Crap, Spencer hoped Larkin had heard her because the straits were becoming dire and she was too afraid to focus enough to listen in case Larkin sent her a message back.
“Answer the question, Spencer,” Joffrey demanded with a curt tone.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Can I have my options, please? Do you have death packages? You know, like package A is the virtually painless death package. No gore, no nasty entrails. Oh, wait. I don’t have entrails, do I? Can I have the options for package B, Joffrey?”
Twilight was not amused. It was obvious from the way his almost always unlined face began to crack. “You talk too much, Spencer. I can’t imagine what that human detective finds so interesting about you. You’re rather droll,” he quipped sarcastically.
Like that statement was an arrow to her heart, especially coming from Mr. Lily White. Hurt me, why don’t you? “But you have to admit I’m rather likeable. I mean, you did want to be my life mate, didn’t you? I couldn’t be all bad, Joffrey.” Spencer smiled wickedly at him, pushing her envelope of death just a bit further.
If Larkin didn’t get his ass here soon, she’d run out of stall time and then she’d have to haunt Larkin for the rest of eternity.
Joffrey gave her that look.
Spencer nodded her head in complete understanding. “I know, ‘shut up, Spencer,’ right?”
He cocked his head back and nodded. “In a nutshell.”
“Just one more question,” Spencer squeaked. “Well, maybe two…”
He narrowed his eyes. “By all means…”
“You wrote that letter to Alan’s mother, didn’t you? To make it look like he’d killed himself over losing his girlfriend. You were afraid the police would find out he was gay and that he was involved with you. Alan found you after he and Ethan broke it off, didn’t he?”
Joffrey clucked his tongue. “Poor Alan, he was so distraught over losing Ethan because he was too afraid to come out of the closet. Bummer for him, eh? It’s my personal opinion that there’s nothing like a rebound affair to cheer you right up.”
Spencer wanted to gag. He’d preyed upon Alan when he was at his weakest and most vulnerable, but she couldn’t harp on that now. She had to keep stalling him. “Why did you kill Alan and the others and what does it have to do with the Polanskis?”
Joffrey gave Spencer that cool smile that sent a shiver down her spine, like a wet willy in your ear. “I found out the Polanskis were morticians—morticians who had Alan’s body. It was only a matter of time before they found out that Alan, Brian, and Eddie had vampire bites. A vampire knows another vampire’s bite. So I thought it best to find out what the Polanskis knew—if they knew anything at all. When I smelled you and you didn’t smell me back, well the conclusion was logical. I decided to pretend you were my life mate and get the information from you by wooing you—or killing you. Whichever came first.”
Joffrey shook his head as he pushed off Spencer roughly and paced the basement floor. “Sadly, Spencer, you didn’t want to be wooed. You wanted a human.” He shook his head in disgust. “What is it about your family and humans, Spencer? Anyway, now you have to die because you know far too much. And then, I’m going to drain Ethan and then we’ll go about the business of making vamps what they should be. That certainly doesn’t include a bunch of human lovers,” he sneered at her. “You know, I really will never understand what happened to the old ways, when a vamp was considered a force to contend with. Now you can’t tell who we are unless you drag us out under the midday sun. We should be feared, not invited to the neighborhood barbeque, and I kept thinking to myself, how can I change that? I want to know why the humans of this world should be anything more than a snack.”
Spencer shrugged, her big mouth open and spewing tough talk before she could shut it, knowing full well the “quiet place” was best right now. “Maybe because there are more humans than there are vamps, asshole? We’re outnumbered, you dipshit. When in Rome and all.”
Joffrey stopped pacing and hauled Spencer up by the front of her shirt, slamming her against the hard cement of the basement wall. He stuck his face in hers, the perfect planes of it contorted with anger. “Fuck Rome, you dumb bitch. It’s because of vampires like your daddy that we are who we are today. I plan to change all of that.”
“Like how, pansy ass?” Spencer threw back in Joffrey’s face, daring him to become further enraged and ignoring the bolt of pain shooting up her spine.
If Joffrey were going to kill her it wouldn’t be without a damn fight. She struggled against his fist, tightly clenched in her shirt. Her legs dangled against Joffrey’s stronger ones.
“You have a sharp tongue, Spencer, and I’ll cut it out of your head if you don’t watch who you aim it at. I plan to drain anyone and everyone I can come in contact with, thus turning them into revenants. I’ll have my own little army of vampires. I guess it isn’t just your nose on the blink, eh, Spencer? I want a super race. I want a legion of vampires who do my bidding. Poor souls that have little purpose on this earth but to serve me. They go off and bite, then drain some more poor souls and so on and so on.”
Spencer’s eyes were wide with horror. Revenants. Oh, Jesus Christ in a miniskirt. Joffrey wanted minions to do his bidding without question. A race of brainless, dead servants. “What are you? A maniac? Do you really believe you can take over the world? You sick, motherfucking freak!”
Joffrey jammed a knee into Spencer’s gut with force, making her gasp as pain seared her ribs and roared through her ears. “That’s exactly what I intend to do, Spencer. Alan and the others didn’t work out. Though, gay vamp that I am, I did enjoy their company, if you know what I mean. I just haven’t found the right balance in draining a human to the right degree. They all end up dead. But I’ll figure it out and besides,” he stopped mid sentence and licked his thin lips, “I’m having a helluva time in the process.”
Spencer heard the crash of the basement door just as she was about to give in to the dizzying black hole that called her.
“Let go of my daughter, Joffrey, or I’ll see you in the fires of hell!” Edgar Polanski roared as he erupted into the basement of Joffrey’s cabin and grabbed the vampire by his collar, lifting him off his feet.
Joffrey dropped Spencer to the floor just before Edgar launched him into the air. She saw the arc of Joffrey’s slender frame as she scraped to the floor. Her head slapped the cement again and again as she slid down the wall and fell to a heap of limbs.
Larkin ran to her side and said out of the corner of his mouth, “I think Daddy Polanski is pissed.”
Spencer was so grateful to see Larkin and her father that she found herself smiling. “You heard me…thank God.”
Larkin tore at the duct tape holding Spencer’s hands together. “I heard you, and your dad heard lots of things too. We have some splainin’ to do, Lucy,” he joked. “Are you okay, you look…well, you look paler than usual.”
“I’m fine, but I’m so weak…I think Joffrey drank from me.” As Larkin freed a hand, Spencer ran it over her neck. Yep. He sure did. Just enough to keep her weak. The chicken shit.
“Does that mean you have Joffrey cooties now? I can’t have a chick with cooties.” Larkin grinned, kissing her on the tip of her nose and pulling her into the shelter of his strong arms.
Edgar Polanski had Joffrey by the throat, half lying over the edge of the table that Ethan was strapped to. Spencer had never seen her father this angry, ever. It almost frightened her to see his usually calm exterior rigid and radiating rage.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done, Joffrey?” Her father said Joffrey’s name like it had the plague as he jammed his face into the vampires. “I’m going to have to kill you, you know, and I hate to do that. Such a pity, but you must never, ever hurt one of mine.”
Joffrey’s usually calm exterior twisted with fury as he struggled beneath Edgar, clawing at the hands that held his neck. “I’ll see you in hell first, Polanski!” he screamed into Edgar’s face.
; “Ah, but I’ll have the better room, Joffrey, and I’ll be waiting for you…” Edgar’s voice was hushed, his words floating out of his mouth on a hiss of contempt. “You’ve killed people, Joffrey. That’s not nice.”
“I killed humans, Polanski! Humans that are useless. What kind of vampire are you anyway? Living amongst the lesser like you’re one of them?”
Edgar shook Joffrey hard, making his chattering teeth echo in the small basement. “And who are you to judge, Joffrey? You will pay for what you’ve done. What would have happened to my family if the police had found out about those vampire bites, weakling? For that alone, you will suffer!”
Larkin helped Spencer up, but she shrugged him off and shuffled to her father. “Dad! Dad, stop! If you kill him, you’ll be no better than he is!” Spencer tugged at her father’s arm, gripping the bulging muscles of his arm, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
“Larkin, get Ethan and take Spencer now!” Edgar yelled with sharp clarity. “Do it now, Detective!”
Larkin grabbed Spencer by the arm, tucking her close to him as he untied Ethan and hauled him over his shoulder. “Move your butt, vampire,” he ordered Spencer.
“But—” Spencer began to protest on a yelp.
“Detective,” Edgar growled. “Learn now how to control your wayward woman and get her out of here!”
“Now is not the time to get cheeky, woman. You heard your father. Move it!”
As Spencer let Larkin pull her out of the basement, she looked over her shoulder one last time to see her father reaching into his suit jacket. Spencer knew what he had.
A stake.
A wooden stake.
And tonight Joffrey would die.
* * * *
She continued to protest as they made their way to Larkin’s car and laid Ethan in the back with a blanket.
“Spencer, stop. Your father’s doing what he has to, to protect you and your family. I won’t fault him for that.”
Spencer begrudgingly got into the car and let Larkin strap her seat belt around her. Then he kissed her forehead and said, “Good girl. I think I could adjust to you silent.”
They drove back to the parlor, each of them lost in their own thoughts before leaving Ethan in the care of her mother. After explaining the situation, they headed back to Spencer’s apartment. Her mother was upset to say the least, but didn’t seem at all concerned about Edgar. Her father must have a side to him that she’d never witnessed. She’d left her mother with a kiss and the promise that Spencer would hear from her when her father arrived home.
As they drove to her apartment, Larkin didn’t let go of her hand once as he explained the conversation he’d had with her father on the way to Joffrey’s cabin.
“So he knows Ethan is gay?” Spencer asked Larkin, biting her lip and worrying over her father’s reaction.
“He sort of guessed, I think. He said he knew something was troubling Ethan and he and your mother had discussed it at length. I didn’t really tell him the details. He sort of pieced it together after I told him about Joffrey and Alan. He knew Joffrey had both you and Ethan at the cabin. It was easy for him to piece it together after that. I tried to be evasive, but you must know your dad when he wants answers.”
Spencer groaned. She certainly did. He could be as stubborn as she was. “Well, now it’s up to Ethan to talk to my parents.” She’d explained to Larkin why Joffrey was picking people off and the detective in him seemed satisfied, albeit a bit sickened and bewildered.
Alarm crept up her spine and she asked, “Maybe we should go back and help my dad? I’m worried, Larkin. I’ve never seen him like that.”
He chuckled as they pulled into Spencer’s driveway and parked. “Yeah, well, don’t worry too much about your dad. I had no idea how strong he is and he’s older than Joffrey, according to him. I think he can take care of himself. I know Joffrey’s going to regret screwing with your family. Your dad knows Twilight’s father. I think Joffrey just might be grounded for bad behavior.”
She swiped at his broad shoulder. “That’s not funny, Larkin. Dad said he was going to kill him.”
“Yep. And if you ask me, it’s the only way. Something ain’t right about that pasty freak. The vampire world will thank your father.
“I’m worried about my dad.”
“You should be more worried about me. He really gave me what for over this whole mind reading thing.”
Larkin got out of the car and came around to Spencer’s side to help her out, but she was already beginning to feel much better. She’d begun to heal as all vampires did. “He knows you can read my mind?”
“Yeah, honey. How do you suppose I was going to tell him that I knew who took you and Ethan?”
“Oh, great. And what did he have to say about this?”
“C’mon, you need to feed. I’ll tell you inside.”
Spencer smiled and let Larkin guide her up the stairs to her apartment. He was concerned about her feeding. Dreamy sigh.
“Of course I’m concerned about you. I love you.”
Spencer caught another odd nudge at the edge of her brain, rather like the one she’d had just before she could hear Larkin in her head as clearly as if he were in the room with her. She chuckled then. “Yes, Larkin. I believe you now.”
“Get out of my head, Spencer.”
“Not until you get out of mine, Detective,” she taunted. Turnabout was delicious.
“Look, Spencer. Your dad explained the whole mind reading thing. You know what it means, don’t you?” Larkin pushed her unlocked door open.
“Um, now we can say, ‘can ya hear me now’ and it has real meaning?”
Larkin chuckled as he settled Spencer on her couch and went to the fridge for her storage of blood. “Among other things. It means we’re life mates and you’re stuck with me.”
Huh?
“You heard me, woman,” Larkin teased as he brought her back a mug and the mason jar of blood she stashed in her fridge.
“Life mates? How do you figure?”
“I didn’t. Your dad did. He said some life mates don’t just smell their intended. They can hear them and sometimes, like in our case, it happens to one before the other. Apparently, you were so busy being pig-headed and stubborn about me that you couldn’t hear me until you really needed to.”
“My father told you this?” Spencer was astonished.
“Yep. He said that your mother and he didn’t develop the mind reading thing until they’d been together awhile, but they did sniff each other out. It’s a vampire gig, I guess.”
Spencer rolled her eyes. “And why didn’t you figure this out, detective that you are?”
“Oh, no. Don’t go blaming me. I’m not a vampire. How was I supposed to know the ways of you creatures of the night?”
Spencer set the cup and blood on her coffee table and patted the spot beside her on the couch. “So I have to live with you for eternity?”
Larkin plopped down next to her and pulled her close. “You say that like it’s a bad thing, Elvira.”
“Who is Elvira?”
“You know, the woman on television? Mistress of the dark…comedy?” He shook his head. “Never mind. Anyway, you’re my woman. Adjust.”
“So I don’t get a say in this?”
“You could have Joffrey…”
Spencer laughed as she snuggled close to Larkin’s broad chest and listened to the beat of his heart, a heart that reminded her of something. “But we won’t have an eternity, Larkin.”
“We can…” Larkin’s sentence trailed off into the air.
“I don’t know if I like what you’re thinking, Larkin, and yes, I can hear what you’re thinking. I love you and I don’t want you to do something you may end up feeling damned for.”
“I don’t feel damned, Spencer. In all of this crazy madness, it seems right.”
“I can’t do this, Larkin. I just can’t. It’s not like I’m asking you to be my steady and give me your high school ring. I’m asking you to give up
your life—or at least life as you know it.”
Larkin squeezed her arm. “I know what it means. So let’s not talk about it, let’s do it.”
Spencer’s indecision gnawed at her stomach. “I can’t. I love you too much.”
“Okay, so I love you, you love me. It’s like a Barney thing. Established, now let’s get me turned.”
“Who is Barney?”
Larkin grinned and kissed her. “You know, the big purple dinosaur that kids like? He sings that song, I love you—you love me?”
Spencer shook her head. “Uh, no.”
“Forget it, honey. Let’s get to the turning thing.”
Spencer pushed at his solid chest. “Larkin, if you let me turn you, nothing will ever be the same for you. You won’t want big, greasy burgers and pizza. You won’t want to work the day shift. I mean this is huge, Detective. It has far reaching ramifications that you can’t possibly begin to grasp.”
“I know what it means, Spencer.”
Spencer sat up and pulled away from Larkin’s reach so she could look him in those sexy eyes of his. “And what about the blood thing, sissy? The idea makes you sick. You can’t be a vampire and not drink blood.”
On cue, Larkin turned green. “But if I’m a vamp it won’t matter, won’t I crave it?”
“Yes, you will, but this is a major, life altering choice, Larkin. It’s like changing from a giraffe to an elephant.”
Larkin snorted. “I hardly think it’s quite the same. I’ll still be me, just a bigger bad-ass version of me.”
Spencer shook her head at him. “That’s what worries me, right now you’re focusing on the tough guy bullshit, but you’re not paying attention to the rest of the vampire stuff. First, what about your family? Do you even have any family? Second, you won’t be able to have children. Do you even want children? There’s so much I don’t know about you. At least a million things.” She shook her head again. This was crazy.
Polanski Brothers Page 15