Blood of the Son (Book #1 in the Skye Morrison Vampire Series) (Skye Morrison Series) (20 page)

“Cool.  Be over in a sec,” I said and hung up. 

I ran upstairs and grabbed my black silk robe out of the closet and threw it on.  I quickly made a big plate and headed out the front door to her half of the duplex.  I brought my finger up to ring the bell, but she opened the door before I had a chance.  “Wow, you look like shit,” I said, taking in her smeared, day old makeup, wild hair, and rumpled clothes.

She scoffed and put a hand to her forehead.  “I got hammered last night with the Disco City Roller Derby Girls.  I don’t even remember leaving that bar we went to.  Take my advice, cupcake.  If a group of bad ass roller derby bitches ever asks you if you want a ‘Corpse Reviver’, just say HELL NO!  That shit put me in the ground.”

I laughed and nodded my head.  “Anything you say, babe. But, you didn’t drive home last night, did you?  I’ll kick your butt if you did.  Driving drunk is so not cool,” I gently admonished.

“No, no,” Nikki shook her head and then groaned.  “Ugh.  I shouldn’t have done that.  Anyway, I’d never drive drunk, cupcake.  Sally Sequins drove me home and Bell Bottom Betty followed in my car.”

She looked like she was getting nauseated from all the standing.  I shook my head and tried not to grin.  “Here,” I said handing her the covered plate. “Eat. You’ll feel better, honey.  You take care of yourself.  And call me later.  I want to make sure you’re still alive.”

She gave me a miserable looking thumbs up and walked back into her house.  I had to shut the door for her because she forgot.  I chuckled as I made my way back over to my house.

When I walked inside, Styvi was waiting for me beside her food bowl.  “Oh, my poor girl!” I said, bending down to pet her.  “I didn’t feed you first thing this morning, did I?”

I went to treat jar and got out a small treat, then I refilled her food bowl with kibble and her water bowl with fresh water.  I sat her treat in the food bowl and watched her happily eat for a minute.  I felt bad for not feeding her right away, so I got an all-natural rawhide from the cabinet and put it in her dog bed for her to find later. 

It was 9:45am by the time I looked at the clock and I raced upstairs to get ready for work.  I took care of necessities, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and slapped on some makeup. I went to my closet and picked out a black capped sleeve baby doll t-shirt, a short black skirt and my three inch cage pumps.  I quickly got dressed and grabbed my messenger bag, cell phone, Converse Chuck Taylor tennis shoes and headed into the kitchen. 

I called out to Styvi Nix to say goodbye, but she was outside chasing her butterflies, so I went out the side door and got into my car.  It was already a muggy day, so I blasted the AC and my radio for the ride to work.

I pulled into the employee lot and got out of my car.  On my way in I ran into Dan.  He was just getting to work, too.  He opened the door for me and I followed him into his office.  “Hey doll!” he said, giving me a quick hug.  “How’s the leg doing?”

I hung my messenger bag up and dug through it to find my bottle opener.  I forgot to put it in my cubby after the last shift, with everything that had gone down with my injury.  I found it and stuck it in my back pocket, coming around his desk to sit on the edge.

“The leg is doing a lot better, D.  Thanks for asking,” I said with a smile.  “By the way, how have you been doing?  Are you still seeing Lola Finch?” I asked, trying hard to hide my disgust.

He laughed bitterly, and shook his head.  “Hell no.  You were right about her, Skye.  The second I turned my back, she was all over some guy here yesterday.  Can you believe her?” he asked, incredulously. 

I nodded my head and sighed, feeling a bit sorry for him.  “Hate to say it, but I told you so, babe. That whole family isn’t right in the head.”

He nodded his head in agreement. “It must be in the water,” he joked.

“Something like that,” I chuckled.

He stood up and came over to sit by me.  “Guess what?”

I looked over at him.  He looked like he was anxious to tell me something.  “Uh, okay…what, D.?” I replied.

He smiled mischievously and crossed his arms over his chest.  “The Manky Langer is playing here again tonight.”

I smiled and nodded my head.  I was bad at lying so I decided to tell him that I already knew.  “Yeah, I heard.  I’m so excited!” I said with a big grin.

His face fell.  “How did you know already?” he whined.  “Alright, who told you?  I want to know because I wanted it to be a surprise.  It was Nikki, wasn’t it?”

I blushed a little and looked down at my feet.  “Um…well…Jameson kind of…told me…yesterday,” I said gently.

His mouth fell open in surprise.  “Really?” he smiled.  “Are you seeing Jameson now?”

I stood up and quickly clarified.  “No, no.  It’s nothing like that.  Jameson and I are… kind of… friends now.  You see, I had a job interview Monday with his brother Archer and…”

Dan’s face suddenly fell and I stopped talking mid-sentence, realizing my mistake.  “You had a job interview on Monday?” he asked, looking a bit confused and maybe even a little hurt.  “Before you got injured?”

Oh shit
.  I cringed and ran my fingers through my hair.  “Uh,…yeah, I did.”  I walked over to the couch and sat down.  “Listen, D.  I told you Monday when I came in that we needed to talk.  Well, that’s kind of what it was about,” I said gently.  “I don’t have time to go into it right this second, because we are about to open, but you said that you’d make time today for us to talk.  We need to talk, D.”

Dan sat down on the edge of his desk and looked at the floor.  “You found another job already, didn’t you?” he said carefully.

I sighed and went over to sit next to him on the desk.  I put my hand on his knee and answered him.

“Yes, I did.  This was not something I could pass up, Dan. The money was way too good, beyond anything I had ever hoped for.  I’d be an idiot to pass this up.”

He took a deep breath.  “Where will you be working?” he asked, sounding a little dejected.

“At this nightclub called The Mausoleum.  I’ll be the executive assistant to the club owner, who, just so happens to be Archer Rhys, Jameson’s brother.  I had no idea they were related until Monday night,” I said quickly.

“Well, that sounds like a good job,” he said, sounding more like himself.  “When do you need to start?”

I played with my fingernails and bit the corner of my lip.  “Well, see,…that’s the problem I’m having right now,” I explained.  “The club opens next Wednesday and Archer needs me to work that night…and every night after that.”

Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise.  “You’re telling me that you are quitting here in five days?” he asked, raising his voice a little.

“I know it’s sudden, D., and I’m sorry.  I’m SO sorry.  But, this is an opportunity of a lifetime,” I said, holding my hands out in a placating way.  “I couldn’t tell him no, D.  Please try to understand what this job is going to mean for me and my life.”

He took a deep breath and got up.  He walked over to the wall calendar and stared at it for a few moments.  “I told you that I’d always stand by you and be here for you, Skye, whenever you needed me,” he said with a small, lopsided grin, turning to me.  “I may not like losing you as an employee, but I’m always going to be your friend.” 

I got up and hurried over to him, hugging him hard and burying my face in his chest.  “Oh, D., I was so worried about what you’d say.  I’ve been sick for days just thinking about this.”

He rubbed comforting circles on my back with his broad hands. “I bet you were, Skye.  You always worry too much,” he said, gently pulling back.  “We’ll talk more later about this if you want.  But right now you’d better hurry out there, doll.  I’d like you to take the bar first, if you don’t mind, then switch to tables toward the end of your shift.  We lost Heather last night.  Some rookie college kid puked on her and she said she had had enough of kids who couldn’t handle their liquor and walked out.  You and Nikki are all I have that can work the bar now.  Fiona can bartend as soon as I can get her trained.”

“Man that sucks, D,” I said, cringing a little.  “Heather was one of the good ones.  I hate that she quit.  But, you got it, babe.  I’ll take the bar first,” I said and hurried out the office door and up the few steps to push my way through the floor door. 

It was twenty minutes until opening, so I checked all the bottles to make sure none were almost empty.  I put out more napkins, filled the garnish trays, and cut up a few limes.  The first few hours were really slow, so I ended up stealing the newspaper off of Dan’s desk and reading it.  There were a couple of stories out of the Houston area that talked about a sharp increase in violent homicides in the entertainment district downtown.  The police had no suspects and residents were in fear.  I silently prayed that it was no one Archer’s friend knew.

It was six pm by the time Nikki showed up.  She looked a little better than she did when I saw her this morning, but not by much.

“Ugh, I am never drinking again,” she said, sitting down at one of the bar stools and looking haggard. 

I chuckled.  “Uh-huh, you say that now, but give it a few days and you’ll be ready to party again.”

Nikki shook her head, then suddenly stopped and looked a little queasy.

“What you need is a little ‘Hair of the Dog’, my friend.  It’ll make you right as rain.  How about a ‘Corpse Reviver’ for lunch?” I asked, grinning.

She shot me an un-amused look and gave me the finger.  I laughed as she got up and walked behind the bar.  I let her take over and headed out to the floor to take some orders.

The evening was passing quickly and it was 7:30 before I knew it.  I looked around and didn’t see Fiona, my supposed replacement, anywhere.  I walked up to the bar and asked Dan where Fiona was.

“She’s running late, doll,” he said, mixing up a drink and pouring it into a large glass.  “I’ll tell her to go straight to you as soon as she comes in.  For now, would you mind staying until she gets here?”

I smiled and hid my mild annoyance.  “Sure thing, handsome,” I said and walked back over to my section.

I was busy taking a table full of tourist’s orders when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Archer sit at one of my booths.  I groaned inwardly.  When I was done with their orders, I sighed, prepared myself, and walked over to his table.

“Geez, Skye.  Don’t look so happy to see me,” he said sarcastically, looking a bit hurt.

I sighed again and took a seat across from him.  “You know why it’s difficult for me to be around you sometimes, don’t act like you don’t,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.  “AND, you can read my mind, so you know how I feel about the whole situation.”

He sat there for a few moments and looked deeply into my eyes.  The room seemed to swim for a second, but the sensation passed as quickly as it came.  I closed my eyes and shook my head. 
Weird
, I thought.  I had had plenty to eat today thanks to the breakfast Jameson made for me, so I knew the feeling wasn’t from lack of food this time.  I looked up at Archer who sat there silently, looking at me.

“I’ll have a bottle of Merlot, please, and two glasses,” he said, smiling.

“Um, okay…sure,” I said feeling a little confused.  I got up and put in the orders I had with Dan.  He quickly made up the drinks and fetched a good bottle of Merlot from the wine rack. 

I carefully balanced everything on my tray and walked over to the table of tourists first.  I doled out the shots and beers and turned to take the bottle of wine to Archer when Fiona came up to me.

“Shit, Skye.  I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said, a little out of breath.  “You wouldn’t believe my day.”

I held up my hand to let her know that she did not need to elaborate further.  “No problem, Fi.  Everyone has been waited on right now, so you have a few minutes to go in the back if you need to.”  I took the order pad from my back pocket and peeled off the active tabs, handing them to her.  “Have fun!” I called as I turned toward Archer’s table. 

I dropped off his bottle of wine and two glasses.  I was about to ask who the second glass was for, but reminded myself that it wasn’t my business.  Archer reached out and touched my hand.  “It’s for you, silly girl,” he said with a small smile.  “You said you’d have a drink with me, remember?”

I nodded my head and smiled, a little embarrassed.  “Yeah, ok…well, let me go get my things and I’ll be right back out,” I said, turning and taking my tray back up to the bar. 

“You’re staying for the show, right?” Dan asked me as I sat my tray down.

“You bet I am,” I happily replied. “I’ll catch you later, D.”

I made my way over to the floor door to the sounds of the band warming up.  Once in Dan’s office, I placed my bottle opener in my cubby and grabbed my messenger bag.  I sat down on the leather couch and quickly changed out of my heels and into my comfortable black converse Chucks.  I stopped by the employee restroom to freshen up my makeup and check my hair.  I spritzed a bit of perfume on my wrists and neck and then made my way back out to my car.  I didn’t want to have to carry my bag around all night, so I locked it in my trunk.  I stuffed the keys in my skirt pocket, went back inside, and made my way over to Archer’s table.