Texas Hold 'Em (23 page)

My mom had always been attractive, but the years had been hard on her. The pace of her life—not to mention single-handedly raising two boys—had taken its toll. All that seemed to be gone now, and the beauty she’d had in her youth was apparent. I was apprehensive as I approached her, but I felt no sign of a vampiric aura. I let go of the breath I had been holding since we entered.

“Chance! Bryan! What are you doing here?” Her smile gave way to nervous confusion. “And what are you doing with those guns?”

Seeing no obvious threat, we quickly put them away. “Nothing. We thought you might be in trouble.”

“Why would I be in trouble? I’m having the time of my life! Look at this place!” She waved an arm around in emphasis.

I decided not to spoil it by reminding her of the fact that she was paying for all of it. “The room’s nice, but you kind of disappeared on us for a while there, Mom. With a guy you don’t really know.”

“Nonsense—it hasn’t been that long. And let me tell you, I
know
Christian! Biblically.” She laughed at her own crude joke, then added, “every inch of him,” in case we didn’t get it. That’s my mom.

“I’m so glad you’re both here!” She had dropped the issue with the guns, which was odd. It was as if she were under a mild sedative. She was a little too mellow. She smiled at us and asked, “Who’s your friend?”

“There’s no time, Mom. I’ll introduce you later. Right now we have to go.”

“Go? Go where? We can’t go. Christian is out and won’t be back for hours. I want you two to meet him. I think you’re going to hit it off. Why don’t you sit down and introduce me to this young lady while we wait?”

“Mom, this is Megan; Megan, this is my mom, Robin,” I said quickly, hoping we could leave as soon as the mandatory introductions were completed.

Megan smiled and extended her hand to my mom, who got up to shake it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lee.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, honey. So where did y’all meet?” She gestured at a pair of armchairs that faced the sofa she was sitting back down on.

“Out in California.” I remained standing.

Bryan wandered toward the bedroom. I was happily surprised he’d thought to make sure nothing was hiding, waiting to pounce. But a few feet from the door, he veered left to the mini-bar. He pulled a beer out of the small fridge and headed back our way.

“California? When did you go to California?” my mom asked.

“Actually, I just got back. It was a work trip,” I explained.

“That’s nice. I always wanted to go to California, but I never made it farther west than Vegas. I had actually intended to go out to L.A. that trip, and become a movie star.” She gave a hollow laugh and continued. “But instead I met Chance’s father, had a glorious weekend, and headed back to Texas. I don’t know what I would have done without my boys.”

“Do we need to tell everyone about the one-night stand that brought me into being?”

“Now, that’s not fair, Chance. It wasn’t a one-night stand, it was a four-day weekend. And what a weekend it was! I think it was the best I ever had. Don’t tell Christian that, of course.” She directed the rest to Megan. “You know how men get. They don’t want to hear that you’ve ever been with someone else, let alone had a better time with them.”

Megan nodded and said, “I know. Chance has certainly set the bar high for anyone else.”

Considering all the trouble I’d been for her, I somehow doubted that. Still, it was a sweet thing to say.

“She’s a keeper, Chance. Now, Megan, sit down so we can gossip about my son.” My mom patted the sofa.

Megan beamed, setting off alarm bells in my head. I didn’t think this was the time or the place for pumping my mom for information about me. Megan, however, clearly disagreed, as she sat down next to my mother.

“So you’re from Texas, then?” my mom asked.

“California.”

“And you came all the way back here to be with Chance? Are things serious?” My mom made a show at checking Megan’s hand for a ring, as if she hadn’t the minute she saw her. She had been wanting grandkids before my brother and I were even born.

“No ring yet, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry, honey. I’m sure he’ll come around. Speaking of rings, I have one here for you, Chance. It was your father’s.” She dug around in her purse and pulled out a silk handkerchief. I took it in shock.

“Ignore the hanky; I needed something to put it in, so Christian gave me one of his handkerchiefs. The ring inside of it was your father’s. He gave it to me on the last day we were together—to remember him by. Said it would bring me luck.”

I opened the handkerchief and looked at the ring sitting in its center. Megan got up to peer at it as well. It was made of gold, with two intertwined bands. They had no beginning or end.

“I never wore it, of course,” my mom continued. “It’s not my type; much too masculine. Still, it’s real gold, and the workmanship is amazing.” She leaned forward and pointed at the ring to emphasize the quality.

“Damn, my dad never gave
me
a ring,” Bryan said, coming closer to check it out.

“That’s because your father was a two-timing ass. He never had two sticks to rub together, let alone anything as nice as that ring. If he did, he would have gambled it away or spent it on booze.” She softened a bit. “And he didn’t give it to your brother, Bryan. He gave it to me. But I’ve had it sitting in a drawer for years. I had forgotten about it, to be honest with you. Found it when I was sifting through the ruins of our house.”

“What happened to the house? Did they know what caused it?” I asked tentatively. My mom had been missing when the vampires burnt it down in the hope that I was inside. I doubted she knew Christian was the one responsible.

“They said it was arson. Someone threw Molotovs through the windows. Probably kids. At least it was insured, for what that’s worth. But the ring survived, if you can believe it, though not much else did, I’m afraid. Oh, Bryan—I’m sorry, but your trophies all melted.” Bryan had been a good baseball player when he was younger, and his team had won a slew of little league championships.

“That’s all right. It’s been a long time since I played ball, anyways.” Bryan took a drink and did his best to pretend losing everything but his truck and the clothes on his back didn’t matter to him.

“Well, don’t you worry—when the insurance check shows up I’ll let you know and we can get you a little something to make up for it. I’m glad you like the ring, Chance.”

I nodded, feeling as sad for Bryan as I felt happy for having something of my father’s. On one hand, at least my brother knew who his father was. On the other, he knew the guy was indeed a deadbeat. At least I could pretend mine was a decent guy.

“You’ll probably have to get it sized if you want to wear it,” my mom offered, pleased by my reaction.

“I’ll do that. Thanks, Mom,” I said, really meaning it. I took the ring out and tried it on to see. It actually fit. I crammed the handkerchief in my pocket.

Megan took my hand and studied the ring up close. She gave me her smile of approval. “It’s Celtic. A lovers’ knot.”

My mom nodded in affirmation. “He told me it had been in his family forever.”

There was a brief pause.

“So, what do you do, Megan? Are you a student?” My mom asked, changing the subject. Though we didn’t have much money, my mom had worked retail for many years and could spot decent clothing. And Megan didn’t wear anything but. I knew my mom was curious.

“I’m a student. Majoring in Computer Science.” This was true; Megan had been a student for a long time. She was working on her fifth degree. She was one of those people who liked school, and now that she had the time, she had apparently decided to see how many degrees she could earn.

“That’s nice. Chance here is the first one in the family to go to college. Of course, he’s majoring in P.E.,” she said with a mix of pride and exasperation.

“We’ll work on him. Maybe we can give him a nudge over to Physical Therapy—there are some good jobs in that field,” said Megan. I kept examining the ring as my life was planned out in front of me.

“Speaking of school….Chance, don’t your classes start Monday?” asked my mom.

I nodded. I still had to buy books. I hoped some would still be left in stock Monday morning, because it didn’t look like I would be making it down there any sooner.

“So, Megan, are you out here visiting, then, or were you planning on staying? UT is a nice school.” My mom had barely met Megan and was already trying to make her a permanent fixture. She was like that when she found someone she approved of.

“Just visiting, at the moment.” Megan said it casually, but I wasn’t dumb. I knew those last three words were not meaningless. They were a question for me. How would the long-term relationship between us work? Or, more importantly as far as I was concerned, did I even want it to? I was still not entirely used to the idea of friendly vampires. Dating one was a big step.

“Oh, that’s nice.” My mom was disappointed.

I’m not sure if it was my mom’s disappointment, or if I had already made an internal decision, but the next words that came out of my mouth were, “Don’t worry, she’ll cave eventually. How could she resist not transferring out here? I mean, if getting to wear burnt orange isn’t enough, there’s me. The combination is truly irresistible.”

“Sorry, honey. Chance tends to overestimate his appeal, but UT is a good school.” My mom looked at Megan, who wore a look of playful defiance.

“Oh, his appeal isn’t so bad. It’s deciding if all the trouble he gets into is worth it.”

“Hey! I’m worth it.”

“Oh, I know what you mean!” said my mom. “Chance has always had the strangest luck. Things either go incredibly bad or incredibly good with him. Mostly it evens out, but it’s always an adventure.”

“So, Megan, you up for an adventure?” I asked her.

Whatever Megan was about to say was lost when the door to the hotel room opened. We all turned. My heart sped up, adrenaline bursting through me as my hand went for my gun. But it was only Marie.

She smiled her vapid smile as she entered. “Hey, everyone, Lacey wanted me to find out what’s taking you guys so long. Well, that’s not exactly how she put it; I’m paraphrasing for decency.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Hey, Mom—this is my new girl, Marie!” said Bryan, brought out of his funk by the chance to show off his main squeeze.

“Well, hi, Marie,” my mom said with cautious enthusiasm as she stood. Bryan’s girlfriends tended to be a mixed bag, and my mom was wise enough to expect the worst.

Marie smiled and walked up to my mom. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Wow, are you here all alone in this big room?” The question was asked innocently enough, but I could see the concern on Marie’s normally relaxed features.

My mom never got a chance to answer.

A streak came from the bedroom, almost quicker than I could follow. I had just registered that it was heading for me when I was shoved out of the way. The charging vampire collided with Megan, who was now occupying the space where I had been a split second before. I’m not sure if it was intentional, or if he had simply misjudged his speed, but the momentum carried both vampires sailing through the window.

Glass was still falling when a second figure came out of the room, a tick slower than the first. I had no time to consider what had happened to Megan. I pulled the stake out and faced the new threat.

Bryan amazed me by being the slightest bit faster. The
boom, boom, boom
of the .44 Magnum shook the room and hammered my ears.

Granted, he missed, but the roar was both impressive and distracting to what must have been a newly made vampire. Young enough to still have a healthy fear of firearms, it dodged to the side, taking cover as the revolver roared.

This gave me time to go after it. I had initially chosen the stake because it was silent and, if I could land a hit in the chest, more effective than my handgun. The silence was a moot point now, but the effectiveness wasn’t.

In its effort to dodge the gunfire, the vampire had managed to run into one of the armchairs that faced the couch. He tumbled over it and landed face up on the coffee table in front of my mom, who looked like she was about to scream.

I leapt on it to drive the stake down into its chest. It saw me coming in time to move, so the stake entered its shoulder instead. My mom had started screaming now. The vampire was stockily built and probably stronger than I was, even when it was human. Despite the damage to his shoulder, he grabbed me and threw me off of him. I went rolling over the dated carpet, getting to my feet and prepping for his rush in one swift movement.

It never came. Marie had walked up behind the vampire as it gained its feet and started to lunge for me. She grabbed the vampire’s head and twisted it to the side in a swift motion. A crack signaled that his neck had been broken.

Bryan had been trying to get off a shot, but Marie was in between the vampire she was holding and my brother. The vampire was still alive. Its head was now twisted at an unnatural angle, and it could see Marie. Its eyes lit up with recognition.

Marie smiled at him, still holding up the slumping body by its head. She changed her grip, then commenced a hard long twist that, after a sickening tearing sound, separated the head from the torso.

Bryan blinked as Marie unceremoniously tossed the head on its fallen body. My mom had finally finished screaming, having run out of air. She was now trying to decide between fainting or drawing another breath for round two.

Marie made the decision for her by getting her attention and saying “Shush.” My mom closed her mouth and remained silent.

I ran to the window and peered down. The height made me take a half step back as I combated a sudden case of vertigo. Over a hundred feet below was the restaurant patio.

Amazingly, none of the tables had been overturned by an impact. It took me a few moments to locate the first body. I finally made out the shape laying spread-eagle against a circular tabletop. It had been impaled on one of the table umbrellas that had been folded down for the night. But between the distance and poor illumination, I couldn’t tell if it was Megan or the other vampire. The idea that it could be Megan was crushing. I forced it out of my mind. I had to get us out of here first, then I could go check to make sure Megan was all right.