“She’s a vampire.” Rexton moved to stand beside me. “She’s a murderer.”
“That’s not true.” Adrian shook his head. “Not all vampires are bad.”
“She left you for dead in a warehouse.” Rexton sat down on the edge of the bed. “Don’t you think it might be time to stop defending her?”
“She didn’t leave me for dead. Come on, Gabriella. Help me.”
“I don’t know how to help you.” Especially because seeing Rexton on the bed made me want to join him.
“Talk to her.” He put his hands together as if in prayer.
“I don’t want to die. I spend enough time talking to ghosts to know I don’t want that.”
“Most people don’t become ghosts.” Rexton made it sound so obvious. “Only ones who can’t let go.”
“Well, what if I’m one of the ones who can’t let go?” Adrian ran his hand through his hair. “You never know. I might be.” He sounded so sad.
“You know what.” Rexton jumped to his feet. “Let’s help him.”
“I said I wanted her to help.” Adrian pointed to me. “Not you.”
“Well, we come as a pair.” He put his arm around me. “You want her; you get me, too.”
I felt better. I shouldn't have. I’d always been completely independent. But then again, it wasn’t a frequent occurrence for me to meet with a vampire princess. A vampire princess. I wasn’t doing this. “Hey, I never said I was doing it.”
“You talk to ghosts, yet you are afraid of her?” Adrian’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Ghosts can’t hurt me.”
Rexton winced. “Uh, yeah. This is why you need guidance.”
“Wait. You are telling me ghosts can hurt me?” I looked at Adrian with new eyes.
“Hey.” He wove his hands in front of him. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“He’s pretty harmless.” Rexton patted my arm. “For now.”
“So ghosts can hurt you.” I wasn’t asking it as a question this time. I was thinking back on pretty much my entire life.
“I'm surprised you haven’t discovered that the hard way yet.” Rexton ran his hand over my back.
“Well, maybe they have. But I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Ah.” Rexton’s hand stilled. “Accidents that didn’t make sense.”
“Exactly.” Maybe I hadn’t been as big of a klutz as I thought.
“Yup. You need guidance.”
“And you’re going to give it?” I didn’t tamp down my disbelief.
“Yes. I’d like to give you guidance in a lot of things.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Let’s start with ghosts.” And I’d try really hard to keep it at just that.
“If you insist.”
“If you go with her, no flirting with Madelina.” Adrian crossed his arms.
“If you haven’t figured it out already, my interests lie elsewhere.” Rexton’s eyes swept over me.
“I see that. And Gabriella is very pretty. But you haven’t met Madelina yet.”
“Trust me. I’m plenty distracted. And I’m unhappy we were interrupted, so let’s get this over with so you will leave us alone.”
“Where did you see her?” If we were doing this, I wanted it over with as soon as possible. “Where was she?”
“Upstairs.” Adrian’s expression brightened. “On the rooftop.”
I remembered the stairs. “Okay.” We needed to get moving before I changed my mind.
Rexton put a hand on my lower back. “We’ll get through this alive, and then we’re picking up where we left off.”
I had absolutely no interest in arguing.
Chapter Five
Halfway up the next set of rainbow stairs I was stuck in place. I was transfixed by the thumping music coming from the band. You’d think a girl who could communicate with ghosts wouldn’t be so awed by a supernatural band, yet there I was, staring at the blue-haired singer.
“We can stop and listen later.” Rexton put a hand on the small of my back and led me further up the stairs. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Agreed. Sorry,” I mumbled. Getting the meeting with the vampire over with was very high on my list.
We reached the roof. My attention immediately went to a commotion at the bar. This gorgeous guy with jet black hair, and the kind of muscles you could see even through a dress shirt, was screaming about some nightshade infused bullet.
I pulled my attention from the bar when I saw Adrian pale. “She’s still there.” It was a testament to how solid he was in appearance that I was able to notice his change in color. “In one of those pits.” He pointed to a row of three sunken conversation pits, each glowing a neon color. “She was in that one before.” He nodded toward the one on the right.
“And you think we are just going to walk down there and talk to her?” I’d have much rather been passing my time on the dance floor or at the bar. “If she’s some sort of princess, she’s going to have protection.” At least that’s what I assumed. Maybe a vampire didn’t need protection.
“You’ll have protection too.” Rexton’s arm slinked around my waist and pulled me close to him. “And I know how to handle this. Follow my lead.”
“You expect me to follow you blindly?” It was far easier to think straight out in the open air although that didn’t mean the pull and need had disappeared.
“You followed me blindly before, and that turned out well, didn’t it?” Rexton raised an eyebrow.
My body warmed just thinking about how well that worked out. “At least give me a hint. What if they ask me questions?”
“We are offering our services.” He didn’t bat an eye at the group of girls openly checking him out.
“Wait. What?” I pushed away the sexy memories. “Are you crazy?”
“Of course I’m crazy. I talk to ghosts.” He grinned.
I swatted at his arm. “Stop.”
“Why does that word bother you so much?”
“Because I’ve been called it far too many times.” Often by the people I cared about the most.
“I happen to view it as a compliment.”
“I don’t.” I wanted to be called normal for once. I was getting decent at faking it, but ultimately, I always slipped up somehow.
“Come on. No dwelling on past pains. They are in the past.” Rexton spoke so close to me that his lips brushed against my ear. “Let’s get through the present so we can enjoy the future.”
I waited for the chills to subside before I gathered my confidence and strode down into the conversation pit.
Madelina was seated on a white sofa. Her dark red dress stood out against the fabric. Two large men with bulging veins in their necks stood in front of her. The men tensed as we neared. She didn’t as much as bat an eye.
As planned, Rexton was the one who opened the conversation. “Hello, Princess. Might we have a word?”
Madelina glanced over with a bored expression. “A word about what?”
Rexton led us a few steps closer. “A business proposition.”
“I don’t do business with your type.” She made a shooing motion with her hand.
“Our type?” I couldn’t keep my mouth shut on that. Being insulted seemed to be the key to amping me up. My fear slipped away. “What type would that be?”
“I don’t know. But whatever it is, we don’t do business with you.” She looked away.
“How do you know if you don’t know what we can offer you?” Rexton released his arm from around me and moved back into Madelina’s line of sight.
“Offer me, huh?” She wrapped her hand around her neck. “Come along. Sit if you must.” Madelina had such a strange way of talking. It was at once casual and formal as if she picked up bits and pieces of the common way of things over the years until it melded into something unique. If I wasn’t terrified of her, I might have found it cool.
“You might want to send them away.” Rexton gestured to the large men who I assumed were her guards.
“Fine. Henry, leave. Jeffrey, stay.” She nodded toward the men.
“You trust him?” Rexton inclined his head toward the open couch. I sat down, and he sat right beside me. Adrian moved along beside us.
“With my life.” She flipped her long brown hair off her shoulder. “Well, with my version of life.”
“Suit yourself.” Rexton was so calm, so suave. So polished. Had he played me the way he was playing her? The answer was yes, but I wanted to believe some of my response to him was of my own volition.
“What kind of business did you want to discuss?” She crossed her legs, moving the thigh-high slit to the forefront. From the looks of it, the action had been intentional.
Rexton barely glanced. “I’ll cut right to the chase.”
“Do that.” Madelina stretched her legs out.
I carefully glanced at Adrian. His expression was intense.
“Are there any ghosts in your life you need some help with?” Rexton spoke casually as if he was offering a new banking experience.
“Ghosts?” She put a hand to her chest. “What on earth do you mean?”
“Are you going to play it that way?” Rexton yawned. “I enjoy a game as much as the next guy, but not when it comes to business.”
“I’m not playing.” Her eyes darkened. The entire eye, as in, there was almost no white left at all.
“I would think in your life, there may be a few ghosts around. A few accidents. A few humans that got too close and now won’t stay away.”
She visibly startled. “Keep talking...”
Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought she would have yelled at us and told us to move already.
“That’s where we come in.” He gestured between the two of us. “We can help you with that problem.”
“What part of keep talking don’t you understand? Get to the point.”
“We can take care of your ghost problems.” He put his arm around me.
“You communicate?” Her eyes moved to me.
“We more than communicate,” Rexton explained. “We can get rid of them.”
“Why isn’t she talking? Why are you the only one saying anything?”
“I’m sorry. I’m a newer associate.” Associate? Was that even the right word? Not that there was a right word for what we did. Plus we were just making this up so we could get the answer we needed for our ghost friend. Okay, friend was definitely not the right word.
“Then you keep talking. I like you.” She pressed her lips together. “I like you a lot.”
I choked down the laugh. She liked me? Was it because I was petrified of her? “Okay. So what my partner here was saying was we can help you deal with stubborn ghosts that don’t want to leave you alone.”
“Ask her about me.” Adrian touched my shoulder, sending a cold sensation through me. Thankfully, I had years of experience ignoring ghosts, and I thought I was successful at playing it off.
“Who says there are any stubborn ghosts around?” Madelina crossed her legs over the other way.
“Are you saying there have never been any, uh, accidents?” I was too nervous to do a great job picking my words.
“Do you know who I am?” She leaned forward toward the neon table between us. “Do you think I have accidents? Everything I do is perfectly calculated.”
“So no one has died at your hands? Accident or not?” I squeaked out.
“I never said that.” She leaned back.
“Ask her specifically about me,” Adrian pressed. “Do it. Please.” There was such vulnerability in his voice.
“You don’t believe us. Do you?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.
“Do I believe you can communicate with ghosts?” She looked between us. “Maybe you can. Maybe you can’t. But I don’t need your services.”
“Are you sure?” Rexton asked.
“Very sure.” She stood. “So if you don’t want to donate blood, we are done here.” Long fangs slipped out of her mouth. I tried to hide my reaction, but my fear took on a whole new level.
“Does the name Adrian ring a bell?” I was going off the cuff here. But this whole situation was off the cuff, wasn’t it?”
“Adrian.” She froze. “No. Not at all.”
“Liar!” Adrian yelled.
“Really? You never dated a human by that name?” I knew I was treading on thin ice with this vampire, but this was what we’d come here to do.
“Like I said, we’re done.” She stood. “Either leave on your own, or I’ll have Jeffery remove you.”
“We’ll go.” Rexton stood and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to stand as well. “Thank you for your time. If you change your mind and want our services, let us know.” He led us out of the pit and toward the stairs.
“She’s lying.” Adrian grimaced. “Lying.”
“No kidding.” Rexton tightened his arm around me. “But let’s get a distance away.”
We made it back down the stairs and over to the bar to get drinks. Miraculously, there was no line, and I found myself sipping on another signature drink—this one called a Witchy Woman. I didn’t need to ask the pink haired bartender what type of supernatural she was. The drink hit the spot, and although Rexton claimed getting drinks would help us blend in more, I think, like me, he needed something to calm his nerves. There was something sinister about Madelina. Maybe that’s how all vampires seemed, but I had nothing to compare it with.
“Talk.” Adrian barked. “Talk now. Why was she lying?”
“Because I’m right. Your death wasn’t an accident. She wanted to get rid of you.” Rexton sipped his whiskey.
Adrian buried his face in his hands and started to sob.
“No. Please don’t do that.” I hated hearing or seeing anyone cry. Let alone this 80s ghost who’d spent years pining for his lover only to find out she’d killed him. “I hate to see you this sad.”
Rexton pulled on my arm. “Gabriella. This is all part of the process. He needs to accept this. And he needs to accept it now.”
“Even though it’s hurting him?” I whispered.
“Yes. Precisely because it’s hurting him.”
Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around.
“Are you the one who was bothering the princess?” It was Henry. The guard who’d been sent away earlier.
My heart rate accelerated. “I don’t think I’d use the word ‘bothering.’”
“We were discussing business. We were not bothering her.” Rexton put his arm around my shoulder.
Henry ignored him. “I need you to come with me.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.” Rexton frowned. “Beat it.”
“Yes, she is.” Henry grimaced. “She’s coming now.”
“No. She’s with me.” Rexton made a noise akin to a growl.
“I have specific instructions to take only her.” Henry moved his arm, showing off a serious set of muscles in his arm exposed by his rolled up sleeves. “The rules are the rules. I will not get myself in trouble.”
“You are going to get yourself in more than trouble if you don’t back up.” I was done sitting back and letting Rexton fight my battle.
Adrian sent some sort of wind out, it managed to push a server with a full tray of drinks into Henry.
Rexton grabbed my arm and pulled me off into the crowd.
Wow. I guess ghosts could be dangerous. What was that wind? How had I never seen anything like that in all my years of dealing with ghosts?
“We need to get out of here,” I whispered. Maybe Adrian needed our help, but I wasn’t interested in dealing with Madelina or her henchmen again.
“We can’t. We aren’t allowed to leave until the ball is over. It’s the rules.” Rexton pulled me into a shadowed corner. “Didn’t anyone tell you the rules?”
“No one told me anything.”
“I guess we’ll just have to go hide away somewhere to pass the time.” He waggled an eyebrow.
“You can’t hide away.
I want answers.” Adrian’s eyes were dark. All of the earlier lightness was gone. “Now you know she’s up to something.”
“He’s right. But she’ll send someone else for you if she wants you. Might as well have fun.” Rexton took my hand and pulled me out onto the dance floor.
Chapter Six
We whirled around the dance floor. His hands were so strong. One rested on my waist while the other held my hand. I didn’t know how to dance. Not really. But it didn’t matter. I followed his lead.
I tried to focus on the music. It was achingly beautiful, just like the lead singer. At first, I thought she was completely naked, but I quickly realized she was wearing a sheer gown adorned with crystals that caught the light . But my focus quickly returned to Rexton. Being so close to him stirred up a hundred different sensations in me. It was at once intoxicating and painful—as I wanted to do so much more than dance with him. “Who are you, Rexton?” I didn’t want to destroy our break from the craziness, but I needed to know more about him, about the man who was so much more like me than anyone I had ever met.
He continued to lead us around the dance floor. “I’m me.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything.”
“What do you want to know?” His hand slid down my back.
“Anything.”
“Anything? Wow, that opens a lot of doors. Are you sure you want to go there?”
“No, but then again, I’m never sure of anything.” My life was one of just getting through. When I crossed each day off the calendar, I felt as if I’d survived another test.
He laughed. “You can be sure of one thing.”
“What’s that?”
His arm tightened around me. “You’re mine.”
“Excuse me?” I whipped my head up from where it had just settled on his chest.
“You didn’t hear me?”
“Oh, I heard you.” I should have pulled away. I needed to pull away, but I couldn’t. It was as if a supernatural force pinned me to him. Was it? Or was it just intense attraction?
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