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“No. I’m a stripper who dressed like a priest for tarts and vicars night.” His hand came up and waved around. “How the h-e-double-l I wound up in your friend’s bathtub, I have no idea. The last thing I remember was leaving work. Then nothing until I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful creature on the face of the earth.” He gazed adoringly at Stella.
Fortunately, she ignored her admirer. “Okay, so how is it possible that you, me, Benny, Saxon, Cort, and Drake all don’t have a clue what happened last night? That’s basically impossible.”
That was really strange. Something else occurred to him. “Hey, have you been to Johnny’s?”
“No, why?”
“Because I was there looking for you and the place looked like it had been tossed. I just figured you’d been there looking for the necklace.” But if she hadn’t been there, who had? The relief he’d felt at finding Stella was replaced by worry. Something was going on.
“No.” Stella bit her lip.
“Did Johnny piss anyone off lately?” Wyatt racked his brain for anything his friend might have said that would have indicated someone might be out for him. “Did he owe any money?” That might explain his suicide, too. Maybe he’d gotten himself in some kind of trouble?
But Stella shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. He wasn’t acting any differently.”
“Who’s Johnny?” Benny asked.
Wyatt struggled not to be annoyed. “Stella’s brother. Can we give you a ride home or anything, Benny? We appreciate you helping Stella out but she and I have a few things to take care of now.”
“I don’t have time to go home, but thanks, bro. I have to be back at work for the late shift tonight, in an hour.” Benny slurped his drink. “You live in the Quarter, right? Can I grab a shower at your place?”
Wyatt wished he knew who the hell this guy was and why Stella had bitten him. He figured he had been fairly patient. Now he was expected to let the guy bathe at his house?
“Of course you can,” Stella said, shooting Wyatt a warning look. “Come on, let’s go so you’re not late.”
Apparently she expected him to just go along with it.
Apparently he was going to.
Wyatt followed Stella and Benny as they walked out of the daiquiri shop, heads bent together, whispering like a couple of middle-school girlfriends. He felt left out. Bitter. Jealous. His head was still throbbing a bit from whatever they had drunk the night before. He was starting to feel like they’d been slipped a roofie. But all of them? How was that possible?
Heading down Conti behind them, he brooded. Some might even call it pouting. But he preferred smoldering. He raised his hand in a wave to Raven, who played at the Famous Door across from them and probably was on a set break. They weren’t friends, given Raven’s odd proclivities of gathering a harem of mortal women around him and doing animal blood sacrifices. It was showy and, in Wyatt’s opinion, cruel. But Raven had never given him reason to get into it with him. They had an unspoken agreement to politely tolerate each other.
Raven had been at the wake the night before. Wyatt wondered if he remembered anything from that night. He called to Stella to hold up, then jogged across the street.
“Hey, man, what’s up? Thanks for coming last night.”
“Sure.” Raven tilted his shaved head, the dagger tattoo trailing down his cheek glowing in the neon lights of Bourbon Street. “That sucks about Johnny. Didn’t think he would do himself in, man. Still can’t believe it.”
The thought made Wyatt’s throat tighten. “Me either.” He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, so he asked, “Did you see Stella around last night?”
Taking a drag on his cigarette, Raven shrugged. “I saw her at the wake for a minute or two. I see her now with some douche bag across the street. What’s up with that?”
Like he needed to be reminded. “I don’t know.”
“You should shorten her leash, Axelrod. I wouldn’t let any of my girlfriends disrespect me like that.”
Wyatt suddenly couldn’t remember why he thought he needed to be polite to Raven. “Stella isn’t my girlfriend.” Unfortunately. “And I don’t need your dating advice.”
Raven’s eyebrow shot up. “Hit a nerve, huh? Maybe you need to take a look at your life. Be a little more careful.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? “I’ll do that,” he told Raven wryly. “Catch you later, man.”
Pretentious prick. With a stupid tattoo.
Fast walking, he caught up to Stella and Benny.
“Are you a vampire, too?” Benny asked him as they turned onto Burgundy.
Wyatt shot Stella a sidelong look. She shook her head slightly. “No. There is no such thing as vampires.”
“Alright, play coy. I know the truth. And I’m going to convince Stella to turn me. We’re meant to be together.”
Wyatt almost lost his lunch all over the cobblestones. He would put Benny in a box and ship him to Antarctica before he let Stella cross him over. Meant to be together. Please. Benny had absolutely nothing to offer her in the way of intelligence or conversation or understanding. He knew nothing about her.
Unlike Wyatt, who had forty years of knowledge of Stella. He knew her. Knew how to make her happy.
Feeling his mood grow even stormier as they got back to his place, he was actually grateful to show Benny the bathroom and hand him a towel. He shut the door on the grin Benny was sporting across his tanned cheeks and stomped back into his living room. He tried to control his frustration but it took all of three seconds before he lost it on Stella.
“Did you actually bite that idiot?” he asked her.
She had sat down on the couch and was riffling through her purse, which he’d left on the coffee table. She shot him a look of defiance. “I was stuck in bat form. I needed to feed and it’s kind of hard to open the fridge when you have wings. Benny was there, passed out, and I seized the opportunity. It’s not my fault he woke up.”
If he were feeling rational, he would see the logic in what she was saying. But Benny had muscles Wyatt didn’t even know existed, and he wasn’t capable of letting it go. “He saw you. He wants you to turn him. Please tell me you won’t do that.”
“Now you’re just being insulting. Why would I do that? Do you honestly think I want him hanging around tonight even, let alone for eternity? You’ve lost your mind.” She slapped the flap of her purse closed, set it back down, and glared at him. “I’m just trying to make the best of a shitty situation.”
