Because Your Vampire Said So

At this point, I had several options. Scream for help. Pull out my cell phone and call someone. Get up and run for cover.



Unfortunately, I was so discombobulated and scared out of my mind, I didn't make a logical choice. I sat on my butt and watched the fight.



The white wolf was the biggest lycanthrope I'd ever seen, larger and more muscular than even the triplets. He savagely attacked the creature, ripping with his teeth and scratching with his claws.



Black blood seeped from the creature's wounds and smeared the wolf's white fur. Despite the creature's advantage in both height and strength, his punches and kicks were ineffective. Gabriel's assault was relentless and vicious.



With a roar of frustration, the monster raised his arms to the sky and poof. A huge cloud of black smoke erupted from the ground and enveloped him. The noxious smell of sulfur gagged me.



When the air cleared, Evil Dude was gone.



Gabriel sniffed at the blackened soil, digging at burned ground. After a minute, he gave up and turned toward me. God, he was the most beautiful wolfie I'd ever laid eyes on. He limped forward, looking exhausted and torn up. I guess the scary guy had gotten more than a few good licks in.



"Come here," I said.



Panting heavily, his eyes glazed with pain, he plopped down next to me and put his head in my lap. I rubbed his matted fur; then I leaned down and kissed his muzzle. "You did good, hon. Thank you."



Beneath my fingers, his body undulated and I heard the awful snap-snick. Within moments he was human again. And naked. And unconscious.



I needed to get up and out of here. Or call for help or at least get us inside the trailer. Shoot. All the pizzazz had gone out of me. Most vampires got lethargic close to dawn. Sunrise wasn't too far off.



I stood up, grabbed Gabriel under the arm-pits, and dragged him to the trailer. Even with my vampire strength, he was a handful. Getting him up the three steps and through the door took some doing.



I settled him on the couch.



The headache-inducing music my sixteen-year -old son enjoyed filtered down the hallway. At least he'd kept it down tonight.



My gaze roamed over Gabriel. Oo-wee. He was all kinds of yum. I checked out his package because ... well, hell, wouldn't you? Now, that was a damned fine piece of equipment. I just about drooled over his abdomen and pectorals, all smooth as beige silk. Or would've been if he weren't covered in bruises, cuts, and blood.



"Did you kill him?"



"Oh, God!" I glared at the wizened old woman, who'd been dead herself for almost twenty years. Nonna stood above Gabriel, which she did only because she knew that kind of shit freaked me out.



Yeah. Remember those new tricks I talked about earlier? Well, I can see ghosts. That's my vampire Family's power - seeing earthbound spirits. Yippee.



"Nonna, how many times have I asked you not to pop out of the woodwork like that?"



She shrugged, but her grin was filled with orneriness. That was Nonna, all right. On her eighty-fifth birthday, she'd gone to Vegas and whooped it up. Her favorite thing was playing the one-armed bandits. Old-fashioned to the end, she pulled the handle instead of smacking the big plastic buttons.



Nonna died with one hand curled on the handle and the other hand curled around a Jack and Coke. Nobody noticed she'd passed on for three hours and by then, she was in rigor mortis. They had to remove the handle from the slot machine because they couldn't unclench her wrinkled fingers from the metal bar or from the highball glass. That's how she went to the coroner's office.



Nonna always said she wanted to go in style.



I watched my deceased grandmother poke Gabriel with the toe of her orthopedic shoe, which of course went right through his shoulder. I can't imagine why old people think those white, high-soled shoes look good with workout wear, but there Nonna was, as always, wearing those terrible shoes with her pink velour jogging suit.



"Stop that," I demanded.



"What for?" She did it again, this time sinking her whole shoe into his forehead. She stared at me defiantly. "He cain't feel nothing."



I took out my cell phone and flipped it open. If I was smart, I'd hit the speed dial to Damian. He'd come and take this guy off my hands. Plus, the wolfies needed to know that weird-looking creep was running around town. I shuddered, feeling vulnerable. What if he came back?



Suddenly, I was reluctant to turn over my hero, unconscious or not.



With sunrise imminent, I needed to get to my bedroom. Underneath it was a concrete chamber I access by a trapdoor. I descended a ladder and within five steps, I was at my bed. I was usually tucked in early because I didn't want to risk frying. Undead was better than dead any day of the week.



I leaned over and smacked Gabriel's cheek. He didn't respond at all. Lord, the man was a looker. His lips begged to be kissed. I imagined that mouth of his was real talented. Lust knotted my belly. Whoa, girl. He's a wolf. You're a vampire. No can do, remember? Even if I was the dating type, I'd learned in Vampire 101 that dating lycans was one of the big no-no's.



Nonna knelt down, still floating above him; then she extended her forefingers and jabbed him in the eyes.



"Nonna! Jesus H. Christ!"



"Don't you take the Lord's name in vain," she said sharply, "or you'll go to hell."



"Already there," I muttered.



Nonna popped up outta nowhere this past summer. She said she'd been sent to help me deal with my "gift," and that she'd lived her whole life using her second sight. I had never heard such a load of horseshit, but whatever. She was my grandmother, dead or alive.



"What did you do this time, Patsy?" My other ghostly nemesis arrived on scene. Her name was Dottie. About ten years ago, she'd been murdered by her boyfriend, a trucker named Rocky, who'd strangled her and thrown her off the highway just outside of Broken Heart. He'd never been caught, but that's not why she hung around. She wasn't interested in leaving the earthly plane. She was thrilled to pieces when my psychic energy appeared like a beacon to her lonely soul.



Dottie's red hair was teased ridiculously high. She wore black capris, a V-necked shirt too small to contain her abundant breasts, and high heels. She also carried a huge, black purse. She dug out a pack of Pall Malls and lit up a cigarette. Even though I knew she was doing in death what she'd done in life, it galled me that she could smoke and I couldn't.



"Didn't I tell you not to do that around me?" I asked, irritated.



"Oh, yeah." She blew a ring of smoke into the air. Her gaze wandered over the naked guy. "Who's the hunk?"



"His name is Gabriel. Stop gawking at him."



"Jealous?" Dottie grinned wickedly and continued ogling. Well, what was I gonna do? She was already dead.



"I'm bored. I want to go back to Vegas," Nonna griped. "I almost hit that jackpot."



Dottie cackled. "Yeah, the one in the sky."



"Don't start, you two." I looked down at my naked problem. Just who was guarding who? I figured I should at least get his clothes. Maybe the pants survived his shift.



I headed outside. Nonna came with me, but Dottie stayed in the trailer to drool over my wolf. Man, I was getting tired. I found the place we'd been sitting and looked around. I spotted the black jeans and bent over to scoop 'em up.



My fingers grazed something solid. What the - ? I bent over and parted the tall fescue grass, which winter weather had turned brown.



"Who's he?" asked Nonna. She leaned down and squinted at the man. "He's dead."



I could see that for myself. His shirt was in tatters. His mauled chest looked like hamburger meat. Blood spattered his boxer's face, which was square and flat with a nose that had been broken too many times. He looked like a tough bastard.



"Spirit's gone," I said. "You see him, Nonna?"



"Nope."



I looked around, nervous. Had he been attacked by the same creature who'd tried to kill me? I stood up and took out my cell phone. I hit the speed dial to my friend Jessica, who was married to one of the Consortium's founders. Jessica picked up on the third ring. I told her everything that had happened and ended with, "and now I'm standing next to a dead guy."



About two minutes later, Jessica and her husband, Patrick, appeared in a shower of gold sparkles. Dematerialization was a trick most Turn-bloods couldn't do. Frankly, I wasn't interested in dissembling and reassembling my own particles.



Jessica and Patrick looked flushed and rumpled. I figured out that my little phone call had interrupted some bedroom fun. Oops. Envy drove a green streak right through me. I wanted some hot and heavy sex with a stud muffin. My vibrator was gettin' worn out.



Patrick knelt down and examined the man's face.



"I don't recognize him," he said. "But he's definitely a lycan."



About that time, Damian pulled up in his black Ford 350. The rumbling engine died and he jumped out, striding across my weed-filled yard.



He knelt on the other side of the corpse, his expression cold and hard. "Rick." His gaze flicked to mine. "What happened?"



"I don't know. I came out here to get Gabriel's clothes and he was ..."



Everyone turned and stared at me.



"It's not how it sounds," I said impatiently. "I told you, Jess. My guardian shifted and kicked that monster's ass."



Damian's obsidian eyes flashed with alarm. "What monster?"



"Patsy described the same demon that attacked Simone," said Patrick, frowning.



"Is she okay?" I asked. Simone was Broken Heart's mechanic, and a damned good one. She had some weird water power. I didn't see much use for it, but hell, I had the most useless vampire power of all.



"She'll be fine," said Jessica. "You're lucky Rick fended the demon off."



I was so busy working over the idea of a demon attack, I barely heard her. Then her words penetrated. "Wait. What?" I pointed to Rick. "He's not my guardian."



Damian's eyebrows dipped. "Yes, he is."



"If he's my guardian," I said, my voice quivering, "then who the hell is the naked guy in my trailer?"