Real Vampires Hate Skinny Jeans (19 page)

“Don’t be ridiculous, Glory. I’m in thrall to nobody. I have free will. I can walk away at any time. So can Blade. Ray never even got a real chance at you. Still, I don’t see him camped on your doorstep, begging for your favors, do you?” Rafe tried to pull me into his arms but I knocked away his hands. I just couldn’t be distracted right now or comforted. I had to figure this out.

“Go back for a second. Can you? Can you really walk away, Rafe?” I thought about how I used our friendship, how I leaned on him. Rafe deserved a life of his own. A love of his own. Not my crumbs. I knew I wasn’t ever going to give him my whole heart. Or at least not that I could imagine anytime in the near future. “Then let’s test it. Go. Date other women. Screw your brains out. Have a relationship, a
real
relationship with another woman and forget me. I dare you.”

“What’s that going to prove? I love
you
, Glory. Would it be fair to another woman to use her to get my rocks off while I’m still in love with you?” Rafe’s mouth was tight with pain. “My feelings for you won’t go away just because you tell them to.”

“Get a clue. You’re under a damned spell, Rafe.” Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. “I’ve ruined your life.” I sobbed and fell into the chair again.

“No, baby, you haven’t. Let me be with you. We can have a life together. A great life. If anybody’s in thrall, it’s you. That damned Blade bit you, drained you and sired you. Made you
his
vampire and you’ve been under his spell ever since.”

I raised my head at that. There was something to what Rafe said. The sire/fledgling bond was strong, some said unbreakable. I’d never seriously tried to sever it. Oh, what was I thinking? Jerry had never given me a chance. He was so crazy
about me, he’d never let me go, even paying for a bodyguard when I’d actually given independence a shot over the years. Under my spell? I took a shuddering breath.

“You don’t know the half of it. Ian says there’s something in my blood that is addictive to vampires. You can’t imagine it, but he’s even thinking he can make a drug out of it. Like the Energy Vampires have their Vampire Viagra.”

“Now you’ve convinced me this really is a scam. That doesn’t make sense. You and Blade have taken breaks. We were in Las Vegas for almost five years when he didn’t see you. Are you telling me he was able to just give up your ‘addictive’ blood for all that time?” Rafe stomped over and grabbed the file. He glanced at it then threw it down in disgust. “This is a bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo. But it’s bound to be a ploy to get to Blade.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would he bother using me? Ian has an army at his disposal. Besides, he swears the feud between their clans is old news.” I did see Rafe’s point. Jerry and I had taken breaks. Was he able to walk away from my blood because he was just that strong? Or could this be a lie and Clarity was all a scam?

“You’re exhausted.” Rafe smoothed my hair back from my forehead. “Let me take you home. Your emotions are all over the place right now.”

“Home. Yes.” I felt strangely lethargic.

Ian stepped into the room with a syringe. “Will you let me give you a tranquilizer? It will also help your nausea. You can lie down in one of my spare bedrooms. You’ve had a shock. And you probably should have a talk with Aggie later. To get more information. What do you say? A little nap now. Talk later? So you can process all this new information.” Ian moved closer.

“Are you nuts? You know what happens when I take your drugs.” I waved him away. “But I do need to talk to Aggie.” My stomach heaved again and I did take the bottle of synthetic Ian held out to me. “I need to stay here, Rafe. I’ll just
lie down for a while. I’m feeling a little off-kilter. Confrontations with Lucifer always leave me drained.”

“Fine. I think you’re actually in shock, Glory.” Rafe watched me drink every drop in the bottle.

“Now who’s the doctor? But Valdez is actually spot on. Shock. You sure you won’t let me…?” Ian waved the syringe then put it on the desk. “Fine. Distrust me till the end. But you’re welcome to a bedroom. Second room down the hall.” He studied me. “I think she’s on the verge of passing out, Valdez. Carry her.”

I did feel strange and didn’t object when Rafe picked me up and lugged me down the hall. He laid me on a soft bed, peeled off my boots, then covered me with a blanket. I closed my eyes and let myself drift away. This wasn’t my death sleep so I had dreams. Of fish and fins and boats with men screaming for me to kill them.

I jerked awake but was quickly sucked under again. To a beautiful sea. I lay in warm water, floated in the sun and played with dolphins and starfish. I chased sharks into caves where strange creatures lived in the darkest parts of the ocean that I knew I’d never seen before. I rolled over on the bed and came up against a hard body. Warm arms held me tight. I inhaled and knew I was safe. I finally slept peacefully, dreamlessly.

“Y
ou
say she’s a Siren? That’s ridiculous.” Jerry’s voice. Impossible. Here in Ian’s house?

“No, it’s not. I can show you the scientific proof if you’re not too dense to understand it.” Ian obviously didn’t care that he was throwing down a gauntlet.

“Aye, I’m sure you’ve managed to create evidence that seems to back up your claim, MacDonald. Now you’ve drugged her again. What’s to keep me from cutting out your heart right here and now?”

“The dozen guards surrounding you? And I didn’t drug
her. She’s sleeping off the effects of the horrific night she’s had.” Ian’s voice grated, the tone less of threat and more of amusement. It was bound to goad Jerry into doing something foolish. I struggled to wake up.

“Stop, both of you.” I rolled toward the door and threw off a blanket as I sat up. Not drugged? I wondered. Could Ian have put something in that bottle of synthetic he’d had so handy? The room spun and I wiped at my blurry eyes. There they were in the doorway, facing off. It was almost a surprise to see Ian and Jerry in jeans and knit shirts instead of plaid and battle gear.

“Gloriana! Thank God you’re awake.” Jerry pushed Ian aside to stride to the bed. “How are you feeling? You look like—” He obviously decided “hell” wasn’t the right word. “You’ve had a shock.”

“Yes, I have.” I took Jerry’s hand and let him pull me out of bed. My legs felt a little rubbery but I managed to stay upright with his arm around me for support. I looked around for Rafe but saw no sign of him. I knew this was a busy night for him in the club, maybe he’d gone to check on things. “Ian’s been nothing but helpful. Quit trying to start something with him.”

“Helpful? Filling your head with nonsense about Sirens?” Jerry glared at Ian. “You have to know that’s impossible. No one here knows you better than I do. You hate the water. I love you, but even you admit you can’t sing worth a damn. I’ve known you these four hundred years and more and seen no signs of a Siren in you. This entire idea is madness.”

“Obviously she was deprived of her Siren powers before you met her, Campbell. So of course you never heard her sing, saw her swim or kill with her call as Aggie can.” Ian shrugged. “Gloriana needs to find out what happened. Why she seemed an ordinary mortal when you met her. I think the Storm God will have the answers.”

“You want her to meet with him?” Jerry pulled me into his arms and I went, a rag doll, flopping where he put me. I fought off the effects of what I was pretty sure Ian had slipped
me. “If he is the one who did this to her, that could well be suicide.”

“Slow down, both of you. I want to talk to Aggie first. If I
am
a former Siren, I want to find out more about my, uh, profession.” I sighed as Jerry’s strength surrounded me and I absorbed it. I didn’t know myself. Or what was real.

And God knew what would happen when Jerry snapped to the fact that he’d never stood a chance with a Siren luring him to turn her vampire. Of course I wouldn’t have wanted to be mortal. I might not remember my Siren days, but obviously I’d have been desperate for the immortality a vampire had to offer. And Jerry had been in thrall to me for over four hundred years! Crazy. For a strong man like him, could he live with that knowledge?

But when I’d tried to reason with Rafe, he hadn’t been able to hear me. Was the spell I’d cast so strong? Did either man really love me at all? I realized Ian had left and Jerry was staring down at me.

“You honestly think you could have been a Siren once?” He brushed my hair back behind my ears and eased me down onto the bed again. Then he sat beside me. “You’re certainly beautiful enough. And you had me bewitched from the moment I saw you.”

“First, thank you. But I’m not nearly as pretty as Aggie. Or her perfect size either. And second?” I sniffled as tears filled my eyes. I hated all this crying but couldn’t seem to dry up. “Do you think that would make me proud? That I might have tricked you into loving me?”

“No. I didn’t mean… Hell. I can’t seem to say anything right lately. You are the love of my life. No matter what MacDonald claims, that will never change.” He buried his face in my hair, his arms tightening around me. I felt him inhale, taking in my scent.

“Jerry.” Tears spilled down my cheeks and clogged my throat. “Your words are just fine.”

He raised his head and gazed into my eyes. “Believe me then. When I met you, all I saw was a full-blooded, delicious
human
woman with the kind of curves a man could lose himself in. A woman who stirred me like no other. Never forget that, Gloriana. No matter what nonsense MacDonald or that Siren fills your head with. And it wasn’t your damned blood either.”

“Thanks, Jerry.” I kissed him then, tasting him and loving him as much as I ever had. No matter how I’d gotten him, I wanted to keep him. But I couldn’t do it unfairly. Damn.

He pulled back, looking serious. “Yes, I had to have you. But I didn’t want anyone else to have you either. Remember, Gloriana, that I selfishly made you mine. I killed
you
, not the other way around.”

I shuddered when he ran his thumb over my jugular, making it clear that he meant every word he said. I reached for him, needing to taste him again as I did remember how it had been, the urgency between us. It was still and always there, the need that kept us together. His fangs scraped my tongue as we kissed, our blood mingling as my own pierced his lip. I could have kissed him forever, pouring my love for him into that simple joining of mouths, our bodies straining together.

Only when I heard the tapping of high heels coming down the hall’s hardwood floor did I finally ease away from him.

“I love you, Jeremiah. But I need some time to figure out what to do with this news. Please?” I stroked his cheek. He hadn’t shaved, obviously coming here as soon as Rafe or Laurie had called him. I was betting on Laurie.

“Just keep in mind who told you this news. No matter what ‘proof’ MacDonald may have offered. And the Siren has not been a friend to you either. Will you?” He caught up my hand and kissed the back of it.

“Yes.” My mind whirled. Paranoia on Jerry’s part? Or could I hope…? “I want to hear what Aggie has to say.”

“As you wish. I’ll be waiting for you.” He smiled slightly as he stood and looked down at me. “And I won’t get into it
with MacDonald. Laurie is standing guard between us. Valdez is still here too. They seem to think you want the doctor alive for now.”

“Yes, I do.” I saw Aggie in the doorway. “Come in. Jerry is just leaving.”

“So I heard. Yes, keep the doctor alive. I still have a few uses for him.” She winked as Jerry strode from the room. “Ian told me the blood test showed we’re a match. You were once a Siren.” She pulled up a chair and sat, then just stared at me. “Hmm. Not sure I’m buying it. Never saw one of the sisters with an ass like yours.”

“Do you always have to be such a bitch?” I adjusted the pillows at my back as I got settled in the bed.

“Sure. It’s in the job description.” Aggie laughed and tossed back her hair. Now that I really looked at it, I could see that the color was very similar to mine, though hers had more highlights. Guess she actually could go out in the sun. My few streaks were courtesy of a clever beautician when I had time and money to visit her.

“Tell me more about your job description. I know legend says you sing to lure sailors and their ships onto the rocks.” I swallowed. “To their deaths.”

“Yeah, well. That was old-school. Too much technology today to let us get away with random shipwrecks. Achelous—that’s the Storm God, you know—he’s working on some new things. He can bring up the bad weather but we have to stick to certain areas for our luring. We use the Bermuda Triangle and a few other areas where ships and even planes disappear on a regular basis.” She laughed. “Can you believe aliens get the credit?”

“Why?” I couldn’t imagine how anyone could justify killing as a sport which is what this sounded like.

“Why kill people? Destroy ships and planes?” Aggie shrugged. “Beats me. Gods and goddesses are greedy and bloodthirsty. There are spoils, money, of course. I’m just a worker bee, do what I’m told. And there are perks.” She tossed her hair again, obviously a habit with her. “We have a tremendous
sex drive and you get lots of action before you, well, I can see you don’t like the fact that we dispose of our lovers after we’re done, but that’s Achy’s policy. They bite it with a smile on their faces when I’m through with them.” She actually looked proud of that.

“Seriously? You love ’em and lose ’em. Just like that?” I couldn’t believe how completely unemotional Aggie was about the whole thing.

“Honey, you don’t have a choice. I learned long ago just to keep my nose to the grindstone, so to speak. You don’t follow the rules…” She shuddered. “Well, bad things happen. I’ve heard that some Sirens have disappeared. Guess that’s what Ian’s sayin’ happened to you.”

“So you think maybe I didn’t follow some of Achy’s rules and he kicked me out of the ocean? Stripped me of my powers first, of course. Then I guess that’s when Jerry found me.” I tried to reconstruct my meeting with Jerry. “But I had memories of a family, a human family, and a first husband.”

“Sure. You know paranormals can plant stuff like that. Sirens get vacations on land from time to time. We’re not allowed to knock off our lovers then, might get unwanted attention. So I once told a guy I got tired of that he’d left a wife and five kids for me. He’s probably still looking for them.” Aggie laughed, then pulled a purse off her shoulder and extracted a nail file. “Mind control is a simple trick and I know you use it yourself when a mortal sees something he shouldn’t.”