"Why are you walking your dogs at two in the morning anyway?" she asked.
"It's a favor for someone." Seamus gripped the mess and picked it up. A big favor. He quickly turned the bag around and tied it off. Now he had a warm plastic bag dangling from his fingers.
And his cell phone was ringing. He pitched the bag in the trash and wondered if Cara was worth this kind of aggravation. Maybe he should just let her leave like she wanted to.
The caller was Ethan. He pushed the on button. "What's up?"
"Come to my office, please. Cara had a little run-in with your friends from the alley."
Seamus went stone cold. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine. Just a little shook up. I have two guards with her at your place."
"I'll be right up." Seamus shoved the phone in his pocket and tugged on all three leashes. The dogs tumbled all over, turning left and right and nudging each other.
An emotion he didn't quite understand clogged his throat, and Seamus lost his patience. "Line up, boys. Now," he said in a low, firm voice.
Miraculously, they all snapped their heads up at his tone and untangled themselves.
He jogged them back to the casino as fast as he could, letting the Labs go full retriever speed, the Chihuahua traveling in his arms, yipping with excitement. Seamus blew right past the twenty-third floor, where Ethan's offices were. He needed to check on Cara first.
When he opened the door to his place, she was pacing in the living room, looking pale and frightened, but uninjured. "Are you okay?"
She nodded and held out her arms. Seamus was moved that she wanted his comfort. He walked toward her, feeling his heart rate return to normal. Damn, she'd scared the hell out of him. He needed to feel her in his arms, too.
But instead of walking into an embrace, she reached out and plucked the dog out of his arms. She buried her mouth in the Chihuahua's head and closed her eyes with a shudder.
Seamus stopped with his hand halfway to her shoulder. Okay, now he felt like an ass. She wanted the rat-faced dog, not him. And the bodyguards, Michael and Stanley, were unsuccessfully pretending they hadn't noticed. Wonderful.
They were standing on either side of the living room, one in front of the windows, the other by the door that led to the hotel hallway. They were busy studying the floor and ceiling respectively now.
"Can you wait outside, please?" he asked, jerking his thumb in that direction.
"Yes, Mr. Fox." They moved past him with a rustle of clothing and shoe squeaking.
Once they were gone, Seamus took a deep breath and tried to relax. Cara looked fine. That was what mattered. "What happened?"
She opened her eyes, and the fear there cut him deep. "I was just walking to cash out, and he was there in the hall. One of the guys from that night… the one who told me I was pretty. That I would taste good."
Seamus remembered that sick tone to the vampire's voice that night and how it had infuriated him at the time, but he'd been unable to help her since he was battling the other vamp. "Did he say something to you tonight?"
"No. He reached in his coat and pulled out a knife. The bodyguard came from behind…" She gestured with her arm behind her. "And then he knocked the guy down before I even realized what was happening. But the guard said the guy was going to kill me."
It took every conscious effort to keep from throwing his coffee table out through the back window. This seriously pissed him off. He wanted to know who the vampires were and what they wanted. And how he could kill them. No one was going to mess with Cara.
"Hi, Mr. Spockie-Wockie," Cara crooned to the dog. "I missed you." She looked over at Seamus, her expression troubled. "That guy… he smelled, Seamus. Like a sickly sweet sweat odor, but it was extreme. Like he hadn't bathed. It was almost a chemical scent."
She shuddered again and Seamus gave in to his urge and put his hands on her shoulders and drew her against his chest. She didn't resist. In fact, she sighed and laid her head on him, the dog resting between them.
"I'm damn glad you had a guard with you."
"Me, too." She glanced up at him. "I'm sorry I was so stubborn about wanting to leave and go home. I didn't understand."
Hugging her to him, Seamus ran his lips over the top of her hair. It was satin smooth. "It's my fault. I should have explained things better. I haven't exactly done a stellar job of initiating you to vampirism." Something about what she'd said pricked at him. "He smelled bad?"
"Yes. It was disgusting. Like… sick room. Like when my mother died of cancer." She gave another shudder and moved farther into his touch.
Then it hit him. "Drug blood. He's addicted to drugs. I've met a few over the centuries. Opium in the nineteenth century. Heroin and cocaine in the late twentieth century. I haven't met one in a while, but they all have that same medicinal smell to them." Sea-mus absently rubbed her back, wondering how hard it would be to track down information on this guy.
"That would definitely describe the way this guy smelled. So you mean he drinks blood that has drugs in it?"
"Yes. Now we just need to find him and see who sent him."
"Oh." Cara pulled away from him a little. "He's in Ethan's office. The guard handcuffed him and carried him in there."
"They have him now?" Seamus squeezed her waist and turned toward the door. He was looking forward to having a little talk with the man who had tried to harm Cara. His fists clenched in anticipation, "Stay inside. Michael and Stanley are outside your door. Don't let anyone but them in until I get back."
She grabbed his arm. "What are you going to do?"
"Just what I said. Find out who sent him."
"Be careful. Don't talk to him alone."
Seamus studied her face, saw the fear written plainly there. He felt a smile tugging at his lips. "Why, Cara, I almost think you care what happens to me."
Her mouth pursed. "I just wouldn't want to live with the guilt if you got decapitated."
Seamus laughed. "We'll talk when I get back. I think it's important you understand what's going on with the election and what happened to Kelsey."
"Okay. I'll be here."
Both Labs nuzzled against her knees and she held Satan tightly. She looked vulnerable and beautiful. Seamus leaned forward and kissed her lightly, just brushing his lips over hers. He moved back immediately so he wouldn't be tempted to take more. "Be safe."
Ringo stepped into the dancers' dressing room at the club.
"You can't be back here," a woman said, assessing him over her shoulder as she pulled on spiky shoes. She was wearing little else but the shoes, and Ringo allowed himself an appreciative glance up and down.
"I'm just looking for a woman, she dances behind the screen. Will she be here tonight?"
"What do you want to know for?" Her forehead wrinkled in a frown.
Ringo smiled, probing into her mind. He wasn't that skilled at mind control, but this woman had wide-open thoughts. He caught concern and caring for her friend, suspicion of him.
She was an attractive woman, lush, but still thin, her blood flowing steady and calm. Not a panicker, this one. And since he'd had such a delicious taste of Donatelli's Katie, Ringo had a sudden urge to repeat the experience with the stripper in front of him.
But first he had to get the information he needed. "I'm looking for someone to do a private party and I saw her dance, thought she might be interested."
"Cara? Nah." She turned to the mirror, swirled on more lipstick. "Cara's kind of a prude for a stripper. She likes to hide behind that screen. Besides, she just got hit by a car and she hasn't been working all this week. She should be back next week, but I doubt she'll do it. Like I said, she's funny about shit like that."
So Cara was expected back at work in a week.
Ringo stared at the stripper's backside, pointing enticingly toward him in a thong. Modesty didn't seem to be a concern for this woman. He stayed by the door, so the mirror wouldn't capture his lack of a reflection. "Know anyone else who might be interested? I'm offering five grand for two hours."
She dropped the lipstick. Her suspicion of him disappeared. "Five thousand for two hours? For just dancing or for other… stuff?"
"Just dancing."
"I'll do it. I'm Dawn, by the way."
"Pleasure to meet you, Dawn. Trust me, I'll make this worth your time." Ringo had no intention of hiring her for anything, but the offer had erased her reticence. "Though I'd offer triple if you and your friend Cara could dance together. Strip each other."
Her eyes lit up with greed in the mirror and, Ringo suspected, arousal. "I can call her. Won't hurt to ask."
"Not at all. Maybe if we stop over her house with a little cash advance, we can be even more persuasive." Staying to the left, away from the mirror, Ringo slid his hand over her bare ass displayed so prettily for him.
"We could do that."
He squeezed her flesh, attempted to exert control over her mentally. "But first, maybe we can do a little quick private viewing right now. Show me what you've got so I'm sure I want it."
To his amazement, it worked. She turned and, with a quick snap and pull, removed her panties and bra. Damn. Tear-aways. That's what he fucking liked to see. A stripper who was good at what she did. So many of these chicks in Vegas were sloppy amateurs.
Ringo bent down in front of her, taking in her smooth shaven sex. "Very nice." He teased and petted her for a moment, then sank his teeth into her plump lips.
Given her shudder of ecstasy, she liked it as much as Katie had.
Ringo liked it, too. As her hot blood rushed into his mouth, he marveled that he'd been stripped down to nothing but lust and hunger. He was more animal than human now, a selfish base creature, and he'd do whatever he had to to stay in Donatelli's good graces, keep his flow of drug blood coming.
He couldn't go into Carrick's casino, the Ava, himself because he had been captured on their security cameras a month earlier when he'd shot Carrick in the chest.
Smith was incapacitated at the moment, probably sniveling in agonized hunger in his room, something Ringo never wanted to experience. But since Smith wasn't available, and Ringo couldn't do surveillance, Williams had been left to head into the casino and watch Carrick and company.
Williams had the intelligence of bran flakes, but all he had to do was watch what was happening over there.
Ringo would find and take care of the girl.
He sucked harder, feeling the dancer's leg lock tighter around him, the first tremors of her orgasm rippling. Moving with vampire speed, he stood up and thrust inside her, setting her to screaming in pleasure.
He'd take care of Cara, but first he'd finish taking care of Dawn.
"Ethan, listen to this." Alexis stormed into her husband's office with her cell phone in hand. She had just listened to her voice mail and thick fear had wrapped around her stomach, her heart, her brain.
"Alexis, dearest, I'm in the middle of something." Ethan leaned back in his wide leather desk chair, giving the appearance of relaxation, but she could see the tension in his shoulders.
She was feeling pretty damn stressed herself, and she didn't really care that there were two bodyguards standing in front of Ethan. This was going to take two seconds.
"Just listen to this." She stuck the phone to his ear and pressed 4 to repeat the message. She knew what it said. Her sister Brittany uttering her name in a whispery raggedy voice. Then nothing.
Ethan's eyebrow went up. "Brittany? When did this message come in?"
Alexis yanked the phone back and listened to it again, just to further her torture. Brittany sounded so frightened, so unlike her. "An hour ago. My phone must have rung while I was in the bar. The music was loud and I guess I didn't hear the ring. But I'm going over there, Ethan. Something's not right."
She expected him to get up and accompany her to Brittany's apartment. But he just nodded. "Zeke will go with you."
One of the two guards immediately moved toward the door and stood beside her. "You're not coming with me?" That both surprised and hurt her.
Ethan shook his head. "A vampire tried to kill Cara as she left the casino tonight. We have him in custody and I need to turn him over to the proper authorities."
Alexis gasped. "Is Cara okay?"
"She's fine. Just shook up. But we need to get this taken care of."
She should freaking hope so. "Who do you turn him over to? I didn't know there were vampire cops."
"More like a tribunal. Please call me when you get to Brittany's so I know you're both all right."
Alexis recognized that look on his face. She stopped, walked over to the desk, and gave him a quick kiss. "It's damn hard to have to worry about someone other than yourself, isn't it?"
"Yes." He cupped her face and gave her a longer kiss. "Listen to Zeke."
Since Zeke never talked, that might be a problem, but Alexis had learned to compromise a little in her marriage. Sometimes it was easier to tell Ethan what he wanted to hear.
"Absolutely."
When Seamus walked in, Alexis was leaving, a worried look on her face. That didn't encourage Seamus. Alexis wasn't known to overreact.
"What's the matter with Alexis?" he asked Ethan the minute the office door closed behind him.
"She got a cryptic voice mail from Brittany and she's headed over to her sister's apartment to check on her. I know Alexis worries about Brittany quite a bit, but in this case I have to admit the message was odd. Brittany just said 'Alex,' then there was nothing."
"You're not going with her?"
"Zeke is. We have an issue in the other room that needs taking care of." He jerked his thumb to his windowless inner office. "We need to turn him over to the tribunal for attempted murder of a vampire."
The words made Seamus's temper flare. "Who is he? Did you recognize him?"
"No. But he's young, a half-century or so. Definitely American. He's not talking, but I suspect it's more because he doesn't know anything than due to loyalty. And he's an addict. Within a few hours I imagine he'll be going into withdrawal.'"