Kissing with Fangs (9 page)

“Oh, go to hell,” she said.

Crap. So much for that plan.

***

Claudia paced across the office floor, wondering what, if anything, she could do about a jealous ex-girlfriend interfering with her new relationship. She stopped in the middle of the floor, sighed, and whispered the Serenity Prayer.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change—Ruxandra; courage to change the things I can—um…” She hated to admit it, but about the only thing she had control over was dating or breaking up with Anthony. “And the wisdom to know the difference.” She slumped into the small chair beside the desk.

Giving him up was the last thing she wanted to do. They had already pushed their feelings aside and sacrificed five years of their lives. To surrender would hand Ruxandra the victory she wanted.

Claudia leaned over and dropped her head into her hands. After allowing herself a moment of self-pity, she straightened and said aloud, “I think it's time to call my sponsor.”

She dialed Gaye's number and waited through two rings. She was just about to chicken out when her sponsor answered.

“Claudia?”

“Hi, Gaye. How did you know it was me?”

“Caller ID showed your number.”

“You know my phone number?”

“I have a good memory for numbers.”

Claudia snorted. “I don't have a good memory for anything these days. I feel like my mind has turned to mush.”

Gaye laughed. “That's normal too. Hang in there. It'll get better, I promise.”

“I hope so. I have a situation, and I can't figure out how to handle it. Do you have a minute to talk?”

“I have as many minutes as you need.”

“Good.” Claudia already felt a little better. Less alone with her problem, at any rate. “I told you about my boyfriend, Anthony, right?”

“Uh-oh.”

Claudia's spine stiffened. “Uh-oh? I haven't even told you what's bothering me yet.”

“You're right. I'm sorry. Tell me what's going on.”

“It's his jealous ex-girlfriend.”

Gaye groaned.

At that moment, Anthony entered the office, looking sad and defeated.

“Uh…I should go. Anthony's here, and I should be talking about this with him, anyway.”

Anthony's brows lifted.

“Fine. Just remember, your sobriety comes first. If anything threatens that, it's gotta go.”

Claudia smiled. “Yes, ma'am.”

“I'm glad you called. Try me again later when you can talk.”

“I will.” Claudia hung up and faced Anthony. “Well?”

Anthony crossed his arms. “I don't know what to tell you. Ruxandra promised to stay away, but obviously I can't trust her to keep her word.”

As hard as it was for Claudia to bring up the only logical solution, she had to. “Maybe we should stop seeing each other.”

“
No!
” he roared.

Claudia took a step back. She had never seen Anthony lose his cool. Not once.

“I will not let a spoiled brat run my life. She'll get over it. Meanwhile, I'll need to keep you close at all times so I can protect you.”

Claudia set a hand on her hip. “At all times? What am I? Your prisoner? I have a life too. I need to go to meetings and—”

Anthony held up a hand. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean during the day. Just the evenings. She won't bother you during the day.”

Claudia scrutinized him. “Anthony, I've never asked you what you do all day. I figured it was none of my business…until now.”

Anthony shifted from foot to foot and avoided eye contact.

“What is it? Are you reading to the blind? Shopping for new suits? Or does it have something to do with Ruxandra?”

His gaze snapped to hers. “It has nothing to do with Ruxandra.”

“Then you should be able to tell me about it.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face and paused so long that she began to doubt he planned to answer her at all.

“Look. I'll take care of Ruxandra's interference. I promise I don't see her during the day, and I won't see her in the evenings as soon as I can figure out how to get rid of her.”

“Get rid of her? What are you going to do?”

The alarm must have shown on her face. He said, “Don't worry. I wasn't planning to kill her.”

Claudia smirked. “Darn it.”

Anthony pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her hard.

“What was that for?”

He stepped back and turned pale—or paler, if possible. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. I'm fine. But I still want to know what you do during the day.”

He turned toward the door and grasped the handle. “I'm going to check outside. Stay in the office until I'm sure it's safe, and then I'll escort you to your apartment. Promise you'll stay inside tonight.”

“I'll do no such thing. I need to go to an AA meeting—especially when things get nutty—and the way you're acting is pretty nutty right now.”

“Look. I can't help it. At some point, I'll tell you about my days, but not now. There's a right time and place for everything.”

“Maybe this isn't the right time for us.”

She didn't get a chance to say anything else. In a flash he was holding her and grasping her chin, staring into her eyes. “Don't say that. I need you…to trust me, I mean.”

Anthony had captured Claudia's gaze and mesmerized her.
Or
so
he'd thought
. Instead of the slack-jawed, unblinking response he'd expected, she frowned, blinked, and said, “What the hell? Your eyes are turning colors.”

He quickly looked away and sucked in a deep breath.
She
wasn't under? Am I losing my touch?

“Seriously. One minute your eyes were the color of milk chocolate, like I'm used to, and then they shimmered gold and then a little purple and finally blue.”

Anthony laughed. “It must have been a trick of the light.”

She hesitated. “Either that or I'm losing my mind—again.”

“What do you mean by ‘again'?”

“Uh, you know. Sometimes when I was coming off a bender I thought I saw things that weren't really there.”

He snapped to attention. “You hallucinated?”

She shrugged and grinned sheepishly. “Only a little.”

“Has it happened since you've been sober?”

“No. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sure it was just a trick of the light or something. I'm getting better every day. I didn't mean to worry you.”

“Let's not dwell on it. You're probably just tired. I need to get you home.”

“And I need to get to an AA meeting. Maybe the people who've been through this before can tell me if seeing weird stuff is normal.”

Shit.
“Fine. I'll take you.”

“You can't do that.”

“I'm afraid I have to. I don't trust Ruxandra.”

Claudia tossed her hands in the air. “So I'm supposed to hide from her until she gets the hint and leaves us alone? Do you really think she's around every corner, gunning for me?”

The word “gunning” shocked him. But he couldn't let her see his momentary panic. Anthony caressed her arms and kissed her forehead. “I can't take that chance. You're too important to me.”

“Someone needs to be here in case Autumn or Chelsea runs into a problem. The tea room is brand-new, and there are bound to be a few bumps to smooth out.”

Anthony sighed. He had to know more about the protective spell Kurt cast around Claudia to keep her safe. Would it work if Ruxandra was literally gunning for her? Massachusetts had strict gun laws, but there was nothing to prevent her from mesmerizing a gun-shop owner in New Hampshire.

That seemed far-fetched, even for Ruxandra. Maybe he
was
being overprotective. “Fine. What if Kurt goes with you?”

Claudia's cheeks grew dark pink. “Kurt knows? Did you tell him?”

“No, but I'm sure he'd understand.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure. He was at the bar every day and hardly drank at all. Angie told me he could nurse a beer for five hours. I'm sure he'd know exactly how I feel.”

Should he tell her Kurt was his undercover bouncer? He paid him out of his own pocket and Claudia knew nothing about it. Kurt was needed there in case the paranormals got out of hand. Then Anthony remembered that Kurt was helping Nick on a paranormal PI case right now.
I
shouldn't keep taking him away from that.

“Claudia, isn't there something else you can do? Aren't there meetings online?”

“Oh, for the love of…” She sighed. “I'll call my sponsor. Maybe she can come over and we'll have our own meeting.”

Uh-oh.
That was the woman who'd cautioned Claudia to wait a year before getting into a relationship. He mulled over the possible consequences and figured that anything was better than losing Claudia permanently.

“Give her a call. Meanwhile, I'll go check on the girls and see if there are any problems.”

Claudia smiled, but only slightly.

As soon as he left the office, he strode to the men's room to call Kurt. He had to know how safe Claudia really was—before she kicked him to the curb for being overbearing and paranoid.

***

“I'm not giving up on dating Ruxandra. She's just playing hard to get,” Kurt said.

“I don't know, buddy. I heard her tell you to ‘go to hell,' and I'd say she meant it. If you intend to keep trying, you'll have your work cut out for you.”

“Maybe you can give me some tips. You know her better than anyone. What does she like?”

Anthony leaned against the stall in the men's room and groaned. “Me.”

On the other end of the phone, he heard Kurt laugh. “Well, that's not going to help. Can't you give me any other ideas? Does she have a favorite flower? Favorite color?”

“You know her. She has very expensive tastes. Are you prepared to buy her diamonds and furs?”

“Hmmm… How about tickets to the ballet or opera? Does she enjoy those things?”

“No.”

“Museums?”

“Only if she can knock one over and steal its priceless artifacts.”

Kurt chuckled. “That might make an interesting first date.”

Anthony pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maybe this was a bad idea. I don't want you spending your life savings or getting arrested, and Ruxandra is trouble with a capital
T
.”

“There must be something she enjoys that's not illegal. Long walks on the beach?”

“No. She likes long bouts of hot, sweaty sex.”

“Now we're talking!”

“But, as far as I know, only with me.”

“Wasn't she a prostitute in the seventeen hundreds?”

“Yes. And she occasionally worked in a brothel in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds. What of it?”

“She can't be that opposed to new partners.”

“It was a means to an end. Money is the only thing she understands…well, that and making my life a living hell.”

“Why? What makes her so attached to you?”

“I'm the one who found her near death in a ditch outside the Marquis de Sade's castle. One look at her innocent beauty, and I would have moved heaven and earth for her. I knew looks could be deceiving, but I chose not to believe it that day.”

After a short pause, Kurt said, “Don't worry. I know how it goes. Hot girl. Cold dick.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How and when did you two break up?”

“I masked my scent with some hooker's overpowering perfume and fled New Orleans like it was on fire.”

“So, it sounds as if you two spent some time together if you found her in France during the reign of the Marquis de Sade and were still an item recently in New Orleans.”

Anthony flopped against the back of the couch. “We were together for over a century, and after that, off and on. I was obligated at first. I taught her what she needed to know to survive—something I never learned from my own maker, but that's another story. Ruxandra and I even had a few happy decades. Unfortunately, that makes it worse. She remembers the good times but conveniently forgets that things haven't been good between us since the turn of the century.”

“2000 wasn't that long ago.”

“I was talking about 1900, the century before.”

“Oh. So, where does she sleep?”

Anthony paced the nine-by-nine room in two strides. “I don't know, and I don't care.”

“Whoa. Aren't you supposed to look after the vampires you turn? Isn't that some kind of vampire law or something?”

“I fulfilled my obligation to her years ago. She knows as much about survival as I do. Maybe more. There's nothing more I can teach her, other than how to let go of me and move on. She seems unwilling to learn those lessons.”

“So, what you're saying is, you're kind of fucked.”

“Unless you can find some way to entice her far, far away from here.”

“I, um…I'll have to think about it.”

Something in Kurt's voice told Anthony he had an idea but wasn't willing to share it yet.

“Meanwhile, my friend, I need to know that Claudia is safe—no matter what.”

“She is. Trust me. She can go anywhere and do anything she likes. The protection spell won't wear off or fade with distance. She could leave the state and still be fine.”

The idea of Claudia being miles away bothered Anthony, but he didn't have time to examine that now.

“You're sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay. Thanks, buddy. I owe you.”

“You sure do.”

Kurt laughed, but Anthony meant every word. Claudia's safety was worth whatever promises he had to keep.

“So, how's the investigation going?”

“Not well. Every time Nick thinks he's found a lead, the trail goes cold.”

“Are more paranormals disappearing?”

“A few. At first it was just wolves. Now, it seems a couple of vampires are missing.”

“Vampires?” This development hit home for Anthony. “Who? Where? Are you sure they're missing and not just moving on?”

“According to Nick, a family reported their mother and young son missing. They seemed genuinely distraught. Said there was no way they'd ever leave the rest of the family willingly. Considering they went to a werewolf for help, they must have been desperate.”

“Shit.”
How
did
humans
sneak
up
on
a
vampire—never mind two of them—and then manage to capture them?

“Exactly. A werewolf capture is hard enough to understand, but they can't move quite as fast as vamps can when threatened. They must have been shot with some kind of fast-acting sedative.”

“That's the only thing I can think of. Is there anything that works so fast it could take down vampires before they disappeared?”

“Not that I know of.”

Anthony scratched his head.

Kurt elbowed him. “If I find out what it is, maybe I can use it on Ruxandra. Then lock her up until Stockholm syndrome kicks in and she falls madly in love with me. That would take care of your problem.”

Anthony laughed bitterly. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

***

Claudia had made sure everything was okay and said good-bye to her waitresses. She figured she'd better beat it before Anthony handcuffed her to his side. She took two strides toward her apartment entrance, but before she reached her door, Ruxandra stepped in front of her. Dressed in red as usual, she was hard to miss, but she also wore gobs of sparkly jewelry and a fur stole. The only things missing were a tiara and long, white gloves.

“Yikes. You startled me.” Claudia glanced all around. “Where did you come from anyway?”

Ruxandra's frown edged up into a slow, creepy smile. “Never mind that. We need to talk. How about if you invite me up…for a drink.” Her teeth seemed to gleam and looked sharper than Claudia had remembered.

Doing her best to mask her alarm with annoyance, Claudia blew out a deep breath and dug in her purse for her keys. “What about?”

“I think you know.”

“Sorry. I don't, and I'm…I have to be somewhere in…” She glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes. I barely have time to change.”

“Into what?”

Huh? She's just trying to get to me.
Claudia didn't actually have to leave her apartment for another hour, but letting the pushy blond know that would be a mistake.

Ruxandra reached out as if she were about to grab Claudia's arm, then recoiled and said, “Ouch. I broke a fuckin' nail. What are you made of? Iron?”

Claudia tried to step around Ruxandra, but the woman maneuvered herself directly in front of Claudia again.

“I won't take much of your time.”

Claudia closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath.

“May I
please
come up to your apartment so we can talk in private?” Ruxandra asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

Claudia was about to tell her to take a flying leap when Anthony flew out of the tea shop and wedged himself between the two women.

“Do
not
invite her in, Claudia.”

How
did
he
hear
what
was
said
from
inside
the
shop?
She was tempted to defy him and invite Ruxandra upstairs just to show him she could do whatever she liked, but technically, it was his apartment. And considering how much Ruxandra wanted her out of the way, defying him on this—or anything else where the blond bombshell was concerned—would be just plain stupid.

“Honestly, Anthony. Are you going to tell me what to do every minute of every day? I mean, evening.”

Come
to
think
of
it, I've never seen Ruxandra during the day, either.
Did they really spend their days apart? Is that why his former girlfriend feels she still has some kind of right to him? Claudia told herself she was being ridiculous. Anthony wanted nothing to do with the buxom blond.

He put a hand on the small of Claudia's back. “Why don't you go inside? I need to have a little talk with Ruxandra.”

“And she says she needs to have a talk with me. Maybe the three of us should just sit down and talk until we all have nothing more to say.” Claudia glared at Ruxandra. “I'm getting sick of being ambushed.” Then she faced Anthony. “…and ordered around.”

“That's not a good idea,” Anthony said. “I'll handle this.”

“Handle what?” She folded her arms. “Did you two break up or not?”

Ruxandra tipped her nose in the air. “What we have is something that can't be broken.”

“And yet,” Anthony said through gritted teeth, “it's been broken for a long time.”

What
the
hell
cryptic
nonsense
are
these
two
saying
to
each
other?
“You know what? This is between you two. I'll be upstairs getting ready to go out. If you're still here when I leave, pretend you don't see me.”