Sucker Punch: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (First Fangs Club Book 3)

by Painter, Kristen

  She draped her robe over the back of the chaise and returned to the water’s edge. Now that she didn’t necessarily need to breathe, it might be interesting to see if she could make it all the way across underwater just swimming at a normal human speed.

  She took a breath and dove.

  The water was glorious. She loved the feel of it, the buoyancy, the warmth, the way her body slid through it. She kept her hands out in front of her until she started to slow, then swam froggy-style the rest of the way.

  She touched the wall a few seconds later and came up for air. She’d made it across and ended up at the entrance to the lazy river. A short stack of tubes sat nearby, but she decided to try floating on her own.

  Flipping onto her back, she went feet-first into the opening, then let the current take her. There were definitely jets. She could see them spaced evenly enough to keep her moving. She steered with her hands, occasionally pushing off the wall with her foot if she got too close.

  The surroundings really did seem like an oasis. All kinds of well-manicured plants and flowers decorated the banks of the river. She passed under a rock arch that had a couple of orchids growing off it.

  Farther along, she came to one of the waterfall grottos, but she didn’t go in. Looked like a cool place to hang out, but she wanted to see the whole thing, then swim some laps and get back to the penthouse.

  She’d just started to make the bend when she heard a splash. Not a big one, but enough that she knew she wasn’t alone anymore. She wondered who’d shown up. Pierce maybe. She turned onto her stomach and swam toward the end of the river.

  She stopped before she got dumped out into the pool. She didn’t see anyone for a moment, then realized that was because whoever had dived in was underwater, swimming across the pool just like she’d done.

  He surfaced a few seconds later, turned to take the next lap, and caught sight of her. Not Pierce. “Governor.”

  She was so busy staring at his body that it took her a second to recognize that her company was the same man she’d seen in the lobby. The one who’d just come back from a run.

  The one who looked like he’d been chiseled from a block of fine Italian marble. She swallowed, realized she was staring, lifted her gaze, and nodded. “Hi.”

  Wow. He was…wow. The kind of hot that made her gums ache. Also parts lower. That was new. The gums, not the lower bits. She was forty-nine, not frozen.

  He smiled, which filled her stomach with butterflies. “I guess we both had the same idea.”

  “I guess so.” His gaze dipped briefly, reminding her of the suit she had on. She sucked in her stomach, then remembered she didn’t need to do that anymore and relaxed. Human habits died hard. “I’ve never been here before, but seeing you in the lobby made me realize it had been a while since I’d been out for a run, but then my admin suggested I check out the pool, and here I am.”

  Why was she rambling? She didn’t ramble. She’d almost giggled, too, which really wasn’t like her. Her head felt a little odd on top of it. Kind of thick and floaty.

  “Fortunately, there’s plenty of room for both of us to do that.”

  “It’s a big pool.” Mary and Joseph, she couldn’t stop staring. How did a man end up looking like that? She needed to stop ogling his body, or he was going to think she was a creeper. And not just because he was probably half her age. “I’m Donna, by the way.”

  “I’m Kace. I live two floors up from this one.”

  “Nice to meet you, neighbor.” Now she was flirting. Was she turning into a cougar? “I live in the penthouse.”

  “I know.”

  “Of course you do.” She laughed, even though it wasn’t that funny. What was going on with her? Why was she acting like this?

  His gaze shifted again, and he gave her a little nod. “Nice suit.”

  “Thanks.” She licked her bottom lip and took a few steps from the river into the pool. “Is it impolite to ask what you are? I know there aren’t many humans who live in this building, so…” She shrugged. He was definitely no mere mortal.

  He chuckled, stretching one arm out to lean on the side of the pool. Was he showing off for her sake? Who cared? She’d take it. His arm had more muscles than her entire body. “I’m an FTS.”

  “Sorry, I’m pretty new to all this. I have no idea what that means.”

  “Right, I heard that about you. You’ve been a vampire what, like two weeks?”

  “Something like that. So what’s an FTS?”

  “Fairy-tale shifter. It’s slang for those of us who shift into things that aren’t considered real by humans. Dragons, griffons, basilisks, mermaids, yetis—”

  “Wouldn’t vampires fall into that category?”

  Still smiling, he shook his head. “You’d be surprised how many humans believe vampires are real. No, FTS are generally considered more mythological than just made up. It’s a fine line, I suppose.”

  “So which one are you?” Somehow, she was another foot closer.

  “Gargoyle.”

  “Really? Wow.” Oh boy. Now she wanted to touch him. “I never would have guessed that was a thing. Not that you’re a thing.” A hot thing, maybe. Okay, what was going on with her? “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.”

  A soft chirping that wasn’t a bird or a tree frog caught her attention. Her phone. Someone had terrible timing. She pointed toward the chaise where her stuff was. “That’s my cell, and I need to get that. Plus, you probably want to swim laps. Nice meeting you.”

  “You, too, Governor Barrone.”

  She dove under and swam for the other side but still reached her phone too late to get the call. She stood there, dripping, trying not to get water on the phone as she checked to see whose call she’d missed. Charlie.

  That couldn’t be good. She hit the call-back button and put the phone to her ear, glancing at Kace to see how his laps were going.

  “Governor?”

  “Yep. Sorry, I couldn’t get to the phone in time.”

  “I hate to cut your swim short, but you should probably come back to the penthouse.”

  Donna tensed, anticipating the reason. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s nothing too terrible. But if you could return at your earliest convenience, that would be great.”

  She grabbed her towel and dried herself off as best she could while still on the phone. “What aren’t you telling me? And why aren’t you telling me?”

  “Because it might be nothing.”

  “Charlie.”

  “Do you mind telling me whose name was on the card that came with the flowers?”

  “The card was blank. In fact, I was going to ask you to call the shop that sent them and see if they could give us that info.”

  “Did you smell the flowers?”

  “Yes. They smell amazing. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

  Donna could hear her talking to someone else. “Yes, she smelled the flowers.” That person answered Charlie, but with the music and the water, not even her vampire hearing could make out the words.

  Then Charlie’s long, unsettled exhale filled the phone, followed by much more urgent words. “You need to come back now.”

  Donna stuck her feet into her flip-flops, then pulled on one arm of her robe. “I’m coming, but what is going on?”

  “Jerabeth came up to get a sample of Rixaline’s blood for comparison and noticed the flowers on the counter. She leaned in to smell them, and long story short, she thinks they may have been used to drug you in some capacity.”

  Donna switched the phone to her other ear so she could get the rest of herself into the robe. “That’s crazy. I feel fine. I feel great, actually. Super great.”

  “It may not have hit you yet. Wait, did you just say ‘super great’?”

  “Yeah, so?” Donna picked up her towel to put it in the used-towel bin, facing the pool as she went. Kace was at the wall again, about to make a turn. He smiled at her.

  “That doesn
’t sound like you, that’s all.”

  Donna smiled back, giving him a wink. Maybe she should invite him to…whoa. A cold chill swept through her. A wink? That wasn’t her style. Neither was all this flirting or thinking about her childhood, and what was that lingering feeling of fluffy headedness? “You know what? I think it might have hit me after all. Something has. Whatever. I’m on my way.”

  Chapter Nine

  Donna couldn’t get back to the penthouse fast enough. She practically ran into the kitchen.

  Charlie was on the phone. “Yes, ma’am, thank you. I very much appreciate your help. Good night.”

  She hung up and shook her head. “That was Miriam Pasternak, owner of Beautiful Buds, where the flowers came from. Fortunately, the shop doesn’t close until eight, so I was able to get her. She said the order came in over the internet, and it specified that a blank card was to be included.”

  “Why would someone do that?”

  “Probably to make the flower delivery look less suspicious. If those flowers had come without a card, I definitely would have wondered about them. Probably would have questioned security about who delivered them. Instead, I assumed the shop forgot to sign the card, and then I brought them into the penthouse and told you about them without a second thought.”

  “So the blank card got them through the door. That was a smart move.”

  “It was.” She frowned. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

  “Pretty much fine, except it seems all of my emotions have been cranked up to eleven. I got weepy in the elevator on the way down to the pool, then I had flashbacks of my childhood just because of the smell of chlorine, then I…may have flirted with a very handsome man who came to swim.” Donna pinched the bridge of her nose. “Calling him a man makes it sound okay, but I’m pretty sure he was half my age. Mary and Joseph, he was hot.”

  Charlie snorted. “Did you get a name?”

  “Kace. He’s a gargoyle. Lives two floors above the pool.” Donna groaned as she continued to pinch the bridge of her nose and hide behind her hand. “I winked at him, Charlie. Winked.”

  A little laugh answered her. “He’s not half your age. He’s thirty-seven, and he is definitely hot.”

  Donna looked up. “Single?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Don’t answer that. I don’t care.” Except she did. Or at least the drugs were making her think she did.

  “As far as I know, yes. But look, we need to get you tested. If this is some trick by the fae, which we suspect it is, then we need to find an antidote.”

  “How would drugging me like this benefit them? Do they think if I’m super emotional that I’ll suddenly give in to their demands?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe they’re anticipating your rescue attempt and think this will throw you off your game.”

  “It could. I can’t trust my reactions right now.”

  Rixaline left her movie to join them. “There’s a third possibility.”

  Donna looked at her, eager for any insight the girl might have. “What’s that?”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t respond to the video they sent?”

  “No,” Donna said. “I haven’t.”

  “I’m sure King Dredward didn’t like that. He’s used to people asking how high when he says jump. If the fae did drug you with those flowers, it could be because…well…” She chewed on one of her fingernails.

  “Just say it. You’re not going to get into trouble. You know that.”

  Rixaline nodded. “It just that…they might have used something very poisonous. Something deadly. And they might not give you the antidote until you turn me over.” She sniffed. “I don’t want you to be sick.”

  Donna gave the girl a reassuring smile. “They aren’t the only ones with smart people on their side. We have Jerabeth. She’ll figure it out. I’m certainly not going to give you to them, even if they’re trying to make me sick.”

  “But what if she can’t figure it out? What if getting the cure from the fae is the only solution?”

  Donna reached out and grabbed her hand. “Hey, you don’t have to worry about me. There’s only going to be one winner in this battle. And it’s not going to be King Dredward. You have my word on that. Now, you just go watch your show, and don’t worry about it, okay?”

  “Okay.” Rixaline went back to the living room, where she picked Lucky up and cradled him against her chest.

  Donna softened her voice as she spoke to her admin, despite the intense anger welling up inside her. “I’m going to burn that stronghold to the ground. The fae are a menace. They deserve to be eradicated. I hope I get to kill Dredward myself.”

  Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know if that’s you, or you on drugs.”

  Donna blew out a breath. “If the rage I’m feeling is any indication, it’s the drugs. I mean, it’s me, too, but this anger is deep. I swear I could put my fist through the wall without a second thought. It has to be the drugs. I don’t have a temper this bad.” It was getting worse too. She could feel how easy it would be to go on a rampage.

  Or ride down to the fourth floor and start knocking on doors until she found Kace and used him to burn off a very different kind of energy. She swallowed as her face heated up. “I’m going to need a way to settle myself down, or I might do something I regret before Jerabeth comes up with a fix.”

  “She should be back up here soon. She took the flowers to see if she could work out what’s in them, but she mentioned she might need a blood sample from you.”

  “Not a problem, but let’s call Dr. Fox too. I know Jerabeth’s on top of this, but it can’t hurt to have a medical professional on the case as well. Any help he can give would be great. Plus, he might be able to flush whatever this is out of my system if it comes to that.”

  “Excellent idea. I’ll get him now.” She picked up her phone again.

  “Thank you. I’m going to take a quick shower and change.” Donna went to her bedroom and did just that, getting out of her wet suit and under the hot spray. Cold water might have been a better idea, but she couldn’t convince herself of that. She rinsed the chlorine from her hair, then got out, towel-dried it, and twisted it back up in a clip. It could dry the rest of the way on its own.

  She dressed in comfortable clothes, the leggings, T-shirt, and big cardigan that were becoming her around-the-house uniform, then went back out to see if Charlie had been able to reach Dr. Fox.

  Donna supposed being the physician to the vampire governor meant he was pretty much on call at all hours.

  Charlie was making a new cup of tea to go with a plate of cookies that had appeared on the counter. She smiled weakly when she saw Donna. “I’m a stress eater.”

  “No worries. I should probably feed. Can’t hurt with whatever’s going on, don’t you think?”

  “I don’t know. I think it would probably be fine, but what if a feeding only gives the drugs more fuel? The fae could have designed it that way, anticipating that feeding is exactly what you’d do. Maybe you should wait until Jerabeth knows more about what you were dosed with. Or until Dr. Fox gets here. He promised less than half an hour.”

  “Okay, I can wait.” Donna took a seat at the counter and helped herself to a cookie from the plate, a square of crumbly shortbread. “Do you think we should have responded to Dredward after that video?”

  Charlie stirred some sugar into her tea. “And said what? ‘You’re going to pay for this’? ‘You’re all in big trouble’? I don’t know what we could have told Dredward that would have made things any better. Or different.”

  Donna nodded as she chewed the bite of shortbread she’d taken. “That was my thought too.” She glanced toward Pierce’s room.

  “Thinking about waking him up?”

  “No. Better to have him well rested. Temo downstairs?”

  “Yes. While you were in the pool, he came up to say he’d be downstairs if you needed him.” Charlie smiled. “Pretty sure he was going to FaceTime with Neo.”

  Such a happy thought in
an unhappy time. “They’re so cute together.”

  “They really are.” Charlie sipped her tea. “What about you? Thinking about giving Mr. Donovan some more face time?”

  Donna frowned. “Mr. Donovan?”

  “Kace.”

  Donna groaned. “I can’t be held responsible for the things I do while I’m under the influence of fae drugs.”

  “He is quite the specimen. Most gargoyles are. All that rock-hard muscle and those sculpted good looks.”

  “Hush. I don’t need the reminder.” Donna shook her head. “I think Pierce would be hurt if he knew I was looking at another man.”

  “You’ve looked at Rico, haven’t you?”

  “Yes.” And Pierce definitely knew about him. “But he was around first.”

  “True. But you don’t have any commitment to Pierce, other than your vampire and assistant relationship. You’re not sleeping with him. Are you? Sorry, not my place to ask that. I just…ignore that.”

  Donna couldn’t. “No, I’m not. I like Pierce very much. In fact, I love him. He’s been amazing to me. And I do find him attractive, but having a romantic relationship with him could turn awkward fast.”

  Charlie nodded. “It could. Maybe you should talk to him about that.”

  “Not now. Too much going on. And I’m not about to start dating anyone right this second anyway.”

  Footsteps preceded Jerabeth’s entrance. Her already wild red hair was in a tumultuous knot on top of her head, and she had a rolled leather tool pouch in one hand. “Governor, there you are. I have bad news.”

  “I already know. Or is this new bad news?”

  “New, I’m afraid. Every single rose was laced with a powdered compound. I did a quick analysis of the powder, and it was definitely designed to lower inhibitions and heighten emotions. It seems specifically aimed at the vampire physiology too. I inhaled some, and it’s had zero effects on me. How are you feeling?”

  “Like my emotions could very easily reach a boiling point.”