. In fact, he might even still be there. That’s why I called you.”

  “Well, that is shocking considering that he doesn’t eat anything.”

  She shook her head. “He was having drinks with somebody. When I saw who it was—I was so shocked. I never would have guessed it for a million dollars. Sarah—” She let out a shuddery sigh. “I think Thierry may have been having an affair on you while he was having an affair on his wife. He’s a two-timing two-timer!”

  My eye began to twitch. “What are you talking about?”

  “I wasn’t going to tell you but it’s important that you know this. It just proves that he’s a supreme creep and not good enough for you.”

  “You’re saying that you saw him having drinks with another woman?”

  She nodded gravely.

  “And it wasn’t Veronique.”

  She shook her head gravely.

  I cleared my throat. “And it seemed as though they were together together. Not just having drinks, but romantically.”

  Another grave nod.

  “What exactly led you to that conclusion?” I asked stiffly.

  She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. “I have proof.”

  “You took pictures of him?”

  “I’m thinking about getting my private investigator license.” She brightened slightly. “I think I might be good at catching good-for-nothing men in the act of adultery. And I hear there’s some great money to be made in that field.”

  I wasn’t sure why I found it hard to believe. She regularly sent me pics from clothing store change rooms to get my opinion on new outfits. Why would this be any different?

  “You don’t have to look if you don’t want to. I mean, you have gone your separate ways. I just wanted to show you that he’s a cad. An absolute cad, considering who he’s taken up with. And if you’re still upset about your breakup, you shouldn’t be.”

  I didn’t believe a word. Especially when that word was as outdated as “cad.” Thierry wouldn’t do this, would he? No. Of course not. We might not agree on absolutely everything—to say the least—but he loved me. We’d been through too much together for him to casually start a new relationship in the midst of this mega crisis in our lives. I trusted him with every fiber in my being.

  Sarah + Thierry.

  True love forever.

  But, still. It wouldn’t hurt to have a quick look.

  “Show me,” I said tightly.

  She scrolled through the menu and then handed me the phone. I stared down at the first picture, then went to the next. Then the next. And the next.

  Thierry was having drinks inside an upscale restaurant, right near the window, which was why Amy got some good shots.

  There was a picture of Thierry laughing.

  Uh. Laughing? That was so unlike him.

  Another of him reaching across the table to take his companion’s hand.

  Another of him… kissing… her… hand.

  My jaw clenched.

  Another had him actually leaning across the table… and… kissing… her… on… the… mouth.

  My vision went a bit red at that one and my heart slammed against my rib cage.

  The woman was smiling widely, obviously enjoying herself. One photo showed a clear shot of her face as she glanced out the window.

  “Can you believe it?” Amy said breathlessly. “I thought she was engaged to be married. That skank! That sneaky blond skank ho!”

  I recognized her immediately. There was absolutely no doubt who Thierry appeared to be blatantly romancing in the pictures.

  “It’s Janie Parker,” Amy said with obvious disgust and outrage. “Can you effing believe it?”

  I couldn’t. I really effing couldn’t.

  Janie had recently been my bodyguard, hired to protect me from hunters due to my unfortunate and false reputation. In the end, I learned she’d been lying about who she was, and that she was actually a freelance mercenary who wanted revenge on me for killing her crazy hunter brother in self-defense—which is where my Slayer of Slayers rep had originated.

  She’d redeemed herself by saving my butt in the end, but we definitely weren’t BFFs. The last I’d heard, she was engaged to another friend of mine, Quinn, after a super-fast romance that took even me by surprise.

  Quinn used to be a vampire hunter, but he’d been turned into a vampire and had had a very difficult time dealing with that transition. To put it extremely mildly. I considered him a very good friend, although he’d originally wanted more from me than friendship. I tell you, if I hadn’t fallen hard for Thierry, Quinn would have gotten more. Even though as a hunter he’d tried to kill me a couple of times, he was a good guy. And damn hot, too.

  He’d left town. Janie had left town. And I heard that they’d hooked up, which surprised me on many levels. The last I’d heard, they were going to come back here to get married.

  By the look of Janie macking on my man, I’d say those plans were canceled.

  I was going to kill her. And him. Not necessarily in that order.

  But, no. No. There had to be more to this.

  Thierry had suggested “seeing other people for appearance’s sake” last night, hadn’t he? How it would help to convince Gideon that there was nothing between us anymore and that I’d definitely followed through with his explicit order for us to break up.

  If there was one thing I didn’t have the time or patience for at the moment, it was being part of some lame vampire soap opera in the making. But I had started thinking that dating others might throw Gideon off our scent, so to speak.

  I wondered if the pictures of him and Janie had anything to do with making everyone think we were definitely seeing other people. But if Janie was with Thierry right now, then I wondered where—

  “Hey, Sarah,” a male voice over my left shoulder said. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  I recognized that voice. And so did Amy. She looked past me with a shocked expression, which slowly turned into a wide and bright smile before her gaze moved to me again.

  “You sneaky little devil,” she exclaimed. “Of course! This all makes sense now. Why didn’t you tell me you were back together? This is so wonderful!”

  A man slid into the seat next to me. “Sarah likes to keep her secrets, doesn’t she? But yeah, Amy, we’re together and never been happier. Make sure you tell absolutely everybody you know, okay?”

  She was already keying in a text message on her cell phone. “Way ahead of you. George is going to go ballistic when he hears about this. Ballistic!”

  I slowly turned to look at Quinn. The shock at seeing him again out of the blue like this was enough to knock me completely speechless.

  Chapter 6

  Quinn looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him, which, since i
t was only a month ago, wasn’t surprising. He had dark blond hair, vivid blue eyes, and a very attractive boyish charm about him even though I knew he was now forever thirty. He dressed casually in faded blue jeans and under a black leather winter jacket he wore a green T-shirt that fit his muscular frame perfectly.

  I was used to seeing him rather unhappy and angsty, but today he had a smile on his face wide enough to partially reveal his fangs.

  “You look gorgeous, Sarah,” he said, and then before I could say a word in reply or greeting, he leaned forward to kiss me.

  My eyes widened and I heard a clicking sound as Amy took our picture.

  He looked at her. “Good to see you, too, Amy.”

  “Ditto.” She was beaming. “You have no idea how happy I am right now. I always thought you and Sarah were perfect together. I was totally on Team Quinn. It’s good to see she finally clued in to who her real Mr. Right is.”

  “You’re obviously very savvy when it comes to love,” he told her. “That’s definitely what I like most about you.”

  “When I heard that you were getting married to Janie—”

  He waved a hand. “Rumors.”

  Her forehead creased. “But you told me yourself. When you called a couple weeks ago, remember?”

  “Oh, right.” He coughed. “Uh… let’s just say that Janie and I had a change of heart. It happens. No hard feelings on either of our parts.”

  “Awesome.” She slid the phone back into her bag. “Well, somebody’s feeling like a third wheel. I’m going to take off and leave you two lovebirds to it.”

  “Um…” I began awkwardly. “Wait a minute, Amy—”

  Quinn reached down to take my hand in his and he squeezed it. “We’ll see you later, Amy. Thanks for taking care of my angel while I’ve been gone.”

  She grinned. “No problem!”

  She left with a few more excited glances over her shoulder at the two of us.

  “She’s sweet,” Quinn said after she’d left the café completely. “A natural blond, right? You should probably keep an eye on her in the future. Wouldn’t want her to hurt herself.”

  “Quinn—”

  “Come on.” He stood up. “Let’s go for a romantic walk outside, shall we?”