Tall, Dark & Fangsome

by Michelle Rowen

  “I’m trying to help.”

  He backhanded me so hard that I spun around and smacked my head against the wall. Everything went black.

  The fact that it was only a dream didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy myself.

  After all, the wedding gown I wore was stunning Vera Wang. The full-length shard—an expensive mirror especially meant for vampires—I stood before reflected me from head to designer stiletto.

  “You look gorgeous,” a familiar voice said. I looked to my left to see George. “I didn’t think white was for you, but color me wrong.”

  “It’s off-white. Just like my virtue. And I’m wearing a black bra just to keep everything balanced.”

  He grinned. “Are you ready for your big day?”

  I nodded, finding it hard to not smile. “I’ve been ready for a long time.”

  “Come on, you’ve kept him waiting for a very long time.” George held his arm out for me and I took it. He led me out to a hallway where there was a railing that looked over into the church itself.

  At the front of the church stood Thierry, wearing a tuxedo, and he looked mouth-wateringly delicious.

  “Shouldn’t I be down there? I’m going to miss it.”

  George shook his head. “Trust me, it’s way safer up here.”

  Someone was making her way down the aisle—a woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a beautiful white gown that matched the one I wore. She glanced over her shoulder and I realized it was… me.

  An odd sensation of dread filled me.

  The other me looked up at where I stood on the balcony. Her eyes were pitch black. Her neck was bare—she wasn’t wearing the gold chain.

  Then the nightwalker dropped her bouquet and grabbed hold of Thierry so she could sink her fangs deeply into his throat. He didn’t even try to fight her. I screamed but no sound came out.

  The masked Red Devil now stood beside me.

  “Why didn’t you try to stop this?” His angry voice was low and raspy. He shook his head with disappointment.

  A glance downstairs showed the nightwalker-me letting Thierry drop heavily to the ground, where his body immediately disintegrated.

  Another groom stepped into his place—it was Gideon. The nightwalker hooked her arm through his and she and Gideon began to recite their vows. I stared down with horror as Gideon kissed nightwalker-me after we were proclaimed husband and wife. He glanced at the balcony and winked at me, smiling wide enough so I could see his brand-new set of fangs.

  “Thank you for everything, Sarah,” he said. “I’m sorry about the mess we made. It couldn’t be helped. But we’re together now. Forever.”

  “I love you, Gideon,” the nightwalker said.

  He kissed his bride and I realized he was now kissing me and I wasn’t doing anything to stop him—in fact, I had my arms around him and was pulling him closer to me.

  Next to where I now stood at the altar with Gideon, the Red Devil was gone as well, the red mask the only sign that he had ever existed. It lay next to the dead bodies of all of my friends.

  I began to scream.

  Chapter 10

  There was something cold and wet on my head. I slowly opened my eyes to a blast of pain and realized that George held a cool cloth against my forehead. He looked worried.

  “The Darkness totally knocked you out,” he informed me, as if I didn’t already know that tidbit of information.

  I blinked painfully and noticed I was sprawled out on the sofa. “Where did he go?”

  “After he put out your lights he let us back in. He seemed majorly freaked about the whole situation. Him and Mommy Dearest left. Are you okay?”

  I guessed the demon had gone back where he came from. His message, cryptic though it was, had been successfully delivered. I wondered if I should tell George, but decided to say nothing for now. I didn’t know what it meant. Besides, saying anything would mean a bigger explanation about Gideon was required, and I wasn’t prepared to go there.

  George was still dabbing the cold cloth against my forehead, and I pushed his hand away. “I had a disturbing dream that you gave me away at my wedding, but my nightwalker killed Thierry and instead married Gi—” I bit my tongue. “Married somebody. I couldn’t see his face.”

  “What was I wearing?” he asked very seriously.

  I tried to focus on his face. “For a dream, you looked great. Fabulous suit. I’m thinking Armani. Dream George has good taste.”

  He nodded. “Nice.”

  I tried to shake off my episode of Touched by a Demon and the subsequent nightmare it launched me into. “I have a lot of dreams about Thierry dying. However, I’m not usually the one to kill him. I hope it wasn’t a prophetic glimpse of the future.”

  He stood up and tossed the soggy cloth on an old newspaper on the coffee table. “Since it was a dream about you two getting married, it was obviously just a figment of your imagination. You two are history, after all. Right?”

  Right. He didn’t know about me and Thierry and I’d prefer to keep it that way. For his own good.

  “By the way,” he continued, “I can’t believe you’re back with Quinn and you never told me a thing. Amy sent me the photographic evidence of your tongue-twister match at the café yesterday. How could you keep this sort of juice from me?”

  “Sorry.” I shrugged. “It’s pretty new news. And you’ve been busy.”

  “I forgive you. Barely.” His bottom lip actually wobbled. “But only because you’re currently nursing a concussion.”

  I studied him for a long moment, trying to ignore the pulsing throb of my rattled brain. “Are you actually upset about this or are you just having an emotional day?”

  He sniffed. “I’m fine. Just fine.”

  “You’re acting kind of funny.”

  “Funny strange or funny ha-ha?”

  “Strange.” I touched his arm. “I’m sorry I’ve been obsessed with my own issues, but if there’s something wrong you can tell me. We’re friends.”

  He glanced at me, then moved away from the couch to stand in front of the window. “It’s nothing you have to worry your pretty little brunette head about.”

  I propped myself up on the couch with my elbows. A small wave of dizziness came over me but passed quickly. “I think I know what it is.”

  “You do?”

  I nodded. “It’s me living here. I’ve been mooching off you for far too long and I’m sorry. I’ve just got a few more things to take care of, starting with my brand-new head injury—” and ending with curses, Thierry’s secret identity, siring Gideon, and my new insight into the fun and exciting world of demons “—and then I’ll get my own place. Just know that I really appreciate what a great friend you’ve been to me during my pathetic, self-pitying time of neediness.”

  “Sarah, it’s not—”

  But I’d gotten up during my speech and made a slow, staggering beeline across the living room to give him a tight hug. “You rock, you know that?”

  He disengaged from my clinginess as best he could, then went to the closet to grab his jacket. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “I have to go out for a bit, but you stay here and rest. And chill out. And try to stay out of trouble, if that’s possible.”

  “Not sure that’s possible.”

  “Try, anyhow. After all, I only have so much house insurance.”

  Without another word, he left.

  Maybe there’d been an Invasion of the George Snatchers lately. In any case, I’d have to remember—despite my multiple other dramas—to keep an eye on him. There was nothing worse than a potentially depressed vampire. I speak from personal experience.

  I groaned and rubbed my tender scalp. Demon-boy sure had a mean left hook.

  George wanted me to stay calm and rest up after being batted around like a fanged punching bag, but how could I relax? That teenager had been possessed.

  “He holds a clue in his hand—a glimpse of a betrayal you would never expect.”

  I was fairly cert
ain he’d been talking about Gideon. And if I was going to be betrayed then I’d really love to know all about it.

  What did he hold in his hand? A remote control? A piece of fruit? Some of my butt last night when he’d kissed me?

  Another thought occurred to me.

  Maybe the demon was talking about Gideon’s BlackBerry.

  That made a whole lot of sense, actually. I’d already thought about what secrets might be inside it—names and contact information. Schedules. Meeting places. Text messages and e-mails. It seemed too simple an answer, but it was possible it could be helpful to find out who was on call to help him blackmail me to do whatever he wanted.

  Maybe no one had to get hurt. If I could get my hands on his BlackBerry I could use the information on it against him. Make him know that he didn’t hold all the power.

  Then if I still decided to sire him he’d see I did it without any duress. I’d prove to him once and for all that vampires didn’t deserve to be staked. And then he could take his newfound, benevolent view of the paranormal world back to his cronies and get hunters to stop hunting. It would be a whole new world.

  The Disney song by the same name started playing in my head.

  Okay, I wasn’t a total ignoramus. I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. But it was something to start with. Something solid.

  Then he’d give me the grimoire, no strings attached. Because that’s what friends do. They help each other out.

  Gideon Chase = my buddy.

  Obviously my concussion was worse than I’d thought it was. Thank God I had vampire-strength healing abilities now.

  I’d start with getting the cell phone away from him and take it from there. Baby steps. Tomorrow night at midnight was when I was supposed to turn him into a vampire. I really hoped that deadline wouldn’t contain too much “dead.”

  I grabbed my cell phone and scrolled to the last time Gideon had called me. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button to redial his number. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Good afternoon, Sarah,” he said. “Are you feeling better today?”

  We hadn’t exactly parted on a good note last night, had we? I remembered sinking my teeth into his tongue and him snarling some sort of threat at me when I refused his generous offer to have sex with him.

  Best friends. It could happen.

  “I want to talk to you about what happened last night.”

  There was a long pause. “So, talk.”

  I swallowed. “Not on the phone. I want to see you.”

  “Really?” He sounded intrigued. “I was under the impression you weren’t happy with me.”

  “I slept on it. I think I may have overreacted.”

  “Then by all means, come here this evening. We can pick up where we left off.”

  That could mean many things. “Can’t I see you right now?”

  “No.”

  “Why? Got company?”

  “Would that make you jealous?”

  “No.” My stomach lurched. Who was with him? I hadn’t seen anyone with him since he first came to town. “I was planning to see Quinn today as well, so I guess I can wait.”

  “I strongly suggest you say nothing to him about me today. Can I trust you, Sarah?”

  “Of course,” I said quickly. Besides, I wasn’t lying. I wouldn’t say anything today. I’d already talked to Quinn about his old hunting buddy yesterday.

  “When you come here, I also want you to tell me everything you know about the Red Devil.”

  I tensed. “I don’t know much about him.”

  “You were seen with him last night. You know enough. I’ll see you later.”

  The line went dead.

  Somebody saw me and the Red Devil last night? A shiver went down my spine. Who’d seen us? It didn’t matter, it just proved to me how closely I was being watched.

  I wanted to call Thierry. I wanted to talk to him. But I had no idea how to do that without raising Gideon’s suspicions. I couldn’t get him any more distrustful until I, at least, had that BlackBerry of his in my hot little hands.

  The plan that had seemed so sparkly a few minutes ago now seemed like a dull grasping at straws.

  Since I had told Gideon I was seeing Quinn that afternoon, that’s exactly what I did. I met him at Bodacious Bean an hour later and we spent the rest of the day together. We chatted about innocuous things that, if overheard by Gideon’s seemingly invisible spies, wouldn’t sound like anything except two people who liked each other spending time together.

  Quinn and I strolled around downtown and window shopped in the Eaton Centre, the coolest mall in the universe. Then we wandered along the frozen streets of Yorkville—probably my favorite part of Toronto, with cute boutique shops and the possibility of celebrity sightings in the trendy neighborhood. Normally it would have been a great day, but obviously my concentration was elsewhere.

  “Hey—” Quinn squeezed my hand. “Earth to Planet Sarah.”

  “Sorry.” I swallowed hard. “I’m a bit scattered today.”

  “Just today?”

  “Ha ha.” I gave him a look. “I guess I’m perfecting my craft.”

  “It’s going to be okay. You know that, right?”

  “It is?”

  He nodded firmly and grinned at me. “We’re both going to get everything we ever wanted. We’ll both find the happiness we’ve been searching for. And you know how I know that?”

  “Please share with the class.”

  His smile grew. “Because we’ve damn well earned it.”

  I eyed him. “You smoking crack?”

  “No drugs necessary. Why, don’t you believe me?”

  I breathed out and watched the air freeze into a cloud. When I was a nightwalker that wouldn’t happen. I didn’t have to breathe, and being outside in the cold would lower my body temperature. “I’m not sure what I believe anymore.”

  “Then I’ll have to believe enough for the both of us.”

  “Since when have you become the motivational speaker of the group?”

  He shrugged. “One of us has to be and I guess today it’s me. You’ve lost your optimism.”

  “I think I just misplaced it somewhere.” I chewed on my bottom lip. “If you had the chance to be human again but it came with a heavy price, would you take it?”

  He thought about that for a moment. “I’ve done my share of chasing after easy answers to hard questions. Nothing worked out how I thought it would. But if somebody presented me with a special pill today that would make me the way I used to be.” His brows drew together. “I don’t think I’d go for it. I’m okay with who I am now.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What if you were cursed?”

  “I felt like I was for a time after I got bit. Now I know I was blessed.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I think I liked you better when you were angst-ridden.”

  “Oh, trust me, I still am.” He smiled and squeezed my hand. “But life presents us with lots of forks in the road. We never know what the right one is until we walk that path and see where it leads.”

  “Please stop.”

  “Sorry. I can’t help myself.” His smile fell away and a shadow moved over his expression. “I think somebody’s following us.”

  I tensed. “So what do we do?”

  “Just act natural.”

  The sun had set. It was almost completely dark and not long before I could go and see Gideon.

  “Look at us, having fun together,” Quinn said tightly, loud enough for any passersby to hear.

  “Totally,” I agreed. “So relaxed and calm and ready to enjoy our wonderful lives. Together. Quinn and me. La la la.”

  His jaw tightened. “That didn’t sound very natural.”

  “My acting abilities aren’t what they used to be.”

  He pulled me off the sidewalk and against the wall of a high-end fashion boutique. “This is for appearances only.”

  “What is?”

  “This.” He kissed me.
I was surprised, but knew it would definitely help show anyone who might be watching that Quinn and I were together romantically.

  I’d kissed Quinn a few times before, and there had been some great chemistry between us in the past. But this? This was just for show, and the attraction I’d once felt for him was all but completely gone.

  Still. The ex-hunter had some amazing lips on him.

  He finally pulled away enough to whisper in my ear. “Sorry about that.”

  “Sorry?” I managed. “Don’t be sorry.”

  “I wonder if the Red Devil witnessed that one as well.” I felt him grin against the side of my face. “I know he’s keeping tabs on you. Must have given him quite an eyeful just now.”

  Well, that was possible.

  I knew then, without a doubt, that along with anyone Gideon had tailing me, the kiss had also been witnessed by Thierry. I concentrated enough to feel his presence through our vampire/sire connection.

  Quinn had always brought out his jealous side. Served him right.

  “I have to go,” I told Quinn. “I have an appointment.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  I shook my head. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

  It took a bit more convincing, but I managed to part ways with Quinn, and just before seven o’clock I approached the Madison Manor. My steps slowed the closer I got to Gideon’s hotel as I tried to calm myself.

  This will go just fine, I tried to tell myself.

  I could handle Gideon Chase. He was putty in my hands.

  Sure.

  I heard a voice from the shadows.

  “You’re seeing Gideon again?” the Red Devil as played by Thierry de Bennicoeur asked. “What a surprise.”

  I put a hand on my hip. “He’s just so charming I can’t stay away.”

  “I see. So you feel the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it?”

  I’d taken an English Lit course the year I’d been in university. I recognized a good Oscar Wilde quotation when it was sarcastically thrown in my direction.

  Or maybe he was just being truthful. I tried to see the situation from his point of view. I knew Thierry didn’t want me to put myself in harm’s way by seeing Gideon. He’d told me as much to my face. And yet here I was merrily prancing into Gideon’s hotel room again as if it was no big deal.