Real Vampires Get Lucky (29 page)

"Oh, hi, guys." Now this was a complication I hadn't anticipated. Of course Ray's bodyguards would expect to stay with him.

"Good evening, Ms. St. Clair. Ray around?" Sam was the talker of the pair. Buster just settled next to the door, a silent statue ready to strong-arm anyone who tried to get to his boss.

"Here I am, Sam." Ray walked into the room with a towel around his waist and nothing else. Obviously he'd just stepped out of the shower.

Sam sniffed the air. "No coffee? Want me to run downstairs to that little shop and get you some, boss? They've got some goodlookin' muffins too. Nate said you were sleepin' all day." Ray smiled and shook his head. "No coffee, but you boys head on down and set up there. This building's as secure as a vault. I'll call down if I decide to go out." He glanced at me. "Right now we've got no plans. Right, babe?" I was lost in a little experiment with mind control. Vampires can make things move with their minds, and I just about had the knot on Ray's towel undone. Flo saw where I was looking and grinned. Unfortunately Ray felt the towel falling and grabbed it before Flo got to see his diamond ring. Hey, I was trying to do her a favor.

Ray's cell phone rang and he picked it up from the coffee table. "Yeah. You're downstairs in the limo?" Ray looked around. "Give me five minutes, then I'll send someone down to let you up." He shut the phone.

"Glory, tell Sam and Buster the code so they can get out downstairs."

"Sorry, Ray." I looked at Richard. "You want to walk them down, Richard?"

"Sure, come on, boys." Richard made it clear they had no choice. The men looked at Ray, who was obviously pissed, but he merely nodded and the three men headed out.

As soon as the door closed, Ray turned to me. "No? You tell me no?" He was furious. Valdez got between us. "Why the hell can't my bodyguards have the freakin' code?"

"Because they're mortals, Ray. This building is for paranormals. I can give the code to anyone who is a paranormal I know and trust. But I won't give it to you unless you promise to respect that. Right now, I don't think you're ready to know the code."

"Shit." Ray stomped out of the room, losing his towel halfway to the door.

"Dio mio."
Flo was clearly impressed by the back view.

"You should see the front." I sat on the couch and picked up the bottle of Bloodthirsty again. There was a knock on the door and Flo hurried to answer it.

"Richard, you don't have to knock."

"Not Richard." Blade stood there with an armload of newspapers. "Thought you'd like to see these, Gloriana." He strode forward and dumped them none too gently on the couch beside me.

Richard eased in behind him. He had a newspaper too, this one I could see was the Austin daily. "Sorry, Florence, but Ray and Glory beat us out for the photo op."

Flo snatched it out of his hand and looked at the page Richard had folded it to. "Well, Ray certainly is showing the world that he has a new, how you say it, main squeeze."

I'd grabbed a tabloid that had given us a full color spread. Of course they would use a wide-angle lens. My butt looked
enormous
. I was never wearing a miniskirt that length again. It hit my thighs at their widest part.

"I'm reading your mind, Gloriana. Instead of focusing on your thighs, which are fine, by the way, look at your lover's open mouth on yours, clearly giving you a taste of his tongue. And the way his hand is touching your left breast." Jerry could have been an announcer for a golf tournament.

Gee, be technical, why don't you? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, two inches to the left and he would have touched nipple!

"Then there's your own hand, which is clutching his waist like you're trying to find his zipper."

"We were acting, Jerry. For the camera. It meant nothing. Ray loathes me. As soon as the door closed, he told me so, very clearly." And damn if I didn't tear up like a complete and utter wimp.

"She's right. I guess you're the boyfriend she told me about. Another vampire." Ray had pulled on his jeans and was stepping into the black loafers he'd worn the night before. He held a dark blue sweater in his hand. "I had no idea there were so many of you running around."

"Israel Caine. Jeremy Blade," I said. Jerry didn't offer his hand and of course Ray wouldn't, what with his anti-vampire stance. The men just seemed to assess each other. "You had no idea there are so many of us, Ray, because that's the way we like it. The fewer people who know about us, the better."

"Well, I'm telling Nathan. And I can't keep living here. It's too small. I have an entourage. Not just Sam and Buster either. Some of them are still in New York, including my father. He was planning to stay with me for a few weeks. At least until after Hanukkah." Ray looked around. He didn't say it, though why he held back when he'd been brutally honest about everything else, I don't know. Maybe he'd figured out that if he insulted anything Gloriana related, Jerry would knock his new fangs down his throat. But Ray was like Lucky, used to finer things. Me, my first priority has always been safety. I felt safe here. Or at least I usually did. The recent fire had shook me up more than a bit, but, hey, we'd survived. Which proves that top-of-the-line security combined with Valdez is pretty fail-safe.

"Lucky could leave because she had Etienne, another vampire, to guide her." Flo looked at Richard. "I suppose . . ."

"No, absolutely not. Ray is
Glory's
responsibility. Let her handle him. He can endure his reduced circumstances for a few days while he learns the ropes." Richard had read Ray loud and clear. And Flo. He knew Flo way too well and had spent enough hours with her listening to Ray's music to know about her crush on him. And Flo's history with men told its own tale. Richard had already lasted longer than most of her lovers. He wasn't about to throw her together with another handsome man on a daily basis. Blade had been busy reading Ray too. Unfortunately, he realized Ray had zero interest in hooking up with me. And I'm sure Valdez had also reassured him on that point. Ain't it swell being so . . . desirable?

"Let's bring your friend up here. We can help you decide how and what to tell him." Jerry was actually being cordial, which threw Ray way off his stride.

So Ray and Jerry headed downstairs. Flo picked up one of the tabloids.

"Here's a cute picture of you, Glory, catching panties." Then she gasped and stuck the newspaper under a cushion.

"What?" I made a grab for it.

"No, forget it, girlfriend. Tell me about Israel kissing you. Was it totally hot?" Flo's cheeks were pink and she was signaling Richard. I jumped up. "Flo, what was in that paper?"

"
Stupido!
Or maybe my reading is not so good. Throw it away, Richard." Flo tried to wad it up and toss it to him, but I snatched it out of the air.

I walked over to the breakfast room and smoothed out the paper. My picture was in full color and I was snatching the panties from a grinning Ray. Of course he never took a bad picture. He looked . . . amazing. Then I read the caption.

"Israel Caine's New Flavor of the Month, Gloriana St. Clair. Check Out those Supersized Blueberries. But Lay Off the Marshmallow Crème to Last the Full Thirty Days." I felt Flo's arm around my shoulders and Valdez's cold nose on my wrist.

"They spelled your name right."
Valdez chuffed.

"You know what pisses me off?"

"What, honey?" Flo patted my back.

"They didn't mention the shop! You know what this kind of free publicity is worth?" By the time Jerry and Ray returned with Nathan, Flo and I had picked our favorite stories and had piled up a few destined for the shredder downstairs. Richard had discovered that someone had already set up a "Defend the Blueberries" MySpace page for me on the Internet.

Nathan was clearly confused by the shabby apartment and by the group of people who wouldn't leave him alone with his friend, even when he threw out not-so-subtle hints that they had business to discuss. Even Valdez seemed to bother him. Of course my dog
would
stare at him, probably reading his mind to see if he was the trustworthy sort. Clearly Ray thought the world of the guy and a few minutes clued us in to the fact that the two had grown up together in an affluent Chicago suburb where Ray's mother had settled with her second husband, a wealthy American manufacturer.

"Don't listen to Nate if he ever tries to go all ghetto, homeboy on you. The only hood he knew growing up was the hood of his dad's Jag in their five-car garage."

"Now, Ray. I was going to run my act by Glory later." Nathan grinned and winked. He'd already congratulated me on the tabloid cover shot. Apparently good media coverage made up for a lot, even the inconvenience of staying in Austin. I'd read his mind though, and he was planning to get Ray alone and talk him into going back to New York, even if they had to drag me along with them.

"Nate's got a Harvard MBA. That's why I trust him with my business. That and the fact that he's like a brother to me. That's why you people have to understand. I'm going to tell him the truth." Ray looked around the room. He was in one chair. Flo, Jerry and I were on the couch. Richard leaned against the door not far from Valdez. One by one we all nodded.

"Truth? What truth, bud?" Nate sat in the only other chair. He put both elbows on his knees and leaned forward until he was looking Ray dead in the eyes. "You're scaring me, Ray. Are you sick? Buster and Sam said you're not eating or drinking. What's up with that?"

Ray took a deep breath, reached out and gripped Nate's hands. "I had an accident, Nate. A bad one."

"Oh, shit. Is this about a DUI? They're not so cool about that in Texas. I mean, if they'll burn the president's daughter . . ." Ray must have squeezed hard, because Nate looked down and yelped.

"Hey, watch it, brother. I'll get you a good lawyer. We'll get this straightened out. Unless, oh, shit, man, there's not a dead body somewhere is there?"

"No, no DUI. No, dead body. Except mine." Ray tried to laugh, but it came out more like a sob. "Sorry if I hurt your hand, Nate. I guess I'm stronger than I used to be." Ray glanced at me and I nodded. He let go of Nate and wiped his eyes. "I can't do it. Tell him for me, Glory."

"Tell me what?" Nate jumped up and put a hand on Ray's back. "Shit, man, are you crying? We haven't cried since the Bulls lost Jordan."

"Hell, no. I don't cry."

But Ray
was
crying. I sniffled, and Flo broke down beside me.

"Nathan, listen to me. Just listen." That came out of me kind of shaky, but it was all I had. Ray shook his head and stood up. "No, I should do it. It's on me." He took a deep breath, put his hand on Nate's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Nathan, I'm a vampire."

Nineteen

Nathan looked around the room. We all just stared back, solemn as if we were at a wake. Suddenly he burst into laughter, slapping Ray on the back, then collapsing into his chair.

"Oh, man, you really had me then. You and your practical jokes. This is even better than the time you made Dave think he'd swallowed his contact lens with his Jack Daniels and that he'd have to have it surgically removed."

"No joke. Show him." Ray concentrated, then forced a smile, his fangs glinting in the overhead light. One by one, we all gave Nathan toothy grins, though it was definitely an effort on my part.

Nate just laughed harder. "Oh, stop! I can't stand it! Where'd you get them? Some costume shop? They're the best I've ever seen. Got to have some for next Halloween."

Ray pulled Nate to his feet and grabbed his hand. "Feel them. They're the real deal. They don't come out." He took a shaky breath.

"Aw, hell, I can smell your blood, Nate, hear it pumping through your veins." He looked at me. "It's making me . . . thirsty, Glory." His eyes filled again. "This is sick."

"No, Ray, it's normal. But go get a bottle of Bloodthirsty, it'll help." I could see he wasn't in any shape to walk to the kitchen so I just passed him my open bottle. He released Nathan and took a deep swallow.

His friend still couldn't buy any of this. It was like he was watching a play, waiting for act two. He wasn't about to put his hand in his friend's mouth, but he did look curiously at the bottle Ray was swigging from.

"That tomato juice or something stronger? Sorry about that crack earlier about rehab, buddy. You know I don't think you have a problem. It's just that the tabloids have made a big deal-"

"Screw the tabloids." Ray handed me the bottle. "I'm serious about this. I have to get you to believe me because what happened to me changes everything. For me, for you. Forever." He grabbed Nate's finger and dragged it into his mouth.

"Ow! Son of a bitch! What the hell was that?" Nate stared at the blood welling from his index finger.

"Look at my teeth again, brother." Ray snarled.

"Aw, no. What the hell is wrong? You can't sing like that." Nathan glared at me. "I don't know what kind of freaky scene you people are into, but Ray's a straight-up guy. Come on, Ray. A good dentist will fix you right up. I'm taking you out of here. A little rehab, corrective dentistry and you'll be back to normal in no time."

Ray just shook his head.

Nathan grabbed Ray's arm and tried to pull him toward the door. "Come on, I said. I'd like to see these people try to stop us. Let's go before I start knocking some of these fake pointy canines loose."

"No, Nate. Nothing here's fake. This isn't a cult and I'm not in line for an intervention. I wish it was that easy." Ray looked down to where Nate jerked on his arm, clearly surprised that he now had the strength to resist a man who so obviously worked out more than he did. "Buddy, sit down. Listen to me for a minute, okay?"

"No. You're freaking me out. I've got to get us out of here. You can tell me all about this game these people are playing in the limo on the way to the airport." Nathan was really upset now that he realized this wasn't some kind of twisted joke. "I don't want to hear any more of this vampire shit." He glanced at Jerry and Richard, who seemed compelled to show off their enormous fangs. "Stop it!"

Of course I thought those fangs were impressive and very sexy. Nathan on the other hand was trembling, the whites of his eyes startling in his dark face. He looked like he was either going to start swinging or pass out where he stood.