Real Vampires Have Curves (19 page)

I felt a sharp poke in my back. Of course pink hat was reading my mind. Cursing in church was a clear no-no. I remembered that much from my childhood.

A lay preacher took over the pulpit to make announcements about upcoming activities. Lots of stuff going on, all of it at night and much of it involving nature. I'd already learned that Austinites were really into protecting the environment.

“What does he mean? Sky clad?”

Flo frowned and looked around. She suddenly clutched my arm. “Hate!”

Announcements over, a soloist sang about God's love and meeting him in the great beyond. Now
she
had a voice. I kept my feet firmly planted, but swayed to the music.

“I feel hate, Glory.”

“What?”

“Someone here is full of hate and it's coming at
us.
”

“No.” I glanced around. Everyone near us was smiling, moving to the beat of the music. “Look. Everyone's happy.”

“Not everyone.” Flo shuddered. “We must get out of here.”

“But the service isn't over yet.”

“Now, Gloriana.” Flo pulled me out of the pew and toward the door. I glanced back and saw a man. White hair. Richard Mainwaring? Here? He was staring at me with a look that was all too easy to read.

“Do you see him? Richard?”

Flo looked back over her shoulder. “Ricardo? He is the one?” She shook her head sadly. “I don't like seeing him like this. He can be very . . . dangerous.”

I glanced back at Richard. Definitely dangerous. Flo pulled me out the door. Valdez jumped up, on high alert.

“I don't know why he is hating you, Glory.”

“Who's hating Glory?”
Valdez looked ready to take a chunk out of someone.

“Calm down. Nothing's happened. And maybe he's hating
you
, Flo. You
did
break up with him.” I could hear the music faintly through the closed door. Too bad. But I would be coming back here. No way was I letting a perv like Mainwaring keep me from doing what I wanted.

“Ricardo loved me. Still loves me.” Flo got into the car and dug in her purse for a hanky. “But he is troubled.”

“He's in church. I'd say that's a good sign.” And now that I thought about it, even though he'd denied it, he had to be our praying vamp. I hope he'd learned to use discretion and his vamp powers to erase memories if he was determined to feed from mortals. Otherwise someone was going to have to pound some sense into him.

“He is ashamed to be vampire.” Flo huffed. “Which is an insult to me, is it not?”

“I can relate to Richard's attitude.” But I'd decided to quit being negative. “He's stuck, Florence. Like we all are. I, for one, am ready to make the best of it.”

“I know. Ricardo has secrets too. Things he wouldn't share with me. But he was a wonderful lover.” She glanced back at Valdez. “Very unselfish, if you know what I mean.”

“Unselfish?” I suddenly had an X-rated movie in my head. “Lucky you.” I started the car. “Where to now? It's early yet.”

“Blade wants you two at the castle.”
Valdez put his face between us.
“It's a meeting. He's gonna get Tony's report on what he's found out.”

“Someday you're going to tell me how you and Blade communicate.”

“The same way you and I do, Blondie. It's a mental thing. Just long distance.”
Valdez's ears pricked up.
“That Mainwaring creep just came outside. He's trouble.”

“I'm afraid you're right, Valdez.” Flo looked at me. “Let's go to the castle.”

Flo was clearly still spooked after her brush with death. And I didn't blame her. The soothing quality of the church service was wearing off and I was once again one of those hated demons from hell. I got us out of the parking lot and on the way to Damian's. Fortunately Valdez gave me directions. I was still learning my way around Austin. The dog kept looking over his shoulder.

“Is someone following us?”

“I don't think so.”
He faced front again.
“Take the next left and you'll see it.”

The castle was lit from top to bottom. Like for a party. Damian, in black cashmere sweater and jeans, clearly host, greeted us at the door. He was charming with a capital "C” and I had to remind myself that it was calculated down to the last smile.

But he was the only one smiling. It was a pretty somber bunch gathered in Damian's living room. About twenty vampires. Fifteen men. Five women. CiCi was there. Freddy and Derek. Diana. She introduced me to the others, but their names were a blur. Except for Marguerite, a twentysomething brunette with the kind of bee-stung lips women get collagen for nowadays.

Marguerite was with Kenneth Collins, one of the few black vampires I'd met. He was suave, sophisticated, and it took him about two minutes to work the fact that he'd lived in Paris for most of the twentieth century into the conversation.

Flo rushed up and kissed Kenneth on both cheeks then began chattering away in French. Marguerite made a face and pulled me aside.

“Call me Margie. Kenny and I are from Atlanta, Georgia originally. You can imagine why we headed to France when we did.”

“He's really handsome. I can see why you followed him.”

“No, honey. You've got it backward. I made Kenny and he followed
me
. I've been vampire since 1843. He joined me in 1904.” She kept her eyes on Flo and Kenny.

“You knew Flo in Paris?” Flo had definitely known Kenny, the way she was hanging on to him.

Margie's smile was brittle. “Oh, yes. We were all pretty wild back then. Our salons were filled with mortals begging to be tasted.” She lifted her glass of Bloody Merry. “This pig piss doesn't do it for me.”

Wow. Nothing I could say to that. Besides, I was still pretty buzzed about floating earlier. Could I float now? I looked down at my feet and tried to concentrate. Nope. I looked up and told myself to float, damn it. Nothing.

Margie was watching me curiously. Of course, another mind reader. She could probably float at will. Time for a subject change.

“I like your outfit. Vintage?” She wore a long skirt similar to mine.

“Thanks. It's from my flower-child period in the sixties. I hear you own a vintage-clothing shop.”

“Yep. Vintage Vamp's Emporium.” I dug in my purse and pulled out one of the business cards Derek had made for me on his computer. “Come by and shop. I give fellow vamps the family discount.”

“Super.” She licked her full lips and glanced at Kenny again. “You have any corsets? Black or red lace? Kenny loves me in a corset.”

Flo had moved closer to Kenny and they had their heads together, laughing as if at a secret joke. Margie apparently decided enough was enough. “Florence, honey, what ever happened to that handsome Spaniard you used to sleep with in Paris?”

Flo turned to Margie. “Ricardo or Pablo?”

“Ricardo was English, wasn't he? The Spaniard was an artist. I had such a crush on him.” Margie was obviously dealing out payback. Kenny's mouth tightened.

“Pablo Picasso. Wild times in Paris, eh, Kenny? I left Pablo when he started painting me with three breasts.” She looked up at Kenny. “Do I look like I have three breasts?”

Margie looked ready to pull out some hair. I decided it was time for a distraction.

“Flo, who's that handsome man over there, the tall one with CiCi?” Flo looked and got a competitive gleam in her eyes.

“Come. I introduce you. Au revoir, Kenneth.” Flo kissed Kenny good-bye, a totally unnecessary gesture since we were only going across the room. Margie's hands fisted.

“See you two later. Come by the shop.” I let Flo drag me across the room. Freddy's mom kept her hand on her vampire's arm and made it obvious that she'd put her search for a new lover into high gear and Flo wasn't going to interfere.

CiCi and Flo were sniping at each other when I wandered away to park myself next to Diana. “I feel like I'm at a singles' mixer.”

Diana nodded toward the door. “And here comes another hot guy.”

Blade walked in and looked around.

“
Your
hot guy?”

“Nope. We're both free agents.” Blade smiled at me but didn't stop to speak to me. Well, hell, we weren't so free that he could practically ignore me. I know, I'm perverse. I've done nothing but push Blade away. So when he stays away? I resisted the urge to send him a mental message. He was busy speaking to each vampire individually, obviously acting as a leader. A role he was born for.

A waiter in a tux circulated around the room with fresh crystal goblets of pig piss, I mean Bloody Merry, on a silver tray. I'd passed the first go round. This time I snatched one and sipped gratefully. I was
so
not going to think about the last night Blade and I had made love. Here. Right upstairs.

Or the night Damian and I had checked out his coffin and each other. Here. Right upstairs. I drained my glass and grabbed a second. At least the waiter was a distraction. How long had it taken Damian to find a Lurch look-alike named Lex Luther?

“People. Can we start this meeting?” Blade. Impatient as always.

Damian nodded. “Bring him in, Luther.”

Luther opened a door and Tony Crapetta strutted into the room. The strut was marred by the visible shaking in his knees. And then there were the crosses . . . He had at least six of them around his neck. Religious medals too. He clutched a rosary in his hand and looked nervously around the room.

Diana rushed forward. “Darlin', relax. We're all friends here.” She looked around and grinned. “Who wants the first bite?”

Eleven

"Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Tony crossed himself and sank to his knees.

“Diana, behave.” Damian gave her a stern look and pulled Tony up to shove him into a chair. “No one's going to bite you, Tony.”

“I might.” Another woman walked in from the entry. Her red hair pulled back to show killer cheekbones, Mara MacTavish was dressed in expensive black, cut down to there. She was tall, model thin and a reminder that life is
not
fair. She strolled over to Tony and ran her fingers through his thin brown hair. She stared into his eyes and licked her lips.

“Mmmm. O positive. Am I right?”

“Our Father—” Tony gasped and closed his eyes.

“Wimp.” Mara looked at Blade. “Are we so desperate for help that
this
is what we use?”

“Yes.” Blade gestured for Mara to sit, but she just shrugged.

“I don't believe it.” She looked around the room. “Gloriana. Frederick. Countess. I don't know the rest of you. Well, Florence of course. Everyone knows Florence. I'm Mara MacTavish.”

“I don't like the way she said that, Glory. Is she calling me a slut?” Flo clutched her crystal goblet. “How would she like to wear a little Bloody Merry?”

Blade looked over at us. Of course he'd heard Flo, every vampire in the room had heard her, including Mara. That lady just smiled and walked to Blade's side.

“Florence, Mara, can we get on with this?” Blade pulled out a chair which Mara ignored.

She frowned at Tony who was busily saying a rosary. “I think you're wasting our time with this sniveling mortal.”

“He's not as useless as he looks.” Damian took Mara's hand and pulled it to his lips to give her a fang job. Never let it be said that he wasn't an equal opportunity letch. “Damian Sabatini, Mrs. MacTavish.”

“You fang me again, demon, and I'll knock your choppers down your throat.” She jerked her hand back to her side.

“Whoa. I like this woman,” Diana whispered.

I had to admit Mara was rapidly becoming my heroine, despite what
had
been a slam against Flo. Mara was taking control of the meeting. And the men hated it. Blade was obviously sending her mental commands to cool it. She ignored him.

Damian wasn't taking rejection well. He turned his back on Mara and focused on Tony, jerking him to his feet in mid-Hail Mary.

“Get up. Be a man. Tell us what you found out today.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Sabatini.” Tony wiped his forehead on his sleeve. He was sweating as if it was a hundred degrees in here instead of a cool seventy.

Blade stepped forward. “Report.”

“Yes, well, Brent Westwood's got a ranch just north of town. He's made that his headquarters. Surrounded himself with hired muscle and high tech security.”

“Why Austin?” A dapper man, sort of a scholarly type with a neat mustache and goatee, stepped forward. “There are a lot more vampires in New York City or even San Francisco.”

There were murmurs of agreement around the room.

“Westwood started his fortune with a computer company in Austin. He's owned the ranch for years. I got a contact on the inside.” Tony let go of his rosary long enough to pull a paper out of his pocket. “The guy says Westwood got a call a while back that there was, uh, a coven of you people here, two dozen or more.”

Flo marched up to him. “We're not witches, you oaf. We don't do covens or clubs or even gangs.” She threw up her hands and snatched the paper. “What's this? Your grocery list?” She handed it to Blade then turned to examine Tony like he was something stuck on her high heel. “I can smell your fear. Is it because you plan to betray us?”

“No! No, ma'am.” Tony swallowed and held his rosary in both hands. “It's a list of names, ma'am. The hired muscle Westwood's got inside.” Tony put the rosary up to his neck.

“I wouldn't bite you if your veins were pure champagne.” Flo flounced back to my side. “Mara's right. Is this the best we can do?”