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“I can’t make it over there now.” He paused, then said, “What about if I meet you at the bar tomorrow night? Wil that be soon enough?”
“Yeah.” I never felt tongue-tied, but this was an awkward situation. I’d be damned if I was going to apologize for kicking him out of my life after the stunt he’d pul ed, but I couldn’t just leave everything on a sour note, either.
“Listen, on an entirely different subject, we’ve got trouble in the vampire community. Tomorrow, Chase is going to break news that wil put al of us at risk.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’ve got a vampire serial kil er on the loose, and Chase can’t hold it from the public any longer. You’d better tel the group at Vampires Anonymous to watch their backs.” The mention of the group stil stung. I’d been making friends there when Wade kicked me out. But I wanted to warn them. “I have a feeling the backlash won’t be pretty. Five women dead so far, al human, and al raped.”
Wade’s voice dropped an octave. “You’re kidding. Please tel me you’re kidding.”
“No, we’ve got a fruitcake on the loose and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I’m looking for him, so if you or your . . . friends . . . know of any newly minted vampires around who are wacked enough to pul this sort of stunt, you’d better get that info to me ASAP. He likes to hunt in the Greenbelt Park District.”
“I’l see what I can find out,” Wade said, any arrogance gone. “I’l see you first thing after sunset at the bar. Until then . . . take care, Menol y. I . . . I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah . . . see you.” I sat there, receiver in my hand, listening to the dial tone. You’ve missed me so much you haven’t bothered to try to contact me, or apologize. Right, dude.
Slowly, I replaced the phone in the cradle and headed back upstairs, my mind racing over everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. The vampire serial kil er . . . Erin . . .
Roman . . . and now Wade. Couldn’t a vamp girl catch a break?
Arriving home shortly before five thirty, I first slipped into Camil e’s room. She was lying in the huge new bed Smoky had bought for them. Tril ian snuggled on her right side, his arm draped around her. Smoky was on her left, his hair lightly playing across her arm in his sleep. Morio was curled up on the bottom of the bed in fox-form. They looked like a perfectly formed jigsaw puzzle, with al the pieces in place. As I slipped over to the bed to wake her, both Smoky and Tril ian woke, eyeing me with sleepy frowns.
“I need to talk to Camil e,” I said aloud, seeing that they were both awake.
Smoky gently poked her in the arm til she woke up. Blurry eyed, she sat up and yawned.
“What?”
“I need to talk to you and Delilah, downstairs. Won’t take long, but it’s important. I need you two to do me a favor before the day’s out.”
As she clambered across Tril ian, her naked body brushing against him, I grinned. Both he and Smoky were staring at her, hunger rife in their expressions. Morio was stil asleep—or doing a good job of pretending.
“I’l have her back up here for you guys in a few minutes,” I said as she slid into her robe.
Smoky coughed. “We’l be . . . up. Camil e, you might want to down a shot of espresso before you return to bed.”
Tril ian laughed. “Two, even.”
She stuck her tongue out at them. “You think you’re getting nookie this early, then you’re going to owe me a long, luxurious back rub in return.”
“Deal.” Both men spoke at once.
She pushed me toward the door. “Now see what you’ve done? Created a couple horny monsters in my bed.”
Laughing, I held up my hands. “Hey, I wasn’t the one who let them through the door. I have to get Delilah. Why don’t you go down and see about waking up Iris, too.”
While Camil e headed down the stairs, I took off for the third floor to wake Delilah. As I eased into her room, I had to laugh. There, sprawled buck naked and gorgeous on her bed, was Shade, her lover. Our other reptilian resident, he was half dragon, half Stradolan—a shadow walker.
If he hadn’t been Delilah’s, I might have found him appealing. He had the same shadowy, Netherworld energy to him that al undead were cloaked in, but he was vibrant and alive and fil ed with fire. I smiled softly as I saw the golden tabby curled near him on the bed.
My sister. She often slept in her cat form, finding it more comfortable, and we loved her al the more for it. I slid in through the door, not wanting to startle Shade, but the minute I set foot inside more for it. I slid in through the door, not wanting to startle Shade, but the minute I set foot inside the room, he was sitting up, alert, a dagger suddenly in his hand. Where it came from, I had no idea, but there was nothing wrong with his reflexes, that was for sure.
As he saw it was me, he relaxed. “Menol y, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to draw steel on you. Sheer reflex.” He lowered the dagger and glanced down, smoothly pul ing the sheet over his lap. “Is there something wrong?”
“I can’t wait to see you in battle,” I blurted out. “You’re one hel of a fighter, aren’t you?”
Shade laughed, his voice rich and thick. His skin was the color of warm toffee, and his hair flowed over his broad shoulders, honey and amber highlighting the wheat strands. A scar marred his face, but it synchronized with his personality.
