Night Bites (9 page)

“Thanks. That is a big help.” He is acting almost normal. I am not holding my breath that it will last. He probably spent the whole night staring all creepy-like at me. “Come on, Clyde.”

I take a quick shower, but I spend a lot of time scrubbing. I am sure I lose at least two layers of skin in the process. Sebastian will have a whole new set of skin cells to touch today.

When I step out of the shower to grab my towel, Clyde is missing. I hope he has found his steaks and isn’t causing mischief. I pause in front of the mirror and wrap a towel around my hair hoping to get it to dry a little before we leave.

I walk back into the bedroom proper and head towards the closet to get my outfit for the day.

“Look, Mommy is all done with her shower, now she can play with you,” the most annoying demon in the world says to my Clyde.

“Do you ever think of calling or at least knocking before you show up somewhere?” I ask choosing to just generally ignore him and get dressed, which I do.

“Come on, Buttercup. I told you when I gave you this little tyke I would stop in to make sure you were getting along. He seems to be really happy with his new mommy.”

“Why do you keep calling me Buttercup?” I ask pulling on my shirt. “Does anything about me say buttercup? Really, it is too sweet of a nickname for someone like me.”

“You are so full of sass and vinegar that I decided you needed a little something sweet about you.”

“Don’t expect it to rub off on my personality,” I respond grabbing my weapons for the day. I am carrying my full contingency for this meeting. I doubt this Kent guy is looking to hire me for my good looks. I left escort off my list of services for a very good reason; mainly no one would confuse me for just a piece of arm candy.

“No, you will always be your prickly self. So, what do you call your new pet?” Ben asks.

“You mean he hasn’t told you?” I ask reappearing and taking Clyde from him. Don’t want Clyde to get used to having the demon around.

“Don’t be silly. He doesn’t speak to me now that you are his mistress. He only directly connects with one owner at a time,” Ben says standing up next to the bed.

“Clyde doesn’t speak to me,” I say leaving the room to head for the kitchen. I don’t see Marcus anywhere, so that must mean he does actually get to rest at some point. Jonas is lounging on the couch waiting for direction.

“He should be speaking to you. He must be waiting for something. He is behaving himself, right? Did you give him some of your blood yet?”

“He is still learning and you could have warned me about him breathing fire. I am lucky my hair hasn’t all been singed off. And what the fuck do you mean, have I given him any blood? Why would I do something like that?”

“For a master to connect with their Hellhound it is well known that you have to feed him a little bit of your own blood,” Ben says like it is common sense. Yeah, maybe common sense for someone who has spent his or her life in Hell.

“I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Why didn’t you provide a manual with him, if there are all these hidden things I need to know? Thanks, Sebastian,” I say putting Clyde down by the plate Sebby has prepared and set on the floor. “We have a guest, in case you didn’t notice.”

“Kind of hard to miss, love. He is standing right behind you.” Sebastian moves closer to me and wraps his arms around my stomach. “Did you come to tell us more about whatever ritual we need to do to secure our bond? I know there is more to it than what you have described to Nyx.”

“You have been around the block haven’t you, fangy one.  Rest assured the two parts I have already said are needed, if there is anything else you need to know, I will ensure you are made aware in time,” Ben explains pretty much absolutely nothing.

Wanting to be ready to go once Ben is done saying or doing whatever he came to do, I take the towel off my head and toss it on the counter. Having no brush handy, I just use my fingers to comb it out a little.

“I would watch your supposed insults,” Sebastian says. “I wouldn’t doubt if your true form included some fangs. I don’t know if you have noticed, but love here has them, too.”

“All true statements. None of which will change my little nicknames for you. Buttercup, it looks like Clyde needs to go out. I will leave you guys to that. Call if you need any help with him. It looks like you have everything under control here, so I won’t hold my breath waiting for the call. Oh and grueker-tilnay,” he says before disappearing. At least, that is what it sounded like to me. It is probably spelled totally different and has those two little dot things above all the letters.

He really needs to learn how to use doors. “That last bit was even less like English than what he usually speaks,” I say finding Clyde’s rope where I left it yesterday and wrapping it around him now that he has finished his food.

“That is because it wasn’t English. I am hoping it is a hint to the incantation that needs to be said when we reconnect. It means unbreakable bond in a very old language.”

“And does that have a meaning as it applies to us?” I ask him. “Come on, Jonas, we are leaving.”

We gather in the elevator and head down before Sebastian continues the conversation. “I think it gives me a starting point to look. It may be the whole incantation, or just something I can reference in a search. While you are meeting with your client, I will start going through the texts that I have digitized on my phone.”

It must have taken someone a long time to do that. I have seen the physical versions of his ancient texts and let’s just say, some of them are full sets of encyclopedias thick. He must have had his minions working overtime.

On a side note, it is nice that he is going to have something to do during the meeting. I wasn’t looking forward to meeting this Kent guy and having to introduce myself and my conjoined twin. Then I would have to explain how since Sebastian is older by centuries, he somehow grew me over the years.

Now that would make an interesting icebreaker.

Because Clyde needs to take care of his business, we decide to just walk to ParaNorm, Inc. It is fun to watch Demon Dog make his way around. He is at the point in his development where his head is still just a little too large for his body and it kind of has a mind of its own.

I am really going to have to do something with the lack of places for him to roam. Maybe I will start a committee to build a new dog park. Hold on. I cannot stop laughing in my head about the idea of me actually being on a committee. Just another second. Okay, that’s better.

My thought should have been more along the lines of me threatening one of my minions to get on a committee for the cause. Although now that I think about it, Clyde is going to be the only dog, so it should be a committee to build ‘Clyde’s Dog Park’.

It has a catchy ring to it.

“I just wanted to bring up something that I don’t think anyone else has mentioned,” Jonas says from behind us.

“Jonas, you know they tend to treat me like a mushroom most of the time, so I doubt I will have heard whatever is on your mind,” I reply pausing while Clyde waters the side of a building. Hmm. I guess I won’t be doing business there anytime soon, judging by the glares I am getting from the owners inside.

“Not long after you woke up, your usual scent changed a bit so you don’t smell very wolfy anymore.”

“Really?” I ask raising my wrist to my nose trying to pick up anything. Of course, it doesn’t work. I wonder if that is why Alex is being a bit standoffish.

“We probably should have brought that up. We don’t believe it is permanent. When we first started picking it up we thought it was a side effect of the drugs in your system, but then we remembered it happened quite a while after you came to,” Sebastian explains. “I cannot remember the exact moment I noticed it. It was sometime over the last couple days, though.

“Don’t you think it odd that the part of me that had the bond disengaged is now taking over? I think that should have been something someone brought up before I went out in the sun. I don’t crave solid food anymore and I smell more vampirish, which could lead to troubles with the ultraviolet rays beating down on my head.”

“I didn’t want to start any big philosophical debates or anything,” Jonas says. “I just wanted to make sure you knew in case Kent says something about it. I know how cranky you get when something blindsides you.”

“Thank you, Jonas. You are right. Man bits would have been threatened if I wasn’t told. I just thought it could have been something mentioned while we were discussing my need to feed more and lack of appetite for steak last night.”

“Valid points as usual, love,” Sebastian states. That’s it. That is my big apology for allowing me to walk out into the daylight and potentially sizzle like a sausage link on a hot stove.

I am telling you, sometimes men make me think of starting my own colony on a faraway planet filled with only women. And maybe dogs. Clyde would have to be allowed to come with me.

For now, I have to put aside thoughts of my future far off land. It is time to get ready to meet the man that has a town full of ghosts.

Chapter 12

Ride ‘em cowboy

No one is leaning up against my building waiting for me. I see that as a good thing. It will give me a chance to get settled before dealing with another male that will most likely annoy me. I unlock the door and lead our troops inside.

“You guys can get comfortable out here,” I tell the humanoids amongst us before taking Clyde into my office.

I get him situated underneath my desk. There isn’t a lot for him to investigate and his head seems to be navigating to the floor more than usual, so hopefully he will take a little nap during the meeting. I don’t want him to scare off a potential client before I have the opportunity to do it myself.

I still have a few minutes before noon, so I boot up the computer and decide to try to do a search on Kent Newhouse. I was told I wouldn’t find anything about the town itself, but I should be able to look up something about the man.

After ten minutes, I don’t believe the man even exists. There is nothing about him anywhere. How can that even be? His name must be some kind of alias he uses to protect himself. That may be why Alex didn’t immediately recognize the name. He said he has sent people to the man, so I have to guess he knows the man by another name. I think I should have asked more questions last night.

Just as I come to that conclusion, the front door opens. Having a clear viewing path to it, I see a tall man, about Alex’s height, enter my building. I work very hard to not start laughing audibly, but I cannot control it mentally.

The man who walks in is in jeans and a dark blue button down, full sleeve shirt. Those are about the only parts of him that are normal. I shouldn’t say that, in general, his physical features are normal; it is his accessories that have me close to my first ever giggle fit.

Picture one of those old-time sheriffs, the kind from the Old West that are half outlaw, half cowboy. Got it in your mind? Well, I don’t even have to think about it because it is standing right in front of me.

It is taking all of my willpower, which I have to be running short on as much as I have been using it lately, not to run and look out the front window for this guy’s horse.

Kent, assuming that is who this is, comes equipped with gun belt, ten-gallon hat, and cowboy boots featuring spurs. The latter is what has me really looking for a horse.

It would be the first one I have seen in person and I am kind of excited to see one up close and personal. I am sure I won't get to see one now because he has probably just come from a very odd costume party that took place in the middle of the day.

“Kent, good to see you again,” Jonas says standing to shake the man’s hand and affirming the identity of the person occupying my lobby.

“Jonas,” he says nodding his head in greeting. “I heard you moved back to Night Owl, but didn’t exactly expect to run into you here, or find you in such odd company.” I am sure he is referring to Sebastian and I am also sure Sebastian is ignoring him.

Vampires and wolves have way too many issues trying to get along. I am lucky my group has figured out a way to communicate between themselves without killing each other. These days Sebastian and Jonas act like old chums, but they weren’t that way when they were first told they would be spending time together. Part of it might have been the way Jonas treated me like the deadliest plague on the planet, but the differences between species played the biggest part.

“You are fixing to meet with my current charge, so if you have a job for her, you will most likely be seeing me quite a bit,” Jonas informs him.

“Really? Alex has changed his guard?” Kent asks. Evidently, Ghost Town isn’t up-to-date on the latest gossip, or maybe they only get half of the story. He did seem to know Jonas had moved.

“Not really. He just wants his most prized possession protected. They tend to be together often these days, so I get to watch over both of them.” “Prized possession”? Jonas is looking for trouble.

“Obviously I knew Slaughter parted ways with the Collective, but I hadn’t heard she had taken up with Alex.” This guy does know I am sitting right here, doesn’t he?

“If you haven’t heard that bit of news, you are way behind. I should probably introduce you to Sebastian here,” Jonas says.

“
The
Sebastian. That explains what a vamp is doing out this time of the day. I can tell there are two in the building, but since the other one isn’t out here, I figured they were hiding out from the sun.” He must have an extra good nose on him because most werewolves wouldn’t have been able to smell me just like that.

“Yeah, well, as you can see he is very busy with his task right now. You should probably go back and talk to Nyx anyway. I am surprised we haven’t seen weapons fly through the doorway. She isn’t one known for her patience.” Jonas describes me to a T. “On a side note, if you haven’t noticed Sebastian is kind of in a mood right now, so don’t touch Nyx. Even if she initiates contact, which is doubtful,
don’t
touch her.”