I held on to Blade, not sure what to say. There were no words of comfort adequate.
"We'll find out. This must stop." Blade pushed Valdez out of the storeroom and closed the door. "Whatever it takes. We'll find out."
Kenneth looked up and his eyes hardened. "Westwood?"
"No, this hunter has struck before. Two vampires in Houston were staked this way the night MacTavish was killed in Lake Charles."
I had the presence of mind to pull out a fifties vintage chenille bedspread, a pretty rose color, and hand it to Kenneth. "Why don't you wrap M—Margie in this?"
Kenneth just stared at me, obviously in shock. "Would you leave me alone with her first?"
"Of course." I pulled Blade out of the storeroom and shut the door again. He put his arms around me and buried his face in my hair.
I couldn't let him go. Oh, God, he was shaking. I rubbed his back. How horrible to find Margie like that. She'd been so beautiful, so alive. Full of vamp power. Valdez pressed his warm body against my skirt. We were like a huddle of shell-shocked soldiers after an assault.
Blade raised his head and touched my cheek. "It could have been you, Gloriana. You see why I want you to be careful?"
"Yes. I'll be careful." I didn't want to think about Kenneth saying good-bye in my storeroom. He'd been with Margie for over a hundred years, but that was nothing compared to the time I'd spent with Blade. I brushed Blade's jaw with my fingers.
"You stay safe." I patted his chest. "And if I say wear a vest, damn it, wear a vest."
"I don't understand why Margie was in the alley. How did someone lure her there?" Blade ignored my demand and was already into his "Find the enemy and eliminate it" mode. "And what do the crosses mean? I know mortals think we can't tolerate them, but to stake with a cross, that's strange."
"Do you think it could be another vampire? He denied it, but Richard Mainwaring, Flo's lover, I mean ex-lover, matches the description of the praying vampire. The one who fed from the Goth who came to my shop that night. The vamp prayed while he fed. Like he was asking forgiveness or something. Maybe he's got a hate on for other vampires."
"A vampire taking out his own?" Blade stared at the closed storeroom door. "Why? And Marguerite wasn't exactly a rogue vampire. She was as into blending as you are."
"Exactly. So who would know she even was vamp, except another one? Or someone with one of Westwood's vamp detectors."
"I hope to hell Westwood's not selling those things." Blade looked really, really grim. "Another vampire. Maybe. But I don't see a motive."
"It could be another vampire." I hoped I wasn't sending Blade in the wrong direction. I rubbed my aching forehead. None of this made sense. But hate crimes never did. "Listen, I may be all wrong. But when Flo and I saw him at church, Richard looked at me with so much hate—"
"Did he threaten you?" Blade's fingers bit into my arms. Yes, he was still holding me and I wasn't about to push him away.
"No. He didn't even speak to us. But Flo broke up with him because he was sneaking around, didn't want anyone to know he was in Austin. That's suspicious right there." This find-the-perp mode was contagious.
Blade let me go to pace in front of the storeroom. "I won't ask what you were doing in a church. But, Glory, why would Richard be killing other vampires? He's a very old vampire himself."
"He's decided he hates what he is. And he hates us. Flo says he doesn't want to be vampire anymore. But we can't kill ourselves. That vamp code thing." The vamp code's not written down anywhere, but there are some unwritten rules. Don't bite another vamp without permission. Hah, Damian! Never deliberately endanger another vampire. And we keep our secrets. It's a close knit community and when one of us is attacked, we all go on high alert and do whatever it takes.
"It's not just code, Gloriana. I knew a vampire once who tried to commit suicide." Blade looked grim, obviously remembering a bad time. "He couldn't do it. Even though you know vampires are fearless."
"Most of them anyway." I grabbed Blade's hand and made him look at me. "What happened?"
"He simply couldn't put a stake to his own heart. He begged me to do it."
"No!" I squeezed his hand. "Who was it, Jerry? Anyone I know?"
He shook his head. "He died before I met you."
"You didn't—"
"No, but he had no trouble finding a hunter to oblige him."
Blade turned away, obviously not interested in sharing any more about this with me.
I shivered and picked up a paisley challis scarf to throw around my shoulders. Had I really wasted years with my own suicidal thoughts? Am I dumb as dirt or what?
"I have no idea if Mainwaring's the one who killed Margie, but you should question him."
The storeroom door opened and Kenneth came out with Margie wrapped in the bedspread. He didn't say anything, just walked to the door and waited for Blade to flip the locks to let him out. He walked out into the night. A few quiet words and Blade stepped outside to open a car door. Blade came back in and put his arm around me.
"Where will he take her… body?" I nervously pulled the glass door closed and locked it. We could still see Kenneth as he tenderly placed Margie's body in the backseat of his car. It was really late and the street was deserted, thank God.
"I'm sure he'll find a place."
Vampires don't exactly buy cemetery plots and plan funerals. You think you'll live forever. And when a vamp does die, it's usually horrific and a loved one or another vampire will take care of burying the body. We don't melt like the Wicked Witch of the West. Or turn to dust. Instead we get a lonely unmarked grave. Forget about a headstone. What would you put? Born 1580, died 2000-and-something?
"What happened to Mac's body, Jerry?"
He looked at me and let me see his pain. "I don't know. I had Mara to deal with." He looked down at his black boots. I knew he must have a knife tucked in one. "That's another mark against that bastard Westwood. He takes fangs and then God knows how he disposes of the body. I went back later…" He ran his hand over his face. "No sign of Mac."
I wrapped my arms around him again. "How horrible for you." I leaned back and looked up at him. I've never seen Blade cry. Not in hundreds of years. And he didn't cry now. But his face could have been carved from stone.
"If something happens to me, Jerry, cremate me. Take my ashes back to England. Scatter them around the Globe." I didn't have to say it was where I'd met Jerry. He knew. Grief makes me sentimental, I guess.
"You won't die, lass. I'll see to it." His hold on me tightened and he rested his chin on my hair.
"You can't promise that, Jerry." I saw Kenny's car pull away from the curb. "You just can't." I looked back in the storeroom. The wooden cross lay on the floor in a puddle of blood. Kenny must have pulled it out.
That did it. I ran to the bathroom and was violently ill for the first time in decades. It's pretty harsh since our stomachs are basically empty.
When I came out, glad I'd had a toothbrush back there, Blade had cleaned the linoleum. He carried one of my shop sacks. The cross.
"What are you going to do with that?" I couldn't bear to think about where it had been. Margie. I swallowed, hard.
"It's evidence. I'm no forensic scientist, but I can hire one. I'll take it to one for analysis. Maybe he can discover a clue that will help us find this killer and punish him."
Vigilante justice is the only kind vampires can get. And Blade had obviously nominated himself as leader of the posse.
I kissed his stiff jaw. He grabbed me and kissed me with all the emotion that he kept pent up inside him. I leaned into him, savoring his taste and his strength. Finally Blade pulled back.
"I don't suppose you want—"
I put a hand over his mouth. I don't think he meant to be insensitive. It's just that Jerry is such a guy. Naturally he'd think sex would be a great comfort for both of us.
But passionate woman or not, I wasn't ready to climb into Jerry's bed. It was a slippery slope. Next thing you knew, I'd be sleeping o
ver. And he'd figure I'd come to my senses and had decided to give us another chance. I just wasn't ready. And wasn't sure I'd ever be. But, damn, the man could kiss.
He was staring at me, the bag with the cross between us.
"Go. See what you can find out. Keep me posted." I unlocked the front door to let him out.
"I will." He strode toward his car without a backward glance.
Well, shoot. He could have at least begged a little. There were still a few hours until dawn but I saw that pink sweater I'd set aside for Margie and didn't have the heart to reopen the shop. I called Valdez and locked up. Another dead vampire. Weren't we supposed to live forever?
Chapter Fourteen
Blade called another vamp meeting. I got Ryan to take care of the shop so Derek and I could go. Valdez too, of course. He wasn't letting me out of his sight. Not that I was objecting. Flo met us there, with Damian. We were in Blade's new house this time. An English manor style place in an affluent older neighborhood.
Damian and Blade had obviously declared a truce in the interest of vamp unity. Derek told me that Damian was renting the house to Blade, one of Damian's many properties in the city.
The vast living room was sparsely furnished but a fire blazed in the stone fireplace. Mara seemed to have taken on the role of hostess, directing some of the male vampires to bring in chairs from the dining room. This time there were almost thirty vamps present. A coven? A herd? A flock? I was still plenty freaked out about Margie. Valdez, our furry sentinel, settled near the front door.
Kenny sat in an armchair and received condolences. This seemed more like a wake than a meeting. If someone broke into "Amazing Grace," I was going to lose it, big time.
I had a killer headache. I had vowed never to be in the same room with Damian without blocking him and was sticking with it. I stood with Derek and Freddy and waited for someone to start things. I didn't have long to wait.
"People." Blade held up his hand and the room got eerily silent except for the crackling of the wood fire. "We have another danger in our midst. Do any of you know who could be staking vampires with a wooden cross?"
There was a murmur of speculation. Flo stepped forward.
"I know you think Ricardo did this, but he would not."
"Who's Ricardo?" This was said by a vamp I hadn't met. Short, stocky, probably a weight lifter in his former life.
"Richard Mainwaring." Blade looked at me. "He seems to hate vampires, some of them anyway. I tried to find him, to question him, but no luck so far."
"Why would Richard kill my Margie? We knew him in Paris, but…" Kenny stood and looked around. "You should be looking for mortal hunters instead. We don't kill our own. We don't."
"But we can." Damian walked over to Kenny and gave him a sympathetic look. "We can't kill ourselves, but we can kill our own kind. Anyone who can wield a stake can. The wooden cross suggests our killer thinks he's got some kind of holy mission. Mainwaring's been seen attending church services."
"I go to church." Another man spoke up.
"So do I." A woman this time. One I hadn't met yet. "And I sure wouldn't go out looking for other vampires to stake. It doesn't make sense."
"Ricardo is troubled. He thinks maybe we are demons from hell." Flo had her chin up, but it wobbled a little. I walked up to put an arm around her.
There were angry murmurs around the room. Obviously some vampires are evil, but this group seemed civilized, more likely to form a book club, than a posse. We all were civilized and into blending. We condemn the kind of risky behavior rogue vamps revel in. Of course rogue vamps don't attend meetings either. Richard Mainwaring sure hadn't shown.
"People." Blade held up his hand again. "Just watch out for Mainwaring. He's about Damian's size with white hair. Easy to spot. But we've had no luck tracking him down. Approach him cautiously and never alone."
"I still don't think—" Flo sighed. "We shouldn't be hasty. We have no proof that it's Ricardo."
"No, we don't." Mara had planted herself by Blade's side. "And, frankly, while I'm sorry for Kenneth's loss, I doubt the cross killer is as well organized or as well equipped as Westwood. Stay in pairs and I doubt this religious fanatic will approach you."
Mara's eyes blazed and even I had to give her credit for being bloody beautiful in her hatred. "Westwood is stalking us. Treating us like trophy animals. He has…" she swallowed, "He has Mac's fangs around his neck. We must stop him."
"You're right, Mara. So what are we doing about him?" I stepped forward, pulling Diana with me. "Diana, Flo and I were ambushed outside a mall the other night. We know it was Westwood because Diana took an arrow in the arm." I looked over at Valdez who had raised his head and was studying the crowd. "My guard dog saved us."
Valdez sat up as everyone turned to look at him. "I've got his scent. He ain't gettin' close to Blondie again."
"What scent?" The new woman again.
We'd skipped all the niceties this time and no one had bothered to introduce us. There had been crystal glasses of Bloody Merry set out on the dining room table, but clearly this was a business meeting.
Diana pulled the pieces of arrow out of her purse. She'd washed them but the wood still had a distinct odor that our enhanced sense of smell would be able to pick up easily.
"This is it, folks. Olive wood. It's Westwood's arrow of choice. Take a whiff. If you smell this, do a shift and get the hell out of there." Diana looked at Blade. "The cross that killed Margie wasn't olive wood, was it?"
"No. It's still being analyzed, but it didn't have this odor."
Everyone crowded around Diana and she passed the pieces around. While the sniffing and exclaiming were going on, Damian appeared beside me.
"Gloriana."
"I'm not speaking to you. Remember?" I turned my back. God, but my head was killing me.
"You're blocking me. Don't you trust me?" His voice was soft in my ear.
"Hell, no. And I won't look at you either." I kept my back to him. "That was a mean trick, Damian."
"But fun." He touched my neck, just a tickle. Trying to get me to turn around? Not in this lifetime.
"You have a warped sense of fun." I heard a noise. A grunt. I turned around.
Blade had pulled Damian up by his shirt and was in his face. "Leave her alone, Sabatini. Try your tricks on some other unsuspecting female."
"Jerry, I was handling it." I smiled. "But if you want to beat the hell out of him, go ahead." I turned my back again.
"Is this meeting going to degenerate into a brawl?" Mara. "Blade, tell the group what we found out about Westwood."
That got everyone quiet. I turned in time to see Blade throw Damian across the room. Of course Damian landed on his feet and kept grinning. I had a really strong feeling that Flo's brother never would have bothered with me if he hadn't seen me with Blade. Competitive bastard.
"Westwood has a vulnerability." Blade took the center of the room and looked around. "He hires men who will do anything for money. So if we want someone inside, we can buy him."
"To do what? Spy?" Flo looked around the room. "Would anyone object if we arranged for a little something to be added to his dinner?"
"Poison the bastard." A man.
"I like it." A woman.
"Too quick though. I'd like to see him suffer." Mara, of course.
"And while you're waiting for your chance at a ringside seat, some of our own are in real danger." Freddy had his arm around Derek. "I say the sooner the better."
"Bottom line is we all have to be careful." Blade was definitely the leader here. "Use your sense of smell, then be a moving target. No one can hit a vamp at warp speed." More murmurs. Nods all around.
"What about paying off one of the goons?" The body builder. "Not all of us can afford to pony up what it might take."
"Don't worry about that." Freddy looked at Derek. "I'll pay whatever is necessary."
"We'll decide who pays later. I'll move ahead as I can." Blade turned to Kenneth. "Now I think we should adjourn
this meeting. Anything you'd like to say, Kenneth?"
A eulogy. Oh, God, I didn't think I could take it. But Kenny just shook his head.
"I'll say something." Flo stepped up to Kenneth. "Marguerite was a woman who loved life, never wasted a moment of it and spent it with a lover who adored her. May we all be so blessed." She raised her glass. We all did the same. As a eulogy, it was enough. One thing was becoming crystal clear in my aching brain. I had to get with the power lessons ASAP. No way was I going to be anyone's sitting duck.
"Flo." Another Sunday night. My roommate was flipping through channels looking for something to watch. We'd talked about going out, but were still a little too freaked out for that. No church. I had a feeling Blade and Kenneth would be hanging around the Moonlight Church of Eternal Life and Joy looking for Mainwaring. I couldn't forget the hate Richard had aimed at me. He'd certainly looked capable of killing another vampire.
Flo and I'd been moping around for over a week. I'd wanted to start power lessons sooner, but between my work and Flo's always active social life, I hadn't even had a chance to mention it to my roomie.
Another reason I'd delayed, Damian had stopped by twice. I'd retreated to my bedroom and left him with Flo. He hadn't stayed long. And I was glad for that. Even with a door between us, I'd blocked him. Too bad a vampire can't take Excedrin.
Flo figured I was still mad about him biting me without permission. That worked for me. Blade had also come by, to question Flo, to give us progress reports. Which had added up to he knew nothing and the bribery scheme with one of Westwood's guards was a delicate operation that would take time.
My Kevlar had arrived. Unfortunately it only came in a weird brownish gray. I'd already found a seamstress thanks to Miranda and been measured for my bra. And wasn't that fun? Let's just say the numbers were, uh, impressive. It's a good thing I'd ordered plenty of fabric. The bra would be ready in a few days. Diana and Flo were waiting to see how mine turned out. Flo wouldn't wear anything ugly, but I was already thinking that if we could dye it black and add some lace…
Full-Figured Vampire 1 - Real Vampires Have Curves Page 17