“That went well,” Slade observed in a droll tone. “All things considered.”
“How can you say that?” I demanded. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Giguhl and PW approaching. They looked like two bloodhounds hot on the trail of drama.
“Sabina, you publicly challenged an Alpha werewolf’s authority and ability to lead his pack. You’re lucky you’re not short a couple of limbs.”
I shot him a piss-off look and went to check on Georgia. Giguhl had an arm around her and PW rubbed her shoulder. Her head was down so I couldn’t see her expression.
“Georgia?” I said, finally reaching them. “How are you doing?”
She looked up then. Instead of shining with tears, her eyes glinted with rage. I pulled back a fraction, shocked. “Georgia?”
“You!” she spat. “This is all your fault!”
My head tilted in confusion. Granted, I probably didn’t help matters by calling Michael out, but the entire situation was hardly my doing. “Georgia—”
“Shut up!” she said. “If I hadn’t listened to you, I would already be back in New Orleans and on my way to getting over Mac instead of embarrassing myself in public!” She wilted then, tears spilling from her eyes like acid rain, destroying her eye makeup and leaving black trails down her face. PW took the vampire from Giguhl and led her away.
Giguhl had the same look most males get once things go emotional and the tears start falling. “I guess now’s not the best time to ask if you’ve talked to Adam?”
I glared at my minion with the ridiculously bad timing. “Bite me, demon.”
“What’s this?” Slade said, shit-eating grin locked firmly in place. “Trouble in paradise already?”
Oh, shit. The last thing I wanted was for Slade to find out he’d been the cause of my argument with the mancy. Luckily—or unluckily, depending on how you looked at it—Alexis Vega chose that moment to sashay into the bar.
“Sabina!” she called when she spotted me. Slade groaned. Good, I shouldn’t be the only one uncomfortable.
“Oh, look, it’s Vampira.” Giguhl’s tone was as dry as an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
I swallowed the bitter taste that sprang on my tongue the minute she’d walked in. “Shouldn’t you be in L.A. with the Despina?” I asked, trying not to sound too disappointed to see her.
“She asked me to stay here to monitor things.” Her tone implied I was one of the “things” she was monitoring. “Slade, how about a drink?”
Slade tensed beside me. “I’m not the bartender.”
She grinned. “With that kind of attitude you’re likely to fail as a bar owner almost as spectacularly as you failed as the leader of the Black Light District.”
Slade tensed to strike. I grabbed his arm. “What do you want, Alexis?”
She shrugged and plopped on a stool. Her latex-covered ass squeaked against the vinyl seat. “Oh, nothing. Just wanted to gloat a little.”
“About what?” I asked. But I already knew. She’d come to deliver that I-told-you-so I’d been dreading.
“It’s been five nights without another murder. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“No, but I doubt you’re going to leave me in the dark for long.”
“It means we got the right guy,” she said.
“Oh, that’s right. Does that also mean the Despina’s already given you Slade’s old job?” I knew Tanith had done no such thing. But I couldn’t help digging at her massive ego.
Alexis’s face tightened. “Not yet. I’m sure she’s just planning on announcing it at the treaty signing. You know Tanith—she loves to make a big deal.”
I cocked a brow. Actually, of all three of the Dominae, Tanith was the least enthusiastic about… well, everything. She was far more likely to call a business meeting than to make a fuss. “Or maybe she’s decided you aren’t the best woman for the job after all.”
“Please,” Alexis said. “Who else would they choose?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but surely there are other beings who’d do a better job. Hell, even Giguhl would do a better job.”
“Thanks, I think,” Giguhl said.
Alexis shrugged. “Whatever. You’re just in a bad mood because your boyfriend’s sleeping at the Crossroads.”
I stilled as shock froze my bloodstream.
“I ran into him there earlier. He looked terrible,” she said with false casualness. “What happened, Sabina? He finally get tired of you?”
Giguhl grabbed my shoulder when I tensed. He stabbed the vampiress with an icy glare.
“If I were you I’d stop talking now.”
Her lips curled up into a feline smile. Luckily, she wasn’t as much of an idiot as I thought because she didn’t respond. Instead, she snapped her fingers in Earl’s direction. He was standing at the other end of the bar, reading the newspaper. “What’s a vampire gotta do to get some blood around here?” she called.
Earl looked up slowly. Alexis spread her arms in a what’s-taking-so-long gesture. Earl rolled his eyes and sauntered toward her. While she took her time choosing her poison, Slade pulled me away. “What’s up with you and Adam?”
“As much as I’m sure you’d love to know so you can make jokes,” I said, crossing my arms, “it’s none of your business.”
He had the audacity to look wounded. “Sabina, please. It’s true I enjoy poking fun at the two of you, but it sounds like this is serious. If you need to talk about it, I’m here.”
I eased up on my glare. It wasn’t Slade’s fault I’d screwed up. “Don’t worry about it. We’re just going through a rough patch. All couples do, I hear.”
“If you say so.” He looked skeptical.
At that point, PW and Georgia emerged from the ladies’ room they’d disappeared into earlier. Georgia’s face was scrubbed clean of makeup. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. She looked young, vulnerable. But Pussy Willow looked like a mama bear protecting her cub. “We’re leaving,” she announced, her head held high.
“Okay, we’ll see you back at the apartment,” Giguhl said.
“No. You don’t understand,” she said. “We’re not just leaving Vein. We’re leaving this godsforsaken city.”
I’d kind of expected Georgia to leave. After all, until I’d intervened, that’d been her plan. But this was the first I’d heard of PW wanting to go. Before I could question her, though, Giguhl did it for me. “What do you mean ‘we’re’?”
She raised her chin. “I’m leaving, too. I don’t belong in New York. I thought coming here would be an adventure. A chance for a fresh start.” She cocked a hip and crossed her arms. “Boy, was I an idiot.”
“I had no idea you were unhappy here, PW,” I said.
“I wasn’t at first. But I have some things to work out.” She glanced toward Giguhl. Something heavy passed between them in that moment. Regret, maybe? “Anyway, I called Zen and she said my old job is waiting for me.”
Zen’s full name was Madame Zenobia Foucher. In addition to being a voodoo priestess, she owned a voodoo store and apothecary in the French Quarter. Madame Z was as New Orleans as Mardi Gras and gumbo. We’d butted heads a bit, but I respected the hell out of her.
I glanced at Giguhl, knowing that of all of us he’d have the most important opinion on the subject of PW’s departure. His posture was stiff and guarded, like he worried one false move might make her disappear. “Why can’t you work it out here?”
“You know I can’t do that. Not anymore. Besides, I miss N’Awlins like a phantom limb.” She approached G and put a hand on his green cheek. “Plus, you’ve got your own stuff to work out here.” She nodded toward me. “One day you’ll be free, little Gigi.”
My eyebrows slammed down. There was so much wrong with what she just said I wasn’t sure where to begin. “Hold on,” I said. “What the hell does that mean?”
PW turned on me, her red lips crumpled into a harsh pout. “Giguhl will never be truly happy until you release him from slavery.”
I put my hands on my hips. I’d been getting attitude from the faery for weeks and never understood what I’d done to piss her off. I had no idea she believed I was being unfair to Giguhl. It was freakin’ ridiculous. Unfortunately for the changeling, I’d had just about enough of every-one’s shit to last the rest of my immortal life.
“Listen, Pussy, I’m not sure what kind of diva hormones made you lose your damned mind, but Giguhl is nobody’s slave.” I stepped closer to her. She crossed her arms and glared up at me. “I have never pretended to understand your special friendship, but I have done nothing to get in the middle of it. Nor have I done anything to restrict his freedom beyond the natural limitations of our arrangement that I have no control over. If you’re having problems, don’t lay them on my doorstep.”
“Oh, really? You haven’t restricted his freedom?” she challenged. Then she ticked off all my sins on her red-tipped fingers. “He can’t go anywhere without your permission. He isn’t allowed to make any choices without your input. And every time you force him to switch between his magnificent and sexy demon form into that embarrassing hairless carcass he dies a little more inside.”
My eyes shifted toward Giguhl. He wouldn’t look at me. Instead, his arms were crossed and a red flush spread across his cheek scales. “Giguhl? Is that true?”
“It doesn’t really matter, does it?” he said, sidestepping that minefield. “This is about Pussy Willow running away.” He pointed a claw at her. “Right, babe? Shit got real and now you’re booking.”
I raised my eyebrows. What the hell was up with these two?
