Guilty Pleasures

“It won’t kill us,” the second vampire said.

“No, but it won’t do you a hell of a lot of good, either.”

The human with the club inched forward. “Don’t,” I told him.

The car started. I didn’t dare glance back at it. I stepped backwards, hoping I wouldn’t trip in the damn high heels. If I fell, they’d rush me. If they rushed me, somebody was going to die.

“Come on, Anita, get in.” It was Phillip, leaning out of the passenger side door.

“Scoot over.” He did, and I slid into the seat. The human rushed us. “Drive, now!”

Willie spun gravel, and I slammed the door shut. I really didn’t want to kill anyone tonight. The human was shielding his face from the gravel as we rushed down the driveway.

The car bounced wildly, nearly colliding with a tree. “Slow down; we’re safe,” I said.

Willie eased back on the gas. He gri

“Yeah.” I smiled back at him, but I wasn’t so sure.

Blood was dripping down Phillip’s face in a nice steady flow. He voiced my thoughts. “Safe, but for how long?” He sounded as tired as I felt.

I patted his arm. “Everything will be all right, Phillip.”

He looked at me. His face seemed older than it had, tired. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

What could I say? He was right.

Chapter 30

I clicked on the safety of my gun and struggled into a seat belt. Phillip slumped down into the seat, long legs spreadeagled on either side of the floorboard hump. His eyes were closed.

“Where to?” Willie asked.

Good question. I wanted to go home and go to sleep, but…”Phillip’s face needs patching up.”

“You wa

“I’m all right,” Phillip said. His voice was low and strange.

“You aren’t all right,” I said.

He opened his eyes and turned to look at me. The blood had run down his neck, a dark, glistening stream that shone in the flashes of the streetlights. “You were hurt a lot worse last night,” he said.

I looked away from him, out the window. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m all right now.”

“I’ll be all right, too.”

I looked back at him. He was staring at me. I couldn’t read the expression on his face, and wanted to. “What are you thinking, Phillip?”

He turned his head to stare straight ahead. His face was all silhouette and shadows. “That I stood up to the master. I did it. I did it!” His voice held a fierce warmth with the last. Fierce pride.

“You were very brave,” I said.

“I was, wasn’t I?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“I hate to interrupt you two, but I need to know where to drive this thing,” Willie said.

“Drop me back at Guilty Pleasures,” Phillip said.

“You should see a doc.”

“They’ll take care of me at the club.”

“Ya sure?”

He nodded, then winced and turned to me. “You wanted to know who was giving me orders. It was Nikolaos. You were right. That first day. She wanted me to seduce you.” He smiled. It didn’t look right with the blood. “Guess I wasn’t up to the job.”

“Phillip…” I said.

“No, its all right. You were right about me. I’m sick. No wonder you didn’t want me.”

I glanced over at Willie. He was concentrating on his driving as if his life depended on it. Damn, he was smarter dead than alive.

I took a deep breath and tried to decide what to say. “Phillip…The kiss before you…bit me.” God, how did I say this? “It was nice.”

He glanced at me, quick, then away. “You mean that?”

“Yes.”

An awkward silence stretched through the car. No sound but the rush of pavement under the wheels. The night flashes of lights, and the isolating darkness.

“Standing up to Nikolaos tonight was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen anybody do. Also one of the stupidest,” I said.

He laughed, abrupt and surprised.

“Don’t ever do it again. I don’t want your death on my hands.”

“It was my choice,” he said.

“No more heroics, okay?”

He glanced at me. “Would you be sorry if I died?”

“Yes.”

“I guess that’s something.”

What did he want me to say? To confess undying love, or something silly like that? How about undying lust? Either one would be a lie. What did he want from me? I almost asked him, but I didn’t. I wasn’t that brave.

Chapter 31

It was nearly three by the time I walked up the stairs to my apartment. All the bruises were aching. My knees, feet, and lower back were a nearly burning grind of pain from the high heels. I wanted a long, hot shower and bed. Maybe if I were lucky I could actually get eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. Of course, I wouldn’t bet on it.

I got my keys in one hand and gun in the other. I held the gun at my side, just in case a neighbor should open his or her door unexpectedly. Nothing to fear, folks, just your friendly neighborhood animator. Right.

For the first time in far too long my door was just the way I left it: locked. Thank you, God. I was not in the mood to play cops and robbers this very early morning.

I kicked off my shoes just inside the door, then stumbled to the bedroom. The message light was blinking on my answering machine. I laid my gun on the bed, hit the play button, and started undressing.

“Hi, Anita, this is Ro

Click, whirr, and Edward’s voice came out of the machine. “The clock is ticking, Anita.” Click.

Damn. “You like your little games, don’t you, you son of a bitch?” I was getting grumpy, and I didn’t know what I was going to do about Edward. Or Nikolaos, or Zachary, or Valentine, or Aubrey. I did know I wanted a shower. I could start there. Maybe I’d have a brilliant idea while I was scrubbing goat blood off my skin.

I locked the door to the bathroom and laid my gun on the top of the toilet. I was begi

I turned the water on until it steamed, then stepped into it. I was no closer to solving the vampire murders now than I had been twenty-four hours ago.

Even if I solved the case, I still had problems. Aubrey and Valentine were going to kill me once Nikolaos removed her protection from me. Peachy. I wasn’t even sure that Nikolaos herself didn’t have ideas in that direction. Now, Zachary, he was killing people to feed his voodoo charm. I had heard of charms that demanded human sacrifice. Charms that gave you a whole lot less than immortality. Wealth, power, sex—the age-old wants. It was very specific blood—children, or virgins, or preadolescent boys, or little old ladies with blue hair and one wooden leg. All right, not that specific, but there had to be a pattern to it. A string of disappearances with similar victims. If Zachary had been simply leaving the bodies to be found, the newspapers would have picked up on it by now. Maybe.

He had to be stopped. If I hadn’t interfered tonight, he would have been stopped. No good deed goes unpunished.

I leaned palms against the bathroom tile, letting the water wash down my back in nearly scalding rivulets. Okay, I had to kill Valentine before he killed me. I had a warrant for his death. It had never been revoked. Of course, I had to find him first.

Aubrey was dangerous, but at least he was out of the way until Nikolaos let him out of his trapped coffin.

I could just turn Zachary over to the police. Dolph would listen to me, but I didn’t have a shred of proof. Hell, the magic was even something I’d never heard of. If I couldn’t understand what Zachary was, how was I going to explain it to the police?

Nikolaos. Would she let me live if I solved the case? Or not? I didn’t know.