A Vampire's Soul (18 page)

T
he sound of my cell phone ringing startled both of us. Not only was it unexpected, it took a few flustered moments for me to work out that the ringtone was coming from the front pocket of the angel's jeans. I distinctly remembered leaving my cell phone in the company of Jane Eyre.

“I saw it when I got the blanket,” Sebastian said, standing up and handing it to me with a totally unashamed look. “I didn't want you missing any calls.”

Wondering what else those long fingers might have been poking around in, I took the phone from him, checked caller ID, and frowned. Why would Laycee be calling me at nearly two in the morning? Was she sick? Had there been an accident—oh God, was Jake hurt?

I was about to put the phone to my ear when a new sound told me I had a text message.

“What the hell?” I muttered, pulling up the screen and reading.

“What is it?” Sebastian asked, seeing my expression.

“It's Laycee,” I told him, still undecided how I felt about my phone being in his pants. “She says she's out front with a surprise for me.”

“You don't like surprises?”

I love surprises, but the kind that come in the early hours of the morning aren't normally the ones you want to get. Something was definitely wrong. If Laycee was in my driveway, then it wasn't good news that had gotten her out of bed in the middle of the night.

“I like surprises,” Sebastian murmured in my ear.

I turned my head to see an expression of almost childlike delight on his face. I didn't care how much he liked surprises; this was one he was going to have to miss. If Laycee saw him, it would lead to the mother of all question-and-answer sessions.

“You have to go,” I said firmly. “Laycee can't see you here with me.”

“Why not? Just tell her I'm an old friend of Gabriel's come for a visit. It's the truth,” he added in an aggrieved tone.

“That may be, but it's two in the morning, and Gabriel isn't here.” Sebastian didn't know much about the dynamics of human relationships, I decided.

“Why haven't you told her about Gabriel? I thought she was your best friend.”

“She is,” I said, wondering how he knew that, and knowing now wasn't the time to ask him. Maybe he was a little more intuitive than I gave him credit for. “And she does know about Gabriel,” I corrected, “she just doesn't
know
about him.” The look he gave me said he didn't understand the difference. “It's complicated, Sebastian. Something like this has to be handled a certain way. You can't just blurt it out, and honestly, I'm not sure how to tell her.”

“That Gabriel's a vampire?”

“No, that you're an angel.”

The way my life was going right now, it wasn't too far-fetched to think I'd have better luck getting Laycee to accept a vampire in my bed than an angel on my swing seat.

My phone chimed again. The words WHERE R U? IM W8ING! lit up the screen. I turned, ready to ask Sebastian to leave again—get on my knees and beg if necessary—but I didn't have to. Getting to his feet, he smiled, and simply . . . vanished. Like the book. And his wings. I was too relieved to be unnerved. Hopefully he'd gone loophole hunting.

The text chime went off two more times as I walked through the kitchen and down the hall. The messages were the same as before, the only difference being the number of question and exclamation marks used.

“This better be the best surprise in the world or I'm so gonna kick your ass,” I yelled as I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

From my top step I could see Laycee standing in the driveway. She was dressed in leggings, a sweatshirt that had to be Jake's, judging from the fit, and ballet flats. It was a grab-what-you-can-and-throw-it-on outfit. She was a mess, and also not wearing makeup. It might have been two in the morning, but Laycee was the kind of girl who didn't go to the mailbox without making sure her hair was tidy and she had on lip gloss. Whatever was going on was bad—a feeling that was reinforced by the fact that she made absolutely no effort to move. A fire alarm siren went off inside my head.

“Laycee, what's wrong? Has something happened to Jake?” She shook her head, which I took to be a good thing. Okay, not Jake, who then? “Is it your mom or dad?” More frantic shaking. I frowned, trying to think of what else could be responsible for her unkempt appearance. “Jake's . . . kids?”

This time she shook her head so vigorously the scrunchie that was holding her hair back from her face fell out. Ignoring it, she rapped her knuckles on the roof of the car she was standing next to. The alarm in my head wailed a little louder. I hadn't even noticed the car.

Instead of the white, beat-up nondescript sedan Laycee usually drove, she had apparently arrived in a shiny black BMW, which was now parked next to the POS. My knowledge of cars might be pretty dismal, but even I recognized the distinct logo embedded in the hood. If this was the surprise she wanted to show me, it might explain her appearance, but this was no surprise gift from her beau. I had my doubts that a small-town sheriff's salary would cover the payments on a new BMW.

I came down the porch steps and walked toward her. She remained frozen to the spot, and although there were still a few feet between us, I could feel the anxiety rolling off her in waves. She didn't say anything; instead she began waving her hands in front of her, as if her nail polish was wet. This was Laycee's distress signal.

Now her anxiety was mixed with something else. Fear. Closing the distance between us, I caught hold of her hands, needing to halt their frantic fluttering more than anything else. I also wondered if it had been a mistake asking Sebastian to leave.

“Laycee, where's Jake?”

Pulling a hand free, she swiped at her eyes with the heel. “With his kids. They're having an early Christmas with his folks.”

I don't know why, but it was a relief knowing Jake wasn't involved in whatever was going on. And then Laycee said something that made my stomach churn.

“I'm so sorry, Rowan. I should have known the bitch was lying.”

The cold night air was nothing compared to the icy shiver that ran down my spine.

“Who was lying?”

She hiccupped back a sob, her fingers beginning another anxious dance in the air. “I didn't want to believe her, but it was kind of obvious that she knew Gabriel, and so I-I-I- . . .”

“Shhhhh.” I pulled her in close, and the avalanche of tears fell. I didn't need Laycee to tell me who had upset her. I already knew. “It's okay. She's had a lot of practice telling lies,” I told her, my hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. “You mustn't blame yourself. I would have done the same thing.”

Now that I knew who I was dealing with, the details didn't matter. It wouldn't change anything, but I was curious to know which one of us had been the bait. “Was it me or Gabriel?” I asked softly. The shrug of Laycee's shoulders told me it made no difference. She would have come for either one of us. “It's okay. She didn't hurt you, did she?”

Laycee gulped a mouthful of air, and I watched her fight to put her emotions under control. Stepping out of my embrace, she kept a firm grip on my hand as she shook her head. And then I saw her eyes widen as something behind me caught her attention, and the expression on her face changed. No one likes to be made a fool of, and definitely not when it comes at the expense of someone you love. Realizing she had been duped, Laycee was now angry. Whatever story had been fabricated must have been very believable to get my best friend out in the middle of the night. I wasn't kidding about

Katja. She'd literally had centuries to perfect her skill at being deceitful. It was too bad Laycee had no idea what she was dealing with, and it was going to be up to me to protect her from the truth as best as I could.

“I can't believe I was so stupid!” she hissed in a low voice.

“Laycee, don't.”

“Does she really know Eye Candy?”

I nodded, grateful I wasn't the only one who thought Katja was all wrong for him. “Yeah, unfortunately she does.”

“What is she, an ex-girlfriend or something?”

“Worse,” I said with a tight smile. “A never-was.” It was reassuring to have Laycee return my smile.

“Why is it some women think every dick is just dying to get in their panties?”

“I got no idea, Layce.”

Narrowing her eyes, she flicked her gaze over my shoulder, and murmured, “She's behind you.”

“I know.” I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Be careful what you say from now on,” I warned. “She can hear everything, and I do mean everything, and trust me when I tell you she's a lot stronger than she looks.”

“Yeah?” Laycee gave a disbelieving glance over my shoulder.

I squeezed her hand—hard. “Yes,” I insisted. “Trust me. I know.”

My words, and the seriousness of my tone, were enough. Laycee nodded.

“Hello, Little One, have you missed me?”

The husky sound of Katja's voice, and the condescending form of address, did nothing but piss me off. She must have been hiding in the shadows by the side of the house. If I'd turned my head as I came down the steps I probably would have seen her, but I'd been so focused on Laycee, it never crossed my mind to look for anyone else.

Unable to come in, and knowing an invite from me wasn't in her future, Katja had used my best friend to get me out of my house. It went without saying that this was a bad situation, one that I could pretty much guarantee was going to get a lot worse. The psycho vampire bitch was crazy-scary, but right now I couldn't focus on that. I had to find a way of making sure Laycee was safe, and the only thing I could think of was getting her inside the house. She would be safe there because Katja couldn't cross the threshold.

I turned around to face my nemesis, surprised to see she had changed her wardrobe. I'd imagined the long black leather coat and thigh-high boots were something of a signature look for her, but apparently not. Tonight she had on a dress that barely covered her ass. Red leather, laced up each side corset-style, and advertising, among other things, its wearer's aversion to underwear. Completing the slut look were impossibly high stilettos. Katja's choice of wardrobe may have been better suited to the red light district in any major capital of the world, but it also allowed me to see she bore no aftereffects from her altercation with Gabriel.

All of her limbs seemed to be depressingly hale and hearty, without so much as a fading bruise to mark the beat-down my boyfriend had given her. Having witnessed the brawl between them, I knew I would be no match for Katja's physical strength, even if she did look as if a heavy breeze would snap her in two. All I could hope for was to get inside her head and rattle her enough so she'd make a mistake. Perhaps use her arrogance against her. Of course, the downside to my plan was the fact that Katja wasn't what you would call mentally stable. The anxieties I would have had dealing with a human who was a whack job were amplified a hundred times because Katja was a vampire.

“I'd like to say it's nice to see you, but we both know that would be a lie,” I told her with my very best smile.

“She really should get some pointers from
What Not to Wear,
” Laycee murmured behind me.

I thought for a minute that she'd forgotten my warning about people with exceptional hearing, but the look on Laycee's face said the statement was a deliberate dig. Guess I wasn't the only one who thought rattling Katja's cage was a good idea. At least it got Laycee off her weepy roller-coaster ride.

“I don't think
subtle
is in her vocabulary,” I said.

“It's not in her closet either,” Laycee snapped back, “but I'll admit she's definitely got
in your face
working for her.”

Looking at Katja, I addressed her directly. “I'm going to take a stab in the dark and guess you never were in Canada, were you?”

She made an ugly sound that might have been a laugh. “You have no idea how disappointed I am in Gabriel. One tiny little alarm goes off, and he rushes out to see what I'm up to.” She came toward me, amethyst eyes sparkling and hip-length black hair swinging. Placing a hand on my shoulder, she squeezed until I was sure she was going to snap my collarbone. “Are you so sure he wants you, Little One? He seems very anxious to find me.”

“Yeah, right, like you really think Gabriel's interested in you? Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, but we both know if you really believed it, you wouldn't be here.”

Her eyes glittered with temper, and her mouth became a crimson slash. The pressure from her fingers tightened, and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes. Damn it! I absolutely was not going to cry in front of her.

“You should watch your manners, Little One.”

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she made her way to the BMW, her stiletto heels tapping loudly on the concrete slabs that made up my driveway. I felt Laycee squeeze my hand. As far as she was concerned, Katja was just some nut job with an obsessive crush on my boyfriend, something the two of us could deal with easily. Unfortunately, I knew just how much danger we were actually in.

The sound of Katja slamming the beemer's trunk made both of us jump. The Goth Queen was no longer alone. I can't say for certain, because I didn't actually see, but I'm pretty sure the guy who was now standing next to her had climbed out of the trunk. I watched as he offered the exotic beauty his arm.

“Who the hell is that?” Laycee asked, tightening her grip on my arm.