“He missed worse than that.”
“What do you mean, Valdez?” I was glad we lived so close to the mall. A few more minutes and we'd be home, safely locked in.
“I mean, he wasn't aiming at Diana, Blondie. He was aiming at you.”
Valdez put his head over the seat and nudged my cheek.
“He didn't know Diana was vamp. He's got your picture, remember? It was dark. She's blond, you're blond. And about the same size.”
“Oh, God.” I was shaking so badly I had to pull over. No traffic to speak of. If Westwood was following us, I was being pretty stupid. But I didn't want to hit a tree or another car either. I breathed through nausea. I had to drive. Flo couldn't and Diana wasn't in any shape to. I gave myself a minute to melt down, then sucked it up and put the car in gear again.
And I drove, on automatic pilot, as my mind raced. He'd been trying to kill
me.
This was real. Suddenly immortality seemed like the best gift Blade had ever given me. And I was damned if I was going to let Brent Westwood steal it away from me.
We pulled up in the alley and parked. Valdez got out first and sniffed until he gave us the all clear. Then we hurried into the back door, Flo punching in the security code. Diana lived on the third floor. We took her to her own apartment and sat her in a kitchen chair.
“Now I'm not sure this will work. But I do think I can heal you.” Flo pulled off her own sweater and rolled up the sleeves of her green silk blouse. “Just like all of us, I heal fang marks. But I've also taken off scrapes, cuts, minor things before. ” She held out her leg. “I had a bad scrape on my knee when I fell in the parking lot. You saw me limping. See? I touch. I healed.”
“That's amazing.” I was constantly surprised by Flo's powers. It seemed like a new power had shown up every week since she'd moved in with me. Though considering what her brother could do . . . Not thinking about that now. Diana was still bleeding.
Flo pulled the wrapping off Diana's wound. “This is pretty bad. Maybe you should sleep it off.”
“Go ahead and try. What could it hurt?” Diana was really pale. “It already stings like a son of a bitch.”
I walked into her kitchen and got a can of Bloody Merry, popping the top before handing it to her.
“Take a swig. It should help.”
“Good, Glory. Now you watch me. If this works, you will want to know how to do this.” Flo glanced at me and grimaced. “With luck, you won't have to.”
She placed her hands on either side of Diana's arm and pressed, staring down at the wound and obviously concentrating all her energies. “I'm
seeing
it healed. Like we do with fang marks.”
She continued pressing and I thought for a minute that it wasn't going to work.
“Concentrate
with
me, Glory, Diana.
See
it healed. Put your hands over mine.” Flo was using her vamp whammy voice and I couldn't have disobeyed her if I'd wanted to. Which I didn't.
I stared and saw the wound closing. Yep, it really did. Right in front of our eyes.
“Wow. That is so cool.” Diana touched her arm and smiled. “No pain, nothing.”
“You did it, Flo.” I hugged her and blinked back tears.
“
We
did it,
cara.
” She pulled back and looked down at Valdez. “You saved us, doggy. We go home and have dip and chips, yes?”
“Yes.”
Valdez wagged his tail and trotted toward the door.
“You'll hand feed me?”
“You bet,
signor.
” Flo picked up our packages. You'd think none of this had fazed her except that her Italian accent had gotten thicker. “I think our shoes are okay too. A triumph. That Westwood bastard, we beat him.”
I was still shaky. And the sight of my blood-soaked sweater on the table didn't help. I picked it up and dropped it into the kitchen trash can. I stood at the sink and washed my hands. I should take the trash with me. Diana didn't need to see it when she woke. “I'll chuck this mess in the trash bin out back, Di.”
“I'm okay. Leave it there, Glory. I'll take it out tomorrow.” Diana stood and hugged me, then Flo. “Girl power rules.”
Girl power. No. Vamp power. Yes. I'd just seen a miracle with it. I was pumped. I wasn't wasting another day denying my potential. My next night off, Glory St. Clair was starting power lessons.
Flo just looked at me and smiled. “You got it, girlfriend.”
When not dodging arrows, I still had the store to run. The next night I was adding up receipts when the bells on the front door tinkled. Damian.
“Get out.” I battened down the hatches on my mind. No vamp whammy would creep inside tonight.
Valdez barked. Had he read my mind enough to know what Damian had done to me? But I was blocking now. Both of them. And I had the headache to prove it. Valdez just didn't like any man who came sniffing around me. Any man who wasn't Blade.
For a minute I was tempted to let Valdez do his thing. No, I could and would handle this. I gave my dog a mental command and he settled down by the door with a growl. He still kept his eyes on Damian.
“Gloriana,
cara.
” Damian came toward me, hands outstretched. I turned my back on him. As far as I knew vamps had to at least make eye contact to put on the whammy. Of course Damian's power level was off the charts if he could put wild monkey sex in my head.
“You blew it with me, Damian. Give it up.”
“I was playing with you, Glory. Giving you a fantasy.” He came up behind me and touched my shoulder.
“Back off. Do
not
touch me.”
“What was the harm? We played a little game.” He was so close I could feel his warmth, all seventy or so degrees of it. “You were amazing and we had fun.”
“
You
had fun. I should have known you were faking me out.” Oh, I wanted to confront him face-to-face. “Trust me. When I'm in the throes of a screaming orgasm, I don't think how lucky I am this handsome man picked poor unworthy me to be his lay.”
“I never thought you unworthy.” His voice was coaxing. He was trying to whammy me again.
If I stuck my fingers in my ears, I'd just look stupid. I walked over to the radio and turned up the volume. The oldies station was doing a Beatles set. “A Hard Day's Night.” Definitely.
“Gloriana. Of course I would choose you. You are desirable, passionate, all woman.”
“And you are a first-class creep.” Blocking him might not be enough. I didn't trust him not to try to pull another stunt. I got as far away from him as my little shop would allow. Damn it, he was making me look like a fool.
“Let me make it up to you. Please.” He touched me again. Of course he'd followed me. I scooted away from him to sort through a stack of sweaters.
“Not listening.” I refolded a hot pink one, then put it aside. It would look great on Margie and she was supposed to be by later.
“I'm not giving up, Gloriana. Ouch!”
I turned to see Damian take a glancing blow on the forehead from a depression glass bowl before it hit the floor and shattered. Next, a Coach purse hit Damian on the shoulder. For once I was glad my spirits were around.
Get lost, loser.
Harvey in bold letters on the counter.
“What is this?” Damian rubbed his head. A lump was forming. Too bad it would be gone tomorrow.
I grinned. “I have guardian angels, Damian. I suggest you get out before they knock over that bookshelf behind you.”
Sure enough, the shelf trembled. Then three books came at Damian. Direct hits.
“Stop it. I'm leaving.” He leaned down to pick up the books. “Remember my library, Glory?” Grinning, he set them back on the shelf. “I have great respect for books.”
“But not for women.” I shook my head. “You ever put that kind of whammy on me again and I'll personally see to it that every female vampire in Austin gets a picture of your penis. The one the size of my little finger.” I walked over to open the door.
“It is notâ”
“Doesn't have to be. I can get a picture of anything on the Internet. And unless you want to go around with your dick hanging out to prove otherwise, you'll be a laughing stock.”
Damian held up his hands. “You win. For now. Perhaps I went too far.”
“Perhaps?”
“Okay, I did go too far. But I'm not giving up, Gloriana. You saw. We can be great together.”
“Did I say little finger? Maybe I meant little toe.” I laughed at his expression. “Poor Damian and his teenie, weenie, wienie. Enormous in his own mind. How pathetic is that?”
Valdez jumped up and did one of his patented “I'll eat you for dinner” growls. Damian couldn't get out fast enough. I slammed the door behind him then looked down at the pieces of glass on the floor and picked up the purse.
“Thanks, Emmie Lou and Harvey. Next time could you stick to nonbreakables? That guy's not worth the price of the bowl.” I went to the stock room to get the broom and dust pan. Men. Why did I bother?
Thirteen
I'd just swept up the last of the glass when something told me to look up. Blade. And the bells on the front door hadn't made a sound.
“Would you not sneak up on me? I've had a rough night.” I stuck the broom and dust pan back in the storeroom. Valdez greeted Blade like an old friend. Which he was.
“You mean
last
night? When you went shoe shopping?” Blade had no shopping gene whatsoever.
“I guess the furry snitch here told you all about it.”
“Yes.” Blade just stared at me. “You could have been killed, Gloriana.”
“I know.” Oh, shoot, my voice wobbled. Yeah, I was still shook up and being alone in the shop didn't help. Westwood had been in here.
“Come here, Gloriana.”
As if I wanted to resist. I moved into his arms and let him hold me, resting my head on his chest. I could feel his strength. Around me, where his arms wrapped around my back. And inside my mind, where he murmured comforting words.
I didn't cry. But it was tempting. I saw words appear on the wall behind Blade.
Nice catch.
Emmie Lou.
This one's a keeper.
Harvey.
I stepped back and pushed my hair out of my eyes. I needed a haircut. A new hairdresser. Maybe I'd go red. Vamp magic let my hair grow just like a mortal's did. I was a mess. My mind was a mess.
“Glory, you look great.” Blade smiled. “But I liked your hair best when it came down to”âhe reached out to run his fingers down to the tips of my breastsâ“here. And do
not
go red.”
My nipples peaked and I swayed toward him. Wait a minute. Mind reading.
“Could I have a little privacy please?” I looked down at Valdez who stared up at both of us. “Both of you need to stop reading my mind.”
“Yeah, right.”
Valdez trotted over to the door and lay down beside it. I didn't know whether to be glad we didn't have any customers or worried that my business was falling off.
“I like your shop.” Still smiling, Blade headed over to the rack of men's suits. He hadn't missed my reaction to his touch. No way. But he knew me well enough not to push.
“Thanks. I just added the tuxedos and there's a leisure suit I'm sure will end up in Tony's closet if he comes by and sees it.”
Blade had stuck to jeans tonight. Which looked good on him. Very good. He turned and glanced at Valdez. “I understand your business is doing well.”
“Yes.” I wiped my hands on my skirt. Sixties mini with coordinating sweater set. Blue to match my eyes. You'd almost think I knew Blade would be stopping by. Which I'd suspected. No way would Valdez fail to report last night's incident.
“Thanks, by the way.”
“Thanks?” Blade looked at me.
Gee, maybe I'd surprised him.
“For Valdez. I know I complain, but, clearly, he saved my life last night.” I looked at the dog sitting calmly by the door and he blurred. Oh, shit, I was going to cry.
“Glory.” Blade pulled me into his arms again. “Och, now, lass. You're safe.”
“But for how long?” I was getting his shirt wet. A nice shirt. Beige. Snap front. Western.
“We're doing all we can to fight him, Glory.” He patted my back until I stepped away and grabbed a tissue from behind the counter.
“What are you doing? Be careful, Jerry.”
He pulled out the paper Tony had given him last night. “I'm working on this end. Seeing if we can bribe one of Westwood's hired guns. All I need is one unguarded moment.” Blade wiped a tear from my cheek. “The bastard will be stopped.”
“Did you hear about the Kevlar?” I pulled his hand from my cheek and held on to it. “Vests are made of it, for law enforcement agencies. It stops bullets, arrows. Sails are made out of it too. Because of its strength.” Speaking of strength. Blade had some serious muscle in his upper arms. He was definitely bulked up more than Damian.
“I'm supposed to wear a vest? Like I'm afraid to be staked?” Blade shook his head. “That sounds cowardly.”
“No. It's a precaution.” I should have known a Highlander would resist this kind of technology. “Think. You used to use a shield. And body armor. It's the same thing.”
“When you put it like that. But I only wore those things for battle. Not every day in case a danger leaped out of the bushes.” His mouth tightened.
“You did when you were at war. And that's what this is, Jerry.”
Blade looked thoughtful.
“Just think about it. Until we can neutralize Westwood.” I couldn't take my eyes off his mouth. I wanted to kiss him. To compare to last night. Not that there had really been a last night. Just virtual sex with Damian.