Necromancing Nim (8 page)

“Later,” said Colin.

Fine. I could take a hint.

No, wait. I really couldn’t. “I need some explanations here.”

I saw a bulge in Colin’s temple as he clenched his teeth, but he said, very quietly, “Unlock your car.”

The keys were in my pocket; I squeezed the appropriate button. The ensuing “bleep” of the car unlocking sounded like the blare of an alarm in the confined space. Colin slid into the passenger side while Sebastian opened the back door, leaving me my rightful spot behind the wheel. I was more than a little surprised Colin hadn’t taken over the driver’s side.

“Why here?” I asked. It seemed like we could have conversed more comfortably in Colin’s office. Or mine, for that matter. My car isn’t that big.

“Nobody can hear us in here,” was Colin’s almost painfully logical answer.

I heard an odd sound from the backseat, sort of a belchy slurping, and fixed my gaze firmly on Colin. I really didn’t want to watch Sebastian eat, especially if he was hungry enough to attack a cold bag of blood. “Speak,” I told my boss.

“The guy who tried to kill Sebastian set Therese on us as a messenger. He doesn’t want to show his face yet, because he knows I’ll kill him if I have half a chance. But he’ll be after us in person next. Sebastian’s going to need someplace to hide out for a while.”

“So you’re taking him to your house?” Somehow I knew that this, the most reasonable conclusion, was going to prove incorrect.

“My place would be good.” He quirked an eyebrow. “Your place would be better.”

Okay, that was seriously crossing the line. “No. No way. I’ve got Rufus, and Gwen’s home…”

“Not like he’s planning to bite either one of them.” The weird noises from the backseat had become louder, making me wonder if Colin’s assertion was wildly inaccurate. Sebastian was seriously hungry.

This really, really couldn’t happen. I did not need vampires in my house, regardless of the reason. But I couldn’t leave Sebastian to fend for himself, either. Nor could I let him go to Colin’s house, where this Pieter person—Russian Asshole, I presumed—would hunt him down. And if he didn’t, the cops certainly would. “How do I explain bringing two guys home for no reason?” I protested lamely, not quite ready to give up the argument.

Colin shrugged. “You’re into threesomes?”

I still didn’t have a clear idea of what was going on, but I did know one thing.

“I am not into threesomes,” I protested. Although the thought had some merit. Against my better judgment, I swiveled in my seat and stuck the keys in the ignition.

Gwen was wrapped in a bathrobe, sitting in front of the TV eating Häagen Dazs out of the carton with a spoon. She glanced up, smiling at first; then her eyes went wide and continued to go wider and wider as first Colin, then Sebastian, trailed in behind me.

“Um…” She started to stand up, sat back down, then, after another pause, came to her feet, straightening her hair with her fingers. Because God forbid her hair should be out of place when there were strange men in the house. “Hey, Nim. Who are your friends?”

Colin quirked an eyebrow at me.
Nim?
he mouthed. I glared.

“Gwen, this is my boss, Colin, and his friend…” I stalled, abruptly realizing he shouldn’t be using his real name. Of course, we hadn’t managed to discuss an alias during the short ride. We hadn’t discussed much of anything. It had been a fairly quiet ride, except for Sebastian sucking down blood bags in the backseat. “Tim,” I said finally, then fought back a grimace. Nim and Tim. Perfect. So much for intelligence under pressure.

Gwen’s eyes had only just returned to normal size, but they widened again, and she took a small step back, staring at Colin. “Oh. You’re…the vampire?”

Colin smiled his best throw-your-panties-at-me smile. “Well, I’m a vampire. I’m not sure I’m
the
vampire, but some might argue that point.” He held his hand out while I rolled my eyes, and Sebastian ungracefully converted a snort into a cough. For her part, Gwen let him take her hand and didn’t jerk it back when he raised it to his lips. She watched him closely, though, as if concerned he might remove her hand from her wrist and keep it without her noticing until it was too late.

“I thought
I
was the vampire,” Sebastian groused.

Gwen jerked her hand back and gaped at him. “You’re a vampire too?”

“Last I checked.” He rubbed his face absently, and I wondered if the scars hurt him.

“Anyway,” I went on, “Tim’s in town, and he’s going to stay here for a couple of days.” I forced the words out quickly, thinking that if I said it really fast it would sound definite, unquestionable and maybe even make sense if I was lucky.

Gwen goggled back and forth between the two men, finally settling on Colin. “Don’t you have, like, some kind of big honking house in Lakewood?” To me she added, “Didn’t you say he had a big honking house in Lakewood?”

I opened my mouth, hoping something coherent might come out, but Colin spoke before I could.

“My guest house is being renovated,” he said, “and I converted the guest room in the main house to an office last year.”

“That’s what I get for dropping in unexpectedly.” Sebastian gave an unsteady chuckle.

“Well, we don’t have any room here,” Gwen protested. “Maybe we should check him into a motel.”

“Motels are full,” said Colin. “Big convention.”

“I’ll be fine on the couch for a night or two. By then there should be some vacancies.” In spite of the blood, Sebastian seemed painfully tired again, the marks on his face standing out a darker red.

Gwen still eyed Colin with skepticism. “You don’t have a couch?”

Colin’s mouth compressed into a thin line. “I think you should go to bed,” he said.

A wave of vertigo passed over me, and for a few seconds, I wavered, wondering if I was going to lose my balance. Just as I started to recover, Gwen said brightly, “I think I should go to bed,” and turned around and went to her bedroom.

I stared at Colin in abrupt realization. “You put a whammy on her. You put a whammy on my sister! You are not supposed to do that.”

He made a face. “She was being annoying. It’s not like I made her have sex with me or something.” He glanced down the hallway. “Although…”

I smacked him in the arm. “Stop that! She’s my sister, for God’s sake.”

He rubbed his arm. “You hit me.”

I planted my hands on my hips and squared off to face him. “Yes, I did.” I felt completely unapologetic.

“Don’t do that.”

“I won’t if you won’t put vampire whammies on my sister.”

“I’m your boss,” he said, sounding frankly kind of whiny. “And you hit me.”

“Guys,” Sebastian broke in. “I need—I don’t know—a pillow or something. Maybe a blanket.”

Tearing my focus away from Colin, I turned to Sebastian, softening. “Of course. I’m really sorry. I’ll go grab some things for you.”

“Thanks.” He sank heavily down onto the couch, rubbing his face again. Colin came to sit next to him while I rummaged through the linen closet for a pillow and a blanket.

When I turned back around, Colin was gently examining the marks on Sebastian’s face. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

I felt suddenly like I didn’t belong in my own living room, watching Colin’s careful examination of his friend’s face. On the other hand, it was my living room, and if they were going to do that, I had every right to watch. It was kind of hot. There had to be something intriguing going on between these two. I wondered if they might provide a graphic demonstration if I stood there long enough.

Sebastian pushed Colin’s hand away, not rudely. “Just leave it. If I sleep straight through to sunset, it’ll be fine.”

Colin shook his head, obviously reluctant to abandon his ministrations. “You should have come to me earlier.”

“I didn’t know if you’d want to see me.”

“Don’t be a fucking idiot. How long were you exposed?”

“Long enough.” He touched his right cheek. “It was down to the bone here.”

Colin winced, and I couldn’t help but do the same. “Bastards,” Colin said. He patted Sebastian’s thigh, then glared over at me. “What’s taking so long with the damn pillow?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt.” I met Colin’s glare—he really didn’t scare me, much—then brought the pillow and blanket over to the couch. “Here you go, Sebastian. This should keep you cozy for the night.” I slid the pillow against the arm of the couch and flipped out the blanket so that it mostly covered him. If he’d been a live-type man, I would have felt his body heat, my hands came so close to him. As it was, my palms tingled a little, probably because my libido had been in hibernation for so long it was confused about what body parts were supposed to do the tingling.

With a smile, Sebastian began to arrange them to his satisfaction. “I do appreciate this. Colin won’t bother to thank you, but I will.”

Colin made a face but said nothing. So much for being endearing.

“It’s all right,” I told him. “I’m used to him. You just get some rest. Heal up.” Sebastian—now
he
was endearing. He kicked my nursing instincts right into high gear. I hadn’t known I had any.

Nodding, he kicked off his shoes and slid fully dressed under the blanket. He appeared to fall immediately asleep. I was struck by an almost dizzying pang of sympathy for him, followed by an urge to climb under the blanket with him and cuddle him inappropriately.
Really, Nim? You want to molest the boss’s boyfriend? Nice plan.

Then I was struck by a pang of
Oh, my God, I’m stuck here alone in my house with my annoying boss who’s a vampire.
Well, not technically alone, but with Sebastian asleep and Gwen whammied, I might as well have been.

I turned to Colin warily. “Can I…get you anything?”

He shook his head. “Jeez, Nim, you act like you think I’m going to bite you.” After a moment’s consideration, he added, “Or whammy you and have my wicked vampire way with you.”

My face went hot. My brain, traitorous piece of shit that it was, started conjuring images of what Colin might have in mind if he whammied me.
Did
I have a thing for threesomes? This seemed like something I might need to find out at some point in life. “Knock it off. I still have my water pistol.”

He chuckled, seeming completely unoffended. I’d never been this confrontational with him before, given that he was my boss and all. Of course, there’d never been much reason or opportunity. He’d always been a dick, but it had never been personal. Now it was, but he didn’t seem to resent my putting up boundaries. In fact, he seemed to be finding it entertaining.

“No,” he said, finally answering my question. “I don’t need anything right now.”

“Good,” I answered. “Then I’m going to bed.” I turned toward the hallway and my own bedroom.

“Where am I going to sleep?” Colin protested.

“You said you didn’t need anything. Get a blanket out of the linen closet—you can sleep on the floor.” Morning was fast approaching; the night sky outside had already changed from black to indigo. He didn’t have a lot of time to get himself situated, and I didn’t feel like dealing with him anymore.

“Fine,” he shot back. “See if you have a job when I wake up.”

“At this point,” I threw back over my shoulder, “I can’t say I much give a shit.” But I hesitated. Mom had raised me better than that. “There’s a futon in the office. It folds out.” Okay, not that much better. I slammed my bedroom door behind me. Colin could damn well take care of himself.

The vampire is not a compassionate being. I repeat—the compassionate impulse in the vampire simply does not exist. They see the world as vampire and not-vampire. Those who are vampire are their enemies. Those who are not-vampire are their prey. There is no room for subtlety in the vampire brain.
—Southern Baptist Convention 1975 Annual Meeting

Chapter Six

I slept fitfully, exhausted from the intensity of the night and plagued by fragmentary dreams that woke me up and then scattered, leaving me panicky but with no reason why. Then it would take ages to fall back to sleep as visions of Therese Wilkins’ headless body romped behind my closed lids.

This situation was unacceptable. My subconscious really needed to step up and provide some nighttime entertainment that would keep me asleep. I punched my pillow a few times, mumbled so incoherently I didn’t even know what I was saying, then shoved my face into the pillow.

Some time later, I jolted awake again. Therese Wilkins had abandoned my dreamscape, as requested, but Sebastian had wandered in to take her place. And Colin. Naked. And doing things with each other. I breathed a quiet prayer of thanks as the images dissipated. I really didn’t need to remember that.

Except I kind of wanted to. I mumbled again to the mattress and squinched my eyes shut. Images of pale, intertwined, naked flesh continued to dance in my head until I dozed off again.

After about a two-hour stretch of unconsciousness toward the end of the day, I woke with a dry mouth, a vague headache and the sense something was wrong. Curled up on my side, I stared at the wall for a few minutes, trying to clear the muzziness out of my head long enough to figure out what it was.