Blood Bath & Beyond

by Michelle Rowen

  I shuddered. This would be Thierry’s job as soon as Bernard officially handed it off to him—staking dangerous vampires if they needed staking. “Let’s hope that happens soon.”

  She raised her glass. “To a job well-done.”

  “I’ll definitely drink to that.” We clinked glasses and I took a sip. Actually, it was more like a glug as I drained my glass completely in a couple swallows.

  “Now, Sarah,” Laura began. “Let’s talk about something more pleasant than nasty Ring business and murders. I’d love to know how you and Thierry met.”

  A subject that also involved violence and blood loss, so it really wasn’t quite as much of a shift in conversation as she might think.

  The truth was that I’d been sired against my will by a vampiric blind date, and when I tried to run away from the hunters who’d killed him shortly after—so they wouldn’t do the same to me—I found Thierry standing on the edge of a bridge. Weary of his centuries of living, he’d been about to stake himself and let his remains fall into the river below. Instead, we decided to save each other.

  Such a fairy tale.

  I chose not to share it without excessive editing. “I was out for a jog late one night and our paths happened to cross.” I shrugged. “The rest is history. How about you?”

  She took a sip from her cappuccino, which the waiter had just delivered. “My original sire abandoned me and I had to find my way on my own, which was very difficult as I’m sure you know. One night, Bernard and I passed each other in Central Park and our eyes met. It sounds cliché, but it was love at first sight. Now we get to spend the rest of our lives together.”

  So she wasn’t with her original sire, either. We had more in common than I thought. “Have you had any problems with the age difference between you two?”

  Enough chitchat, already, I thought. Let the valuable grilling commence.

  She was quiet for a moment, but a wistful smile played at her lips. “I’d be lying if I said no. Bernard has so much history behind him; he’s seen and experienced so much. Sometimes I worry that I’m not enough for him, that my human ways might start to wear on his patience too much. That he won’t find them as charming as he did in the beginning.”

  That sounded painfully familiar.

  She continued. “I’ve said this to him, but he tells me that it’s not true. That he loves me just as I am. We’ve been together for five years and every year is better than the last.” She glanced at me. “Do you feel that way toward Thierry?”

  “Well, in the beginning I felt very uncertain”—my grip tightened on my empty wineglass—“to say the least. He tried to avoid me and make me think that he didn’t care about me. He was very convincing, actually.”

  “But you were stubborn and you let him know that you loved him.”

  “I was rather adamant about it. If ‘adamant’ is another word for questionably intelligent.”

  “And you convinced him.”

  “Eventually I can wear down just about anyone.” I gave her a grin. “I’m tenacious like that.”

  “And now you’ve agreed to leave your home behind and join him in his travels.” At my nod, she touched my hand. “It might seem like a difficult transition, but I think you’ll do just fine.”

  That remained to be seen. “What’s it like being the wife of someone who works for the Ring?”

  “Honestly? It’s incredibly boring. But I find ways to occupy myself.”

  “How? Do you help Bernard with his job?”

  “Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to get in his way. But I like to go shopping. Have my hair done.” She slid her fingers through her beautiful blowout. “I get a manicure twice a week. Weekly massages. Pedicures. I go to the theater frequently. I attend auctions and charity events. And I have many friends in most major cities. It helps to fill my time when Bernard is too busy.”

  Something about her rundown didn’t sit all that well with me. I’d been hoping for a life with a little more purpose to it than personal maintenance and random entertainment. “So you’re saying that being the wife of someone in Bernard’s position gives you the liberty to enjoy an eternal life of leisure.”

  Laura’s smile widened. “It beats slaving away at a desk job. I did that for too many years to count.”

  “Yeah, me too.” But at least working for a paycheck gave me a reason to get up in the morning.

  “Things are better now. Much better.” She squeezed my hand. “You’ll get used to it. And if you really don’t like traveling so much, you can always take an apartment somewhere. Then you can fly out and meet Thierry for a week or two at a time.”

  I pondered that. “It doesn’t sound like much of a marriage.”

  “Which is the reason I choose to be by Bernard’s side whenever he needs me. I try to support him as much as I possibly can, and the least I can do is make sure I always look as good as possible. I think he appreciates that.”

  I nodded, but still felt a bit queasy from the direction of this conversation. “I guess there are lots of options.”

  Although…I wasn’t sure I was really totally on board with the idea of going shopping every day for the rest of forever as my main raison d’être. This was not something I would have said a year ago—nonstop shopping and beauty salons would have been right up my alley then. Funny how some things change.

  We chatted for a while longer, but I wasn’t getting any meaty answers to my questions like I’d wanted, which was disappointing. It was difficult to dig down through Laura’s layers. That is, if she even had any beyond what was visible on the surface. I learned nothing that helped give me true insight on what my future with Thierry held, now that our relationship had taken a new, Ring-inspired direction.

  But Bernard and Laura…well, they were us. Both in looks and position. Maybe I needed to accept that and be happy about it instead of always seeing the glass half-empty.

  Frankly, I could use a manicure. My cuticles were currently a disaster.

  After silence fell between us and I’d personally finished the bottle of wine right down to the very last drop, we decided to look for the men. I followed Laura out of the swanky restaurant and down marble-swathed hallways until we reached the exit to lead us to the pool and courtyard area, but objects in my peripheral vision blurred as I thought through everything she’d told me.

  A life of leisure. No reason to have a job. It all replayed in my mind again and again like an iPod set on replay.

  All my adult life, I’d had jobs that didn’t pay much—personal assistant, waitress, bartender. I’d still been figuring out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life when that life had changed forever with one unexpected bitten neck.

  Searching for meaning in my life had me constantly wandering into dead ends. Every time I thought I’d found the right thing for me, something happened to mess it up. Maybe I’d never find my perfect vocation. Maybe this was my destiny—to be exactly like Laura. I supposed there were worse things to aspire to. She seemed happy enough.

  I never would have predicted my destiny would be to become Thierry’s well-dressed, wisecracking sidekick as we traveled the world making sure vampires at large behaved themselves. If I could be useful, then that was one thing, but if he did his thing and I went off and had fake nails applied every other day like Laura—well, that was way different.

  I didn’t want to be just a hanger-on who didn’t contribute anything to our relationship other than letting him know what designer shoes I’d bought on sale that day. I had doubts that…

  Well, let’s just say I had doubts. Big, ugly, slimy ones. I’d hoped that speaking with Laura would help alleviate them, but it had just made them that much bigger, uglier, and slimier.

  It was warm outside and there was a light breeze. The stars were bright and the moon hung heavy in the clear sky. A few people lounged leisurely on the deck, soaking up the beautiful evening. The courtyard’s landscaping was painstakingly manicured to a leafy and floral perfection. It felt like I was walking through
the huge backyard of a well-populated Mediterranean villa. I think I could live very happily here if given the option. Plus, the poolside bar was a definite bonus—even though it was currently closed for the day.

  “There they are,” Laura said, after we’d walked a slow circle around the pool.

  The men stood next to a stone railing near the pool on the opposite side, where I assumed they were enjoying the stinky cigars. As we drew closer, however, I realized with surprise that they weren’t having a calm conversation about the toddler pageant or Thierry’s assignment here.

  No. There was nothing calm about the furious expression on Thierry’s face.

  I gasped out loud when he grabbed hold of the front of Bernard’s crisp white shirt and shook him violently.

  “I swear I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch,” Thierry snarled, loud enough to get the attention of a dozen people in the area.

  I’d very rarely heard such rage in his voice before, and cold fear sliced through me. He looked like he wanted to rip Bernard’s throat out. I raced up to them and grabbed his arm. “Thierry! What are you doing?”

  Thierry’s livid expression froze and his gaze flicked to me. He let go of Bernard as if the other vampire had suddenly burst into flames. Bernard brushed off the front of his suit.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Thierry.” He seemed calm, but his pale green eyes flashed with anger and his French accent seemed even thicker than before. “I wish we could have come to a better understanding. This, however, isn’t over yet. You know that.”

  Laura rushed to her husband’s side, her gaze now guarded and fearful as she glanced at Thierry. She slid her arm around Bernard’s and began directing him off the patio.

  “Good night, Sarah,” she said tightly, with a quick flick of a look toward me.

  After they left, Thierry’s hands curled over the railing. His shoulders looked extremely tense.

  “So…I’d heard that there were celebration cigars being passed around out here.” I tried to ignore the curious stares we received from others out by the pool. “Were they the exploding kind? I know you’re not a big fan of practical jokes.”

  His face was rigid, but he didn’t look at me. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “What was that all about? I thought you two were friends.”

  He snorted softly. Whatever boiling anger had been in his expression a minute ago had settled down to a simmer. “We have some unpleasant history between us that raised its ugly head tonight, I’m afraid.”

  “Anything you want to share?”

  His brow furrowed. “You needn’t worry yourself about this.”

  “About my fiancé uttering random death threats? Who, me worry?”

  “I lost control of myself for a moment there.”

  “Which doesn’t ease my mind at all. Thierry, you are the poster boy for control—unless there’s a serious problem. What is it? Tell me.”

  He reached down and took my hand in his. “There’s no problem. Bernard and I won’t have to see each other again after tomorrow, so any future conflict will be avoided.”

  “I think that’s a good idea.”

  “I agree. How did your talk go with Laura after we left?”

  I eyed him. “Changing the subject, are we?”

  His lips twitched a little as if he wanted to smile. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Uh-huh.” He seemed to have calmed down. I had no idea what had set him off, but I probably wouldn’t find out. Not from him, anyway. Thierry’s secretive nature was annoying sometimes, but for now I’d let it go. “Laura gave me the details about how I will be of help to you in your new job. It involves a great deal of salon time and having perfect hair and fingernails at all times.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Does that interest you?”

  “Not particularly. I mean, I like to keep up a fairly shiny appearance, but I’d rather it not be my full-time job if I can help it. I’d rather…uh, help you. I mean, if that’s even allowed.”

  He didn’t seem surprised or disturbed to hear of Laura’s intense salon commitment. “Allowed?”

  I thought things through for a moment as we stood there in silence. “Can I come with you when you talk to the little pageant vamp?”

  “Do you really want to?”

  “We could play good cop and bad cop.” I actually smiled at the picture that presented. “I’ll be the bad cop.”

  That made him grin as well. “Sounds interesting.”

  I faltered a little, uncertain about the job and how it could possibly involve someone who had no experience with this sort of thing. Also, Laura specifically said she didn’t get in Bernard’s way. “Unless…I mean, unless you’d prefer I’m not involved. If it’s not okay with you—”

  “It’s very okay with me. In fact, I think it’s an excellent idea.” He studied my face for a moment. “You would be a great help to me in dealing with a situation like this. You have a way about you that helps put people at ease. Alone, I might scare her.”

  “You, scary? Nah. Well…good. So we’ll talk to her together—and nobody has to get scared.” I felt elated that he wanted me by his side for this without it being the least bit awkward between us. Then I sobered. “You know what’s scary? The vampire serial killer. Laura and I talked about it a bit. Six victims so far! Do you think it’s going to be a huge problem for the Ring to handle?”

  He shook his head. “Between Bernard and the local police, it’ll be taken care of swiftly. The worst it will do is draw more interested hunters to the area. Just be vigilant, Sarah.”

  “I put the v into vigilant.” Despite the nasty aura of danger around the city and seeing Thierry snap at Bernard, I felt pretty good about everything. “So, unless you have any other death threats to utter tonight…or celebration cigars to smoke…”

  “I think I’ve met my quota for the day. For both.”

  “Then let’s rest up so we can chat with Little Miss Sunshine tomorrow.”

  He smiled. “See? You’re already an asset to this job. You’re keeping me on schedule.”

  “I was a personal assistant in my previous life, you know.”

  Thierry hadn’t told me what Bernard had said to upset him so much, but I didn’t suppose it really mattered. When you’d lived as long as Thierry had, you ended up racking up enemies much like poker chips. When face-to-face with those enemies, you had to know when to play another hand and when to cash out.

  Viva Las Vegas.

  Chapter 3

  Her name was Victoria Corday and she was presently wearing a little fuchsia-colored cowboy hat, a hot-pink frilly dress, and a sequined vest. With fringe. She didn’t look a day over six years old as she belted out a Reba McEntire tune into the microphone in the middle of the stage during rehearsals for the Little Miss Platinum Vegas pageant that was to take place later tonight.

  Thierry and I watched from backstage.

  “You’re sure that’s her?” I whispered.

  “Positive.”

  I wanted to ask him a ton of questions, but I tried to be quiet.

  There was a first time for everything.

  Ever since last night and his confrontation with Bernard, I’d felt that he was closed off. Whatever they’d been talking about before Laura and I interrupted had troubled him deeply, but he didn’t want to discuss it with anyone. Including me.

  I really wished that he would feel comfortable enough to share every last one of his secrets with me. I’d learned a bit about his past, the good and the bad—although, frankly, it was mostly bad—and all of it had shaped the man I fell in love with. But he still held back from me. I wasn’t sure if this was something we’d get over eventually or if it would always be like this between us. Me, the perpetually open, pink-covered Chick Lit book, and him, the murky fog straight out of a Stephen King novel, hiding secrets with sharp teeth and claws.

  I believed that he really did love me, but that didn’t mean he wanted me to know everything about him.

  For example,
I still didn’t understand why he’d take this job in the first place and every time I’d asked him what this “offer he couldn’t refuse” had entailed, he changed the subject. The Ring seemed like a shadowy entity, like the mob, that did things according to their own rules, even if they didn’t match up with what the world might consider proper conduct.

  They scared the crap out of me, actually. In a way they were even scarier than vampire hunters. At least with hunters you knew what to expect—a stake aimed at your heart the moment they realized that you had fangs. No questions asked, no judge and jury, just an executioner. With the Ring—well, they had their own mysterious agenda. Sometimes it involved sharp stakes to take care of a problem and sometimes it involved job offers that one couldn’t refuse.

  And call me crazy, but I had a hard time believing they were just going to accept me joining Thierry as his official personal assistant without any argument at all, even if he seemed okay with it right now.

  Thierry had to realize that him and me—well, we were a team. And if he started being Mr. Secretive again on a regular basis like he’d been when we first met, then it was going to quickly become a big, fat problem that no size of muumuu was going to cover.

  Victoria hit the high note at the end of the song, warbling just like Reba herself. There was a scattering of applause from the few people in attendance and she sauntered off the stage, fringe swishing and her tiny cowboy boots clomping across the wooden floor.

  “Well-done, Vicky!” A fat, bald man who looked around forty approached her, knelt down in front of her, and presented her with a red lollipop. “You sounded fantastic, kiddo!”

  “Thanks!” When she grinned, I peered closer.

  “No fangs,” I whispered.

  “She likely has them filed,” Thierry replied.

  A lot of vampires who wanted to blend just that much better into human society had their fangs filed down, which required regular maintenance, kind of like having your nails done. The only problem was, if you let yourself get too hungry and then got a whiff of the red stuff—boom—they were back again like tiny twin switchblades, even sharper than before.