1 Dicey Grenor (25 page)

And truthfully, I
wanted him to remember.

When I got back to
Hades, I snuck back in the basement through the private corridor and shut
myself in my room. Still felt strange calling it mine, but I was definitely
glad to have it.

I didn’t waste any
time running my bathwater then plopping down. Soaking in the tub was
therapeutic, relaxing.
Gave me time to think.

Things were
looking up. I had a safe place to stay, a companion—or two companions,
depending on how you counted
Remi
and Aaron—on top of
an interesting place to work, with a resourceful boss and loyal colleagues.
Maybe I’d bested
Saybree’s
warning. Maybe no one was
coming for me after all. Or if they were, they wouldn’t be able to get me. Not
in Franco’s sanctuary.

Then again, Max
was still an issue. Maybe that was the evil coming for me she’d been referring
to. And he could get me anywhere.

Laying my head
back and closing my eyes, I focused, tried calling him again. We really needed
to work this out. There had to be a way we could both be happy.

Darkness.
Silence.

More
darkness.
More silence.

Then the darkness
slowly lifted. Vanilla assaulted my nostrils.

There he was lying
on his bed, uh…relaxing. He was stretched out, eyes closed, skin starkly
contrasting the black silk sheets and mop of kinky black hair covering his
groin. Judging by the fact Max’s name was tattooed on her forearm, it was
Mercedez
, one of the clan’s human vamp whores—I meant,
willing blood donors.

The fro was moving
up and down, obviously the source of his relaxed state. His mouth was slightly
ajar revealing long, bloody fangs, indicating she’d pleasured him in more ways
than one. No blood was spilt, indicating he had been characteristically neat
and greedy.

He wanted me to
see this. Wanted to rub in what I could have if I went back to him.
Or wanted me to be jealous about him being with her.
Or
wanted me to see he wasn’t pining for me.

Didn’t bother me a
bit considering the time I’d had with
Remi
.

I was just glad
Max was in a good enough
mood
to open his brainwaves
to me. And since he was having his moment with a human woman in lieu of a vamp
bride, I hoped this was a good time to make up with him. Appeal to his mercy…oh
hell…just try to reason with him.

And beg for
forgiveness.

Digging one hand
in her hair, he yanked her head back and grabbed the base of his dick for a strong
tug. Ah, yes. He had to see his money shot, had to see evidence of marking his
territory.

Except, this human
was having none of that. She caught him off guard, clamping down on his head to
drink all he had to offer.
Tenacious little thing.

Since Max never
shared his blood with humans, those addicted to sex with vamps, particularly
sex with him, would ingest anything they could to have a piece of him inside.
He hated sharing his power with them as they were only meant to serve our
superior species so she’d been slick. And it would pay off with inhuman
strength.

He jerked, cursed,
but didn’t use his strength to remove her. I waited patiently as he unloaded
himself in her mouth. The better mood he was in, the better for me.

Once his spasms
ceased, he pulled her face back, kissed her lips then slapped her hard enough
to land her into the wall across the room. She’d known it was coming, that he
would inflict punishment. She got up smiling, totally unfazed. For what she’d
gotten from him, it had been worth it all.

I got out of the
tub and wrapped myself in a towel.

She turned as if
she’d finally sensed I was there and grinned nice and big for me. I waved. She’d
been a favorite donor of mine.
The perfect playmate.
Absolutely loved pleasing us.

There were humans
out there who wanted the benefits of vamp blood (and other fluids) without the
hassle of dying and becoming a vampire. Some just wanted sex, others just
friendship. Just to say they knew a vampire. Of course, things were changing.
That kind of interaction with us could get everyone involved killed nowadays.

Mercedez
knew the consequences, but she stuck around
anyway.
She and a handful of others who were addicted.
It was worth the risk to them.

What I liked most
about her was her convictions. She and I philosophized about human nature,
love, life’s purpose, religion, you name it. She didn’t want to be a vampire
because she didn’t want to relinquish her soul. I agreed with many of her
points, but in the end decided I’d take my chances.

So here I was.

Dead.
Animated by magic.
Soulless or at
best, with a darkened soul, a heartless one.
Bonded to Max and now
Aaron,
Remi
, and whoever else was in that body.

Oh, yeah…I was
also an illegal villain with enemies on every corner.

Reminded me why I
was desperate to get on Max’s good side again.

“You come
pretending to make amends after you’ve given the human your blood, MY blood,”
he looked at me venomously, “and after you have fucked him.” I stood still.
Best to let him speak his mind. Get it all out. “Whatever happened to all your
moral shenanigans or
were
they pretend as well? Need I
remind you, you are my bride? That means you committed adultery.”

“C’mon, Max. That
doesn’t really apply to us, does it? We’re vampires.” What I’d done probably
constituted adultery and definitely was fornication, but I wouldn’t take it
back. It had been too good. “You were just with
Mercedez
.
She’s human, not one of your brides. Would you really hold a double standard
against me? We’re not monogamously wedded. The rules are different for our kind
and you did the same thing I—”

He waved his hand,
cutting me off. “I forbade you and you did it anyway. You must be punished.” He
snapped his fingers and we were instantly transported to a place of darkness
that gradually became brighter. There was no evident source of light so I
figured Max’s sudden glow was illuminating the area.

I nodded. “I
understand. I will take whatever you feel is—” I said as I looked around. A
sick feeling started in the pit of my stomach. We were in a circular room that
looked like a huge pantry, infinitely high. There were shelves of jars
surrounding Max and they were all full.
Full of human hearts.
Still beating.

“Shut the fuck up,
Willow. Are you trying to be stoic or humble?
Rational or
brave?
You confuse me to no end.”

“I am truly sorry
to be such a thorn in your side.”

“Pain
in my white
arse
, you mean.”

“That
too.”

The glow
intensified. “Do you know where I am right now?”

“Not the exact
location, but I know you’re surrounded by our hearts.
The
hearts of your vampires.”
No one knew where he kept them and reasonably
so. Anyone with possession of them controlled us.

He grinned
wickedly. “That’s right, love.” He began levitating and rising, then slowly
twirled around midair until he grabbed a jar from a high shelf. “Do you know
whose this is?”

My throat was dry
as I watched the heart pound, but I managed to whisper, “Mine.”

“Right again,
Willow. And do you know what I could do with it right now?”

“Yes.” I was truly
scared, my legs shaking.

He continued
floating in the air, glaring at my heart-filled jar, his eyes glowing neon
green.
Making me tense.
Worried I’d just spent my last
night on earth. When I was certain he was going to drop it to the ground and
stomp on it, he returned it to the shelf.

His short blond
hair and strong jaw decorated his face so
perfectly,
it was a shame to ruin it with the menacing look he gave me. “There is only one
way you can make amends and you already know what that is.”

I gulped, taking a
moment to think. I shook my head. “I’m not
rea
—”

“Then get out of
my face, Willow! If you are not ready to come back to me, I am not ready to be
kind to you. Come back on your own and all
mine
is
yours again. Make me drag you back and I will not kill you until after I have
let you marinate in a coffin for one hundred years first.” He was about to
disconnect our brainwaves.

“Wait!” I needed
answers. “My ex’s body was found in my tub. Do you know anything about it? Did
you send someone?”

“How dare you
question me,” he snarled. “If I had put a body there, yours would have been in
pieces next to it.”

That’s what I
thought. I rushed my next line before he cut the connection. I wanted him to
know why I was not ready to go back. “Max, I love my job. It gives me purpose,
keeps me busy. Please understand that. And Dr. Floyd is helping to cure my
narcolepsy. I’d finally have a shot at being more normal.”

“
Normal?
”
He laughed. “You will never be normal. You were not meant for such mediocrity.
And what of your human fraternizing?
How do you explain
that?”

 
My voice came out small, “He has multiple
personalities and needs my help. He’s getting worse because of me. I can’t
abandon him now.”

That got a deep,
rumbling laughter from him.
“Multiple personalities?
You’re in love with a lunatic? That is about the funniest thing I have ever
heard. Call him. Ask if he put the body in your tub.” Then he shut our link
down. His evil laughter still echoed in my head four minutes later.

Chapter 29

I’d said to myself
a million and one times that Aaron and
Remi
were
insane.
But criminally insane?
No way.
Remi
had killed whoever abducted him and had done God-knows
what to him.
Justifiable, not criminal.
And that made
all the difference in the world, didn’t it.

Despite my current
predicament, I watched hallelujah TV then slept well. No dreams, no unsavory
memories, just rest. And when I awoke, I called
Saybree
from the phone on the nightstand. She answered before it even rang.

After explaining
as briefly but thoroughly as possible what had happened to Ivan and what had
been going on with Aaron and
Remi
,
Saybree
expressed sorrow over Ivan’s death and mentioned
she would prepare an amulet for my boyfriend(s). Ideally, a crucifix would work
best to ward off human and supernatural evil, a
silver
Star of David protection necklace, second best. But they weren’t exactly
vampire-friendly so she would make a gold and brass medallion to protect my
boys from Ivan’s fate. Of course, it wouldn’t prevent them from shifting, but
one issue at a time.

Planning to visit
her at nightfall, I sat on the bed with my laptop to place an order on Amazon
and check my email. Since I didn’t have to work tonight, I had no need to go
upstairs…except then I discovered the
WiFi
reception
was not strong enough to maintain an internet signal.

Bummer.
I’d gotten good reception at the motels.

First
strike.

Not that I was
looking for reasons to leave Franco’s sanctuary and move in with
Remi
and Aaron or anything.

When I got to
Franco’s office, I was surprised to find his door shut. First there was
mumbling from inside. Then there was louder, more distinct arguing about club
policy and…me. When I recognized the other voice, I turned on my heels to flee.

But not fast
enough.

The door swung
open. “That’s her! That’s the girl from the pictures,” said a raspy male
tattletale.

I turned to face
the music so to speak even though the only music I wanted to face was away from
Franco’s office and towards Hades main room where
Pitbull
and T-Pain were jamming “Hey Baby” while two nude girls mud-wrestled onstage.

“Ms. Willow! I’m
so glad you’re here. Your boss said you didn’t have to work tonight, but I
urged him to ask you to come in for questioning. You must be a mind-reader
because we were just about to leave,” Agent Monroe sneered.

Blind
bastard.

He was nice enough
to move out the way so I could step in the office then he closed the door.

Weren’t we being
nice.

Unsurprisingly, he
had not come alone this time. There were two musclemen standing with their arms
folded, eyeing me like I was week-old trash that needed to go out immediately.
Without being asked, they confirmed they were co-exterminators by flashing
badges that held their credentials.

Okay, so they’d
come for me.
Fine.
But I wasn’t going down without a
fight. Monroe would need more than
Tweedle
-dumb One
and Two to take me out. They’d better be packing silver bullets, crosses, holy
water…

I glanced at
Franco, who was sitting behind his desk. I wasn’t sure he’d help me once things
got cranking, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t want him caught in the crossfire.
He’d already done enough for me. Probably the main reason I’d survived as a
narcoleptic vampire so long without the protection of my clan. Wish I could
have thanked him for…

He gestured for me
to keep quiet by putting his finger to his lips.

“Ms. Willow, we
are here because Ivan Somerset has been reported missing. We’ve learned that he
was recently employed here and he is your ex-lover.”