Rylie Cruz 2 - How to Date a Vampire (6 page)

“It’s Isabella. Isabella Blackthorne. When I
heard you were a matchmaker for the paranormal crowd, I thought, no
way! I totally need to be matchmakered up.”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded. Was this some sort of
setup? I smelled a vampire rat. “But what was with that note? You
broke into my apartment. Aren’t you looking for Jack?”

“Lookit. I didn’t break in. And don’t go
accusing me of it, either. You left your damn door open. Don’t
shoot the messenger. They told me to deliver the note to you. I
have no idea what they want with ‘Jack’. They normally don’t want
to see some random dude who was bitten. I’m guessing there’s
something more to it than that, but I’m out of it after I do my
job.”

“And who is your boss? If you don’t mind me
asking?” I needed to know who was the head honcho—the vampire in
charge.

“He’s the vampire leader of this area. You
have pack leaders. We have vampire leaders.” She shrugged.

“Right. So you’re the vampire police?”

“No.” She snorted. “Like I said, I just
delivered the message. And you’d better take him there or it will
get ugly. I can guarantee that.”

“Is that right? What do they want with
him?”

“How am I supposed to know? Do you think
they invite me in for a debriefing?”

“Okay, calm down. I had to ask.” I gestured
with my hands.

“Is he newly turned?” She studied her
fingernails. “’Cause that may have something to do with it.
Anyway.” She looked up at me. “Regardless, can we get back to my
problem?”

“Sure. Um. I’m sorry. It’s just that you
caught me off guard. I’m a little shaken because of the fight with
the vampires. A couple of them showed up early at my place. They
wanted to take Jack with them. Do you think they are with the
vampire leader?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. What did they
look like?”

“Two men. One with brown hair and one with
blond. Not much more to say about them.”

“Yeah, well, that really narrows it
down.”

“The blond had a tattoo on his neck. It was
a skull with bat wings and bloody fangs.”

She blanched. “Well, that’s kind of a
distinguishing feature. You’d think you would have mentioned it
first.”

“Did you come here to be snarky with me or
get a date?” I think I knew why she didn’t have a date. “You got a
funny look on your face when I mentioned the tattoo. Do you know
him?”

“A lot of people have tattoos. I don’t know
him.”

“But you just said it was a distinguishing
feature that I should have mentioned first.”

“I said I don’t know him. Is this how you
treat all of your customers?”

Grandma Cruz always said I was a people
person. Whatever that meant, but right now those skills had taken a
vacation.

“No, of course not. Wait a minute. How can
you go out in the daylight and the others can’t? I’ve never know a
vampire who could go out in the daytime.”

“You’re just full of questions, aren’t
you?”

“I’m just trying to understand how all of
this works.”

“I can’t share all this information with
you. You’ll have to figure it out on your own. Now do you plan on
helping me?”

I paused. Apparently she wasn’t going to
answer my question. I wasn’t surprised. “Sorry… so what kind of
person are you looking for? Do you want a relationship? Or
something casual?”

She straightened in her chair, not wasting
any time giving her answer. “I’m looking for a soul-mate, which, as
I’m sure you’re aware, is no easy feat when you live forever.”

“Yes, that can be a pickle, huh?”

But there was always divorce. I didn’t
mention that though. The divorce word was a big no-no in my work
vocabulary.

“Well, just fill out this paperwork and I’ll
see what I can do for you.” I handed the clipboard to her.

“I heard you get it right the first time. So
I’ll hold you to that,” she warned with a wag of her finger.

Why had I let Jennifer talk me into that
stupid tagline for my business? It was coming back to haunt me.
People really took it to heart. Why did I feel as if this woman was
related to Lily? Had she been talking to my customer from hell?

When she’d finished, she handed me the
clipboard. I scanned the paper. “Gorgeous. Loyal. Funny. Rich.
Great in bed. Well, you certainly don’t have huge demands, I see.”
I rolled my eyes when I thought she wasn’t looking.

She was going to be a pain in the ass. I
knew it. I might as well give her Lily’s protest sign now and save
her the time of having to make one.

Chapter Eight

How to Date a Vampire, Rule #8:

Remember: sometimes a kiss is not just a
kiss.

“I know what I like.” She smiled, exposing
her fangs.

“Well, thanks for coming in.” I plastered a
fake smile across my face. “I’ll call you soon and let you know
what matches I have for you.”

“You don’t have some computer program that
does that for you? What is this? 1976?”

“Hey. I pride myself on reading people. I
don’t need a computer to do that for me.”

She stood and sashayed over to the door.
“Whatever. Call me. I’ll be expecting to hear from you soon.” She
turned before exiting the door. “And don’t forget to bring your
human as the note instructs.”

“Yeah, sure.” Fat chance of that.

My phone rang just as she walked out. “Get a
Mate. How can I help you?”

“Rylie. It’s Mama.”

“Oh no. What’s wrong? Don’t tell me more
vampires have shown up.”

“Honey, now I’m not one to encourage you to
drink, but you are awfully stressed. Perhaps you should partake in
a little adult beverage? You know, just to relax your nerves.”

“Mama, it’s a little too early for cocktail
hour. And the only reason I am stressed is because of Uncle Ernie
and vampires, and hiding my werewolf status, and my new boyfriend
now being a freakin’ vampire.”

“Breathe, Rylie, breathe.”

I took in a deep breath.

“Remember stress causes wrinkles. You should
come over for a long massage and aura cleansing,” she said.

As far as my mother was concerned,
everything caused wrinkles. She’d tried to convince me sex caused
wrinkles, too. Yeah, I didn’t fall for that one.

“As soon as I fight off the vampires, I’ll
do that. Is there something wrong, Mama?” If I didn’t push her,
she’d chitchat for hours.

“No.” She sighed. “Just calling to check on
you... and Jack.”

Ah-ha. I knew she wasn’t just calling to
chitchat. She wanted to know about Jack. “I’m okay. And he’s…
okay.”

“You don’t sound so sure of that.”

“He’ll be all right.” I knew the tone in my
voice told her otherwise. “Is he your new boyfriend? I just hate to
see you have your heart broken with the curse and all.”

“I’m fine.” I didn’t want to discuss the
curse. It had been hanging over my head for far too long. “Have you
had sex with him?”

“Mama, I will not talk about this right
now.”

“I just want you to be safe is all. Remember
to use protection.”

“Mother. Can we please change the subject?
I’m not in high school anymore, for Pete’s sake.”

“Fine. I’m just sayin’…” She let out an
audible sigh.

“I have to get back to work. I’ll try to
hunt down Ernie. I’ll call you as soon as I hear anything.”

“Be careful, dear.”

“I always am.”

No sooner had I placed the phone down when a
knock sounded against the window. I spun around, but didn’t see
anything. As I moved over to the window, I saw Lily’s smirking
face.

“What do you want now,” I said when I shoved
the window open.

“Hey, you pathetic excuse for a werewolf.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Lily, who are you calling pathetic? Kettle.
What do you want, Lily. I don’t have time to fight with you right
now. Could we fight later? Maybe have a cage match out back?”

She sneered. “You’re not nearly as funny as
you think you are.”

“I’m heartbroken that you think that. I’ll
probably lose sleep tonight just worrying about it. So are you
going to tell me what you want, or do we have to continue
bickering?”

“Fine.” She paused. “As much as I love
bickering with you, I suppose looking at your face is worse, so
I’ll make this snappy.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate that. So
what is this urgent news? And can’t you use a door?” I asked as I
leaned closer to the window.

“Remember the two vampires who were in your
apartment and I saved you from?”

“I don’t recall it going down exactly like
that,” I said.

“What? Are you crazy? You would have been a
fur rug in their living room right now if not for me.”

It was hard not to laugh at her insult.
“You’re so delusional, it’s almost cute. Almost,” I said. “Could
you get on with the story?” I motioned
for her to continue with this long, drawn-out story.

She gestured with her hands as she spoke.
“Do you remember the vampires?”

“Of course I do. It was only a few hours
ago. Are you going to finish the story or do I have to poke my eyes
out with a pen first?”

“That is tempting, but I’ll continue just
because the story is that good. Apparently, the two vampires are
missing. Like gone… and they think they’re dead. Within like an
hour of being at your place, they vanished off the face of the
earth. How cool is that?”

“What? Missing?”

“Yes, I know you’re a dunce, but you do know
what missing means?”

“Of course I know what it means, you
annoying little troll. Why do they think they’re missing?”

“Because they’re missing, duh. As in, they
haven’t been seen since they left your place. So that means you
were they last one to see them.”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong. Because
you were there too, so that means you were one of the last people
to see them. And why am I even discussing this with you? I have no
idea where they are. Not to mention, I don’t care, for that
matter.”

“Well, you had better care because the
vampires will come looking for you to ask questions.”

“They’re already looking for me, so will
that make any kind of difference?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She smirked.

“They’ll come looking for you too, so don’t
be so smug.”

“I’m not smug. Look, I was trying to be your
friend. That’s why I told you. I thought you would like to
know.”

“Yeah, some friend. Look at all the names
you called me.”

“Oh, boo-hoo. Are you going to cry now, you
little baby?”

“Could we for once have an adult
conversation?”

“As far as you’re concerned, I doubt it,”
she said.

Lily was absolutely impossible to talk to.
She was living in a totally different world from the rest of us.
Lily’s world. And frankly, I didn’t want to be in Lily’s world. It
was a messed up place.

“You’d better not tell them I had anything
to do with the missing vampires,” she hissed.

“Why would I do something like that?”

Lily fixed her venomous stare at me.
“Because you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Lily. You’ve had it out
for me since Martin.”

She closed her eyes and screamed, holding
her hands to her ears. After a couple seconds, she finally opened
her eyes again.

“Never, ever, mention his
name again.”
Her voice shot up a decibel. “
He totally traumatized me for life. I hope you’re happy for
fixing me up with that psycho. It’s a wonder he didn’t kill me. I’m
lucky to be alive.”

My lips jerked at the corners.
“I’m sorry, Lily. I told you I was sorry about a million
times. What more can I do? Plus, you have Phil now. He’s a… Well,
he’s a… guy.”

She scowled. “He’s a great guy for your
information. You’re just blind for not realizing it. It’s your loss
though. He told me how you liked to flirt with him.”

My stomach turned at the thought. “What? Is
he delusional?” Why was I asking her that question? Of course he
was delusional. “I, in no way, shape, or form, ever flirted with
creepy, er, Phil.”

“Well, good, just see that you don’t. I
would hate to have to cause you bodily harm because you put the
moves on my man.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are we finished with this
conversation now?”

“Whatever. Like I said, I had nothing to do
with the
missing vampires.”

“Okay, I heard you the first time. Why do
you sound so panicked?”

“I’m not panicked. I just don’t trust you,
that’s all.” She pointed at me.

“Whatever you say,
Lily.”
My temples throbbed and massaging them didn’t
help.

She whipped around and marched away from the
building. I watched as she sashayed back toward creepy Phil’s
apartment. Heck, Lily probably had the two vampires stuffed in a
freezer in his apartment. Thank goodness that conversation was
over. Dealing with Lily always gave me a headache.

But what had happened to the vampires? That
was weird. Would the vampires really think I had something to do
with their disappearance? That was crazy. They probably took off on
their own because they grew tired of following orders from the
vampire leader. Maybe they’d tried to intimidate someone else once
they left my apartment. That person might not have been as nice as
me.

After that awkward conversation, I attempted
to get back to work, settling at my desk. I left a message for
Danielle and Dave setting up their date. I had a feeling they’d hit
it off perfectly. I hoped my instinct wasn’t wrong about that one.
I didn’t need another Lily and Martin disaster.

Since Samson hadn’t answered, I decided to
try any vampire I could find. Surely, there was one to be trusted.
I clicked on my computer and went to the files for vampires. There
was one woman who was super nice.

I decided to give her a ring and ask a few
questions. I needed to know what was in store for Jack and what
these vampires chasing us around could possibly want. Maybe she’d
know this vampire chick Isabella who’d apparently taken an interest
in my matchmaking service. Too much of an interest for my taste.
Would any vampires answer their phone at this hour? Maybe they were
all sleeping. After a bunch of rings, the other end of the line
picked up.