Chapter 8
Cori
Cori finished closing out the register and locking the cash in the store safe. It was almost ten o’clock. Her friends would be pissed if they knew she hadn’t left before dark, but she couldn’t help it. Asher had called in sick, leaving her to run the shop alone, and of course a flood of customers had come in wanting work done. She couldn’t turn all of them away, not when the extra money would mean she was one step closer to paying off her house.
After doing one last sweep to be sure she didn't forget anything, she set the alarm, locked the door, and stepped outside. Though it was nighttime, streetlights kept the parking lot well lit. Cori didn’t see anyone lurking in the shadows ready to get her. Still, she had that feeling of being watched and goose bumps ran up her arms. Could Griff be out there somewhere waiting for his chance?
“Leavin’ late, aren’t ya?” a gruff female voice said.
Cori turned to look at the troll who ran the herb shop a few doors down. “It was a busy day. Shouldn’t you have closed a while ago?”
Bambi shrugged. “Melena asked me to keep an eye on ya, and I had some stuff to do in me shop anyhow.”
The female troll stood about four feet tall with the shoulders of a linebacker, full breasts, orange-red hair that couldn’t be tamed, and a pudgy nose that could smell fresh meat from a mile away. She also stunk to high heaven, though her natural noxious odor wasn’t as strong as it used to be. Bambi had finally figured out she was scaring her customers away with her lack of hygiene, so she’d started bathing twice a week. Cori was guessing the troll was about due for her next shower. She considered pointing that out, but Bambi had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and her race wasn’t above taking a chunk out of a human—or possibly eating them whole if the rumors were true. Cori couldn’t help taking a quick glance at her purse where she’d put her revolver within easy reach. To her relief, it was still right where she left it.
She turned her attention back to the troll. “What do you mean Mel told you to watch me?”
“She said if I happened ta see a man botherin’ ya, then I was free ta do whatever I wanted with him.” Bambi licked her lips. “Not too often the sensor says somethin’ like that.”
Cori couldn’t help but wonder what a fight between a vampire and a troll would look like. Bambi was one of those people that if she liked you, then you were probably safe around her, but God help you if you made her your enemy. For some reason, she’d taken a liking to Melena, and by extension Cori as well.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Well, if it’s all the same, I’ll walk ya to yer truck,” Bambi replied.
Cori had parked at the back of the parking lot, preferring to leave the front open for customers. There were almost a dozen shops in the plaza, and each of the businesses tried to be considerate of the others. She wasn’t too keen on having to walk with the stinky troll, but she wasn’t dumb enough to turn her down, either.
“Thanks.” She gestured ahead. “I’m parked down that way.”
“Of course, ya are,” Bambi groused. She kept her little yellow Beetle a lot closer to her store so she wouldn’t have to go that far. The troll didn’t move too fast, and it was entirely possible a snail would beat her in a race.
One tiny step at a time, they crossed the parking lot. It wasn’t until they were halfway there that Cori noticed something wrong. “Does it look like my tires are flat?”
The streetlight didn’t quite illuminate the truck enough to tell. She should have parked closer to the lamps, but she hadn’t planned to stay late enough for it to matter.
“Yep, they’re flat alright, and some of yer windows are broken, too.” The troll sped up her pace, moving almost as fast as a normal person.
“How can you tell?” Cori asked.
“I see better at night.”
Of course, she did. Trolls were nocturnal hunters after all.
They reached Cori’s truck and circled the vehicle, taking in all the damage. All of the tires had been slashed, the windshield was broken, hood and roof dented, and the word “bitch” had been spray painted in yellow on the passenger side. There could only be one person who’d do that.
“My ex was here,” Cori said, a slight tremble in her voice.
It had been dark less than two hours, which meant it couldn’t have been long ago, especially if she counted however much time it took for him to get from wherever he slept during the day. He’d been this close, and she’d had no idea. Memories of him breaking their furniture and hitting her over and over until she passed out surfaced in her mind. Griff wanted Cori to think about that and what he planned to do to her next. Her stomach clenched. She’d thought she put him behind her, but she’d been wrong—so very wrong. Would she be able to face him again when he made his final move? Had she built her defenses up enough to do whatever it took to survive him again? She didn’t know, and that scared her.
Bambi sniffed the air, scowling after a few whiffs. “It was a vampire fer sure.”
“Can you tell how long ago?” Cori asked.
“Half an hour or so,” the troll said, waddling around the truck. “Musta came while I was in the bathroom since I woulda noticed him out here otherwise. I was watchin’.”
Cori had been finishing up a tattoo at the time and wouldn’t have seen or heard anything then, either. She stared at her truck and all the damage, her chest tightening. She’d stayed late to make extra cash, and now she’d be out more than she’d earned. What if Griff had decided to come into her shop? He could have killed her and her customer without them being able to do a thing to stop him. She had her gun in her purse, but that would barely slow him down. How could she have thought she’d be safe just because she was at work? Stupid, she’d been so stupid.
Until Griff was caught, she’d close early even if it did mean losing money as a result. Paying off her house wouldn’t mean much if she and her employee were dead. She couldn’t risk Asher’s life either, especially with him expecting a baby soon.
Cori rubbed her face. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“I could give ya a ride,” Bambi offered.
The thought of sitting in a car with the troll—who probably didn’t drive much faster than she walked—didn’t sit well with Cori. “Thanks, but I should probably call Melena. She made me promise to tell her if anything happened again.”
“She said the same ta me,” Bambi said, nodding.
Cori pulled out her cell phone, keeping an eye on her surroundings just in case Griff was still out there and planning an encore.
Melena answered on the second ring. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing good,” Cori replied, then filled her in on the details.
“That bastard,” Melena cursed. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll have someone there.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna call a friend to tow the truck in the meantime. It’s going to take a while to fix this mess—if I’m lucky.” Cori had yet to take full stock of the damage, but she suspected there was more she hadn’t noticed yet.
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, but I promise I’m working on it.”
Cori paced back and forth, trying really hard not to let this latest catastrophe get to her. “It’s not your fault, but I appreciate the help.”
“Five minutes and someone will be there. Keep Bambi close until then,” Melena ordered, hanging up.
Cori immediately called an old high school friend to tow her truck who promised he could be there in twenty minutes. She didn’t tell the guy she knew who’d done it. Once again, she didn’t want to get into that conversation. If all went well, Griff would eventually be dead for good and then she could put the whole mess behind her.
True to Melena’s word, a double flash of bright light appeared almost exactly five minutes after they’d ended their call. Cori had barely put her phone back in her purse. She was surprised after her eyes adjusted to find Bartol and a man she vaguely recognized standing there. He must have been the nerou she’d seen outside yesterday on her way home.
Bartol stared at Cori for a moment and then over to her truck, taking it in. “Your ex is going to be dead after I find him.”
He said it with such coldness that she was a little shocked. That kind of emotion required having feelings about a person, but surely he didn’t care about her that much. She’d have to think more on that later when she wasn’t standing next to her ruined truck that her vampire ex-husband had defaced. “Not if I hack his head off first.”
Bartol’s golden eyes shimmered. It was almost as if he dared her to get in his way.
The nerou with the purple eyes walked around the vehicle and stopped at the spot where it had been spray painted. “And I thought I made people angry.”
“Who are ya?” Bambi demanded, glaring up at him.
“You can call me Tormod,” he said, starting to reach out a hand toward the troll before he caught her scent. He stuffed his fist into his jeans pocket instead. “Bartol is training me.”
She sniffed at him. “Ya got demon blood in ya, boy.”
“Every day except Friday.”
“Hmmph.” She waddled forward and poked him in the stomach. “I bet ya’d still taste just fine.”
Tormod’s eyes widened, and he quickly scooted away from her. “What…what is she?”
“A troll,” Bartol replied. Since his arrival, he’d been smart enough to keep his distance from her. “I take it you have not heard about them yet?”
“No.” Tormod shook his head.
“Well!” Outrage filled Bambi’s features. “I’ll be talkin’ ta Lucas about that tomorrow. Thinks he can be racist and leave us out of his trainin’ as if we ain’t important enough ta learn about.”
By the look in the troll’s eyes, Cori didn’t envy Melena’s husband at all for that conversation. Lucas would be lucky if he walked away with all his limbs intact, and hopefully, he wasn’t susceptible to rabies.
“Do you sense anything nearby?” Bartol asked Tormod.
“No.” The nerou’s brows knitted together. “At least not anything within the nearest block or so, but Emily’s range would be a lot farther if we could have brought her out here.”
Of course, they couldn’t since Emily was immune to magic so she couldn’t be flashed anywhere. Sensor abilities didn’t always work in their favor. They couldn’t be healed by magic, either.
Bartol worked his jaw. “I don’t want her involved in this anyway. Go back to the cabin and make sure she gets home safely. Have Emily call Melena on the way as well and tell her we’ll be there soon.”
“Okay.” Tormod disappeared in a burst of light.
Bambi rubbed her eyes. “Well, if ya got this, I must head home. Me new lover’s still tied ta the bed where I left him this mornin’, so I should probably free him and put some food in his belly.”
“Why did you tie him up?” Cori asked, curiosity getting the better of her. She’d long since learned to get over the troll’s graphic sex play descriptions because the more offended you acted about it, the more she’d tell you.
“Baked a crow pie last night and told him not ta touch it,” she replied, eyes flashing in annoyance. Cori and Bartol didn’t interrupt to ask if there were actual crows in the pie. “He got into it while I was fast asleep and ate the whole thing, so I tied him up and baked another afore leavin’ ta work. Wasn’t about ta let him eat the fresh one, too.”
That was troll logic for you. “Thanks for your help, Bambi.”
“Don’t think you won’t be owin’ me somethin’ fer it,” she said, starting to waddle away. “I don’t do nothin’ fer free.”
“But I didn’t ask you to do anything,” Cori argued.
Bambi glanced back. “That don’t matter ta me.”
“Great,” Cori mumbled. “On top of everything else, I owe a troll a favor now. God knows what she might want from me.”
“I wouldn’t worry she’ll call it in soon,” Bartol replied. “Trolls like to make you wait a while before asking for whatever they want to make you nervous. It could be weeks or months.”
Cori shot him an incredulous look. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“It should be a relief that she likely won’t ask you for anything until the situation with your former husband is resolved,” he said, still standing in the same spot where he’d arrived about ten feet away from her. “Trolls have a certain degree of honor.”
Cori wasn’t going to bother arguing about that. “The tow truck should be here soon. I’m not sure how you plan on getting me out of here if we don’t have a car, though.”
“Melena asked me to take you to her place—using my usual method of transport.”
Cori froze. “Don’t you have to touch me to do that?”
Bartol’s face was an emotionless mask. “I will survive.”
While she was glad he was willing to break his no touching rule to get her to Melena’s, she hated to force him into it. “I can see if I can get someone else to give me a ride. You don’t have to take me.”
“As long as it is nighttime, and your former husband is still out there,” Bartol said, tone implacable. “I will not leave you alone outside your home again without ample protection.”
“It’s not your job to protect me.”
He gave her a hard look. “It is now.”
“But that’s…” The sound of her friend’s tow truck pulling into the lot interrupted her argument.
After she waved at Ned, he pulled around so that he could line his truck up with her damaged vehicle. The whole time, Cori and Bartol traded angry glances with each other. She should have appreciated the fact he was helping her, but she couldn’t understand why Melena would send him instead of Lucas or someone else.
Ned, a slim guy with dirty-blond hair and a thin beard, got out of his truck and came over to look at her vehicle. “Damn, somebody really tore into this.”
“Yeah, they did,” she said, grateful to see her old high school friend. Cori was buddies with his wife as well, which was partly why they’d stayed in touch over the years. “Thanks for coming.”
“It ain’t no problem. The kids are fighting about having to go to bed, so I was happy to get out of there.” He gave Cori a smile. “The oldest has her seventh birthday party coming up if you want to come.”
She pushed back a lump in her throat. “I wish I could, but…you know how I am about that.”
“Right, sorry.” He gave her an apologetic look. The people who’d known Cori most of her life were well aware of the daughter she’d lost and that she couldn’t handle being around young children much anymore. It brought back too many painful memories.
“Maybe someday,” she said. “I’m just not ready yet.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
Ned worked quickly to get her truck hooked up. Once he was finished, he glanced between Cori and Bartol. “Do you guys need a ride?”
“He’s my ride.” She pointed at the nephilim. “He’s supernatural and can flash from one place to another, so we’ll be alright.”
“One of them?” Ned glanced at Bartol, sizing him up. His gaze lingered especially on the burn scars, but he was smart enough not to comment before turning his attention back to Cori. “If you need anything—anything at all—just let me know.”
“Thanks, Ned. I’ll give you a call tomorrow to find out about the truck.”
He lingered a moment longer. The concern in his gaze was clear, as if he didn’t like the idea of leaving Cori with a supernatural man. For most people, it was still hard to accept the sups. She gave him a look that said she’d be fine, and he finally took the hint.
“Take care,” he said, giving her a salute.
Bartol stepped forward. “Wait.”
Ned turned back reluctantly. “Yeah?”
“You will take care of Cori’s truck as if it is a priceless object,” the nephilim began, a thread of power in his voice. “Do not let anyone else near it. You will fix it until it runs perfectly, and it is completely safe to drive. If anyone attempts to make you tamper with the vehicle in a way that could hurt Cori when she drove it, you will call her and tell her immediately. Do you understand?”
The man nodded woodenly. “Yes.”
She felt horrible he’d just had his mind manipulated like that, but she couldn’t fault Bartol for doing it. Ned wasn’t immune to compulsion. Considering Griff knew him as well, her ex would probably guess Cori would use her high school friend to fix her truck. This was the safest move for all of them. A young vampire couldn’t hope to overrule an ancient nephilim’s compulsion.
“You may go,” Bartol said, freeing the man.
Ned took off in a hurry. After his truck left their sight, Bartol came to stand next to her. “You’ve known him for a long time?”
“I’ve known Ned and his wife since I was fourteen. They’re good people,” Cori replied.
“Then why didn’t you want to go to their daughter’s birthday party?”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “I have my reasons.”
Bartol didn’t say anything to that. To her surprise, he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He was warm, and his body firm. Though it must have been difficult, he didn’t hesitate to grasp her firmly. She only wished she could see his face. A moment later, everything began to contort, and Cori clutched his arms as the world spun away.