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“I take it Gabriel has never brought you here?” Dick asked, taking in my horrified expression. “He probably thinks it blasphemous or unpatriotic or one of those terms that basically means he’s a tight-ass with no sense of humor.”
“You know that you’re not going to get me to play along when you say something like that,” I told him. “You say you’re interested in Andrea and I’m just a friend. You’ve even been getting along—well, tolerating Gabriel’s presence. Why are you still making those comments about Gabriel?”
Dick mulled that over for a moment. “Force of habit. What the—” Dick was interrupted as a pale, lanky man with a shock of badly dyed black curly hair knelt before me and kissed my sandaled feet. Unfortunately, the sandals were pretty old, so I can only imagine how funky that must have been.
“Um, can I help you?” I asked, finally resorting to kicking him slightly to get him off my foot.
He peered up at me. “You are a Lonely One, are you not? A Night Childe?”
“I’m not exactly burning up the social scene, but I wouldn’t classify myself as lonely. It’s not as if I have a bunch of cats or something.”
A similarly pasty girl with stringy platinum hair and smudged kohl around her eyes joined him at my feet. Dick snickered, but covered it by taking a swig of beer. “We wish to drink at the fount of your wisdom,” the blonde whispered.
“Show us the way,” Floppy Black Hair intoned.
“Jason—”
Floppy Black Hair objected. “My name is Bowan Ravenswood, ancient one.”
“Your name is Jason Turner, and we went to Vacation Bible School together.” I pulled my foot out of his grip once again.
“Let me—”
“Remove your hand, or that will be the last time you know the touch of a woman.”
His smile was feverish. “I would be happy to have you initiate me.”
“Jason, go home, or I’ll have my mama call your mama.”
I grimaced at Dick as the pasty pair slinked away.
“Did you set that up?” I demanded. “Is that like the vampire version of the TGI Friday’s wait staff singing ‘Happy Birthday’?”
Dick looked completely innocent for the first time since I’d met him. “No, that was totally spontaneous.”
“Your lack of guile upsets me,” I said, watching as Jason approached a more receptive-looking Lonely One. I shook my head.
As another whey-faced youth approached with beseeching eyes, I held up a hand and told him “No.” I took a long sip of my drink and closed my eyes.
Sensing female distress, the bartender, a tall brunet with heavily lined brown eyes and a gold ankh stud in his ear, replaced my drink with a flourish and winked at me. “So, what brings you here tonight, besides karaoke?”
Dick cleared his throat, drawing the barkeep’s unsettling attention from me. “We’re looking for Jay.”
“He still owe you money?” the brunet asked. “I don’t want any trouble, not with this crowd in here.”
“Yeah, but I gave up on collecting it a while ago,” Dick said. “Jay’s got more sob stories than an Oprah episode.”
“In that case, he’s right behind you, warming up for his Pat Benatar medley,” the bartender said, grinning at me. “Get a couple of drinks in them, and every vampire thinks he’s Celine Dion.”
I laughed as Dick turned and spotted a tall, towheaded vampire by the karaoke machine. Jay almost smiled, then realized who he was looking at and bolted.
“Go to the back exit,” Dick said before dashing after him through the crowd. “Cut him off if he circles back.”
“What is this, Cagney and Lacey?” I asked. “I am not Tyne Daly.”
The barkeep shrugged. “Just take it outside, please.”
Dick had caught up with Jay before he reached the front door, making my “circling back” unnecessary.
