Love Your Entity (27 page)

“Then don’t ask.”

“What’s the problem? Is it Ronan? Is he distracting you? I can take care of that.”

“No, it’s not Ronan. I’m in the research phase right now.”

“Is that what you call bedding an indentured vampire?” Tanya said.

No, Sierra called that incredibly satisfying.

“Fine. Don’t tell me. I like the way your books surprise me,” Tanya said. “But I am going to need to see an advance copy of your next one. When does it come out?”

“In three months. The one I’m writing now comes out next year. But all that information is on my website,” Sierra said.

“Which could also use updating. My rates are very cheap. Just feed me.”

“Blood?” Sierra took a hasty step away. “No way.”

“I meant feed me scenes after you write them.”

“I don’t share my work with anyone until my editor Lily Janeway reads it.”

“Okay, then I can be the next in line after her.” Tanya pulled an iPad out of her bag. “Here, look at this. I think the blue and black colors tie in well with your book cover and the theme of ghosts. This would be your logo for your street team.”

Sierra had to admit that what Tanya was showing her looked good. Shrouds of smoke swirled around her name, S. J. Brennan, and the title of the book. “That’s really impressive.”

“So you like it?”

Sierra nodded.

“Then I have the job?”

“I could get you a galley of the next book for your iPad.”

Tanya squealed in delight, almost dropping her tablet as she yanked Sierra close for a hug. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time. I have a hard time bonding with other females. I’m not talking about sire bonds or vampire bonds. I mean BFF stuff.” She finally set Sierra free. “Okay, I’ll get right on this. First I’ll set up a Facebook page exclusively for your street team. Then we’ll get some book graphic cards going. Sharlene does those. I love her work. And we need to recruit people to come like your author page. Not recruit in a vampire way, but in a social media way. Draculina can help me with that. I’ve never met her but we message each other online. She gets me. Anyway, sorry I can’t stay to chat but I’ve got to get working. You need to be working too. Your fans are eagerly waiting for your next story.”

Tanya rushed past Ronan on her way out through the tunnels.

“What was all that about?” he said.

“It’s about my books not the treasure. And before you ask, no, I didn’t tell Tanya anything about the treasure.”

“She’s probably already heard the buzz around Vamptown about Hal.”

“Will any of the other vampires try to interfere with the search?”

“Aside from Gregori, you mean?” Ronan said.

“Right. The evil mutant hybrid vampire. Hal’s treasure must be really good if Gregori wants it.”

“We have to get to it first.”

‘And we will.” She thought for a moment before speaking her thoughts out loud. “Why is that framed large photograph still on the wall upstairs?” Sierra asked before going on to answer to her own question. “Because Hal is a gangster ghost with a narcissistic streak, right? But what if there’s more to it than that?”

“I took it off the wall and looked behind it when I first got here,” Ronan said.

“Did you look inside the mat or the frame?”

“No,” Ronan admitted. “I’ll go get it off the wall and bring it down here so we can examine it more closely.”

Yes, he could move at super vamp speed but she feared losing him. It wasn’t logical, perhaps. But she trusted her gut. “I’m coming with you,” Sierra said.

“No way.”

“I can distract Hal while you grab the photograph.”

“He might not even show up,” Ronan said.

“Oh, he’ll show up.” She marched up the basement stairs.

An instant later, Ronan stood in front of her.

“You can’t stop me,” she said. “You can’t compel me. You can’t kiss me. Well, you can kiss me but it won’t be go-off-the-deep-end like before.” No, it wasn’t like before when they shared the vampire bond. But it was even more powerful in a way because of free will. Returning his kiss was her choice now. Not that he kissed her. He was too aggravated with her. “Come on. We’re wasting time.”

“Yes, you’re wasting time,” Ruby said from the top of the stairs.

Ronan glared at Sierra but allowed her to pass. He stayed right by her side.

Sierra hated to admit it, but she was still a bit jumpy about being in the unsecured house. She just hoped that Zoe’s protection spell would keep her safe from Gregori.

Then she saw the graffiti on the living room wall, written in red.

L E A V E   N O W!

“Who did that?” she demanded.

“It wasn’t me,” Ruby said.

“Is that blood?” Sierra asked.

“I think it might be your lipstick from your bedroom,” Ruby said.

“My Chanel lipstick? That set me back nearly forty dollars! No one messes with my makeup,” Sierra growled.

She was about to march upstairs when Ronan snared her by his side. “You should let me take care of this.”

“I am not letting this go.”

“It’s just lipstick.”

“No it’s not. It’s not about the lipstick. It’s about my life and I want it back,” she said fiercely.

“Don’t do anything reckless. Do I have your word?” Ronan said.

“I am not a reckless person.”

Ronan just gave her a look.

“Hey, I thought I was moving into a new house and that’s it,” she said. “Okay, maybe there was a slight chance it might be haunted. I did take that possibility into consideration. But I never imagined any of the rest of this shit, and trust me, I have a great imagination.”

“Your word,” Ronan reminded her.

“Fine. You have my word.”

“I still would prefer that you wait in the basement.”

“I know. Let’s get this over with.” As she headed up the steps she remembered her first day in the house, when Ronan had followed her on this staircase and she’d been worried about her butt being too big. Now she was remembering the feel of his hands gripping her there as he teased her clit with his tongue, making her come again and again.

She almost stumbled at the erotic memory.

“Everything okay?” Ronan asked from right behind her. His breath brushed her ear. What if he pushed her against the wall and took her from behind right here on the stairs?

Sierra couldn’t blame her wayward thoughts on the vampire bond any longer. “Can you read my thoughts right now?” she said.

“No.” He lifted a strand of hair from her nape and placed a kiss there. “Why?”

“No reason.” Her voice sounded alien, part breathy Marilyn Monroe, part raspy Janis Joplin.

“Did you change your mind?”

“No.” She hurried up the stairs and into the bedroom on the left.

No hint of cigar smoke. That was a good sign. The dark coldness was still present so Hal hadn’t left the premises. Not yet. But he would soon. This had gone on long enough.

“I’m not sensing him in the immediate vicinity. Go for it,” Sierra said.

Moving with vamp speed, Ronan grabbed the photograph. The moment he touched the frame Hal appeared. “Get your filthy hands off that!”

“Hal…” Sierra barely got that one word out before Hal turned to face her.

“Back off!” A second later, the French doors leading to the small balcony flew open and Hal sent Sierra flying through the air out those doors.

She grabbed hold of the balcony railing as she whizzed by. Roaring his anger, Ronan threw the photograph outside even as he saved Sierra.

“I’ve got you,” he said, wrapping her in his arms.

She heard the frame crash on the cold ground below. Ronan cradled her as he leaped to the ground in a single smooth movement.

“If I’d lost you…” His voice was thick with emotion.

“You didn’t. And I’m not losing you,” she told him. “Voz can’t have you. We are finding this damn key, no matter what.”

“It’s not worth risking your life.”

“It’s not worth indenturing yours.”

“Most people would consider me a monster,” he said.

“Most people don’t see dead people,” she retorted. “Haven’t you figured out yet that I’m not most people?”

“Yeah, I get that now.”

“It took you long enough.” She kissed him. “Now let’s go kick some ghost butt!”

Chapter Twenty-two

“I hate this invisible shit,” Ronan bit out with obvious fury. “How am I supposed to fight something I can’t see?”

“By letting me help you because I can see them,” Sierra said.

“Right. And that just worked out so well, nearly getting you killed just now.”

“I’m more likely to twist an ankle on one of these holes in the backyard here,” she said as she looked around. “You weren’t kidding when you said you dug it up. It looks like giant mutant gophers attacked. Not that I am comparing you to a giant mutant gopher.”

He frowned at her. “Did you hit your head on that balcony?”

“No. I always sound a little flustered when I fly through the air, first propelled by a poltergeist ghost and then saved by you.”

“You should have stayed in the basement.”

“Okay, enough of the I-told-you-sos. You can let me go now.”

He did so reluctantly.

“How badly is the photograph damaged?” Sierra asked as Ronan plucked it off the ground.

“It’s seen better days.”

“Haven’t we all,” she said, brushing off the rust from her hands that came from her grab on the balcony railing.

Pulling her close, Ronan paused a moment to hug her before zapping them down to the secure site in the basement.

He set the frame parts on the large table he’d been using. The wood had broken into pieces. There was also a large tear in the wide mat and the backing on the photograph.

Sierra turned the picture of Hal facedown. She couldn’t stand to look at him at the moment.

“He used up a lot of energy sending me out those French doors, but he will rebound in time and he’s going to start smashing my furniture. Normally I might not be that upset but I really like that Liberty Arts and Crafts sideboard in the dining room.”

“I’ll get it.”

“It weighs a ton,” Sierra said, but Ronan was already gone.

He reappeared and set the sideboard near the bed. He wasn’t even out of breath.

“Feel better now?” he said.

She nodded, still amazed by his abilities.

“Careful with the wood,” he said as she moved one of the pieces of Hal’s photo frame.

Only then did she realize it looked an awful lot like a wooden stake. She’d never use it on Ronan but it might come in handy should that evil vampire-demon hybrid show up. “I could use this on Gregori in an emergency.”

“It wouldn’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because the only way to annihilate him is to sever his head from his body.”

“That’s probably above my skill set,” she said.

“It’s not above mine,” he said grimly before returning his attention to the stuff in front of them.

Obviously Ronan was faster than she was at going through the pieces of matting and backing. “I found something.” He peeled away the matting and revealed something in between. “This is it!”

He set the small piece of paper on the table along with the other two.

“That’s great!” She leaned over his shoulder to look at it. The piece definitely completed the map. That was the good news. The bad news was that it still made no sense.

Ronan swore under his breath.

“Maybe if we turned it another way,” she suggested.

They tried turning it every possible way.

She really was concentrating on deciphering the symbols on the map but the bottom line was that she had to pee real bad.

“I just need to use the bathroom,” she said apologetically. “You keep trying to figure it out. I’m sure we can do this. The map thing, I mean. Okay, I’m leaving now. I’ll be right back.”

Sierra rushed to the bathroom and emptied her bladder. After she flushed, the water kept running longer than it should have. She knew enough about home maintenance to remove the lid to the tank and check inside. As she did so, she couldn’t help wondering if maybe Hal had hidden his treasure or the key to it inside the plumbing fixture. Probably not, since odds were that someone would have checked it in the intervening decades. Still, she did look but found nothing.

Meanwhile the water kept running. At this rate it was going to overflow and flood the bathroom.

Bending down, she turned the water shutoff valve while jiggling the toilet handle. To her surprise, the handle went way up and as it did she heard a click.

Great. She’d just broken the only safe toilet in the house.

But no. The click didn’t come from the toilet. It came from the wall behind it. Peering in the tight space, she saw a lever. She pulled it. She thought nothing happened until she noticed one of the large tiles on the floor was elevated.

Afraid to let go of the lever, she nudged the tile with her foot and it came loose. Beneath it was a metal strongbox with the initials HB on the top.

“Ronan, I found it!”

He burst into the bathroom.

“It’s there, beneath the floor.”

He snatched it up. She was just about to release the lever when she noticed something attached to it inside the niche where it had resided. A small chain with … a key at the end of it!

“And I bet this is the key,” she said, removing it and showing it to him. “Are we supposed to open it or are we supposed to hand it over to Voz first?”

“Our agreement didn’t say anything about revealing a treasure,” Ronan said. “Just the key.”

“Maybe we should ask him first. I don’t want to screw anything up for you.”

And just like that Voz stood on the threshold to the tiny bathroom. “A wise woman,” he said.

“I thought this was a secure site,” she said.

“Secure against ghosts.” Voz studied her for a second. “Ah, I sense the vampire bond between you and Ronan has been broken. A pity. I would have enjoyed adding you to my collection.”

“You’re not adding anyone,” Ronan said, standing before Sierra protectively. “Take the damn key!”

“No,” Voz said.

“No?” Sierra repeated in confusion.

“No, I won’t take that key because it’s not the right one. It’s not in that strongbox either,” Voz said. “Tough tinsel.”