Skye Morrison Vampire 2 Sins of the Father (24 page)

“And how in the world did that happen?”

He smirked and relaxed back on the bench
some. “My cousin Dylan and I went to the same school and played
varsity football together. A player’s jersey would normally just
say their last name, but Dylan and I had the same one. In that
case, a school will usually put the player’s first initial in front
of the last name. Since Dylan and I shared first initials, our
school put my middle initial on my jersey to distinguish us. My
jersey read D.I.Cruz and everyone started calling me Dic for
short.” He cocked one eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder. “It just
sort of stuck. Once I became All-State, everyone outside of school
started calling me that.”

I licked my lips as I finished the rib and
wiped my mouth. “I think I like the name Dean better,” I said
honestly. “Would you mind if I started calling you that
instead?”

Dic chuckled and leaned over to comfortably
rest his elbows on the table. He looked up at me and I saw the
playfulness in his eyes. “You can call me Dean if you’d like. Hell,
you can call me whatever you want just as long as you call me,
gorgeous.”

I bit my bottom lip and tried to suppress a
smile as I felt my cheeks begin to burn hot from the attention.
“So, what made you open a head shop? Do you smoke?” I asked
quickly, desperate to change the subject once again.

“God, no,” Dic, I mean Dean, laughed as he
bundled up the trash on the table. “Owning a smoke shop in a
college town is a lucrative business. Once I obtained my license to
sell beer, and I opened the hookah bar, it really took off.” He
stood and took the butcher’s bundle of trash to a nearby trash can
and deposited it. He walked over to Jack, handed him some money,
shook his hand and said his goodbyes.

“Thanks for the food,” I said when he
returned to the table. “It was really good.” I stood and finished
the last sip out of my beer.

“Anytime, babe,” he smirked sexily as he took
my empty from me and threw it away on our way out the door. The sun
was starting to set and I guessed it was around 7:30pm by the pink
hues that lightly tinted the sky.

Dean opened the passenger door for me and I
climbed in. Just then my cell phone started ringing and I dug
around in my messenger bag for it.

I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was
Archer. “Hey, boss man,” I answered, feeling fully sated and
happily relaxed.

“Hello Skye. I just wanted to check in with
you,” Archer rumbled from the other end of the line. “Is everything
okay?”

“Yeah, everything is great,” I said as I
watched Dean slide into the Charger’s front seat.

“So, I was thinking we could…” Dean started
to say but I waved my hand and pointed to my ear to show him that I
was on the phone.

“Who’s that?” Archer asked sternly.

“Oh, that’s my friend Dean,” I said with a
smile. “He took me to grab a bite to eat at this amazing barbecue
joint south of downtown. It’s seriously yummy.”

“Dean who?” Archer enunciated slowly, his
voice deeper, holding an edge of anger.

“Um…,” I stumbled. “Crap. I forgot his last
name.” I turned to Dean and asked him to repeat his last name.

“It’s Cruz,” he said with a smile as he
backed the car out of the parking space.

“What the hell are you doing with him?”
Archer growled savagely before I had a chance to relay his last
name.

“What?” I asked confused, suddenly
worried.

“What the fuck are you doing with Dean Cruz?”
he roared then shouted something in Gaelic that I couldn’t
understand. “I’m coming to get you. Right now! Where are you?”

“I’m fine, Archer,” I explained, getting a
little mad. “What’s your freakin’ problem?”

“Tell him to calm down. I knew this was going
to happen.” Dean sighed as he looked over at me and shook his head
exasperatedly. “You’re such a buzz kill, Archer. Keep your panties
on. Tell him I’m taking you over to The Mausoleum now and to meet
us in the back parking lot.”

“What?” I asked, shaking my head. “You don’t
have to do that. I want to hang out with you. He’s just being…well,
crazy is the best way I can put it.”

I turned my attention back to the phone and
Archer’s angry breath sounds. “What is your deal, Rhys? You can’t
dictate who I hang out with. It’s none of your damn business what I
do,” I spat angrily. “You gave me the night off. This is my
personal time, Archer. I can do what I please when I’m on my
personal time.” I didn’t know what his problem was, but Dean was no
threat to me. He was an awesome guy and I had been having fun with
him. I didn’t want to be taken back to The Mausoleum like some
errant child.

“You tell him that I will meet him outside,”
Archer growled angrily. “And that if he lays a hand on you, so help
me God, I’ll kill him.”

“What?” I screeched in disbelief. “I will do
no such thing!”

Dean chuckled and reached over to take the
phone from my ear. “I heard you, blood sucker. Calm down. I haven’t
laid a finger on Skye that she didn’t welcome,” he said into it
before hanging up on Archer.

I looked over at him with wide eyes as my
mind was trying to play catch-up with what Dean had just said to
him.

Dean chuckled again as he handed me my
BlackBerry. “Such an angry guy isn’t he?” he said with a playful
wink.

“Why…,” I stumbled in shock and shook my
head, trying to clear it. “Why did you just call him a blood
sucker?”

He looked over at me with knowing eyes and
raised his eyebrows. “You know why,” he said simply, turning his
attention back to the road.

My heart thundered rapidly in my chest and I
swallowed hard. I was scared to hear his answer, but I had to know.
“How do you know?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s my job to know what goes on in my
city,” he said, never taking his eyes off the road.

“What do you mean your city?” I questioned
him with narrowed eyes.
What the hell is going on?

“I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough,” he
sighed, turning the Charger onto Bluebonnet Street.

I sat back in my seat and watched Dean out of
the corner of my eyes. Something was going on between him and
Archer and I was desperate to find out what it was. First Zephyr
asked me if Archer knew I was at Tricky Dic’s then Dean asked me
the same question. When Archer found out who I was with, he went
ballistic. Something wasn’t right here and I started to get really
nervous.
What did he mean by ‘my city’?
I bit my bottom lip
and snuck a better glance over at Dean.
Is he some kind of
mobster? He doesn’t look like one…
Dean looked at me out of the
corner of his eyes and I quickly looked away.

“I’m not going to bite you Skye, Jesus,” Dean
chuckled. “I’m the same guy I was ten minutes ago and two days ago.
You don’t have to be scared of me.”

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I’m
not scared of you,” I mumbled and pried my fingers off the
passenger door handle. I had been white-knuckling it and I hadn’t
even realized.

“You’re afraid, I can tell,” he said simply
as he turned down the back alley to The Mausoleum.

“You don’t know shit,” I huffed defensively,
stubbornly. “You’re not omnipotent…or psychic…or whatever the hell
you call it!”

Dean laughed as he pulled into The Mausoleum
parking lot. “I like you when you’re flustered. It’s adorable.”

I frowned at him then turned my attention to
the employee entrance door. Archer was standing beside it and he
was flanked by Quinn and Seamus. Trey stood off to the side with a
worried look on his face.

Dean maneuvered the car into a free space by
the alley, put the car in park and got out. I stuffed my BlackBerry
back in my messenger bag and went to open my door, but Dean was
already there.

“I had a lot of fun hanging out with you
today, Skye,” he said with a breathtaking smile; his dimples on
proud display. “I really hope we can do it again.”

I swallowed hard, took his offered hand and
allowed him to help me out of the car. “I don’t know what’s going
on Dean,” I whispered honestly. “For some reason, my boss is
completely pissed off that I was with you, and that…scares me
some.” I dropped my hand and put my messenger bag over my shoulder.
“What don’t I know about you, Dean? What aren’t you telling
me?”

Dean sighed and looked over at the group of
vampires walking toward us. “We’ll talk later, I promise. I’m not a
bad guy Skye. You know that, right?” he whispered, looking back
over at me.

“I think I do,” I whispered back, slightly
unsure. “I know that I really enjoyed hanging out with you
today.”

“Did he hurt you, Skye?” Archer growled as he
stepped up to Dean and me.

I shook my head in frustration. “No, you damn
hot head,” I huffed, turning to him. “I told you that I was fine on
the phone.”

Archer didn’t take his eyes off of Dean as he
spoke. “Where did you meet Mr. Cruz, Skye?”

“Here,” I said as I angrily crossed my arms
over my chest, “At the club opening night. Would you care to tell
me why in the hell I’m here, in the employee parking lot, having
this ridiculous conversation with you instead of being out and
about enjoying my only day off?”

Archer ignored me and spoke to Dean. “You
have no right associating with what is mine,” he growled
fiercely.

Dean laughed and crossed his arms over his
chest and leaned against the hood of his car. “She walked into MY
establishment,” he grinned cockily. “I was hungry, she was
hungry…we ate. End of story, fanger.”

Quinn snarled and took an angry step toward
Dean. Trey, like an idiot, stepped in front of him to stop him from
moving any closer. Trey bravely whispered something to Quinn and
Quinn visibly relaxed a millimeter but didn’t step back.

“Alright,” I said, getting pissed, and walked
to stand between Archer and Dean, “Enough of the bullshit, Archer.
First off, I am not yours…whatever the hell THAT means. I am your
employee and that is all. Secondly, Dean was nothing but a perfect
gentleman at dinner. I have no idea what the hell has you so pissed
off, but someone had better start explaining things to me…right the
fuck now,” I yelled. “This whole thing is absolutely
ridiculous!”

Dean cocked his eyebrow at Archer and smirked
smugly. Archer pursed his lips in thought and relaxed somewhat.

“It is not safe to hang around this…man,
Skye,” Archer finally spoke.

“Why?” I demanded.

Archer and Dean stared at each other for a
few moments and no one said anything.

“Why?” I demanded louder, crossing my arms
over my chest.

Archer pursed his lips and stared daggers at
Dean. “Do you want to tell her
Conriocht
, or shall I?” he
growled lowly.

Dean grinned. “Since you’re doing such a
bang-up job of pissing her off, I think I’ll let you explain.”

Archer grinned devilishly. “Very well,” he
said calmly then turned his attention to me. “Dean is the leader of
Central Texas’ Kaxaw pack.”

“What the hell is a ‘Kaxaw Pack’?” I asked
motioning with my hands in frustration.

“Kaxaw is the Tonkawa Indian word for Black,”
Dean said with a cock of his eyebrow. “The Tonkawa Indians are my
ancestors.”

“Dean is skirting the subject,” Archer said
simply. “It’s a werewolf pack Skye.”

“Bullshit,” I said to Archer, crossing my
arms back over my chest. “Why are you lying to me?”

Archer pursed his lips as his eyes narrowed.
“I assure you, Miss Morrison, I do not lie.”

I turned to Dean and cocked my head to the
right. “Are y’all playing some kind of game with me?” I asked
angrily between narrowed eyes. “Because, I don’t think this is the
least bit funny. You and I both know that werewolves don’t exist.
Those are cheesy campfire stories told by unimaginative
tweenagers.”

Dean stood up from his hood and fisted his
hands down at his sides. “So, you believe in blood sucking fangers,
but you don’t believe in the existence of werewolves? What kind of
narrow-minded crap is that?”

I laughed at him. “You can’t be serious,
Dean,” I shook my head. “Come on.”

Dean crossed his arms over his chest and
stared at me hard. His breathing increased as the seconds ticked
by. I looked back at Archer questioningly, but he motioned his head
toward Dean and silently told me to turn back around.

I looked back and Dean, my brow furrowed in
confusion, and I nearly jumped out of my skin at what I saw. I
scrambled back a few steps and ran right into Trey, who promptly
put one arm around my shoulder.

“Dean?” I asked, unsure of what I was seeing,
my voice trembling along with my body. Dean’s beautiful chocolate
brown eyes were no longer. In their place were bright yellow eyes
that seemed to glow. His round black pupils had transformed into
vertical black slits. He leaned back on his car hood, hooked his
thumbs in his front belt loops, and smiled at me. All of his teeth
were a bit longer and they definitely looked sharper. His top and
bottom canines were longer still and pointed into fangs.

“It’s still me, toots,” he grinned playfully.
His voice was a lot deeper, more guttural and animalistic.

I took a deep breath and leaned harder into
Trey for support. “How is this even possible?” I asked, more to
myself than anyone as I put my hand to my forehead, trying to fight
off a wave of sudden dizziness.

“The reason why our species don’t normally
associate with one another is because a werewolf bite is dangerous
to us vampires,” Trey explained softly to me. “One bite will
usually kill us.”

“Is this true?” I asked, turning to
Archer.

He nodded his head silently.

“Well, say something,” Dean said to me.

I took a deep breath and turned back to him.
“I…,” I started and then stopped. “How…,” I tried again but
couldn’t finish. I shook my head and mentally slapped myself.
Get a frickin’ grip, girl!
“What do you eat?” I finally
managed to ask. “Do you eat people?”