Texas Hold 'Em (21 page)

Megan had switched from looks to stomping on my foot in her attempt to shut me up.

“I’d like to say I was retired, but given what I’m in town to do…”

“You’re in town to kill Christian,” Marie said, understanding dawning across her features.

“That’s the general idea, yeah. I might have been inclined to report him to the vampire authorities or whatever and let you guys deal with him, but he went and kidnapped my mom. That altered my agenda.”

Megan gave up on kicking me and, judging by the crossed arms, furrowed brow, and intense stare, was now trying unsuccessfully to will me into shutting up.

“What about his family? He has been a busy little bee these last two decades. He has lots of hangers-on. Do you plan on killing them as well?” Marie tilted her head and studied me as she waited for an answer.

Things had happened too fast for me to remember how many of them had survived the ranch, but I didn’t think it was many. Still, Sylvia hadn’t been at the ranch. I supposed there could be more vampires that I didn’t know about. Still, it didn’t matter. Christian had my mom.

“I suppose I have to. They’ve killed a lot of people. Besides, if I don’t, with my luck, the vendetta will go on in perpetuity.”

Megan still sat turned toward me with her arms crossed. Her glare was epic, and I could almost make out fumes rising from her temples.

Marie pursed her lips. “That’s awfully callous of you. Some of them might be okay, you know. And here you want to go killing everyone before finding out which is which. Throwing out the good apples with the bad is never smart.”

She had a point, but what option did I have? I was going to have my hands full dealing with Christian; how could I sort through his various minions at the same time?

“Somehow I doubt I’ll get the chance to figure out which ones are which. In my experience, once the fighting starts, it gets kind of difficult to tell who deserves what.”

“So you have a lot of experience then? Killing vampires?” Her brows had risen slightly and she leaned forward.

“Some. I mean, only a little. They all deserved it,” I hedged, beginning to sense at this point that maybe Megan had been right about my keeping my mouth shut.

Marie looked from me to Megan, then back again. “Like, wow, so let me get this straight. You’re a vampire hunter, with a vampire girlfriend? That’s messed up.”

“Don’t forget the smoking hot werewolf. He’s got one of those too,” volunteered Bryan.

“You know, it doesn’t sound like you’re one hundred percent committed to your vocation,” said Marie. She sat back and tilted her head in consideration.

“I’m done with hunting. A certain brunette has made me see the error of my ways, and I will be one hundred percent committed to making up for past transgressions with her once Christian is dead. And that’s not far off. Christian won’t be surviving the week.” Megan melted into a smile, forgetting for a moment that I had told the locals I was a hunter, and that Toni was also a brunette.

“If you say so, but we’re out of time today,” said Marie.

“The dingbat’s got a point. If we don’t get the vampires back to the hotel soon, I’m going to have to get the interior of this van detailed before returning it,” Lacey said, pointing to the clock on the dash. It was almost six.

“Do vampires stain upholstery?” I asked.

“All depends on what you’re doing with them,” said Marie with a smile.

It was mid-afternoon by the time I woke up and called Jacob. I wanted to let him know we had a line on where my mom might be. I hoped he could dig up some information on the hotel. As annoying as Jacob could be, his advice was sound and I didn’t want to make a habit of rushing into places blind.

Jacob was a little skeptical of my information, unsure how I managed to track down Christian before he did, but he assured me he would look into the Holiday Inn and get back to me before sunset.

Lacey joined me in the hotel lobby as I was hanging up.

“Everyone still asleep?” I asked her.

“No, that’s why I’m out here.”

“Let me guess—Bryan?”

“And dingbat, yeah. She’s in your room now. The walls are thin.”

“Seriously? Sometimes I wish
I
had no dignity.”

“Why, so you could have done Megan on the floor in front of us? Trust me when I say that we are all thankful you have some dignity. But next time let’s get more rooms; this has been a little too crowded for my liking.” Lacey was the one who had reserved the rooms. She had gotten two so Bryan and I could share one and the girls the other. Megan and Lacey were roommates, so I assumed that the overcrowding she was referring to could be entirely attributed to Marie.

“We’ll see if we can grab another one tonight.”

“Or, better yet, let’s lose the dingbat. Maybe you could stake her when no one’s looking—I wouldn’t tell. Speaking of which, you might have to, after what you told her. That wasn’t smart, Chance, letting her know why we’re here. I mean, even you should have the sense not to tell strange vampires that you kill them for a living.”

“You know she’s a plant, right?” I said.

“She looks a little like a stinkweed if you squint a bit in the right light.”

“I mean a spy. Do you actually think any woman could fall for my brother?” I gave her a sideways glance as I said it.

“Maybe; I don’t know. Do you really think so?”

“You’ve seen him. He’s an idiot.”

“No, not Bryan. He’s not that bad. I mean Marie.”

“Well, it was certainly a coincidence that she ingratiates herself with my brother, decides to follow us around, and then happens to know where Christian has been hiding. What I’m wondering is, who is she spying for— Christian or Reginald?”

Lacey ignored my question. “You know, you’re right! Seriously, did you see the way she latched onto him at the club? I mean, could she be any more obvious? And now she thinks because she’s banging Bryan, she can tag along with us everywhere we go and report to her undead overlords, and we wouldn’t catch on?”

“I suppose she figured that she’d attach herself to one of us, be as unassuming as possible, and hope we wouldn’t notice the extra vampire hanging around. It’s not a bad plan, really. I might have bought the act if it wasn’t for her aura.”

“Why? What’s wrong with it? You’re getting a serious evil vibe, am I right?”

“I don’t get good or evil. All I get is species and a rough idea of power. And that’s the kicker. Her aura is strong. I mean, really strong.”

“The bitch lied about her age, huh?”

“Don’t most women? But in this case, it’s the order of magnitude that has me worried.”

“So she wasn’t born in fifty-two.”

“Oh, I think fifty-two might be accurate; she simply neglected to include the century. She’s old.”

“That’s not good, Chance. Exactly how old is she?”

“A lot older than Megan, but younger than Christian. Maybe Donovan’s age? Give or take a century. I’m not sure, it’s not an exact science. Honestly, before I met you guys, all of the vampires I came across fell into the weeks-old category.”

“Terrific. Well, for what it’s worth, I’m voting the tramp is one of Christian’s. I agree with your point: it is a little too convenient that she shows up and just happens to know where Christian is. She’s leading us into a trap.”

“That’s why I wasn’t worried about telling her why we’re here. She already knows.” Had either of us been thinking clearly, we would have seen the giant hole in our assessment of Marie. As it was, I was too focused on getting my mom back, and Lacey was too busy looking for any excuse to hate on Marie, for either of us to be giving it enough rational thought.

“Well, I still think it was a bad idea to tip our hand. I can’t believe Bryan is sleeping with her! Hasn’t he figured it out?” Lacey said.

I declined to point out that Lacey hadn’t figured it out until I told her. “He’s too busy thinking with the wrong head. And if I tell him, he will do something stupid like immediately confront her and get eaten.”

“I suppose you’re right. So what’s the next move?” asked Lacey.

“Go rescue my mom before it gets dark. I was hoping Marie would still be asleep so she wouldn’t be able to warn Christian we were coming.”

“I assume that’s the fifty-thousand-foot version of your plan, and you’re sparing me all the intricate details on how you plan to pull that off.”

“Um…sure.”

“’Cause I seem to remember last time you ran into Christian, it didn’t go so well for you. Besides, it wouldn’t matter if Marie was still asleep. You’re going to have to wait until dark before you go, anyway.”

“Why the hell what I do that? Trust me, I know better than anyone that vampires can be awake during the day, but an off chance still remains that they’d be sleeping. Plus, if it’s daylight I can get my mom and make a run for it without them following.”

“I thought you wanted to kill Christian?”

“After everything he’s done, believe me, I do. But I’m a realist, and I figure the best shot I have is to find my mom, then run like hell. I can deal with Christian later on, once everyone else is safe.”

“You’re going to have to run fast, considering Megan would be after you, too. Do you know how pissed off she’d be if you up and left again?”

I hadn’t thought about that, but she was right. After the last time, Megan would kill me if I went off on my own.

We had several hours to kill before dark. I had no intention of watching the Bryan and Marie Show so I headed back to the girls’ room, a somber Lacey in tow.

The shower was running when we got in the room and, had Lacey not been with me, I would have seriously considered popping in for a visit. Instead, Lacey turned on the TV and cranked the volume until it more or less drowned out the rambunctious activity in the next room.

The two of us sat watching Scooby-Doo until Megan joined us, scooping up the remote and turning down the volume. That lasted all of thirty seconds, until she cast a glance at the wall behind her and then thumbed the volume button up several clicks.

Needless to say, I was apprehensive when we finally left for the Holiday Inn. I wasn’t happy about waiting until dark. I was even less happy that Marie was tagging along, despite my attempts to get her and Bryan to stay back at the hotel.

I had expected Bryan would have jumped on the opportunity for more “alone” time with Marie, but I was wrong. He reminded me that she was his mom too. I’m sure part of it was that. I’m also sure part of it was that he wanted to look like the hero and show off in front of Marie.

I tried unsuccessfully to think of ways to use Marie to my advantage. If I could somehow spread misinformation through her to Christian, I could catch him off guard.

I hadn’t been able to come up with anything. Now here I was about to walk into another ambush. To make matters worse, the sun had set, and one thing you never do as a hunter is go after vampires at night, especially with a double agent in tow.

Jacob called with his intel before we reached the hotel. It wasn’t much. As far as he could tell, it was an ordinary business, with no secret affiliations to any malignant groups, vampire or otherwise. He’d even gotten hold of the building plans—it had no cellar and no secret rooms, at least according to the public records.

The hotel was downtown, right on the lake that cut through the city. My phone rang when we pulled into the parking lot. It was Kevin, Jacob’s nephew. I was unpleasantly surprised to hear he was waiting for us in the hotel restaurant.

We found him at a table, typing on his laptop. He jumped in his seat as we sat down, having been so engrossed in whatever he was doing that he didn’t hear us approach.

“Kevin, what are you doing here? Jacob is going to kill me if he finds out I brought you with me on a run.” I had spent the walk over trying to come up with ways I could explain it to Jacob, and failing.

“You didn’t bring me; I came on my own. I figured you guys could use some help.” He took a sip of a half-finished glass of Coke.

“How can you help? By making us sit in the middle of a restaurant, where we can be spotted?” I asked.

“You’re the only one they know, Chance. Besides, vampires don’t eat—why would they be in a restaurant? It’s the safest place around.” His logic was hard to argue with.

“I think it was a great idea,” said Lacey, opening a menu. I silently agreed. I did function better on a full stomach, and dinner gave me some additional time to think of ways to send Kevin home.

“You’re new,” Kevin said, as Marie sat down.

“Aw, if only that were the truth. I’m Marie.” She extended her hand across the table, and Kevin shook it.

“Kevin.”

“Hey, bats!” said Megan.

“What?” I asked, turning to look at Marie. For a second I thought Megan had shortened Lacey’s nickname for her.

“Bats!” Megan repeated and pointed. I followed her finger through the wall of windows that lined the restaurant to the bridge that spanned the river. Masses of bats were emerging from under the bridge in columns that spiraled up into the night sky.

“Oh,
those
bats. They live under the bridge. There’s supposed to be a million of them.”

“Cool,” said Megan. We watched the bats pour out into the night in search of food.

“I don’t suppose they’re vampire bats,” asked Lacey.

“No, fruit bats,” I said.

“Ooh, fruit, that sounds good!” said Marie. I glanced at her, but she had motioned to a nearby waitress who came to take our drink orders. “I’d like a white wine. Something fruity.”

We watched the bats for a few minutes longer until Kevin spoke up. “So, Megan, can you guys turn into bats?”

“No.”

“Wolves?”

“No.” She picked up a menu and opened it up, strategically placing it between herself and Kevin.

Undeterred, Kevin addressed his question to the back of the menu. “Do you at least feel an affinity to them?”

Megan lowered the menu. “Kevin, I agree with Chance. I think it would be best if you headed home. Jacob has a narrow enough opinion of vampires as it is. It wouldn’t help if one of us killed you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay here when the action goes down. Christian won’t get me.”