Blood and Guitars

by Heather Jensen

  I went up into my loft, connected my iPod to the dock and set it to play through Recycled Coma. It was strangely comforting and inspirational to have Trey’s now familiar voice floating around the room while I worked. I spent a few minutes appreciating the sound of his voice while I decided what kind of an image I wanted to project on to the canvas and then set to work doing it.

  I caught Mark’s scent before he opened the back door, which I hadn’t bothered to lock. I ditched Trey’s painting of his guitar and turned down the music a bit before Mark had finished climbing the stairs.

  I could feel his eyes on my back, and although I still wanted to be mad at him for the way he had acted the other night, I couldn’t help but realize how much I had missed having him around. He was, after all, the only one aside from Antonio who cared enough to worry about me.

  Mark cleared his throat unnecessarily, and I turned slowly to gaze at him. He was standing there looking all too guilty and holding a particularly pricey bottle of Vidic blood-laced wine. I sighed, wondering where to start.

  “I was a jerk,” he said simply.

  “Bit of an understatement, don’t you think?” I asked, but my voice was light. I projected the image of a donkey’s rear end into his mind to let him know I had better words in mind for him than jerk.

  He grinned at me and held up the bottle. “Truce?”

  I considered him a moment before nodding. He smiled and walked toward the kitchenette to fetch glasses. “But only because you brought the good stuff,” I added.

  “You know, for a minute there I thought you were going to kick me out.” He chuckled half-heartedly.

  “It’s not too late,” I said as I watched him.

  “What’s been going on since I … uh, saw you last?” He was trying to sound casual.

  I’d already made up my mind that he couldn’t know about Trey, but I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to lie to Mark. He is a vamp, after all. And the closest thing I’ve had to a best friend since Aden. Okay, so outright lying probably wasn’t the best idea. I opted for partial truths instead.

  “Just work.” It was sort of true. I had managed to varnish a few pieces while Trey had been here painting.

  “Work?” Mark glanced around the studio, searching for new works of art that he didn’t recognize. There really weren’t any, save for the piece I was working on when he walked in.

  “Yeah,” I defended. “Just painting, hanging out, and listening to music and stuff.” Also true. I had spent most of the afternoon and early evening at the studio with Trey listening to him sing.

  Mark seemed to give up on his question of how I’d been spending my time as he handed me a glass of blood-laced wine. I took a sip, the delicious taste exploding on my tongue. Never mind that I’d already had a glass tonight. This was the good stuff, containing one of the rare blood types that only one in a thousand humans has. My mind fogged for a second and then cleared once I swallowed. Mark gave me a satisfied look and I sighed. He’d always known how to get on my good side.

  Chapter 22

  I scribbled a line on the lyric sheet in front of me and then picked out the melody on my acoustic guitar to make sure it fit. I’d been writing a new song ever since lunch over an hour ago. My mind had been swirling with lyrics since I’d climbed out of bed. I just couldn’t help it. It was like I had the old magic back, except that it was even better this time. I could pretend I didn’t understand it, but the truth was being around Aurora had awoken something deep down inside of me. Something I’d buried a long time ago. Kissing Aurora was both nerve-wracking and thrilling, and despite the mystifying feeling that lingered in my gut every time she was around, I longed to be in her presence.

  I heard the sound of Cowboy’s nails tapping on the hard floors as he approached the doorway of my studio room and looked up at me.

  “Hey boy,” I said, dropping my hand. The dog reacted by trotting over so I could lift him into my lap. His tongue snaked out into the air over and over, trying to reach my face and making me laugh. He’d been feeling a little neglected now that I was back to work. I’d made a detour on the way to Aurora’s place last night and dropped Cowboy off at Jonas’s house for his sister to watch. He’d been happy to see me when I’d stopped by to pick him up later, but had shown his displeasure at being left behind by moping during the ride home. He was back to his usual self again today, even though I hadn’t done much with him.

  “Okay.” I looked into his puppy dog eyes. “Let’s go out back so you can practice your mad fetching skills.”

  His ears pricked up and he scrambled down off of my lap and headed out of the room in high gear. I put my guitar away and followed him out of the house to the back yard where he was already scanning the lawn for his favorite ball. He gripped it in his mouth and ran toward me, dropping it proudly at my feet. “Good dog,” I told him, bending to pat his head and pick up the ball. He waited impatiently as I tossed the ball across the yard and then burst after it in a way that made me envious of his energy. I chuckled as he trotted back to me with it, dropping it for me once more. I picked the ball up and tossed it further this time, taking a deep breath of the cool fresh air the breeze was carrying in from the sea.

  When he’d had his fill of fetching, Cowboy followed me into the house where I got him some fresh water to drink and watched him lap it up happily. Then I remembered that I hadn’t told Aurora how to get to the house yet. I put my address into a text along with some brief directions and a message saying that I was looking forward to tonight and sent it. Now I just had to figure out what to cook for her tonight. I glanced around the living room and saw the remnants of a magazine and a stray sock that Cowboy had claimed while I’d been writing. Apparently I had some tidying up to do as well.

  I dined on Mac & Cheese for lunch, not wanting to exhaust my culinary skills before tonight. When I’d finished eating, I halfheartedly lectured Cowboy as he followed me around the house, watching with amusement while I cleaned up the messes he’d made. When the house looked presentable again I put on a hat and sunglasses, grabbed my wallet and keys and headed for the store to pick up a few things for dinner.

  Chapter 23

  Waking up to the sound of Trey’s voice made it less torturous to drag myself out of bed. I’d set “Filtered Ache” as the alarm on my phone, and I let the thirty second loop play several times before I could bring myself to turn it off. I’d been at The Waking Moon until five this morning, hanging out with Mark and letting him fill me in on all the latest vamp gossip. I’d gotten some work done while we’d chatted as well, so the night hadn’t been a complete waste. As I took a shower and got ready for my date with Trey, I was glad I’d had the forethought to ask him to make it eight o’clock instead of seven. It gave me an extra hour before I needed to be there. I imagined that most humans really did eat earlier than that, but Trey hadn’t seemed to mind at all. Maybe our schedules were more in sync than I initially would have guessed. By seven I was ready to leave the house but I needed to make a stop on my way. I did a shot of blood from my stash for a quick pick-me-up and then headed out the door. First I drove to The Waking Moon to get Trey’s painting. I’d left a note for Kacie asking her to have it framed at the place across the street for me. When I’d checked my phone for messages after waking up, she’d texted me to let me know it was finished and waiting for me. Sure enough, when I walked in the back entrance it was sitting on the desk along with a note from Kacie.

  I’m sure he’ll love it. I want all the juicy details later! -K

  I rolled my eyes and smiled, dropping the note in the waste basket. She’d suspected all along that Trey and I might have a thing for each other. Then she’d seen the painting and his signature at the bottom and she’d guessed that I’d had him over one night to paint and begged me for details. I hadn’t give her any then and although I wasn’t about to start now, she was relentless.

  The black frame looked great on Trey’s guitar painting and I knew he’d like it. I picked it up and carried it out to
my car. I opened my phone’s inbox and found the other text I’d received today, which was from Trey, and reread the address and directions before pulling out of the parking lot and onto Cleveland.

  When I made the turn onto his street fifteen minutes later, I checked for a third time that the address coincided with the text Trey had sent me. It was a part of town I hadn’t really visited, full of big houses with perfectly manicured lawns. I slowed down as the house numbers got closer to the one I wanted. I slowed the car to a stop in front of a huge Mediterranean-style mansion. I couldn’t even call it a house. It was enormous. I stared for a moment, reminding myself that I should have expected as much. I was just still adjusting to the idea of Trey’s celebrity status. He was such a normal guy to me, albeit an exceptionally cute one.

  As I walked across the stone drive, Trey’s painting in hand, I wondered if his home had ever been featured on Cribs. I was standing between two columns that looked like skinny bowling pins. They were supporting a large arch, with an extension of the roof on top. I climbed five steps and knocked on a mahogany door that had probably been carved by hand. Within seconds I could hear a dog yapping on the other side. For a brief second, I wondered if I was at the right house. Did Trey have a dog? Before I could ponder further, the door opened and Trey’s irresistible half-smile greeted me. At his feet was a small black and brown miniature pinscher. The dog had quit barking and was looking up at me curiously.

  “Hey,” Trey greeted. He stepped forward and kissed my cheek sweetly. “Did you find the place okay?” he asked as he stepped aside to let me in.

  “Drove right to it,” I said with a smile. “But you could have warned me that I was looking for an entire estate.”

  He chuckled as he closed the door behind us. “I was a little overeager when I went house hunting,” he said. “I may have overdone it.”

  I glanced around, seeing the spacious family room and the kitchen further back. All the floors were made of stone, probably something expensive and imported. “I like it,” I observed truthfully. A big fireplace was in the center of the family room and Pier 60 hung right above it. “I see you found a place for the painting.”

  “Of course,” he said. “That spot was a little bare and this room was kind of boring until I put that there. I love it.”

  “I’m glad.” I had to admit, I was really happy to see the painting displayed so well in the main part of his house. “Now you just need a place to hang your own masterpiece,” I said, holding up his guitar painting.

  “You framed it.” He grinned from ear to ear. “That’s awesome. Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “You’ll have to help me find a spot for it.”

  “I don’t think that will be a problem.” I couldn’t resist another joke about the size of his house. He laughed and set the painting aside. “Do any of the guys from the band live here with you?”

  “Nah. ” Trey shrugged. “My mom lived with me in the beginning before she remarried. Now it’s just me and Cowboy.” Upon hearing his name, the little dog trotted over to Trey and whined up at him, begging for attention.

  “How old is he?” I asked as Trey bent down to scratch behind the dog’s ears.

  “Six months. He’s still just a pup,” Trey said.

  That explained why the dog wasn’t growling at me and going crazy. Older animals are more wary of vampires.

  “He’s cute,” I added, but I didn’t bend down to pet him. No reason to push my luck. “Something smells delicious,” I said. I’d caught scent of the dinner he was preparing before he’d opened the door.

  “Dinner isn’t quite ready yet,” he explained. “If you want, I could give you the tour.”

  Chapter 24

  Trey gestured with a hand for me to walk through the spacious living room. “This is where Cowboy and I hang out,” he said. “But the really cool thing in here is this.” He walked to a book shelf that was built into the wall near the far corner and pulled on a book, only instead of coming off of the shelf into his hands it caused the entire book case to swing out on a hinge just like something out of a movie. I gawked and stepped forward to peek into the room behind it. Trey grinned and said, “Hidden wine cellar. I don’t really use it. But I still think it’s cool.”

  “It’s more than cool.”

  What I would give to have one of these, I thought. It was like every vampire’s dream to have a hidden place that big for storage. I mentally stocked the place with blood laced wine and wine coolers. Oh the fun I could have. I reluctantly stepped back and Trey pushed the book case back into place, covering the cellar again.

  “It’s great for hide-and-seek,” he added. “After I bought the place I talked the guys into playing a game. After thirty minutes of hiding in there and listening to Chase search adamantly for me, I finally had to give in and just come out. The look on his face was priceless.”

  “Any other secret rooms I should know about?” I asked as Trey led me past the kitchen.

  He chuckled and said, “If there are I haven’t discovered them yet.”

  Cowboy followed us to a room Trey called his “studio.” There was a computer and some sound equipment, although a much simpler setup than I’d seen at the recording studio. The closet doors had been removed and some custom shelves installed to hold a bunch of guitars.

  “Do you actually play all of these?” I ran my fingers along the strings of a deep blue acoustic guitar.

  Trey nodded and put his hands in his pockets as he watched me. “It adds a little variety to my life.”

  I grinned up at him, knowing that his life was anything but boring. It was hard not to be jealous of the spontaneity of it all. I gazed at all of the stuff on the walls. There were several Catalyst awards in big frames, including the one I had seen in Ken’s book. There were also pictures of Trey with other famous musicians. Then I spotted something strange hanging on the wall. It was a black guitar, but something was weird about it. The texture was all off. Then I realized it was made out of Lego blocks.

  “Did you make this?” I asked incredulously, noting that it had all of the actual knobs and strings that a real guitar would.

  “A fan gave that to me at one of our shows during the last tour.”

  “Pretty dedicated fan,” I said.

  “You can say that again. You can actually plug it in to an amp and play it.” I thought he was joking at first, and he must have known it from the smile I gave him. “True story. I’ll prove it to you sometime.”

  As the tour continued, I discovered there were two and a half baths on the first floor, along with two extra bedrooms complete with furnishings. There was also an exercise room with a private porch. Upstairs was a game room with a wet bar and a balcony. An expensive pool table sat in the center and cushy seats lined the walls, along with two loveseats, all in red. Then he led me back to a dimly lit room with two rows of black leather Lazy Boy theater seating. A large projector screen covered the wall in front, and a wooden stage sat beneath it.

  “Movie night at your place,” I teased.

  “Just say the words,” he said, and I could tell that he meant it. I gazed up at him, staring into his blue eyes. They smiled along with the curve of his lips.

  “Where do you sleep?” I knew I hadn’t seen the master suite yet and I was curious about what Trey’s bedroom might look like.

  “This way.” He took my hand and led me out of the home theater and away from the game room to the other end of the house. The master suite was everything I had expected and more. The floor was the same light stone as the downstairs and the far wall was almost entirely window. Trey’s bed was a black California King that sat low to the floor with lime green bedding. I crossed the lush grey rug and approached the window.

  “You must have some view to have such a big window,” I added. He followed closely behind as I walked toward the glass. The image before me was breathtaking. There was a pool below, complete with palm trees and flowering tropical plants. I even spotted a life-
sized dolphin fountain on a stand inside the water. If that wasn’t enough, the entire pool area was enclosed in glass to protect it from the elements.

  “I should have asked you to bring a swimming suit.” He leaned his arm against the glass. “We could have taken a dip after dinner.”

  “I’ll take a rain check.” I gazed out at the beautiful scene before me.

  “Deal.”

  He led me into the master bath where I viewed a jetted-tub and oversized curved-glass shower. The bathroom also had a view of the pool down below.

  “How do you get yourself to ever leave home?” I questioned as we made our way downstairs again.

  “I might be more tempted to hole up in here if I had someone to share it with,” he admitted. “For now, the guys would come and drag me out if I tried.” He led me to the dining room, which was a nook off of the kitchen with a small but expensive looking table with dinner settings for two. He pulled out the chair for me and I sat down. “Dinner should be just about ready. Give me two seconds.”

  Chapter 25

  The food in the Wok sizzled and hissed as I scraped it into a large bowl and then carried it over to the table. Aurora grinned up at me, looking impressed. I winked at her and then put the egg rolls on a plate and carried them to the table, too, along with a small bowl of chilled mandarin oranges I’d gotten from a can.

  “Dinner is served,” I said, taking my seat across from her.

  “You really went out of your way,” she stated as I gestured for her to fill her plate.

  “I have a confession to make,” I said.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “I cheated and didn’t grow the oranges myself.”

  She laughed and I chuckled, feeling my heart jump at the sound. I filled my plate with food and watched eagerly as she took a taste of the stir fry.