Gator Baitin' (The Grateful Undead series Book 2)

by Susan Stec

  "What are you staring at in a stupor?" Mom asked, reaching for her pad of notes.

  "Marcus is joining us in a few hours." I popped the blood bag onto my fangs.

  I grinned at Christopher around the bag as I sucked. Things were moving along smoothly. We would have plenty of time to surf the net. We wouldn't have to make excuses, just deal with Marcus. My smile got bigger with the thought of keeping him at bay.

  "Oh swell—how 'bout I pick you up some Godiva chocolates while we're out?" Mom teased. "It always takes your mind off sex. You're a real bitch when you're involved with a man, so just say no this time and eat some frigging chocolate instead."

  I glared at her, pulled the empty bag from my mouth, and popped another one on my fangs.

  "Chick, if I thought a box of chocolates would do the trick, I'd fill the kitchen cabinets with them." Christopher pulled a blood bag out of the fridge. "We're all screwed. They can't be in the same room together without a sexual battle. Hell, they mind-fuck when he's not around." He pushed his fangs into the bag.

  I yanked mine from my mouth and sent a trail of blood across the oak floor. "You don't wanna piss me off at the moment." I smirked at the old vampire in the kid's body.

  Christopher didn't have time for a rebuttal. Jake walked in the front door. "Did I hear Susan and chocolate in the same sentence? Is Marcus on his way home?"

  "How are you at bull riding, Jake?" I asked, popping my fangs back into the plastic bag, my eyebrows dancing.

  "I was just kidding!" Jake bolted to the fireplace, shoved his head in and burped a long flame that ignited a waiting bundle of wood.

  ~~~

  Chapter 5

  That undead, fanged and obnoxious kid sure plays a mean frayed-nerve

  ~~~

  "You guys get back real soon now, ya hear?" I stood at the front door waving as the Suburban circled the driveway with everyone inside but Christopher and me.

  "You better hope they don't get back real soon. We got some work to do." Christopher fired up the laptop as I strutted into the living room.

  I rubbed my hands together, standing beside him. "So, do we get the shit work done first or hop right into the good stuff?"

  "We better get the assignment done first." Christopher headed for the back porch. "You do the report. I'm going to make sure Mort and Gibbie are gone. I wouldn't want the fairy spying on us."

  "Yeah, well, you know, I never really was very good at taking orders, that's why I don't have a husband. You can type the report. I'll check the boat dock." I leaned over the computer, signed on to AOL, and walked by him. "All set up for you. I'll be back in a sec."

  "Aw, man. This sucks." Christopher walked back to the table. "You don't make the prospect of finding a mate desirable ya know?"

  "Like you're gonna find another three-foot, one-hundred-and-fifty year old vampire to nest with. Give me a break." The minute I said it, I regretted it. Christopher's eyes went from pain to fury in three seconds flat.

  "Listen, you bitch, there are plenty of things that make a person more desirable than size, and trust me, I got enough size in the area that counts." He sat at the table banging on the keys. A picture of Vienna sausage popped in my head.

  I tried to apologize. "Christopher, I'm…"

  He hit the keys harder, ignoring me.

  "Look, it just came out." I raked a hand through red curls. "Damnit, I always talk before I think. I just see you as part of the family and we all throw snappy remarks at each other. Believe me, there's plenty of food for fodder. Jake farts like a banshee. JoAnn is…well… JoAnn's an idiot. Mom's, God where do I start with Mom?" I toed the floor. "And I'm… I'm a loudmouth, five-foot tall immortal woman, trying to act like a man because it's safer. I have plenty of anger inside. My father was an SOB. I only found out recently he was half demon. He better stay in the grave where we buried him."

  "Yeah, like you're not an SOB? I'd say the apple didn't fall far from the tree." Christopher pecked the keys with a vengeance.

  "Screw you, man. Maybe I don't do apologies well, but I thought you deserved a try, so sue me!" I threw up my arms, walked out the sliding glass door, across the screened porch and out onto the patio deck.

  The huge cypress trees bordering the lake shaded the tri-level cement deck. Gibbie's home, in a pile of coquina rocks peppered with moss, cut into the layers of cement among roses, azaleas, and hibiscus bushes. I trotted down the steps, peeked into the rock garden, and seeing no fairy, circled the deck, heading for the dock. Even before I got there, I heard Gibbie's squeaky voice.

  "I thought you guys were headed for Gatorland?" I hit the wooden dock, striding towards him. "Long swim, you might want to get going."

  "I be-frien-ded a gar. It pulls me across…the lake…a lot quicker. We're waiting for him." Mort's rolling, deep, annoyingly slow voice floated from under the dock, his big gray head just barely out of the water as he waded to the edge. He smiled up at me with water flowing from his mouth, teeth speckled with green algae, eyes a dull black.

  "Well, that's cool. It doesn't have red eyes, does it?" I asked.

  Gibbie grabbed his stomach with both hands and buzzed around my head, cackling. He sounded like a munchkin witch on Halloween.

  "He's such…an asshole. My gar-car…should be here…any minute." Mort dipped into the water, wetting his whole head, steam puffing up around him.

  Gibbie choked a laugh back. "He has him a fishy chauffeur."

  "Come on, I think it's quite clever." I smiled at Mort.

  "No-no, a gar-pontoon." Gibbie was on a roll. "Or wait, a Gar Doo. Get it? Sea Doo? God, don't get me started again…" His small hand held a giggle behind his lips.

  "It's okay, you'll see…my gar-pro-pel-ler…really works." Mort's words mixed with the sound of bubbles, his lips just meeting the surface.

  I glanced a warning at Gibbie. "Don't start."

  "Come on! A fish that size can't pull that lump of rock. I'll eat my wings if it does," Gibbie said, his cheeks puffing with held back laughter.

  "Is that…a bet…fairy?" Mort's feet peddled the water as he floated on his back, tummy in the sun.

  "I don't bet with rocks. I think we should get started, the gar-mobile's a no-show."

  The water at the end of the dock rolled with a flash of deep gray fish scales.

  Gibbie fluttered to the end of the dock, peeked over, and burst out laughing.

  Mort grabbed the gar's tail and vanished under the water, surfaced about fifteen feet out, and submerged again.

  "What do fairy wings taste like?" I asked, one eyebrow reaching for my hairline.

  "I didn't bet him." Gibbie hovered at the end of the dock, hand held over his brow, searching the horizon.

  "You better get going before he loses you," I teased.

  "I could fly circles around that fish." Gibbie shot off like a bullet.

  "They're gone," I announced, walking back into the dining room.

  Christopher raised his head. "Well, while you were out there annoying someone else, I finished the email to Dorius. I went over your conversation with the curator at Gatorland first and then the scouting trip that led us to the motel room. I sugar coated the dead mortals, telling him that some of the immortal animals found a crime scene and we were lucky to get the critters out of there before the police came. I mentioned how many we destroyed in Kissimmee, adding the ones your mother and Jake found here at the house then finished by telling him where everyone was. I was just pressing the send key when you walked in." Christopher pulled the computer closer.

  "Dang, you type faster than I talk." I plopped down beside him, trying to make cozy.

  "Yeah, well at least I don't talk faster then I think," Christopher said.

  "I said I was sorry. Come on. Give me a break here." I gave him cute pouty lips.

  "It sucks to be me, ya know," Christopher said.

  "Not for me. Without you I'd be an old lady wearing support hose." I patted his little knee.

  "Right?" he said with a big grin.


  Yeah, our relationship was clearly back to normal.

  He Googled the Pastor. A website full of pictures of her crusades popped up on the screen.

  We read the information on the site, learning very little we didn't already know. We did find out neither of the girls ever married and their mother was still missing.

  We hit the archives looking for the goods on the mother. They had her painted like Mother Teresa. The reaction from the media when she died was as big as when President Kennedy was assassinated.

  Getting our fill of Pastor Julie and her mother's ministries, we started pulling up recent murders in our area. It would be a lot easier if we could get Jeni or JoAnn on it, but my sister was not good at keeping secrets and Jeni would just say no.

  We breezed through the public files, finding no red flags. Going back several months we finally hit pay dirt. Another pastor was killed three months ago in her own home in Eustis, a town about fifteen minutes from here. She was gutted. No mention of rhymes covering the walls.

  "I'm sure the cops are keeping some of the information from the public. Is there a way other than getting my idiot sister or Jeni involved to get into the police files?"

  Christopher was staring through me as he rubbed his jaw. "JoAnn and Jeni have a password to get into any program, even the military databases. Could you find a way to ask one of them for it without creating a bunch of shit?"

  I shook my head. "You got any suggestions?"

  "Contact JoAnn and feel her out?"

  I curled my lips, closed the public files, and clicked a few keys. JoAnn's face popped up in front of me.

  "What do you want? I'm busy helping Mom and Jake." My sister never ceased to annoy me.

  "Hello darling, I'm home!" Marcus announced from the front door.

  "Crap."

  "You and Christopher are supposed to be emailing Dorius, not me." JoAnn leaned into the computer camera. I could see the hair in her nostrils.

  "Do you remember the trip we made to Saint Augustine? The one where we went to Ripley's believe it or not castle?" I asked as Marcus sauntered up beside me.

  "What the heck does that have to do with anything?" Her nose bobbed on the screen, a small black hair inside fluttered.

  "Remember the room with all the mirrors when you stuck your face so close it made you look like a blowfish and I laughed for hours?" I pressed on.

  "What do you want?" JoAnn backed away from the screen.

  Marcus pecked a kiss on my cheek then leaned in front of the computer and smiled at my sister. "Hello JoAnn, how's your day going?"

  I already wanted to slap him and he'd just arrived.

  Christopher blew a sigh.

  "Oh, hi Marcus, we're very busy here. Mom and Jake are chasing a few animals at Gatorland, and I really should get back to them." JoAnn pushed her chair way back from the camera. Now I could see her from the waist up.

  "We just wanted to let you know I was here, and that Christopher has emailed the report to Dorius." I always forget how Marcus knows everything I do.

  "Oops, gotta go. Mom is buzzing me. I'll tell Dorius you've arrived and the email is finished," JoAnn said in a heated rush and the screen went black.

  Turning to me, Marcus unbuttoned the collar of his white shirt. "I have a pass code to get into the files you're looking for. But first lets you and I have a little chat up in your room." He motioned to the stairs leading to my bedroom.

  "Jesus, you just got here. Besides, we only have a couple of hours before the rest of the team gets back, and I want to use it wisely." I edged away from him.

  "I am a patient man, Susan, but we are going to talk. I'll pull up the site you need and Christopher can print the files. You and I are going upstairs." He abruptly started typing.

  "Look, you're not the boss of me," I glared at his back, both hands on my hips. "The sooner you get that straight, the better."

  Christopher eyed me. "Oh, hell, as much as this conversation amuses me, we do have work to do, so go upstairs and try to be a little less condescending. You get more with—"

  "Susan, I'm going against my brother's rules," Marcus interrupted, tapping his black boot on the floor. "I don't like it, but I can make damn sure you don't get in over your head. Now get your cute little ass upstairs because we need to talk about the benefits of being mated." He rolled up his shirt sleeves, well-manicured fingers making precise folds.

  I ground off more tooth enamel and headed for the bedroom, Marcus right behind me. I could hear the computer keys clacking away as I mounted the stairs.

  "Darling, I love to watch your ass sway. Especially when it's swaying in the direction I wish it to go."

  I growled, getting a laugh from him.

  ~~~

  Chapter 6

  Can't always get what you want

  ~~~

  I shut the bedroom door with a bang, turned to Marcus, and immediately my damn body hummed at the sight of him. He stood by the bed all sexy in his tight jeans and crisp white shirt. Rich blue eyes and thick lips fought for attention on his chiseled face. He wore brown boots worn from years of use, adding a bit of reality to his demeanor. Hands, long and thin, hovered by his pockets and black hair hung about his shoulders in soft waves. I mentally slapped myself back into reality.

  "Marcus, I've been married three times and not one of them lasted. If you haven't noticed, the women in this family only do bitchy, controlling, and sarcastic," I told him, trying to ignore my body begging for his attention.

  "I haven't asked you to be my wife, Susan."

  Well, that was a slap in the face.

  "All I've ever asked is for you to be a more active mate. It's not a contract drawn up by the state. It's an agreement between two suited immortals. I think we should go over a few of the benefits of a nice healthy immortal relationship." Marcus sat on the bed, patting the spot beside him.

  For lack of anything better to say, I got defensive. "See, that's exactly what I mean. With that gesture, you ruffle my feathers." I scrunched up my face and watched his fingers dance over the bedspread. My eyes traveled up his arm to his broad chest, stopping on his neck. My fangs slipped from my gums and I quickly retracted them.

  One side of Marcus' mouth turned up briefly. "Darling, I'm not asking for anything more than an open mind tonight. Come sit beside me while we talk."

  I plopped down at the head of the bed, angry as hell with myself. I beat a few pillows into submission and leaned back against them, clutching another in a death grip against my stomach. "Just talk—no sex—have at it." I was thinking about slapping him, maybe after I kissed him.

  "I find you irresistible when you're sarcastic and bitchy. And Susan, you're always sarcastic and bitchy." His tongue moistened his lips—I know my body temperature went up at least 50 degrees.

  I crossed my feet, sitting Indian style, dug my fingernails in the pillow, and mentally argued profusely with my body. "Okay, now this is where I have a problem. I don’t want anyone finding me irresistible and I sure as hell don't want to find you irresistible. See, if I do that, we have the whole control issue to deal with. I don't like sharing my thoughts all the time, either. If it's alright with you I'd rather call you on the phone when I'm… Damnit Marcus, I don't want to do this." I seductively licked my lips, paying special attention to the upper one, and damned myself while doing it.

  His pupils dilated. With a barely audible rumble in his chest, he said, "I don't intend to control you. If anything, you are controlling me." His eyebrows had a cute little wrinkle between them.

  I was just thinking how much I liked the sound of the "you are controlling me" thingy, when he opened his mouth again. "You don't have to worry yourself. I have no intention of seducing you. You've made it perfectly clear you're not interested in my body." He puffed his cheeks, popped out a puff of air.

  "This is not funny." I tossed the pillow at him. He caught it and tossed it back, damnit.

  "Look love, let's stop dancing around the sex issue and discuss the situation
we find ourselves in. I want you to understand what I mean to you. It's not about sex or personal control, Susan. It's about added immortal powers."

  I bristled at his remark because for me it was all about the sex.

  He laid a big grin on me. I kept forgetting he could read my mind. This was rich. "Get out of my frigging head. It's not fair that I can't read your mind and you can read mine! What's up with that Fang-boy?"

  "You could if you really wanted to," Marcus said.

  I concentrated, trying to get into his head, but there was nothing, not a peep.

  With hooded eyes, I said, "I've tried. I can't and you know it!—probably because you don't want me to!"

  He gave me a look that had my belly quivering. "Well, how about I further enlighten you, sweetheart? You basically know how the mind-meld works. No other immortals can read your thoughts, nor can they manipulate you anymore." He adjusted himself on the bed in front of me. We looked like two Indians in a pow-wow.

  "Except you!" I shouted. "I also know you can back off if you want to. You showed me that in training when you let Resi manipulate me in the gym. But you're side-stepping the issue. How come I can't hear your every thought?"

  "One thing at a time, dear. I left you unguarded in the gym because I wanted to show you how powerful it is to have a mate," Marcus said patiently. "But there are other benefits. You would not have to drink processed blood if we drink from each other on a regular basis. And we would each get stronger, tapping into each other's strengths."

  No more blood bags, and added strength. That definitely had my curiosity zinging. "Okay, but right now it's pretty one-sided and I sure as hell don't feel any stronger."

  He looked at me with sparkling blue eyes and I tried not to think about how much I wanted to jump his frigging bones. "I'm older than you and have mastered my skills, but I assure you, we would both benefit from constant blood exchange. You would gain my years of experience and in return, I would benefit from your demon blood."

  "So it's my demon blood you're after!" My ego did a nosedive.