Tall, Dark & Fangsome

by Michelle Rowen

  “There are so many things that I regret in my life.”

  I touched his face and made him look at me. “Which totally answers the question of why you’re always so serious.”

  He finally met my eyes directly. “Actually, I was serious even as a human.”

  “Figures.”

  I kissed him again before he pulled back to look down at me. He stroked the hair off my forehead.

  “I keep waiting for you to be so disgusted by my past that you really, truly want to leave me. And your spending a great deal of time with Gideon while keeping it from me has done nothing to ease my mind.”

  I sighed. “Damn. I never knew master vampires could be so needy.”

  His lips twitched with amusement. “I’m not needy.”

  “So needy. And jealous. And possessive. But just for the record, I’m not giving Gideon anything other than my time.”

  “You kissed him.”

  “It was nothing. Seriously.” I cleared my throat. “So what would you like me to do about Veronique wanting to become the Red Devil’s lover? Seriously. She’s so into the guy that a little drool messed up her Chanel lip gloss when she was talking about him. It was kind of sad.”

  “Are you trying to change the subject?”

  “Yes, I am. Now, Veronique and the Red Devil. Your thoughts?”

  He raised a dark eyebrow. “I’m afraid having an affair with my estranged wife is not something that interests me.”

  “Come on, now. The woman is beautiful. She’s powerful and savvy and you guys have a lot of history together.”

  “This is all very true.”

  I cringed. If Thierry and Veronique were Internet dating, they’d definitely be matched up together. Me? I’d be put with the guy who still lived with his parents and enjoyed an unhealthy relationship with video games.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  He sighed. “You’re serious about this?”

  “No. Forget it. I really don’t want to know.”

  He shook his head. “You asked and I’ll answer. Why wouldn’t I embrace the chance to be with Veronique again? Being that she’s so—as you believe—perfect?”

  “Did I say that?”

  “Numerous times.”

  “Okay, then why? Why would you put up with everything we’ve been through? Everything we’re probably going to go through, when the simple, perfect choice has been right in front of you all along?”

  “Why would you choose to be with me when you’re obviously better matched with Quinn?” he countered.

  I blinked at that. “Well, I’m not in love with him, for one thing. Also, Quinn’s engaged to a really scary blond chick now. I probably wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole even if I wanted to.”

  His expression darkened significantly. “Except for kissing him in public earlier today. And admittedly kissing Gideon as well and not wanting it to be a topic of conversation between us.”

  I swallowed hard. “Gideon showed what kind of person he was tonight when he slit two hunters’ throats and nearly killed you.”

  Thierry sat up, swung his legs over the side of my bed, and proceeded to get dressed without another word.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “In twenty-four hours you’re supposed to sire Gideon. Now that I know that your blood is as powerful as he believes it to be, I’m very worried what this will mean.”

  “So I sire him and he leaves us alone. That was the original plan, wasn’t it?”

  He shook his head, his brow deeply creased with worry. “You don’t know what the implications could be when someone like him is given the power and strength equivalent of a master vampire.”

  He was right, of course. I let out a shaky breath. “I know, this is bad. I’m sorry.”

  “Please don’t apologize.” He slid into his black jacket. “And if you really want to know how I could possibly choose you over such a perfect woman as Veronique—just know that such perfection is highly overrated.”

  He slid his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled something out. Something small that sat easily in his palm. “Know that I carry this with me every day with the hope that I’ll earn the right to be able to give it to you again.”

  It was a ring studded with diamonds around its circumference. An eternity band. He’d given it to me a couple of weeks ago and I’d given it back to him when I’d been forced to break things off with him. While it wasn’t an engagement ring—hard to be engaged to somebody who was already married—it symbolized Thierry’s wanting to have me in his life.

  My heart swelled to the size of a hot-air balloon. “Can I have it back now?”

  He closed his hand and shook his head. “I’m going to hold on to it for safekeeping.”

  “You carry that with you everywhere?”

  He nodded.

  A smile began to spread across my face. “You are such a romantic.”

  I gathered the sheets around me and kneeled on the side of the bed. He sat down on the edge and touched my face, stroking the hair out of my eyes and tucking it behind my ears.

  “I love that you saw through my disguises to who I truly am.” His voice was thick.

  “Bad disguise. Really flimsy.” I smiled as he brushed his mouth against mine. “But I love you anyhow.”

  He raised an amused eyebrow. “Now, I must go. Before tomorrow night I have to figure out how best to deal with Gideon without jeopardizing the safety of anyone.”

  His words worked like a splash of cold water in my face. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe I forgot!”

  “Forgot what?”

  “I wanted to grab Gideon’s BlackBerry tonight in his hotel room, but it totally fell through,” I said, choosing to limit the details, including being pressed up against the wall by the BlackBerry owner in question as my inner nightwalker rubbed against Gideon like a cat. “I’d hoped it would show me who his contacts were—the men he’s assigned to do his dirty work. If I could get that we’d definitely have an advantage.”

  “But you weren’t able to get it?”

  “Not then. But in the alley when I was…” I chewed my bottom lip as I flashbacked to what happened earlier. “… doing my Gideon Chase taste test I managed to grab it.”

  “You did?”

  I leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed my jeans, pulling the small black device out of the front pocket. “Ta da!”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

  I shrugged. “I was a bit busy dealing with the Red Devil dying on George’s living room carpet. And then I was distracted by—” I smiled at him “—other things.”

  “Definitely the highlight of the evening for me.” He slid his warm hand along my arm before he frowned. “The ‘other things’ you speak of, not dying on the carpet.”

  I grinned. “I figured that’s what you meant.”

  He took the BlackBerry from me, pressed the on button, then scrolled to the list of sent and received messages.

  I saw a long line of my cell-phone number from when Gideon had contacted me or I’d contacted him.

  “You have been in constant contact with him, haven’t you?” he said unpleasantly.

  “He is blackmailing me.”

  “Of course.”

  There was only one other number listed several times.

  It was a number I recognized all too well.

  I shook my head. “No, there has to be more.”

  “This is all there is. The device has only kept a record of the past five days.”

  Breathing was beginning to be difficult as my heart slammed against my rib cage. I couldn’t believe that number. I knew it. I’d dialed it myself many times before.

  “He holds a clue in his hand,” the demon possessing the teenaged wizard had told me. “Of a betrayal you would never expect.”

  “No, it’s not possible,” I managed.

  Thierry regarded my stricken expression. “What’s wrong?”

  I tried no
t to throw up right then and there.

  A betrayal I’d never expect.

  He frowned and touched my face with concern. “Sarah, who is it? Who is Gideon’s informant?”

  I swallowed so hard it hurt. “It’s George.”

  Chapter 13

  It was nearly two o’clock in the morning when George got home.

  He jumped when he saw me waiting on the couch for him and put a hand to his chest. “Okay, that was creepy. Are you lying in wait ready to pounce on me?”

  “I’m like a ninja.” I eyed him. “A dangerous, pissed-off ninja.”

  “I’m glad you’re still up.” He threw his coat into the closet and untied his black bow tie, which, along with his tight black pants, was the sum total of his new waiter’s uniform. “I think I was fired. I’m officially morbidly depressed and I really need a friendly face right now.”

  He’d come to the wrong place for that. “Why would they ever want to fire a great guy like you?”

  He didn’t seem to notice the seething sarcasm attached to the words.

  He rubbed his temples. “It’s very possible I spilled an entire tray of drinks on a bachelorette party who then decided to take up their squelchy disappointment with the manager. She, in turn, yelled at me for being distracted on the job and threw me out. It wasn’t pleasant.”

  “I bet.” So he was distracted, huh? I guessed not telling your friends you’re spying on them had a tendency to weigh heavy on one’s mind.

  “I’ll find another way to make some extra cash.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you will.” I patted the seat next to me. “Come sit. I want to have a little chat with you.”

  He looked at me warily. “Everything okay? You seem a little, what’s the word? Freaky?”

  “I’m queen of the freaks right now.”

  His brows lowered. “You’re still wearing your chain, right? Not feeling like biting anybody?”

  “I’ll keep my fangs to myself. Promise.”

  Hesitantly, he did as I asked and sat down next to me. I searched his handsome face for a definite sign that he was a liar and a traitor—like somebody I trusted more than almost anyone else in the whole world, but who would betray our friendship like a dirty rat bastard.

  He had his hands clasped together tightly and a tense, frozen smile on his face. “So… what’s up?”

  “Is there something you’ve been keeping from me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Something important that has been affecting your moods and causing you to spill drinks on unsuspecting women?”

  He let out a shaky breath. “Yes. But, I can’t say anything.”

  “Really?” I cocked my head to the side. “Why? Is it a surprise? My birthday isn’t until October.”

  His bottom lip wobbled. “Look, I know I’m acting strangely. But you… you just have to trust me. And don’t ask me any questions.”

  “Trust you?”

  He nodded. “Sometimes I have to keep secrets. If I don’t, then people will get hurt.”

  This wasn’t exactly the reaction I’d been expecting. “What are you talking about?”

  He grabbed my arm. “I love you, Sarah. In a completely nonsexual way, of course. But whatever happens, I want you to remember that. And I love Amy. And I love Barry… although not nearly as much as I love you and Amy.” He glanced off to the armchair next to where we were seated. “Oh, hi, Thierry. I love you, too.”

  “Hello, George,” Thierry said.

  George must really have been distracted to not see him sitting there the whole time.

  His frown deepened and he looked at me. “What’s he doing here? I thought you broke up.”

  I shrugged. “That was actually a lie. We’re still together, but nobody knows.”

  George clasped his hands over his ears and his eyes widened. “Do not tell me things like that! Please!”

  “Why not?” I glanced at Thierry. “It’s good gossip, isn’t it?”

  Thierry nodded. “I’d say so.”

  “That’s the problem!” George got up from the couch and paced to the other side of the room where he peeked through the curtains to the street outside, before spinning dramatically around to face us again. He wrung his hands. “Okay… I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but I have to. I’ve been keeping a secret so big that it’s literally been killing me.”

  Thierry leaned forward a little. “Do you mean the secret that Gideon Chase is still alive and you’ve been working as his informant?”

  I tensely studied George’s reaction. It didn’t come right away.

  “You know?” His voice sounded strangled.

  I nodded. “We both do.”

  Instead of immediately trying to escape the house or explain it away in a rush of words, he let out a long, loud sigh of relief. “Thank God you know! I’ve been dying inside a little bit each day with this. You don’t know what it’s like to keep a secret this freaking big!”

  “Actually—” I began, but George rushed back to the couch and grabbed me in a tight bear hug that squeezed the breath right out of me. He kissed me hard on the side of my face.

  That was not the reaction I’d expected. At all.

  George then hugged a very reluctant Thierry before sitting down hard on the floor and crossing his legs. “Gideon has been blackmailing me. He said he’d kill you, Sarah, if I didn’t keep him informed about everything you’re up to.”

  Even though I’d already mostly figured it out, the confirmation still managed to stun me. George was Gideon’s spy. That’s why he always knew where I was going and who I was with.

  But, hold on a minute…

  “He said he’d kill me?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yes! And he said he’d kill Amy, too. I swear, I never would have helped him if I had any other choice. But I had to protect my girls.” He paused. “And myself, of course.”

  Thierry stood up and came to sit next to me. He took my hand in his. “So you’ve been in touch with Gideon daily about Sarah’s whereabouts and activities?”

  George nodded. “I only told him the bare minimum. Things like Quinn being back in town and dating Sarah.” He glanced at us each in turn. “Two men again, Sarah? Still impressed. I’m currently mortified, humiliated, and unemployed, but I’m very impressed.”

  “Forget about Quinn,” I said.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps I should be telling you the same thing.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?” I’d been so ready to hear the worst—that George had betrayed me over a stack of money, or something petty like that, but he wasn’t a good liar. He was telling the truth right now. I knew it. And it was such a total and complete relief I nearly burst into happy tears.

  “Gideon said if I breathed a word he’d kill you and Amy.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t believe he said that.”

  “Gideon Chase,” George said the name shakily. “The leader of the vampire hunters? Hello? He’s crazy. Certifiably insane, I think. And angry. And tall. And he had a lot of scars and then, poof, he didn’t have any scars anymore. What’s that all about? He threatened me and, based on his history of death and destruction, I wasn’t exactly in a position to argue with him.”

  I nodded in agreement. “He’s desperate, sure. The pain from the hellfire made him do some fairly crazy things in the beginning, but I don’t know if I’d call him insane. Nicolai was insane. Peter was insane.” A vampire and a hunter, respectively, who’d both died when trying to kill me. “But Gideon is just… I don’t know… focused.”

  George, who didn’t have any idea of my connection to the hunter, just stared at me with confusion. “What in the holy hell are you talking about?”

  “Why are you defending him?” Thierry asked me quietly.

  “I’m not defending him.”

  “It sounds as if you are.”

  I swallowed. “I’m just saying that he’s made a lot of mistakes in his life and the rich, hunting family he was born i
nto didn’t exactly help. Maybe this situation—getting burned and now being turned into a vampire—is what he needs to finally change his ways.”

  “You witnessed him kill two hunters tonight in cold blood. And he almost killed me.”

  “I know that.”

  “And even though he’s obviously lied about having any assassins or spies on call—other than his connection to George—he’s threatened the people you love with death.” Thierry’s face had gone expressionless.

  George’s eyes were very wide. “What’s going on here?”

  Thierry raised a dark eyebrow. “It’s obvious. Despite what she might want me to believe, Sarah is smitten with the hunter.”

  “I really hate that word,” I said, feeling sick to my stomach. “And I’m not. At all.”

  “Gideon is very intelligent. He knows how to manipulate others to get what he wants. In George’s case he wanted to use fear against him with threats. With you, Sarah, it began with threats, but obviously changed into something else he found more effective. Perhaps gifts? Compliments? Did he use his infamous charm on you? Is that why you enjoyed the kiss you shared the other night?”

  “Hold on,” George cut in. “Sarah kissed Gideon? What the f—”

  “Forget it, George.” I crossed my arms, feeling very uncomfortable suddenly at how perceptive Thierry could be. “It was nothing.”

  “This is why you wouldn’t do the eradication, isn’t it?” George said. “Maybe you didn’t want to forget the softer side of Gideon?”

  “Eradication?” Thierry repeated.

  “Didn’t you tell him?” George asked. “Yeah, Sarah and I went to see this wizard kid a couple of days ago. He could remove her curse, but it would also have made her human again and wiped six months of memories out of her pretty little head.”

  My face felt frozen. “Did I neglect to mention that?”

  “It didn’t come up.” Thierry’s voice was cold. “But perhaps you discussed it with Gideon instead.”

  I glared at him. “I don’t need this right now.”

  “What?”

  “This jealousy bullshit. I don’t feel anything toward Gideon. Just let it go once and for all, would you?”

  He nodded and stood up. The warmth I had seen in his eyes when he looked at me before had been replaced by something frostier. “I think I’m going to go now before I say something I might regret. There are things I need to take care of.”