Another knock on the door made both January and Galen stiffen, but Nina held up her hand. “I got this.”
As she went to get the door, January fought tears of frustration while Galen rubbed circles along her back. “We’ll figure it out. I promise you, January. If we have to leave the country and take Calista with us, I’ll do it.”
She’d only heard that a thousand times since they’d become involved, but right now, it felt like nothing was ever going to be all right again. What if they didn’t fix this and he had to mate with someone else? A blood bond was surely a far stronger bond than a ceremony officiated by a fairy and a fellow witch, like they’d had.
As the noise at the door stole her attention from this new revelation, she forced herself to get it together. Losing it like she had only made her appear weak and out of control. The last thing she wanted these women to think was that she was incapable of helping them because she was too consumed with her anger to think straight.
Two women entered the room, one a gorgeous, blonde goddess with platinum hair and Viking height, wearing a floral T-shirt and a pair of cutoff shorts. The other, much smaller but certainly as captivating, with her eyebrow piercings and vivid eyeshadow, was dressed in black, from her thigh-high utilitarian boots to her pleather vest and spiked collar necklace.
The shorter woman dropped her slouchy black bag on the table and smiled. “Guess who’s here, bitches!”
Everyone jumped up to greet them while January and Galen looked on. Hugs and tears were exchanged, and the blonde woman explained she was here in New York after a phone call she’d received from Archibald yesterday, who’d made it clear her help could possibly be needed.
She wrapped her arms around Nina’s waist and lifted her off her feet, giving her a big hug before dropping her back to the floor. “Damn, Nina. Everybody said you were eating a lot, but they didn’t tell me you’d eaten Montana. What the hell are you packing away?” she teased with a wide grin.
Nina brushed the blonde’s hair from her cheek and pinched it with a return smile. “Fuck you, Mrs. Gigantor. How’s Cormac and all my little wildlife buds at Sanctuary?”
She blushed prettily under Nina’s gaze. “Cormac is as amazing as ever and sends his love. He said if you need backup, just give a holler, as did my brothers. As to Sanctuary, Mr. Noodles the monkey hasn’t stopped signing about you since he saw you a couple of months ago on your last visit with Charlie. He’s still madly in love. So when this is all over, we’ll have to Skype so he can visit.”
“And you?” Nina pointed to the girl with all the piercings and a proud grin. “Gimme a hug, Miss Straight A’s. Have I told you how GD proud we are of you, kiddo?”
As Nina gathered up the other young woman and squeezed her tight, the leggy blonde approached them. Galen rose from his seat and January caught him flaring his nostrils to catch her scent.
But she just smiled and offered her sun-browned hand to him. “Teddy Gribanov. Bear shifter, in case your nose is unsure. You must be Galen, and you,” she pointed to January, “are the poor doctor assigned to cure Nina. Sorry in advance for all the mean stuff she says. Swear, it’s all in love.”
January chuckled, rising to shake her hand, but Teddy pulled her into a peach-scented hug. “You’re the Russian bear, right?”
Teddy bobbed her head, the ponytail high on the back of it bouncing. “My reputation precedes me. Niiiice,” she drawled, nudging the woman she’d arrived with, who’d come to stand next to her.
A clearer picture of Teddy came into her head as January recalled her story in Nina’s files. “I’ve read all about you and what happened back in February. Pretty harrowing.”
“You know it. But everything’s good now. Really good. Well, except for this crap with the summit.”
“And that’s why we’re here,” the tiny woman said, her youthful face smiling broadly. “I’m Ingrid and I’m about to rock your world. We have a plan, ladies and gents!”
* * * *
“It’s too dangerous,” Galen said for the umpteenth time. “He’ll smell Teddy, for one. Secondly, Ingrid’s a human. What if something happens? What if something happens and she doesn’t have the strength of a bear and she ends up hurt? I can’t let that happen just so you can save my hide. I won’t.”
January hated to admit it, but Galen was right. She’d never be able to live with herself if anyone was hurt trying to save them.”
“It isn’t just you we’re trying to help, Blood Lover,” Ingrid said, hands on hips. “So get on over yourself. I’m trying to save my bosses here, too. You don’t think I’m going to sit on my keister while they all end up shunned or whatever happens when you’re not up to snuff as per these flippin’ jackholes, do you? These three women are like my family. Charlie and Carl like my kid siblings. The heck I’m gonna watch that all blow up in my face without at least trying to do something. They paid for me to go to vet school. You have any idea what that costs? The earth. That’s what. I’ll never forget what they’ve done for me.”
Marty’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink beneath her light tan. “We didn’t do it so you’d—”
“I know you didn’t do it so I’d be your indentured slave,” Ingrid reminded her, crossing her arms under her chest. “You know I know that. Now it’s a solid plan, people. Stop harshin’ my strategy and work with me here.”
“I’ll never let her leave my sight. Promise. She’ll never be far from me,” Teddy assured, her soft eyes determined. “I’d dare one of those maniacs to try and get to her with me between them.”
“But he’ll smell you’re a human,” Galen reminded, his body tense.
“Not if Doc whips up something,” Ingrid said, pointing to January. “You know, like the Walking Dead, when they’re trying to get past a horde of zombies? They cover themselves in zombie guts to disguise their scent.”
Carl whimpered, but Ingrid gave him a hug. “Not you, buddy. I like your guts right where they are.”
Nina nodded, popping her lips. “Can you do something like that, Doc? Disguise their scents? Abracadabra a spell with that magic wand of yours—sort of like that crazy shit you did the other night when you two looked like something fresh out of Cocoon?”
January bit the inside of her cheek, twisting her braid in her fingers. “I can, but it’s so risky. What if it wears off before you can get out? What if I can’t sustain the spell long enough for them to get any information? What if those maniacs just plain think something’s fishy?”
“That’s why we’ll have earpieces,” Ingrid said, her grit an admirable quality as far as January was concerned. “You guys stay far enough away that they can’t smell you. You watch with binoculars. Anything seems even a little off, you pull us. End of. We have to try, guys. If we can get into one of these meetings and get the goods on him, at least you’ll have some kind of proof to take to this council about his intentions because I’ll record everything he says. It’s our only chance—let us help.”
“But won’t they know who Teddy is?” January fretted, her heart thrashing against her chest at the mere thought of anyone, let alone a defenseless human, tangling with these men.
Teddy put a warm hand on January’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ve lived a pretty isolated life in Colorado, January. I’ve never been to these picnics and gatherings and councils, or whatever you guys all talk about, and at first it made me sad when Nina and everyone told me about them. They sounded like fun. Touch football with berserkers? Who’d want to miss that? But not so much now. Now I understand why my dad laid so low and stayed out of the politics of our species—and everyone else’s politics, too. Besides, at best, they only know my name, address, and my circumstances after the incident in February—which was apparently reported to Nina’s clan after her shooting. But I’d bet they don’t know my face, and even if they do, I can put on a bunch of makeup to hide it. I can help, Dr. Malone. Please let me help.”
“So when’s the next meeting again, dude?” Nina asked.
“Saturday,” Galen
responded, but his lips were tight.
Nina winked at Ingrid. “You hear that, kiddo?”
Ingrid nodded her spiky head. “Means I’ve got three days to learn how to belly dance. Better get my hips in gear,” she said on a laugh.
Teddy sighed with comical length, a twinkle in her eye. “Why do you get to be the belly dancer? Why can’t I be the belly dancer?”
“Because I’m the belly dancer. And you definitely can’t be the virgin after all that kissy-face with Cormac I saw going on at your party, so the only thing left after that is waitress,” Ingrid said on a snort.
Then everyone laughed—even January and Galen.
And for the first time since they’d sat down together as a group tonight, January felt like maybe—just maybe—they could pull this off.
Chapter 8
Just as January was locking up her office, mentally preparing to head off to begin the planning stages for this crazy plan they’d hatched last night to catch Artem being the asshole bigot he was, the man himself turned up.
“Dr. Malone,” he murmured in her office hallway, appearing out of the fading light from the tall windows behind him and into view.
Gripping her keys, she turned around and faced the man she feared more than almost anything she’d ever feared before. Whatever she did, she had to remain calm. Remain polite. In Nina’s words, “don’t show the motherfucker you’re onto him.”
Smiling, she nodded in his direction, keeping the keys in her hand. “Artem. How are you this evening?”
Driving his hands into his trouser pockets, he smiled back. His cold, soulless, insincere smile. “Very well, thank you. I thought we might have a chat.”
Instantly, January froze. Did he know what they were planning? Had she been careful enough to pay attention to whether they were followed coming and going from OOPS? Suddenly, she felt as though he could read her every thought. As though he were using a crystal ball to watch their every move.
And then she got a grip. That was ridiculous. She was paranoid. Not to mention, crystal balls didn’t even really exist.
Do not react, January Malone. You are a rock. Be the rock.
Shaking off her fears, she smiled harder at Artem. “What do you want to talk about?”
Artem ran a hand over his pointy chin. “Well, about our deal, of course. What else is there?”
Right. Because why else would he associate with a dirty witch? It took everything she had in her not to remind him the deal he’d made with her was just short of a deal made with the devil.
But she managed to keep it together instead of turning him into a slimy leech. “I’m rather in a rush. It’s been a long day. So, can we make this quick?”
Striding forward in his usual vampire blur of motion, he stood but an inch from her within a half second. In her experience, vast and sundry, close-talkers needed to be heard. Whatever Artem was about to impart, he wanted to be heard.
“Big plans, Glinda?”
He’d begun calling her Glinda the Good Witch as some kind of sick joke when he’d first approached her with this crazy scheme, after she’d at first refused to have any part of his madness.
Most of all, he knew it rankled her.
Tucking her purse over her shoulder, she attempted to feign boredom even as her skin crawled. “Huge. Me, a bottle of wine, a bag of kale chips, and the latest issue of Modern Psychology. Need to catch up on my reading. Gotta keep my instruments sharp.”
“Yes,” he drawled, as he narrowed one eye and sucked in his gaunt cheeks. “About that. Your instrument. I’ve been reviewing the videos of this Nina Statleon. Interesting creature, wouldn’t you agree?” he baited.
“You mean as case studies go? I suppose interesting enough. Typical anger issues. Not so out of the norm in any species, truthfully.”
His brows crashed together as he shook his head. “I mean how utterly crass she is. She’s a cretin. A foul-mouthed, poor representation of the clan.”
Defending Nina might arouse suspicion. She needed as little suspicion as possible, but she damn well hated the things he was saying about her. “She is indeed abrasive. But I’d wager she’s not the only vampire in all of your surrounding clans with a foul mouth and poor temper. Surely not all vampires are fields of wildflowers dappled in sunshine, are they? Not a surly one of you in the lot?”
Oh, January, as the ever-succinct Nina would say, shut the fuck up. Stop baiting the fuck-knuckle.
Artem eyed her for what felt like hours, studying her, likely attempting to pick up on the vibe she was throwing. So she thought of soft kittens and facials and warm cuddles from a freshly bathed Calista. If his keen sense of smell even hinted at her desperation, her agitation, he’d pounce.
Finally, his finger snaked out and pulled at a stray tendril of hair, wrapping it around his index finger and giving it a gentle tug. “I’d like to see more abrasive, less fixer-upper.”
God, he was bananapants. Straight-up nuts.
Remaining as still as possible, January gazed into Artem’s dark eyes. “I don’t understand your meaning. You said to highlight the worst of her personality. The anger. The recklessness. I thought I was doing as you requested. I can’t exactly bait her or it will arouse suspicion with my coven. I did take an oath as a doctor, Artem. I can’t be the antagonist. That isn’t very doctor-ish of Glinda the Good Witch, now is it?”
Artem narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air before he reminded her, “But there’ve been no ugly outbursts. I need more drama, less poor ex-vampire. I don’t care that she’s suffering about being a human once again. Wah-wah-wah,” he exaggerated on a mock pout. “I think I’ve made my position clear. She doesn’t deserve a place in our clan and technically never has. I wish to see that. I wish everyone at the summit to see that. Would you risk others’ lives just to save this one? Nina Statleon is a danger to all paranormals. What kind of doctor does that make you if you’re willing to put our kind at risk?”
If January clenched her teeth any harder, she was going to crack them and spit them in his face—all thirty-two. “If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t she accidentally bitten by a vampire? It’s hardly her fault she became one, technicalities aside.”
Artem’s eyes flashed hot and stormy. “And now she’s no longer bitten. She’s human, which means she doesn’t belong, Dr. Malone, and she must go. Reading about her exploits is far different than experiencing them firsthand. Thus, the council must see for themselves. I want screaming and yelling and rage-filled rants to prove a point! While she may behave as close to civilized as someone like her can get when she’s in your office during your therapy sessions, that doesn’t aid my agenda. After all, I thought we had a deal?”
“You mean the one where you don’t kill a man if I do what you say? That deal?”
Shit. Shitshitshit. Shut up, January. Don’t incite the troll!
A slow smile spread across his face. “That’s the one. You don’t want to see your boyfriend strung up at high noon, do you, Dr. Malone? I will admit, even I find it incredibly uncomfortable to watch a vampire’s skin peel away as he screams. It’s really quite unsettling and the memory lingers, if you know what I mean…”
Lifting her chin, she looked directly into his evil, beady eyes, even as her stomach turned and her heart chugged almost out of her chest. “He’s not my boyfriend, and I’m sure it’s unsettling to kill one of your own.”
His eyebrows rose high on his forehead and he clucked his tongue. “You disapprove?”
“How could someone like me ever approve of stringing anyone up, Artem?” Unless, of course, it was Artem. She’d pay for a front row seat to that.
Taking a step back, he rocked on the heels of his expensive Italian loafers. “Ah, yes. Peace and love. The white witch way, isn’t it? How will you ever sleep at night, knowing you essentially sacrificed Nina’s life for your non-boyfriend? That’s not very good witch, is it, Glinda?” he goaded.
Her heart began to crash in her chest again, her hand aching as she clenched the keys
so tight, they dug into her palm. “Are we done here?”
Chucking her under the chin, he winked. “Most definitely. But do keep in mind. More heat—less love and lollipops.”
“Artem?”
January saw Galen’s head pop up behind the shorter vampire, his lips a thin line, his face taut with anger. Stepping around Artem, he behaved as if January wasn’t even in the same space by totally ignoring her.
Putting his hands on his hips, Galen asked, “Were you looking for me?”
“Not at all. I was looking for the lovely Dr. Malone. But seeing as you’re here, let’s talk about the mate, shall we? In your office? You’re going to thank me for picking you such a hot piece of—”
“My office, then,” Galen cut him off with clipped words, knowing Artem’s goal was to see if he couldn’t get a rise out of January.
Then maybe she’d confess that whoever this hussy of a vampire was, due to mate with her husband, she was in for a shitstorm of hell raining down on her if she ever caught her so much as looking at Galen.
January hung on to every last shred of her control, using every technique she’d ever taught to manage her anger in order to keep from setting Artem’s balls on fire with her wand.
Instead she, too, ignored Galen’s very existence—even though what she really wanted to do was fall into his strong arms and cry—and stepped around both the men. “I trust we’re finished?”
Artem winked once more. “For now. But I’ll check back with you tomorrow night. Until then.” He wagged a lean, pale hand at her and sauntered down the hall toward Galen’s office.
Neither of them said a word to each other, but they didn’t need to. They’d always been able to read each other’s eyes, and as January looked up at the man she was so desperately in love with, he acknowledged the signal she sent.
She was okay. He hadn’t hurt her. She hated Artem and wanted him dead with every fiber of her being.
With a curt nod, Galen signaled back with just a short glance. I’m sorry you’re caught in the middle of this. I love you. I want him dead, too.
How Nina Got Her Fang Back: Accidental Quickie (Accidentally Paranormal Series Book 13) Page 8