Neck Deep In Vampires (A BBW Urban Fantasy) (10 page)

“That’s not all,” I told her. 
“She’s having sex with the judge on your case – and using blackmail to ensure that the judge will rule that the will is legitimate.”

“But – the judge is a woman.
A married, very conservative…”

“Yep.”

“Oh. I see. Good heavens, it’s really hard for me to picture December actually having sex.”

“Me too. I imagine that her lovers don’t run their fingers through her hair,” I said, which drew a bark of laughter from Mirabelle.

“Anyway, here’s what’s going to happen,” I said.  “December has forgotten the entire encounter with Nicholas and me. All she’ll remember is that tonight she showed the house to a woman, who decided the house wasn
’t for her. However, next week, she is going to suddenly have an irresistible urge to confess everything she’s done. You need to make sure that the local TV news stations are there. Right there in court, she’s going to confess to forging the paperwork and having sex with the judge.”

“Oh. My.
Goddess. Really?” Mirabelle’s voice went high with excitement.

“Truly.
So your property is safe.”

“Oh, thank the stars. You’re a miracle worker.” Then her voice turned glum.
“But our familiars. Where could they be? And if she isn’t behind their disappearance, who is? It’s got to be a pretty powerful witch to be able to make our security guard forget like that. I interviewed him myself, put a spell on him…he has no idea who put the spell on him.”

“We’ll keep working on it,”
I promised her. “I think that we have to look at Narcissa next. If you want me to talk to her, I’m willing.” Of course, I’d need Nicholas with me to help, now that my powers seemed to be fading.

Mirabelle sighed. “I’m afraid we have no choice in the matter. Let me come up with a way to get her out of Bay Breeze, and I’ll let you know the best time and place.”

After I hung up,  Camille said “What are you going to do about your powers, Frankie?”

“That is the sixty four million dollar question. I know there are vampires who are also doctors. I guess I could see a doctor. I don’t know what else to do.”

Nicholas squeezed my hand.  “You’ll be fine,” he said.

“So you’d still love me even if I wasn’t a super-powerful mutant freak of vampire nature?”

“Nah, I’ll kick you to the curb and head back to New York without you. Of course I’ll still love you, you stubborn, ridiculous fool.”

“What about you, Camille?” I said. “Are you doing all right? Any thoughts on whether you’ll stay here?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” she said vaguely, without answering my question. I didn’t try to push her; I was starting to feel sick and queasy again.  Nicholas’ hand tightened on mine. 

“No news on the familiars yet,” I told Barney when we got back to my condo.

Barney swore a blue streak. “We’re never
going to find them, are we?” he demanded.

“Sure, we will!” But I was far from sure.

“Well, at least we made some progress,” Camille said. “We found out what the Palmetto Paradise witches are up to.”

“
Tell me what you found out!” Peyton said eagerly.  Camille recounted what had happened, which sent Peyton into peals of laughter.

“That’s classic. That’s just beautiful,” she said. She held out her arm
to me. “Want a snack, to celebrate?”

“
She can snack from my Thralls later.  She’s coming to stay with me now.  Frankie, you need to pack your bags. I’ll help you,” Nicholas said.

“What do you mean?” Peyton’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“Frankie’s powers are fading, and someone in the witch community is following her and targeting her,” Nicholas said.  “I need to be with her at all times. She’s not safe without my protection.”

“But she needs us.” Peyton sounded like a pouty two year old.
It looked like Nicholas was right. Someone had a crush.

“No, she doesn’t.” Nicholas’ tone was testy. “I’ve got plen
ty of Thralls with me.  What she needs is someone who has the strength to protect her, and that would be me.  I’ll pay for you two go back to New York, or, if you want to hang out here for a while and vacation, you can do that too.”

I glanced at Camille to see how she was taking the news. 

“It’s probably for the best,” she said, looking resigned. Damn it, I didn’t want her to keep living her life for others. If she wanted to stay here, she should stay here – but the vampire upbringing and all that propaganda about serving the superior race was probably going to be too strong for her to break.

Peyton grabbed her purse and began fumbling with it. “You should at least feed on me before you go,” she said to me. “You need to keep your strength up.”

“I just fed on you a few hours ago,” I pointed out. “I can’t feed on you twice in such a short time period. It’s not safe for you.”

“Please?” Peyton’s lower lip was trembling. “As a final goodbye?”

“Peyton, that’s enough.” Nicholas glared at her. 
He was actually getting a little jealous, I could tell. It was silly of him, but also kind of flattering.  “I know what’s happening here, and it ends tonight.”

“You do?” Peyton stood there with her hand in her pocketbook, and the poutiness vanished from her face. Now she was staring at us with ice in her gaze, and a chill washed over me.

She pulled something out of her purse, and before I could register the fact that it was a gun, she’d shot Nicholas.  He fell to the ground instantly, which meant that she’d shot him either with silver or a tranquilizer dart. An ordinary bullet would have done nothing more than piss him off.

“Stop!”
I shouted, using my command voice, which no longer worked at all, and then she shot me.

Everything went fuzzy.  I staggered, and then
I heard another shot, and Camille’s screams.

I fell into darkness.

             
Consciousness returned slowly. I was sitting up…I was tied to a chair. I struggled against my bonds, and felt the room wheeling around me.

             
When the room settled down, I opened my eyes and looked around.  Nicholas was also bound to a chair, looking groggy.  We were in a house that I didn’t recognize. It looked as if we were in the living room. 

             
Peyton was reclining in a truly hideous mauve flower print armchair, looking bored and reading an issue of People magazine. A gun lay next to her on a small coffee table.  There was an odd energy buzzing around her that hadn’t been there before. Witch. She was a witch.

             
What the hell? I could always sense paranormal energy. How could I not have noticed that before?

             
I felt weak as a kitten.  Nicholas was struggling against his handcuffs, but of course they’d be coated with silver.

             
“Peyton, what the hell?” I demanded. She completely ignored me.

             
“Peyton, this is no way to make me love you. Let him go!”

             
She looked up from her magazine, baffled. “Make me love you? What the hell are you talking about?”

             
“This kidnapping. This obsession you have with me. We can talk about it, but I need you to let Nicholas go.”

             
She didn’t react the way I expected. She threw back her head and laughed, and it was a harsh, ugly sound.

             
“Obsession? Seriously? Is that what you think this is about? You stupid bitch.  When Nicholas said that he knew what was going on here, I assumed you guys had guessed what was really going on. Obviously I gave you people too much credit. Then again, you’re
vampires
, what should I expect?” She said the word vampires like other people would say the word Taliban.

             
She picked up a lighter from the table, and walked towards me. “I’ll show you how much I love you,” she sneered.

             
Uh oh.  We’d seriously miscalculated here.

             
She held up the flickering lighter, and I tensed in my chair. I felt weak and helpless; it was a horrible feeling.

             
“By the way, after I killed Camille, your cat shot out the window faster than a bullet. So much for him being your faithful little servant,” she sneered at me.

             
“Good for him.” I meant it.  I felt a sorrow that went right down to the bone at the thought of Camille’s death, and I vowed to make Peyton pay for it somehow, but at least Barney had escaped. I’d been afraid he would try something stupidly loyal and suicidal, which seemed more like his style. I hoped he’d find a new home with a good owner.

             
“Let her go!” Nicholas shouted furiously. “I’ll fucking kill you, you crazy witch!”

             
He struggled so hard that his chair fell over, and he was lying on his side, half hidden by the couch.  She ignored him. She clicked the lighter and moved it close to my face.

             
“I think I’ll start with your eyes,” she said. “No, maybe I’ll set your hair on fire and watch how that goes for a little while.”  I felt ice cold fear rushing through my veins.

             
“Hey!” an angry male voice cut her off.   A man stomped in from the back of the room. He was a warlock. She turned towards him, glowering.

             
“We’re supposed to deliver them unharmed,” he barked at her.

             
“I could just burn her a little bit,” she whined.

             
“Deliver us to who?” I demanded.

             
“Deliver you to shut the fuck up,  you fat fanged skank. I’m not your little snack any more. I am done taking orders from a
vampire
.” Funny, bubbly, affable Peyton was gone, replaced by an enraged, scornful bitch. Wow, Peyton had been a really good actress before.

             
A doorbell rang, and she turned towards it.

             
“Are we expecting someone?” she asked the guy suspiciously.

             
“Not until tomorrow. Stay here.” He pulled a gun out of his waistband and headed towards the door.

             
There was a security camera by the door.  He looked through it.  Then he looked through the keyhole. “Nobody’s there.”

             
I tried to see Nicholas. He wasn’t moving.

             
As the guy turned away from the door, the doorbell rang again.

             
He spun back and went for the door.

             
“Don’t open it!” Peyton yelled.  He ignored her and yanked it open, and a second later he staggered back, screaming. Barney had launched himself at the man, clawing wildly at his face.

             
The man pulled Barney off him, and threw him through the air against the wall.  Barney hit the wall with a horrifying thud, and then slid to the floor.

             
“No!” I screamed. “Barney! No! No!” I thrashed in my chair, tears filling my eyes and running down my cheeks.

             
Barney lay still and silent on the floor.  The man staggered up against a kitchen counter, blood pouring down his face.

             
Suddenly, I heard Peyton let out a scream, and then there was a sickening crunch.

             
Nicholas had freed himself from his chair, leaped up, and snapped her neck. His cuffs were gone too. Before the warlock could attack him, Nicholas moved across the room in a blur of motion and struck him with one blow. The warlock let out one choked cry, folded over himself, and fell onto the floor. He was bent over at the waist, but in the wrong way.

             
Then Nicholas ran over to me and untied me.

             
“Barney!” I wailed. I ran over to where Barney lay on the floor.  One of his legs stuck out at a horrible angle, but he was moving. I could see his chest rising and falling.

             
I quickly called Mirabelle and told her what had happened. Nicholas ran outside and checked the address on the house, so we could tell her where to go.

             
Nicholas looked at the two dead bodies sprawled on the floor.  “I wish I hadn’t killed them,” he said regretfully. “I needed to interrogate them first. Also I wanted to torture the fuck out of them for a few hours after I made them talk. I was just so pissed off that they threatened to hurt you, that I acted without thinking.”

             
I knelt by Barney, who lay stunned, breathing slowly on the floor. 
Please, please don’t die
, I begged. “You can be my familiar forever. I’ll feed you steak and tuna every day. Just don’t die, you stupid crazy cat!”