The Fangover (21 page)

“Katie, could you come here for a moment?” Nigel said, waving to her.

Katie raised a finger, then turned to the Dancing Vagrant. “Wait right here.” She started over to the bar, then turned back to him and added for good measure, “I’ll have Cort meet us at Erin Rose with Winston.”

She didn’t want him dancing off again.

He nodded, perking up again at her mention of his best friend.

“I know this guy is harmless, but please be careful,” Nigel said as she approached the bar. He pushed a plastic cup of beer toward her, nodding to the vagrant. “Give that to him.”

Katie took the cup. Nigel was really a nice guy. So much for this whole “vampires being monsters” thing.

“I will be careful,” Katie assured him. “I just need to find out if Cort and I actually got married last night. And this guy says he knew the person who married us.”

Nigel looked surprised, then impressed. “Attending a wake, having a fatal accident, crossing over, discovering you are in love, and a marriage all in one night. And none of you remember it. That has to be a record, even for Bourbon Street.”

Katie laughed. “Definitely not the work of your average girl next door.”

“Ah, Katie-Katie,” Nigel said, patting her hand again. “I definitely don’t think anyone would ever consider you an average girl next door. You’re a stunner.”

Katie beamed. Maybe she really was. Maybe she always had been and just didn’t know it.

“This is good,” the Dancing Vagrant said, grinning down at his beer, any hurt feelings soothed by free alcohol. “That bartender never lets me in the bar, you know, because of Winston. Some bars have really strict policies about animals.”

Katie and Cort certainly hadn’t helped this man’s chances of getting into bars with that bird. Or rather, the bird had hurt his own chances.

But in this case, since Winston wasn’t even with him, she didn’t think the bird was Nigel’s issue. But since the man was happy with his beer and his rationalization, Katie wasn’t about to ruin that for him by pointing out the truth.

“So how do you know Annalese Bonvieux?”

“Everyone knows Annalese.” He frowned as if she was mad. Maybe she was, and he was the sane one. Who knows.

“I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“She married you and your man last night. Of course you know her.”

He had a point there. She should know her.

“Well, I was so excited, I guess everything is a bit of a blur,” she told him.

He nodded. “Life is exciting.”

Katie had to give this guy credit, he did put a good spin on everything. Then again, he was the Dancing Vagrant.

They reached Erin Rose, pushing aside the plastic strips that covered the doorway to keep the air-conditioning in and the humid, Louisiana air out of the bar.

“Hey,” the bartender at the front bar called immediately as soon as he saw them enter. The burly man with a goatee and tattooed sleeves covering his bulky muscles pointed at the vagrant. “You can’t come in here.”

Dancing Vagrant gave Katie an “I told you so” look. “See, Winston again.”

And again, Katie accepted his rationalization with a smile and a nod.

“Annalese is probably in the back bar. If not, I’ll send her back there when I see her.”

Katie nodded again. The Dancing Vagrant waved quite merrily to the grouchy-looking bartender and slipped back out of the bar.

Katie sighed, wishing she had her purse. She’d buy the poor guy another beer and bring it out to him, so he at least had something to do while he waited around outside. She supposed that he might wander off to enjoy more music and dance, but she also knew he did love his bird, and he was waiting for Winston as much as she was waiting for this Annalese Bonvieux.

And maybe this lady was already there. She glanced back once more to see the Vagrant Dancer just outside the window. He’d bummed a cigarette, or at least she assumed he’d bummed a cigarette off someone, and he was jigging slightly to some of the music that wafted outside from Erin Rose’s loud jukebox.

She shook her head, again amazed at what a truly happy guy he was, and she headed into the back room.

The back bar of Erin Rose was a small square room, two of the walls lined with a nicked, worn bar and equally worn wooden stools. A few tables littered the limited floor space, but for some reason, Katie had always found the place more homey than cramped and shabby.

Maybe because it was one of the favorite spots of the locals, and whenever she walked back there, she knew she was going to know someone.

And sure enough, she recognized one of the patrons seated at the bar immediately.

“Raven,” she said, greeting the bald guitarist with a cool familiarity.

Raven either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, because he smiled broadly.

“Katie Lambert. How are you feeling tonight?”

Katie knew that he had to know she was now one of them, since he’d been at the wake and in the pictures she’d seen.

“I feel fine,” she said, looking toward the other patron, a woman who looked a little mussed and frazzled. If the way she was knocking back her drink was any indication, she was.

Could this be Annalese Bonvieux? And if it was, did she want to have the conversation she was about to have in front of Raven? Not really.

But Katie approached her, a little timidly, partly because she felt nervous and because the woman really did look more than a little stressed.

“Pardon me,” Katie said softly, but the woman whipped around like Katie had shouted at her. The woman eyed Katie up and down.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but are you Annalese?”

The woman studied her a moment longer, then shook her head no, and Katie quickly realized she wasn’t going to volunteer anything more. Katie thanked her, wondering what the heck happened to her tonight to make her so tense.

Katie frowned. It couldn’t be anything weirder than what had happened to her.

Katie turned around, surveying the room again. Of course Raven watched her, and she felt obligated to wander back toward him. Why couldn’t that woman have been Annalese? Or at least friendly so Katie would have felt comfortable sitting down with her. Instead she took a seat a couple down from Raven.

He immediately got up and sat down beside her. Of course. She should have told him she wanted to just sit here by herself, surely being a vampire should give her the ability to be a little bitchy, but still she couldn’t be overtly rude. Those darn ingrained manners.

“You look lovely. Your new state suits you.”

“Thank you.” She really wished someone else was back here with them. As if in answer to her wish, Peter, the back-room bartender, appeared. Peter was in exact opposition to the front-room bartender. He was average height, with somewhat broad shoulders, but overall an average build. His ever-present cowboy hat was perched on his shaggy hair that was a color somewhere between light brown and gray.

He nodded at Katie and asked her what she’d like to drink. Katie hesitated, not certain that Peter would extend her a brief line of credit like she knew Nigel would have.

“Let me buy you a drink,” Raven said.

Katie hesitated again, then nodded. “I’ll have a vodka and tonic with extra lime.”

Peter moved over to the other bar to fix her drink.

“So I guess I should tell you that your man Cort is looking for you.”

Katie turned slightly on her barstool. “He is?”

Raven nodded, taking a sip of his own drink. Red wine.

“And I also have to admit, I couldn’t resist ribbing him.”

“How and why?”

“I gotta tell you, Katie, I’m pretty damned sick of losing all the good ladies to the damned Impalers.”

She frowned, not totally following him.

“Stella Malone to Wyatt Axelrod.”

Really? Katie supposed that made sense. Stella and Wyatt would make a great and truly stunning couple. In fact, now that she thought about it, she had sensed something between them on occasion, but she’d always been so focused on Cort that she hadn’t given it much thought. But apparently they were together now? Good for them.

“And of course, I’ve lost you to Berto Cortez.”

Peter appeared, placing her drink on the bar in front of her. Katie thanked him and took a long sip before responding to Raven.

“I don’t think you can really say you lost me to Cort. You never had me and he always did.”

His eyeliner-darkened eyes widened, and he actually looked stunned, but then he chuckled, shaking his head. “Damn, you know what, you have a good point.”

Katie smiled, too.

Raven laughed again. “You have a very good point.”

And he took a sip of his wine.

*   *   *

“SHE JUST LEFT.”

Cort stared at his friend.

Nigel stopped wiping the bar and repeated himself, this time slower.

Since Cort had pretty much made up his mind that finding Katie wasn’t going to happen tonight, Nigel’s words didn’t make sense right away.

“Do you know where she was headed?”

It was actually Drake who asked.

Cort just felt too relieved that maybe they were close to finding her. Maybe he could talk to her and tell her exactly how he felt.

“She’s headed to Erin Rose to meet with a woman who apparently married you last night.”

Cort looked at Drake. “But I thought you said that Katie and I didn’t really get married.”

Drake gave him a puzzled look. “All I know is you weren’t married by the priest from the bathtub. He’s a stripper who works at Bounce.”

It was Nigel’s turn to look baffled as he looked from Cort to Drake and back to Cort again.

“Alrighty, I’m not even going to try to follow that, but apparently Katie got some information that maybe you really did get married. Granted, she got this information from a local homeless man, but who knows.”

“A local homeless man?” Cort said.

“Yes, the Dancing Vagrant. He tends to hang around Frenchmen Street more than Bourbon, but he does come down this way occasionally.”

The Dancing Vagrant? Cort racked his brain. He remembered hearing that name before. Wait, that’s right. That couple from earlier, Betty and Ed, they’d had pictures of a man they’d called that name. But he didn’t recall them saying this guy had also been a part of their wedding party. Damn, more confusion.

Whatever. He knew where Katie was.

“Thanks,” Cort said, smacking Drake on the shoulder just as he was about to settle on a barstool.

“What?” Drake said, giving him an innocently confused look.

“We’re going to another bar—get a drink there.”

“Jack and Coke. Jack and Coke.”

“You, too,” Cort muttered to the bird.

“Oh, and by the way, that parrot belongs to the homeless man with Katie.”

Damn, that was almost as good news as the fact they were going to find Katie. Almost.

Cort waved to Nigel. “Hallelujah. Thanks, man.”

“You bet. Go get your lady.”

Cort planned on it.

*   *   *

“SO IF YOU
don’t like The Impalers, why did you go to Johnny’s wake?” Katie asked.

Raven didn’t answer for a moment. “I never said I didn’t like The Impalers. In fact, I really admire them. Just somehow since the moment I came to Bourbon and started with my band at Famous Door, we’ve had this rivalry.”

Katie pondered that, knowing that a few of the bands had rivalries, but for the most part they were friendly rivalries.

“Yet, last night you were hanging out with all of them, bonding, having a great time,” Katie pointed out. “I mean I saw a picture of you and Cort giving each other bunny ears for heaven’s sake. If that isn’t bonding, I don’t know what is.”

Raven nodded, but his expression grew sober, even almost disappointed. “The problem is, none of the guys remember that.”

Katie stared at him, realizing that all of Raven’s persona—his angst and arrogance and Goth look—was just that, a persona. A front. He wanted to be accepted just as much as anyone.

Wow. Suddenly Katie felt rather sorry for him. He just wanted to be liked, just like everyone else.

She found herself reaching out to rub his back, wanting to offer him comfort.

“They did forget last night,” she agreed. “I did, too, but I think if you tried a little harder to show the guys your softer, gentler side, they’d react well to it. They really are nice.”

The woman at the other bar snorted, although Katie decided it couldn’t be a reaction to what she’d said.

Raven sighed and took a drink. “Well, I was pretty rude to Cort earlier, trying to get his goat. But like I said, it is pretty damned irritating that The Impalers get all the good girls.”

“I’m not a good girl,” Katie said, again annoyed that everyone saw her as sweet. And as a girl.

“Oh yes, you are. You are a good girl and that’s what makes you so appealing. You’re sweet, kind, and beautiful. You have no idea how special that makes you. Cort is a very lucky man. And I’ll tell you right now, that dude is crazy about you.”

Tears welled in Katie’s eyes, but she hid them by taking a sip of her drink.

It was funny, it took a night she couldn’t remember to finally see the truth. And to see what others saw. It also took starting a new life to see that her past life had been exactly what it should have been. She was the person she was supposed to be. The person she would be for an eternity. And that was a good thing.

But most importantly, she was going to be with the man she was supposed to be with. And she was going to make sure that was for an eternity, too.

“Thank you, Raven,” she said, leaning forward to hug the man who she would have never considered hugging even fifteen minutes ago.

He shifted on his barstool and hugged her back.

“Thank you for the talk, and for the advice. I’m going to take you up on it.”

Katie smiled at him, pleased with their talk, too.

But the moment was interrupted by a shout.

“You fuckin’ asshole! Get your hands off her.”

Katie moved away from Raven instantly, shocked to see Cort come barging into the back room. Before Katie even realized what he intended to do, he grabbed the back of Raven’s black coat and was lifting the man to his feet.

From the other side of the bar she vaguely heard Peter mutter, “Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on with everyone tonight?”