Blood and Guitars (12 page)

“Nothing,” I said innocently. Then, I glanced
behind me at the tell-all painting I had been working on and was
tempted to cover it. Realizing there wasn’t time, I reminded myself
that it was on a different level than the rest of the shop and
would remain out of sight.

“You know him.” Mark didn’t phrase it as a
question.

Ignoring his observation, I rushed down the
steps and was standing at the back door a half second later,
pulling it open as Trey reached out for the handle.

“Hey,” I greeted him.

“Aurora.” Trey smiled, looking a little
relieved. I’d forgotten how adorable that half-smile of his was.
“I’m glad I caught you here.”

“Me too.” And I was. Okay, so maybe Trey
stopping by when Mark wasn’t around would have been better but I
knew that Mark wasn’t about to go away now that I’d made the night
interesting for him. “Come on in.” I pulled the door open all the
way, stepping back to let Trey inside. He was wearing a t-shirt and
expensive jeans with a pair of black vans. He looked great.
Again.

“I was just driving by and I saw a light on
so I thought I’d stop and see if you were in.”

“Kacie said you were here earlier.” I wasn’t
sure whether I should bring up the fact that he’d bought a painting
or not. “I’m surprised you found me.”

“I recognized your style from the pieces on
display in the front window. You didn’t tell me you had your own
place on Cleveland.”

I shrugged with one shoulder. There were a
lot of things I hadn’t told Trey about, the least of which was The
Waking Moon.

Aurora gestured for me to follow her and I
walked behind, watching as she practically floated around the
corner smoothly. I wasn’t even aware of her shoes making a noise
against the hard floors. Maybe I was starting to hallucinate. How
long had I been at the studio? If my brain was already starting to
fry this early into the recording process, we were in trouble.
Aurora paused in the center of the gallery and turned to face me
again. For reasons I can’t explain, I suddenly felt vulnerable
standing there with her in the shadows of the gallery as a single
light from an unseen source glowed from above. My heartbeat
quickened under her unfaltering gaze and I cleared my throat. She
turned and walked over to the wall where she flipped a light
switch, illuminating the showroom.

“I … I hope I’m not interrupting something,”
I said. Aurora opened her mouth to speak but the voice I heard came
from behind and belonged to a man.

“Aurora, aren’t you going to introduce me to
your friend?”

I spun around to find a man peering over the
edge of a partial wall at the top of the stairway. He was resting
on his elbows and studying me through a pair of black rimmed
glasses. He reminded me of a record label executive scrutinizing me
and trying to decide whether I was worth paying any attention to.
Aurora sighed but her lips curved into a soft smile. She put her
hands in her back pockets and shifted her weight to one foot.

“Trey …?” Her voice lingered in a
question.

“Decker,” I added, mentally kicking myself
for not having given her my full name before. Or had she just
forgotten?

She smiled and glanced up. “Trey Decker this
is Mark Conry.”

“Dr. Mark Conry,” the man corrected. I didn’t
miss the eye roll Aurora shot his way at the inclusion of his
title.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said coolly, but
in the back of my mind I was sizing the Doctor up.

Who was he?

A friend? A relative? A boyfriend?

I pushed that last thought out of my mind,
unwilling to accept it as a possibility just yet. I needed to do a
little investigating before I decided to panic.

Aurora’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
“You just couldn’t live without Pier 60, is that it?”

She was testing me; that much was obvious.
She wanted to know whether I had actually liked the painting or if
I had purchased it to win her favor. The problem was both were
true.

“Yeah.” I wracked my brain for the right
words to make her understand.

“So you’re the lucky new owner of the Pier.”
Mark was only a few feet away now. I hadn’t even noticed him
approaching. I tried not to appear as threatened by his sudden
appearance at my side as I felt. “I saw that it wasn’t hanging on
the wall when I came in tonight.”

I ran my fingers through my hair and smiled,
turning my attention to Mark. “I’m a bit biased,” I admitted. “I
spent a lot of weekends on that pier growing up. The only thing
cooler than being on Pier 60 at night is the ethereal twist Aurora
put on it.” I stuck my hands in the front pockets of my jeans and
shrugged. “I just had to have it.”

“I’m glad you liked it so much,” she added.
Then I thought I saw her raise an eyebrow in Mark’s direction, but
I couldn’t be certain. I wondered again what their relationship
was, but I still wasn’t sure how to find out. She hadn’t introduced
him as her boyfriend, or fiancé, or anything like that. Maybe they
were just friends after all.

“Is this where the magic happens?” I asked
her.

She nodded and gestured upstairs with a
casual wave of her hand. “It’s a bit of a mess right now, but I do
my work up there.”

“I’ve never attempted anything more
complicated than finger paint,” I admitted. “But I’d love to try
sometime.”

I was vaguely aware of Mark scoffing at my
side as Aurora’s gaze met mine. The sensation was strange and
wonderful, like she was seeing right through me. Then came the déjà
vu. The trance was broken only when Aurora looked away to stare
after Mark who was making his way back up the stairs. She bit her
lip and smiled before turning back to me. “I’ll show you sometime,”
she said.

“I … uh, really?” I said brilliantly. “I
mean, that would be great.”

Mark’s footsteps paused only briefly before
he hurried up the stairs and out of sight.

“How about tomorrow night?” Aurora asked,
taking a step closer to me. At that point, her intense green eyes
were all I could see. I swallowed, hoping that when I tried to
speak actual words would come out.

“Tomorrow works for me. Same time?” She
nodded. That was my cue to get out before I could make an idiot of
myself. “Cool. I guess I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll leave the back unlocked for you.”

I smiled and nodded at her before turning to
leave.

“Trey,” Aurora called out behind me. I paused
and turned to face her again. “Don’t wear anything you don’t want
ruined.”

Mark scoffed as I picked up my paintbrush and
palette and set to work on my painting again.

“That was quite the display. You’re not
seriously having him over tomorrow night, are you?”

“What if I am?”

“He’s human,” Mark stated.

“Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn’t
noticed.”

“Okay, okay. You’ve made your point.”

“Really? What’s that?”

“You can do whatever you want and it’s really
none of my business. There’s no need for games. I get it.”

“You’re right about one thing. It isn’t any
of your business. But who says I’m playing a game?”

“I know you, Aurora,” Mark added. “There’s
nothing that human could possibly have to offer you except a
meal.”

“Is that so?” I glanced over my shoulder at
him. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. I’d
never seen him look so arrogant.

“And speaking of a meal, why didn’t you just
feed from him tonight and get it over with like you should have the
night you met him? At least then the boy would have the common
sense to stay away from you.”

I dropped my brush, shocked by Mark’s
insight. For the first time I realized exactly why I hadn’t been
able to feed from Trey that first night we’d met. Humans develop a
natural aversion to vampires who have fed from them, and I hadn’t
wanted to give Trey a reason to avoid me. This revelation was as
upsetting as it was true, and I whirled around in a fury.

“You have no right to tell me what I should
or shouldn’t do.” I hissed, baring my fangs. In his surprise,
Mark’s eyes flashed dangerously but he didn’t speak. “And while
we’re at it, I’d take a good look at why you’re so jealous of a
human in the first place.” I was only just seeing that Mark’s
possessive attitude toward me might actually damage our
relationship after all. How was I ever going to meet someone to
share my eternal night with if he was always trying to weed them
out from the sidelines?

I backed away just enough to give him room to
leave. Mark continued to stare at me a second longer and then
dropped his eyes. He was no match for me and he knew it. Dredging
up what was left of his common sense he disappeared down the stairs
and was out the back door half a second later.

I sighed and collapsed onto the chair nearby,
wondering how one evening could be so emotionally charged on both
ends of the spectrum. My cell phone rang from inside my purse on
the table, just as phones always do when you need a minute to
think. I reluctantly stood up and fished it out, glancing at the
display. It was Antonio. I took a deep breath and answered.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

I rubbed my temple with my free hand, a habit
from my mortal days, and sighed. “Just peachy. Why do you ask?”

“Is Mark with you? I just got a strange sense
about you both right at the same time.”

“He was,” I replied. “I just kicked him
out.”

“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
Antonio asked.

“Mark is a jerk,” I said childishly.

I could practically hear Antonio smile in
relief through the phone. “What did he do?”

“Nothing,” I muttered. I definitely didn’t
want to discuss my guy problems with Antonio, especially
considering that one of the said guys involved just so happened to
be of the human sort.

“I’m sure you’ll work it out.” Antonio was
ever the encouraging mentor.

“Yeah, whatever.” I was suddenly anxious for
a change in topic. “Don’t worry about it. Do you know anything
about where we’ll be meeting with the Synod?” Then I bit my lip,
because even this subject reminded me of Mark which just made me
angrier.

“Not yet,” Antonio said. “I’ll pass that on
to you as soon as they let me know.” I shrugged, not in the mood to
actually care just then. “And don’t be too hard on Mark,” he added.
“He cares about you. I’m sure he’s acting with the best
intentions.”

“Funny,” I said. “He says the same about
you.”

Antonio chuckled and I couldn’t help but
smile as I closed my phone. I knew Mark cared about me, but our
friendship only worked if I could still have my independence. I’d
seen him cross that line tonight and that was something I wasn’t
okay with. Sure, hanging out with a human isn’t the best idea, but
I wasn’t ready to let Trey go just yet. There was still the
possibility that he wouldn’t even show and the whole thing would
blow over, although I couldn’t deny that a small piece of me was
hoping he’d come.

I turned my iPod on again and picked up my
paintbrush. The only thing missing in my painting of the music
lounge was the entertainment. I set to work brushing in Trey, my
photographic memory bringing to mind a perfect recollection of his
likeness on the stage that night.

When I finished the painting, I went to the
small refrigerator in kitchenette in the back of the loft and
pulled out a bottle of blood-laced wine. I opened it and took a
drink straight from the bottle as I sat down on the chair, staring
at the painting before me. I obviously couldn’t put this piece up
for sale in the gallery, not that I wanted to. It would have to go
home with me.

I had listened with a judgmental ear to
Trey’s reasons for buying Pier 60, and yet here I was actually
painting him. Ironic. Or perhaps hypocritical is a better word. The
blood in the wine went straight to my head and soon the burning
chased away any lingering resentment toward Mark. He really was
just trying to protect me. Yes, Mark was being incredibly jealous
and immature but thankfully he had years and years ahead of him to
try and master that. The poor guy probably just needed a
girlfriend. I made a mental note to work on that and took another
swig from the wine bottle.

I gazed at the picture of the moon etched
into the glass. Below it were the words Vidic Vineyard. The
mastermind and owner of Vidic Vineyard is none other than Stanislav
Vidic. Not only is Stanislav a member of the Synod, he’s one of the
oldest living vampires in the country. There are some who are
older, but most of them choose to remain in Europe where they’ve
lived their entire elongated lives. Stanislav, on the other hand,
was one of the first to venture to the Florida area before it was
declared a state. He established Vidic Vineyard and now runs the
biggest wine-laced-with-blood organization in the country. I took
another drink and relished in the combination of tastes on my
tongue. I had to hand it to the old guy, he definitely knew his
wine … er, blood.

The next day O’Shea and I spent a few hours
recording feedback for “Sweet Disguise.” Okay, so I didn’t do much
other than sit there and joke around with him while he did the
work. O’Shea always has been a better guitar player than I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I know my way around the instrument pretty
well, but something about O’Shea’s brain is just wired exactly
right for playing guitar. I’d put him up against pretty much
anybody. To be honest, it was probably a good day for me to not be
responsible for much as far as recording goes. I was a little
preoccupied anticipating my painting lesson with Aurora. Just as we
were wrapping up for the night, Serena brought out a big platter of
home made sandwiches. It took me about twenty minutes to scarf a
few of them down and then I jumped in my vehicle and headed for
Cleveland Street. I found myself hoping that Dr. Mark wouldn’t be
there as I reached The Waking Moon.