"I might." He put his stake behind him, and I sure wasn't going to wrestle him for it.
"Then why don't you just go to Mr. Carvarelli yourself, collect the reward and be done with it?" And, yeah, wasn't I nice to lay it all out for him?
"I've lived a long, long time, Gloriana. Little amuses me these days. Watching a simple vampire such as yourself play detective . . ." He was suddenly facing me, way too close, and he flicked a finger across my cheek. I backed up until I hit the door. "Well, I am suddenly entertained again." His smile sent the creepy crawlies right up my spine, all the way to the ends of my carefully curled hair.
"Let's make this even more fun. Why don't you e-mail me the list of guests you had out there when you think this transaction took place?" I offered him a "Let's be partners" smile when I wanted nothing more than to run screaming from the room. God, this guy creeped me out. But this was a real break. I guess it was too much to hope he'd put a star next to the name I needed.
"Hmm. Let me think about that. Wouldn't want it to be too easy for you."
"Think fast. I figure this out on my own, and I keep all that reward for myself. Surely money still amuses you too." I could feel Simon's eyes on me as I strolled around the room, straightening a bottle here, a towel there. Oh, yeah, I knew he was eyeing my butt. I whipped around to face him. "Well?"
"You'll have that list when you get home tonight."
"Excellent." I walked to the door. "You want to meet Lucky? She's probably out in the hall, waiting to pounce on Ray, unless she's been thrown out of the building. Of course she wouldn't stay out. She and Ray have some kind of bad blood between them." I shut my mouth. That's the kind of information Simon loves to gather and use to his advantage.
"Anyway, come on. I'll make sure she knows you're a man with the kind of power she admires. Hey, you'll be a valuable connection for her in Austin." And if she ended up an EV minion or dessert for their goddess some night? Well, I'm sure the Carvarellis could afford to buy her out of that kind of trouble. Lucky wasn't that amusing, and money still talked with Simon. Speaking of . . .
"You got a cell phone, Simon?"
"Of course. Do you need to make a call?" He handed me an old model, not even a camera phone. "I rarely use it." He tapped his forehead. "Energy Vampires are into nonverbal communication."
"Never mind. Let's go."
"Lead the way, Gloriana." Simon was suddenly very close. Too close.
"And, Simon, I'll say this one more time. Leave my employees-friends-whatever, alone. That were-cat you attacked has a mother who's hell on wheels. You even so much as cause a hangnail for one of my staff, and I'll make sure the were-kitty nation will be using the EV compound for a litter box." I wasn't backing away.
"You really shouldn't threaten me, Gloriana." Simon ran his stake down my throat, toying with the fringe on my blue leather jacket.
"Glory, have you seen my duffel?"
Simon and I both turned to see Ray step into the room wearing his second best look, a skimpy towel.
"Who the hell are you? Glory?" Ray fisted his hands and stepped closer, like he was going to defend me. Simon grinned and nodded. He sent Ray flying to land on his butt against the wall, the towel a few feet away. Simon wrinkled his pointy nose.
"Oh, my. Israel Caine is a new vampire? I wonder what the tabloids would pay for that tidbit?" Ray struggled to get up. "Why can't I move?"
"Ray, this is Simon Destiny, King of the Energy Vampires." I glanced at Simon, who was cleaning his nails with his stake. "He has you pinned, another form of the whammy. I could try to release you, but he'd just pin you again." Simon smiled and nodded. "You bet his exquisitely sweet ass I would."
"What the hell is an Energy Vampire?"
"I'll tell you later, Ray." I turned to Simon. "Listen, you're not telling the tabloids anything. You've already got the Austin vampires, including your own son, ready to run you out of town, which can't be good for business. I suggest you concentrate on one project at a time. You want to meet Lucky or not?"
Simon strolled over to where Ray was still testing his strength futilely against the hold Simon had over him. "Listen, rock star. Energy Vampires, known affectionately as EVs, specialize in many excellent drugs. Come see us. Glory knows how to find our beautiful headquarters. First sample is free." Simon picked up the towel and tossed it to Ray. "Nice bling." He grinned and walked to the door.
"Come along, Gloriana. We have business to conduct."
"Glory, wait!" Ray finally managed to struggle to his feet. "What are you doing with a creep like that?" He ignored his duffel bag and his towel.
I just looked away. This was not the time to get distracted by his package, front or back view.
"Let's get something straight, Ray. This is my world. I've been a vampire for centuries. You've been one for less than twenty-four hours. So you're just going to have to follow my lead in all things paranormal. Got it?"
"No, I-"
"No is not an option. Get dressed. Wait for me here." I slammed the door and ran right into Simon.
"Oh, my, aren't you Miss Hot Stuff." Simon grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. "I like my women assertive. Come see me sometime without your boy toy and bring your whip."
I tried for a snappy comeback but gagged instead. Since he could read my mind, I just kept it blank and pulled away. Thankfully he let me go without a struggle and I walked off to track down Lucky with a mantra, "I hate Simon," to keep me from tearing an innocent bystander's throat open.
During my search, I discovered Lucky had managed to put Buster and Sam in a closet while Flo and Richard had been watching the concert. That reminded me. I hoped we didn't run into my roommate and her boyfriend backstage. They had a really bad history with the leader of the Energy Vampires. Or maybe I hoped we did run into Flo and Richard. Right now three against one sounded like pretty good odds, especially with this fury I had boiling inside me.
Etienne saw me coming with Simon and tried to steer Lucky away. Well, of course. He was another enemy of the EVs, but I guess he didn't feel up to a confrontation.
Simon apparently had no qualms and wasn't going to let such a connection go to waste. He rushed forward, leaving me in his dust.
"Etienne, surely you were going to say hello to me." Simon smiled at the woman clinging to Etienne's side. "Introduce me to your lovely companion." It was clearly an order.
I hurried up before Etienne did something stupid like start a paranormal turf war in full view of about fifty mortals who were breaking down sound equipment and packing it away. This had been the last stop on a long tour for Ray.
"Simon, let me introduce you to Lucky Carver. Lucky, this is Simon Destiny, a very powerful man who should be able to help you find some of those"-I looked around-"um, debtors, you're searching for."
Lucky smiled and held out her hand. Obviously she'd forgotten Etienne's story of the whole sunlight room fiasco. Then her smile widened. "I know who you are! The king of that group that makes"-she leaned closer and whispered-"Vampire Viagra. You didn't bring along a free sample, did you?"
Simon glanced at me and flicked his wrist. I got the message. My work here was done. I couldn't get away fast enough so I could wash off Simon's stench and slime. As I headed back to the dressing room, I stole a look at Etienne's face. He was not pleased, but not about to tell his meal ticket to shut up either. Simon handed Lucky a packet of pills. Uh-oh. That got the crew of mortals excited.
"Hey, that guy's dealin'."
"You take Visa?"
"Move over, I've got cash."
"I got to know what he's sellin'. I got hold of some bad shit in Houston. I'm still peein' purple."
"That's not from dope, fool. That's from that beet salad your mama made. I saw it on Oprah."
"Outta the way. I heard there's hash back here."
"No, man. It's X."
"Forget that. Make mine-"
I was grinning as I walked into Ray's dressing room.
"What's so funny? Oh, yeah. I guess it was a hoot watching me hit the wall like that. Or maybe you got a chuckle out of finding Buster and Sam in a closet." Ray was throwing stuff into a duffel bag.
"That was Lucky's work. No, none of that was funny, Ray." And none of it was anything I wanted to get into now. Not with Ray in a snit. "Are we ready to leave?"
"Guess so. I told Nathan to meet us in the limo." Ray zipped up the bag. "That Simon a vampire too?"
"Oh, yeah. Not all vampires are nice like me, Flo, Richard."
"I guess not. What about in New York? I really need to get back there. That's where my life is."
"Your old life is over, Ray." I hated to say it. Hated the look on his face as he sank down on the couch. No, it really hadn't hit him yet. Probably wouldn't for a while. He still couldn't quit staring at the bottles of Jack Daniels on the bar. Like I'd stared at the poker tables when I'd still been in Vegas.
"Look. I know this is hell. But I need for you to work with me for a while. Until I've clued you in to what you need to survive."
"And it has to be here? In Austin?" He got up again and actually walked over to the bar, fondling the Jack bottle like he could get some kind of pleasure from it. Yeah, right. And solitaire would do it for me. Uh-huh.
"There's a lot you don't know, Ray. Your life depends on learning what you need to know to survive as a vampire." I tried to put my hand on his arm, but he stepped back.
"I don't suppose you could come back to New York with me." He said it grudgingly. Of course he really didn't want me along, but I wasn't giving him any other options.
