Real Vampires Know Hips Happen (30 page)

Fun. Right. I ignored her and turned to Jerry. “When do we have to take care of this favor?”

“Tomorrow night.” He glared at my mother. “Olympia, why don’t you run on out there to MacDonald’s house? You two seemed to hit it off. Maybe you could handle whatever he needs done and spare your daughter the hassle. Tell him you’re doing it for me. I think you owe me that much.”

“
Owe
you?” She lifted a perfect eyebrow.

“Mother.” I leaned forward. “Jerry’s been through hell. His brain almost boiled because of your interference. Yes, you certainly do owe him.”

She acted like she didn’t hear me. “Ian and I did hit it off. He was quite charmed, of course. Most men are when they meet me.” She preened, adjusting the bodice of her stylish leopard print dress to show maximum cleavage and pulling a compact out of her black patent clutch. If she heard Jerry’s snort, she didn’t acknowledge it. When she started to reapply her lipstick, I’d had it.

“Are you going to do it?”

“Really, Gloriana, just because you run around town without even bothering to use a hairbrush doesn’t mean I do.” She snapped her compact closed. “I’ll go see Ian and we’ll discuss what he wants done. Then I’ll see you both tomorrow night. You did promise we’d visit with each other occasionally, Gloriana. Remember?” With that she just vanished, heedless of the mortals all around us.

“What is she thinking?” I glanced around, sure someone would exclaim, say something, point. No one seemed to have noticed. Maybe she’d only been visible to us. I could hope.

“She obviously has her own rules. We are nothing to her, Gloriana. It’s strange that she even wants to bother knowing you. Maybe you’ll explain that to me now that I’m myself
again.” Jerry smiled suddenly. “Here are Florence and Richard. I’m glad they’re here. I never thanked them properly for giving us a ride home on the jet. Or apologized for acting the fool about it.” He stood and kissed Flo’s cheek. He and Richard clapped hands, discussing Jerry’s miraculous and almost fatal recovery.

I tried to perk up and get into the spirit of a celebration, even ran a hand over my hair. Trust my mother to make me feel like I looked a mess. Now I had something new to dread. Tomorrow night. Doing a favor for Ian was bad enough, but when it involved Olympus? It was too much to hope that my mother would fix things and then just go away. No, somehow I’d be up to my eyebrows, which needed a serious plucking, in disaster.

The only thing left to do tonight was to order another drink. I was already feeling a buzz. Then I glanced over the railing and saw Lily dancing with her new male friends. She stumbled then jerked off my shoes and tossed them aside. One landed in a puddle of beer. Okay, that did it. I was out of my chair and halfway down the stairs before Jerry caught up with me.

“Going to dance by yourself?” He laughed and grabbed me around the waist. “Next slow one I’ll be happy to partner you.” He noticed my glare in his daughter’s direction. “What is it? Did Lily do something?”

I stopped and made myself calm down. Starting a war with Jerry’s daughter wouldn’t help anything. I turned and smiled up at him and didn’t that take every bit of my acting skills?

“Lily had on my shoes. Did you tell her she could borrow them?”

He glanced over at her sandwiched between the two men who were taking turns bumping into her with their hips. “She’s barefoot. Hell, I didn’t notice what she wore in here. She said she needed to borrow your hairbrush and went into the bedroom. If she got into your closet, I’m sorry.” He
hugged me. “I know how you are about your shoes. I’ll buy you a replacement pair, even better than whatever she appropriated.”

We both saw one of my black pumps go skidding across the dance floor when someone kicked it. “Not the point, Jerry. I wish she’d asked.” I leaned against him. “Never mind. Lily and I need to talk. And not just about the shoes. Do you care?”

“No. Go for it.” He kissed my cheek. “Ah, a slow song. Come on, dance with me. And I will buy you those shoes. It’s the least I can do if my daughter makes off with yours. I’ll not have a thief in the family.” He pulled me onto the crowded floor. “All right?”

“Sure. Thanks.” I leaned my head against his chest. A thief in the family. If he only knew. Yes, I needed to talk to Lily, but I owed it to Jerry to talk to him first. Yet another thing to dread. He ran his hands down to rest on my hips. Forget dread. I needed to focus now on what was good. I was in Jerry’s arms and he knew me. The music was working on me like it always did and the alcohol had lit a fire in my blood. I was getting anxious to take Jerry home. One night at a time. That was the only way I could deal with my ridiculous life.

Fourteen

The
next night came all too soon. I hadn’t called Ray back yet and had two more messages from him. He was high on my to-do list but first I had my mother and Ian to deal with. Jerry strapped on his knives as usual when we were getting ready to go pay back that favor he owed Ian.

“I don’t have time for this. I need to deal with some business issues.” He slipped a stake into a holster under his arm before he put on a dark sports coat. I hadn’t seen him carry a stake before. Did it have Ian’s name on it? I was afraid to ask.

“I know, neither do I. Can you sit a minute? I hate to bring this up now, when your plate is so full, but I have one more thing to add to it.”

“Now what?” He wasn’t exactly in the mood for another problem. Too bad. This couldn’t be put off.

“Jer, I caught Lily stealing, or trying to.”

“What?” He shoved a knife into his boot. “Explain yourself.”

“Come into the living room. Sit and I’ll bring you some synthetic. I don’t think you’re back to full strength yet.” He looked a little wobbly to me though he shrugged off my hand.

“I’ll do.” He strode into the living room. “You sit and tell me about Lily.”

“I was taking a deposit to the bank. My clerk had warned me there had been robberies lately at the ATMs in town. I no sooner got to the night deposit area than a masked burglar snatched my bank bag. I gave chase of course. I can’t afford to lose even a dollar with the bills I have to pay. Being gone so long really set me back.” I headed for the kitchen to fetch two bottles of synthetic. I remembered he had preferred his warm and nuked his for a few seconds.

“Go on, finish. Where does Lily come into this?” He stood in the doorway, snatching the bottle from me as soon as I pulled it out of the microwave. He took a deep swallow.

“Well.” I headed back to the living room but he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Okay, I’m getting there. Let me sit.” I shrugged away and settled on the couch. I knew he wasn’t going to take this well so I waited until he was seated in the chair across from me.

“I ran down the thief a few blocks away, had to shift to catch her because it became clear immediately that this was no mortal thief.” I sipped my drink. Jerry just kept staring at me. “Anyway, I froze her, with that statue trick I know, and jerked off her ski mask. Imagine my horror when I realized Lily was the thief.”

“Son of a bitch.” He slammed his bottle down on the coffee table and jumped to his feet. “Did you get your money back?”

“Yes, of course. She had no choice. She was paralyzed. I had her dead to rights. And she knew better than to try to get me to promise not to tell you.”

“I should hope so.” He paced the living room and ran a hand through his hair, his go-to move when he was upset. “This is my fault. I left her here without money, no resources.”

“Wait. Hold it.” I was on my feet now. “The woman is four hundred years old. She is able-bodied, more than. Why can’t she work for a living? I sure do. She can mesmerize any
store manager up and down Sixth Street into hiring her. Stealing from hardworking people…” I jumped in front of him when he started a third lap of the living room. “You know as well as I do that it’s dead wrong.”

“Yes, of course. But she expected an allowance from me. I didn’t follow through.” He shook his head. “Damn your mother. This is her fault.”

“I won’t deny she started this. But come on, Jer. Lily showed no remorse when I caught her. She doesn’t have her head on straight. Where’s her moral compass?”

Jerry sat again and picked up his synthetic. “Damned if I know. I wonder if there’s any hope for her.”

“Of course there is. Mara and Mac raised her. Mac was a fine man.”

“Yes, he was. He would have taught her the difference between right and wrong. I’m sure, though, that since he died Mara has let Lily run wild.” Jerry stared down at the floor. “If I’d known…”

“You didn’t. And Lily isn’t a child. Running wild? Please. She chose to keep bad company. I’m wondering why she wasn’t left some kind of trust from Mac. What do you bet Mara made sure
she
got all of Mac’s fortune?”

“That’s something I should look into. Mac’s will, his estate. Though vampires don’t usually bother with those formalities, since he had a child, I’ll bet Mac did.” Jerry looked up. “Good notion, Gloriana. But I’ve got to do something with Lily in the meantime.”

“Can you pretend you don’t know about the thefts? If Lily knows I told you, she’ll hate me. I would like to work with her, try to show her a way to earn her own living. I am sort of an expert on the subject. If she knows I’ve been a snitch, I won’t stand a chance.”

“You’re right about that. No one likes a tattletale.” He stood and pulled me into his arms. “But you
had
to tell me. A parent has the right to know what his child has been up to, especially when it involves breaking the law.”

“I thought so.” I leaned against him.

“Yes, I’ll keep it between us. And start investigating Mac’s records. The MacTavish family may very well have copies of his last wishes. He could have left Mara in charge of a trust for Lily and she’s kept it a secret.” Jerry kissed the top of my head. “Have I told you lately how sexy I find your mind?”

“That too?” I smiled and lifted my face for a better kiss.

“Want to call and cancel?” He said it but I knew he wouldn’t do it.

“Tempting. But this is something I think we’d both like to get over with.” I patted his cheek.

“I can’t cancel but you could stay here, go down and work in your shop. I’ll make your excuses.” He pulled me to him. “Seriously. This is my debt, not yours. I know you aren’t eager to mix it up with your mother again.”

“No, I’m not. But I can’t miss this. My mother won’t help anyone if she doesn’t feel like it. If I don’t show up, she’s liable to just disappear like she did last night.” I smiled up at him. “Besides, Ian asking a favor is unusual enough, but needing Olympus? This is huge. Let’s go see what this is about.”

“Huge is right, Gloriana. You can quit smiling about it. It’s bound to be dangerous.” Jerry put me from him. “If you insist on going, arm yourself.” He handed me a knife. “This can slow someone down. Remember how I taught you to throw it?”

“Jerry, I can freeze people in their tracks now. Just like my mother froze you at Ian’s.” I wouldn’t take it. I hated his knives, always had. “And I can dematerialize unless one of the gods gets involved and takes my powers away.”

“Really? That’s new. Your mother give you that power? Or is that from the Sirens?” He put the extra knife somewhere on his own body.

“Apparently I’ve had it all along I just didn’t know it. It’s an Olympus thing. A gift from the goddess herself. Watch.” I concentrated and poofed. Then showed up again behind him. He whirled when I touched his back.

“I always knew you were an amazing woman, just not how amazing.” He brushed his thumb down my face. “Don’t forget to use it if we get in a tight spot. Promise you’ll be careful. I don’t trust MacDonald and neither should you. The only reason I’m letting you go is that I’m sure your mother won’t allow anyone to hurt you.”

“News flash, Jer. You’re not ‘letting’ me go anywhere.” I tempered that with a smile. “I’m going anyway, even if I have to shift to get out there.” I strutted to the door. “Now I can ride in the car with you or do my bird thing. Your choice. What’s it going to be?”

He watched my hips move then shook his head. “You are really full of yourself, aren’t you, woman?”

“You’d better believe it.” I unlocked the door and flung it open. “Get used to it, Jerry. If we’re going anywhere with our relationship, it will be as partners. Glory the little woman is old news. I’m not meekly obeying your commands again.”

“I can see that.” He walked past me into the hall. “Can’t say I mind it either. Strong women are sexy.” He ran his hand down my hip. I’d worn snug jeans and a scoop-necked sweater in a deep red. “Took me a long time to figure that out and get on board, but I’m there now. Lock the door and let’s go. You can drive.”

“Now you’re talking.” I snatched the keys he tossed me out of the air and used one of them to lock the door. We grinned at each other then headed down the stairs arm in arm. It was about time Jerry gave me credit for holding my own. Because of my new skills? Who cared? The main thing was that he was treating me as an equal. I hadn’t thought I could love him more, but the feeling that swelled inside me and made tears clog my throat convinced me it was possible.