NOT DEAD YET: A Lucy Hart, DEATHDEALER Novel (Book Two) (6 page)

“By the goddess, Lucy... are you insane?”  She spun around in circles for a few beats as she pulled madly at the pompom-like pigtails on either side of her head.  She actually growled.

At that moment Lucy felt something... something powerful, but fleeting.  And it was definitely familiar—something dark and sweet and
very
familiar.  But before Lucy could pin it down, it stopped, receding as quickly as it came. 

And with it, Abbey stopped, shook her head as if literally shaking bad thoughts from her skull, and she then shot Lucy with a shocked, googly-eyed gaze.

“Internet porn, you dope!”

“Internet porn?”  Lucy echoed.

Abbey rolled her eyes.  “You know, X-tube, that sort of thing.  Saves me from having ‘The Talk’ with Gran.  Plus I know ahead of time what I’m in for.”

“Oh... ” Lucy sighed.  She was so out of her depth when it came to talking about sex.  Sure she used to trash talk with the best of them at her old high school.  Back then she’d been amoral, cruel, manipulative, and vicious. 

And lying to everyone... even herself.

Not that she’d grown that much as a person—she still lived to shop, she still felt entitled to the good life, and she still was unabashedly out for number one.  But those she felt closest to now were somehow more important than all that.  She held them above all the trappings of being a wealthy socialite.  For those few—and yet growing in number—souls, she would do almost anything.

Unfortunately, the spritely girl dressed like a catholic schoolgirl straight out of a Rob Zombie movie, was one of those souls.  And she wanted Lucy to come with her further into what had to be the most disturbing place she’d ever encountered.

“Did you really think I’d do something like that?”  Abbey rested her hands on her hips with haughty displeasure.  “I mean, really Lucy!  Gross!”

Lucy held up her hands in surrender.  “I’m not judging.”  But thank god they weren’t having that conversation!  “I mean, it’s practically going on trendy to, you know... ”

“Give up the big V?”  Abbey’s gaze just leveled Lucy.  It was too blunt, just like Abbey herself.  And those eyes, no matter what crazy makeup she wore, always seemed to cut right into you.  “If it’s so trendy, then why haven’t you given it up?”

“Huh... what?”  That’s me, the eloquent debater.  “Why would you think—”

Abbey waved her off with a bored wave.  “Oh, please.  I knew the moment I met you.  You’re not giving that up any time soon.”  She smiled conspiratorially.  “Not even for Mr. Hot-as-Hell Wolf-Boy.”

Lucy blinked at her friend slowly.  She just couldn’t believe that Abbey knew her so well.  It was probably just the upcoming nuptials that had Lucy so out of sorts.  But having Abbey being so surprisingly insightful was just creepy.

But then again, hadn’t she been trying to get Mr. Hot-as-Hell Wolf-Boy to do just that?

“So how do we get off this subject?” Lucy said, averting her gaze from Abbey, and a million miles away from the phallus sporting manikin. 

Abbey smiled wickedly.  “Well, it involves you coming with me further into this little bordello of sin... and some sexy underwear.”

She spun around and skipped further into the shop, past more leather clad mannequins, a display of ornately carved riding crops, and past a glass case, the counter strewn with bottles of scented oils and flavored lubricants. 

Lucy groaned and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. 
I’m never going to live this down.  Never.

She closed her eyes, pulled herself together inside and out, and then marched farther into the shop to find her crazy best friend.

~*~

The “sexy underwear” turned out to be the most extensive collection of lace, satin, and silk garters Lucy had ever imagined existed.  And weird upon weird, it fit perfectly into the theme of a pre-engagement party shopping spree.  Lucy hadn’t chosen the dress yet... but she’d already set her mind on something pearl white that shimmered.  Her colors would be peach and pink.  She’d laid claim to those colors when she was twelve, and her choice had remained firm.

So she bought every single white, white and pink, white and peach, and white, peach, and pink garter the store had. 

The sales clerk, wearing a nametag that read Rachel, also showed Lucy and Abbey the shop’s extensive collection of negligees and lacy underwear. 

Rachel had curly red hair that was an unnaturally vibrant color, yet somehow fit her flamboyant personality perfectly.  She was at least six inches taller than Lucy, skinny as a toothpick, but still had some youthful plumpness to her gorgeous cheekbones.  She wore jeans and a pink and acid green t-shirt, torn at the neck, and the non-existent sleeves, that once seemed to sport the logo of an old punk rock band.

But it was Rachel’s smile that really put her apart: loony, lopsided, and brilliantly white.  And when she smiled, it made her large green eyes practically glow.

At first Lucy felt too self conscious to take any of it seriously.  But after well over a half hour of intense scrutiny, Lucy headed for the front door of the little SMBD shop with five bags of loot... and the buttery leather jacket she first saw when entering.

It was a man’s jacket, and Lucy could clearly envision Gabriel pulling it on over his broad, naked shoulders.  She wanted to watch him pull it on, to watch him shrug it over his bulging biceps, over his chiseled chest.  And she wanted to slip into his arms, into the open front of the jacket to wrap her arms around his broad, strong torso. 

She could practically feel the softness of his skin, the hardness of the muscles beneath it… she could practically hear the powerful beat of his heart in his chest.  She wanted him so badly...

Just then Lucy’s legs stopped moving, and her train of thought stopped on a dime.  Standing in front of the mannequin sporting the strap on phallus was a familiar, rather tacky sight.  Darla, Francis Luvici’s secretary and not-so-secret mistress, stood in her five-inch stiletto heels, holding her hand contemplatively to her chin as she scrutinized the obscene mannequin.

Abbey stopped, her pigtails twirling in her black and blue manicured fingers, and looked back to Lucy.  Lucy just stood there, shaking her head as Luvici sauntered from behind a rack of practically not there negligees.

Holy crap!
  Lucy took a hasty step back, ready to turn and bolt for the back door to the little shop of libidinous horrors—Lucy wanted a big black hole to open beneath her feet, and for it to swallow her whole. 

Abbey reached out and took hold of Lucy’s wrist, pulling her closer, and uttering a sibilant word Lucy could not recognize.  She felt a shift in the air around them, and the tug of an all too familiar force—dark and sickly sweet.  It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

But when she looked around her everything was a little fuzzy, and tinted a little darker.  She looked back at Abbey, but she was still as clear as ever.  Abbey put a finger up to her smiling lips to tell her to be quiet.

Luvici walked right past them and didn’t as much as blink in their direction.  It was eerie, and unnatural, but it was also thrilling.  Somehow Abbey had become fluent enough in magic to be able to throw a spell of invisibility over not only herself, but others… and on the fly.  A useful trick, to be sure.

Abbey started to pull Lucy slowly toward the front door.  Unfortunately, as they moved closer to the door, they had to move past Luvici and Darla... and hear their conversation.

“But why not?” she complained.  She gestured with a hand manicured with the most garish hot pink.  “You like guys too.  If I put this get up on—” she waved her hand at the strap-on wearing mannequin,  “then you could get the best of both worlds.”

Luvici and I winced at the same moment.  “Darla!” he said exasperated, “I’m still... I’m—it doesn’t matter if I’m with a guy or a girl... I’m still me.”

Darla looked at him with a confused expression, and then her eyes went wide.  “Oh... ” she said, and then took a big step back, nearly running into Abbey.  We both took a big step back, and started again for the door.  I didn’t want to hear anymore about Darla and Luvici’s sex life.

But then Darla said, “We still need to get them a present... you know, for the bridal shower.”

Luvici groaned.  “You’re still going?”

“She invited me.  Why wouldn’t I go?”  She started to talk in a stage whisper.  “I mean, your wife never goes to any of your family’s events.”

I looked back as we moved past them, and saw sadness on Luvici’s face.  The dirty crook of a lawyer had many, many faults, but he had helped me out when no one else would—even though it had turned out to be a mixed blessing... a very mixed blessing.

Darla must have seen the same sadness in his eyes.  “I’m sorry, Frankie.  I know how all this Lucy and Gabriel stuff is dredging up all sorts of bad memories.”

With that Lucy stopped, frozen in her tracks. 
What about Gabriel and me getting married brought up bad memories?
  She pulled Abbey back toward the unsuspecting two.  She needed to hear what they were going to say.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Luvici said dismally. 

Darla wrapped her ample self around Luvici, and Lucy had to pull Abbey all the closer just to hear. 

“It’s alright, Frankie.  I know you really wanted your marriage to work out in the beginning.”  She sighed.  “But we don’t always get what we want in life.  So we make do.”

What did this have to do with me and Gabriel?

“I don’t... I don’t wish bad things for them... I really don’t.  If they can make it, then I’ll be nothing but happy for them... ” Luvicic shuddered and pulled Darla closer to him.  “It’s just that... ” He just stopped and shook his head.

“It’s just that Humans and Weres don’t mix in the long run,” Darla finished for him.

Wow.  Luvicic had told Darla about his family... about werewolves...

But then Lucy realized what she’d said.  Werewolves and humans don’t mix.  That felt like a slap in the face, but a little deeper.

“That’s just what happened between you and your wife—and may I add that she’s a frigid bitch!” Darla continued. “It may just work out for those two kids... that doesn’t mean anything against you, sweetie.  I don’t think anyone would be able to deal with that old crone.”

Luvicic just sighed.  “It’s not just that, Darla.  There has never been a happy marriage between a human and one of my kind.  Either they live two separate lives, or it ends... ”

I saw Darla shiver, and she moved a fraction of an inch away from Luvici.  “Bloody.”

Abbey pulled hard on me and forced me away from the embracing couple.  Before I knew it we were out on the street and Abbey was pulling me down the block toward the car.  Whatever spell she’d cast seemed to evaporate the second we walked out into the sun, and the world came back to crystal clarity once more.

About fifty feet from my car she let go of me and moved toward the passenger side.  “Don’t even give what they were talking about a second thought.  You heard her, his wife was a bitch already.  And you and Gabriel... well, you’re special.”

Lucy shambled out into the street, heading for the driver’s side door, her keys in hand.  Suddenly there was a car horn, and someone grabbed a hold of her and wrenched her back onto the sidewalk just as a woman nearly ran her over while trying to drive while talking on her cell phone and checking her makeup..

Abbey huffed at her, her hands like iron as they dug into her arms.  “Try not to become road-kill on my watch!”

On her watch?
  For some reason, statements like that always made Lucy feel like that person was working for someone else. 

Lucy smiled, though.  Abbey would never deem anyone superior enough to work for them.  That was something they both shared: a huge superiority complex.

“So, where to now?”  Lucy dropped her shopping bags in the back seat of her candy-apple red Mustang, and carefully stepped out into the street again, to get in the driver’s seat.

“You sure you’re alright?” Abbey asked, cautiously getting into the passenger seat—and pointedly putting on her seatbelt. 

Lucy pushed the overheard conversation between Darla and Luvici out of her mind.  He was not Gabriel.  And she was neither Darla nor his wife.

And after all,
Lucy thought with a rueful smile on her face,
I’m not entirely human either, now am I?

That thought made her shiver in the hot Sacramento sun.

“Well,” Abbey pointed down the street to the McDonald's on the corner.  “I thought we could stop for some lunch.”  Lucy shot her through with a scalding glare.  Abbey laughed loudly.  “Okay, okay... you can drag me into one of your overpriced eateries.  But then I do need to go somewhere else... just for a few minutes.  I’ve gotta pick up something special.”

Special...
that was a loaded statement if Lucy ever heard one.

Lucy wallowed in the surprised expression on Abbey’s face.  But she had been introduced to the tiny gyros joint by Elaina Enoch, and no one in Southern California had more discriminating taste than her soon to be extended family member.