I took a seat next to Sam at a table with a “Reserved” sign. As far as I was concerned, it was reserved for us.
“What do you want to drink?” I asked, practically screaming over the loud techno music. No Regrets was a pretty happening spot-it was maybe ten-thirty, and already, the place was packed.
“Vodka tonic please.”
I approached the bar, glancing over my shoulder at the throng of dancers on the floor. A black light sporadically spotlighted them, making them look like they were moving in slow motion.
“Hi Dulce, how’s it going?” Angela, the bartender asked. Leaning against the bar, she pushed her long electric blue bangs out of her face. Last time I’d seen her, her hair was bright yellow but still long in the front and butch short in the back. I smiled. “Hi Angela, it’s going. How’s business?” “Good, been real busy lately. What can I get for you?” “Vodka tonic and a Mojito, please.” She nodded and I felt Bram’s shadowy presence behind me. “That kiss was totally uncalled for,” I whispered. “Ah, Dulce, I just could not help myself.”
I took my Mojito as Bram reached for Sam’s Vodka Tonic. I fished inside my purse, fingered my credit card, and tossed it on the bar. Angela reached for it but paused once Bram shook his head.
“It is on the house, Sweet,” he purred.
“Put them on the card, Angela. Thanks. And Bram, don’t pull another stunt like that again.”
Bram’s chuckle was deep. “Excuse me for offering to buy you a drink. If this is how you are with men, it’s no wonder I never see you on a date.”
“I was talking about the kiss, Bram.” I put the glass back on the bar, turning to face him. “And my personal life is none of your business.”
He took a step closer until I could smell the mint of his gum. “It is my business if I wish to be in it.”
“Ugh, would you get over yourself?” I turned on my heel and started for the table, but Bram’s hand on my arm stopped me. I turned around and something in his eyes pulled at me. I could read the desire in his gaze like I was reading a page in a book.
“What the hell was that, Bram?” I demanded through gritted teeth, pulling my arm away from him as if he were contagious. Vampires were notorious for pulling stunts with their eyes-persuading someone to take whatever actions the vampire desired. But, Bram wasn’t supposed to bewitch me with his eyes-I should’ve been too powerful to even get an inkling of the feeling he’d just sent me.
“It is my birthday in two months, Sweet.”
Great. Every hundred-year birthday would find a vampire stronger in all abilities-more physically powerful, more mentally capable of persuasion, and most got better looking.
“How old will you be?”
Bram grinned. “Three hundred.”
Crap, he’d be pretty powerful. Not that I was afraid of him-it just went to show that having Bram on my side was exactly where I wanted him. “Why’d you call me the other day?” I asked.
I scooted into the seat next to Sam and watched Bram gingerly hand her the vodka tonic. She nodded her thanks, and Bram pulled up a chair, sitting across from us. “I had some news for you,” he said with a shrug. “And what was that?” I asked, knowing information never came free from Bram. “All in good time, Sweet,” Bram gave me a smile that had probably won him his last few bed partners.
The guy was smooth and, okay, hot-I’d give him that. But that was about all I’d give him. “Bram, what in the hell do you want?” I asked, watching him lean his elbows against the table as he grinned at me for a few seconds. “Hello? Earth to the most annoying vampire I’ve ever met.”
“I want some information, Dulcie O’Neil.”
“And what type of information would that be?”
He leaned back in the chair and eyed the room around him, as if counting the patrons. “Do you recall that abandoned building on Kiwi Street that has been vacant for two months?” “The one that used to be the Chinese massage parlor?” Sam asked. Bram nodded, his attention finally resting on me again. “Yes, that one.” “So, what of it?” I asked, wondering what Bram had to do with a Chinese massage parlor. It sounded like the setup to a bad joke. “Well,” he leaned back in his chair and cracked his knuckles. “I have been considering buying it to open a restaurant.” “What does that have to do with me?” I snapped.
Someone had killed Fabian and I needed to find out who before the finger started to point at me. I didn’t have time for this crap. “Patience, fairy. Patience.” I narrowed my eyes and sipped my drink, counting to ten all the while. “Get on with it,” Sam said. “Our Bram BS meter is nearing its limit.”
“You two are in a fine mood tonight.” He sighed. “I think, but I am not certain, that Dagan is going to try to beat me to the property.”
“Because he, a demon, wants a Chinese massage parlor?” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know, Sam, maybe we should get in on it, too. What do you think?”
She shrugged. “I do like massages.”
Bram ignored us. “I got into a row the other day with Dagan, and I think he is trying to get even with me by taking the property out from underneath my nose.”
I sipped my drink. “So, let me repeat myself, what the hell does this have to do with me? Why should I give a crap? Because, in case you didn’t notice, I don’t.”
Bram just smiled. “I want you to find out if Dagan is planning on purchasing it.”
“And why do you think he’d tell me? Dagan and I aren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination.” The truth was that Dagan was usually on the wrong side of the law, but the only reason I cut him any sort of slack was due to the fact that he gave me lots of good leads. Hey, sometimes you’ve gotta work with the bad guys to get the even worse guys. Bram continued to smile like his lips were paralyzed. “He has no reason to hide this from you…it is perfectly legal.” “He has no reason to share his business dealings with me either.” “I was thinking that perhaps Samantha might be able to influence him.”
Sam slammed her drink on the table, and it sloshed up and over the side of the rim, as if as outraged as she. “You want me to put a truth spell on a demon?” Bram just nodded. The vampire had balls. “No way,” I interrupted. “You must think we’re total idiots.” “He would never know,” Bram continued. “And I do not think either one of you is an idiot.” Sam gripped her glass so tight, her knuckles went white. “It’s too risky. If he found out, he’d kill us both.” “How would he find out?” Bram continued, acting like he was asking us to figure out Dagan’s favorite color.
“How does anyone find anything out? It just happens and I don’t want to be on the end of that temper, thank you very much,” Sam snapped.
Bram quirked another winning smirk in Sam’s direction, no doubt hoping the amorous feelings she’d once harbored for him might serve him well. As her best friend, if I even saw a hint of that happening, I’d curtail it faster than Bram could piss me off again.
“Well, perhaps you wouldn’t need the spell. Just make small talk-see what he says,” Bram offered.
Small talk was doable. A spell on a demon wasn’t. “And if I just ask Dagan some questions, you’ll answer all my questions tonight?” I demanded.
“Yes. I trust your word, Dulcie. I know if you agree to something, you will honor it.”
Yeah, now I was thinking my great sense of honor was going to work against me. Dagan wasn’t someone you wanted to screw around with. Demons are notoriously short-tempered and they don’t get mad or even, they just kill you.
“Okay, I’ll talk to Dagan and see what I can find out,” I said. “Now, I have some questions for you.”
Bram grinned again, his fangs reflecting the low light of the room. As soon as his fangs surfaced, Sam immediately dropped her gaze, and I’d bet money she was thinking about the time she’d let him drink from her. She’d told me the day after it happened. Apparently, they’d been getting hot and heavy, and she’d let him take a little nip of her neck. As soon as he’d started drinking her blood, she’d had like four orgasms in a row. And they weren’t your normal, “this feels good” vibrator-type orgasm. They were mind-blowing, like nothing she’d ever felt before. I’ve never been with a vampire so, of course, I was eating her story up. But, even if it sounded good, I still had no interest in some corpse feeding off my neck. “Ask away, my lady,” the corpse in question said. “What do you know about Fabian’s death?” Bram frowned, his brows knotting in the middle of his forehead. “Fabian died?” “You’re a terrible actor, Bram,” I said with a sigh. Goddamn, I so didn’t have time to deal with this.
He held up his hands as if in submission. I knew better. Trusting Bram would be like trusting a rattlesnake. Fine and good until the thing sinks its fangs into your skin, and you’re dead an hour later. “Ah, yes, now that I think about it, I had heard Fabian died.” “Who told you?” I asked. “Cannot say for sure. It was a general theme in here all night.” “What did you hear about it?” Sam asked. “Well, I heard Dulcie was the last to see him, and she was the only suspect.”
Hades be damned. Everyone seemed to be forgetting that I wasn’t the last to see him-the stranger had seen Fabian the same time I had. Course, all anyone had to go on there was my word. “Dulcie didn’t do it,” Sam said, her mouth tight. Bram grinned. “I did not say she did. I am merely repeating the rumors I have heard…as you requested.” I gritted my teeth. “Go on.”
“Apparently Fabian bespelled you and turned you into something vulgar, and you were upset and came back and killed him. I cannot say I blame you. Life is better without Fabian.” “I didn’t kill him.” “I am sure you have wanted to over the years, Dulce?” he asked with a wicked grin. “Not quite as much as some people I can think of.” “Ah, Sweet, you and I go way back.”
I sighed. “Regardless, I’m not the one being questioned here. Do you want that information about Dagan?” He nodded. “Yeah, then stop pissing me off.”
“Apologies,” he said, but the smile quirking his lips said he didn’t mean it.
“Okay, what do you know about a stranger in Splendor? Have you seen anyone new lately?”
Bram strummed his fingers along the table as if doing so would help him remember. “There was someone who came in the other night; he was asking for you actually.”
“What? Who?” I demanded.
Bram’s gaze followed a cocktail waitress as she delivered drinks to the table across from ours. Her boobs were hanging so far out of her shirt, they looked like they might fall out. And judging from the expression on Bram’s face, he hoped they would.
I cleared my throat, and he faced me, wetting his lips. “I did not get his name. He said he was passing through but did not give the nature of his business.” “What did he look like?” Sam asked. More fingers strumming along the table, the sound like a dull axe reverberating through my head. “Dark hair and light eyes. Probably your type-resembled me.” I glanced at Sam. “It was the stranger from Fabian’s.” A shiver coursed through me like someone had stepped on my grave. “Are you sure?” Sam asked. I shrugged. “Who else would it be?” Then I faced Bram again. “How long was he here?” “Not long. He came in, had a drink and asked Angela where he could find you.” “And what did Angela tell him?”
“Perhaps you should ask her.” Bram steepled his fingers in his lap. Then he brought his index fingers together and held them out before him like two guns butting up against one another. “When you hold your fingers like this and focus on them both, it looks like there is a little sausage between them.”
“Bram, for Hades’ sake,” I started.
He dropped his fingers and faced me with a boyish twinkle in his eyes. It would’ve been charming if not for the fangs just cresting his lower lip.
“Talk to Angela, Sweet, she can give you the play by play.”
“I will. In the meantime, though, I’m sure you must’ve asked Angela what she told him?”
“I cannot put anything past you, Dulcie.” He chuckled. “She said he could find you at Headquarters. Then he paid for his drink and walked out. End of story.”
I was quiet as I considered it. If the stranger had been looking for me, why hadn’t he just approached me at Fabian’s? True, I’d left there in a hurry once the little creep had bespelled me. And, maybe the stranger hadn’t known what I looked like. But, as a fairy, my ears give me away. If he knew I was a fairy, then he would’ve known me from Fabian’s store. It wasn’t like there were lots of fairies in Splendor. In fact, there were only two-Zara the hooker and me. “When was the stranger here?” I demanded. Bram looked up at the ceiling as if it had an answer for him. “Evening before last.” Before Fabian’s death. Interesting.
“Are we done with him yet?” Sam asked, sipping the last of her vodka tonic through the straw until it sounded like the ice cubes were snoring. Bram turned toward me expectantly, a smile just stealing his lips. “Mmm, I like the sound of that. Use me then throw me away.” “Yeah, we’re done.”
Bram stood up so quickly, I didn’t see him move. “Very well, I will leave you two as I have things to do and people to see. Samantha, drinks are free if you are interested. Dulcie insists on paying for hers.”
He gave a theatrical bow and walked away. I glanced at Sam, who sat as still as a tombstone. “What prompted me to ever date him?” she muttered.
I laughed. “Beats the hell out of me.”
She just shook her head, and we both faced the throng of dancers on the floor. Holy Hades, I was so not in the mood to dance. Fabian loomed in the back of my mind like a monster in a kid’s closet. “Do you want to get out of here?” Sam asked. I frowned. “Why? I thought you wanted to go out partying tonight?” “I’m not really feeling it at the moment. You?” “Actually, I was just thinking the same thing.” She stood up. “Brilliant minds think alike.”
She started for the door, and I was right behind her. I stopped at the bar and mouthed “credit card” to Angela. She was quick with the receipt. I signed it and dropped the pen back on the bar. “Thanks Angela. By the way, did a tall, dark-haired stranger come looking for me?” “Yeah, maybe two nights ago. I told him he could find you at Headquarters.” “And he didn’t say anything else?” She shook her head. “Nope, that was it.” So, Bram hadn’t been full of it. “Great, thanks Angela. Have a good night.” “Will do, night guys.”
I followed Sam outside where Nick gave us a quick smile. Sam didn’t even slow down but ran-walked to the car as if she had to pee. I unlocked the door with my beeper remote. “Do you want to go somewhere else or call it a night?” I asked. Sam threw herself into the passenger seat. “I think I just want to go to bed.” I started the Wrangler and pulled out of the driveway.
“Okay, sounds fine to me.” Clearly, something was wrong, and I was pretty sure that something happened to have dark hair and a winning smile, even if he was a jerk. “Are you okay, with seeing Bram and all?” Nick watched us drive by and waved. I waved back, but I don’t think Sam even noticed him. Poor ogre. She sighed. Yeah, she wasn’t okay. “I thought I was, but I don’t know. He’s just so cute.” “Yeah, he’s cute. It’s a shame the cute ones are always jerks or if not jerks, gay.”
She nodded. “I mean, I think I’m over him. It just sometimes sucks seeing someone again that you used to have feelings for, you know?”
I knew only too well. I’d moved to Splendor from Estuary to ensure I wouldn’t have any run-ins with my ex. And so far so good.
“Well, give it another couple of weeks, and I bet you’ll be totally over him. You just need to find his replacement.”
“I could say the same to you about Jack,” she said and laughed. “You’d think between you and me and our abilities, we could create the perfect guy.”
I shook my head, instantly picturing Frankenstein. So not wanting to try that anytime soon. I had enough problems as it was. Still, it was an interesting thought… What was wrong with me? I was so not contemplating creating a man. Ludicrous.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Sam asked with a wide grin.
No point in lying. “Sort of. But not seriously, of course. It would be cool though. Create some totally hot guy and make him clean our houses and do dishes and laundry.” “And watch chick movies with us,” Sam added with a sigh. I laughed and pulled up to her house. Sam undid her seatbelt and opened the door. “Thanks, Dulce. I guess I’ll see you Monday.” I nodded. “Well, have a good weekend if I don’t talk to you sooner.”
She hopped down from the Wrangler and pulled her house keys from her purse. I waited for her to unlock the front door. Before disappearing inside, she turned and waved. I pulled into the street and headed for my house, imagining our invented man wearing nothing but an apron and ironing my clothes.
###
Captain Slade stood before me on the sandy beaches of some foreign place that looked like Tahiti. The beaches were white, the sky dissolving into the ocean on the horizon. The Captain’s chest was bare, a ragged pair of pants his only clothing. My gaze traveled up his exquisite body until it rested on his face. But, it wasn’t his face at all, it was Quillan’s.
“ What are you doing dressed as a pirate?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I’ve been Captain Slade all along.”
I shook my head and couldn’t grasp how that could be. Captain Slade was a fictional character, and Quillan was my boss. I glanced at him again and Bram smiled back at me.
“ You’re the last person I wanted to see,” I said, horrified as he started toward me.
Bram threw me a smirk that was so uniquely his, he could patent it.
“ Dulce, Sweet, you know you find me attractive…”
“ Dulcie, I need to speak with you.”
It was a voice I didn’t recognize. It reverberated through the sky almost like it belonged to the clouds. But clouds don’t talk. I glanced around but couldn’t find the perpetrator.
“ Who is that?” I asked Bram.
“ Who is what?” he said and then shrugged, taking hold of my arms. “Let’s talk about us, Dulcie.”
I jerked away from him, the sand slipping between my toes and tickling me like thousands of fleas.
“ There is no us,” I said, my eyes still searching the clouds.
“ Dulcie.”
It was the voice again. Frustration surged through me as I searched the clouds, spinning around and around, but finding nothing. With a sigh, I stopped, feeling slightly dizzy. As soon as my gaze dropped from the sky, I was in Bram’s club. Bram was nowhere to be found. In fact, I was sitting in a booth completely alone-like No Regrets hadn’t opened for the night. So what was I doing here?
I glanced at the table and found a drink before me. I brought the straw to my mouth and took a couple sips. Hmm, Vodka Cranberry. Not bad. I glanced up and found the stranger who’d been in Fabian’s store sitting across from me.
“ You,” I said.
He smiled. “Sorry to interrupt your dream.”
“ I’m dreaming?” I repeated, staring into the crystal blue of his eyes.
“ You were.” He paused. “You’ll wake up thinking this was a dream but you need to convince yourself it’s real. We have much to discuss.”
I put the drink down, and it disappeared into the surface of the table. “You were in Fabian’s store that day. I saw you.”
He nodded. “I was there looking for you.”
“ But, I was there. Why didn’t you…”
He shook his head. “The situation wasn’t right, Dulcie.”
“ Who are you?”
He smiled and it was beautiful. “When we meet, I’ll tell you.”
“ How do I find you? I don’t even know what your name is.”
“ I’m waiting for you outside. Just come out.”
I blinked and found I wasn’t in Bram’s club anymore but was in my bed. My alarm clock glowed eerily, the only beacon of light in the dark room. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, glancing around myself as if to prove I really was where I thought I was. Talk about a weird dream.
Then I remembered the stranger’s words- You’ll wake thinking this was a dream. But, you need to convince yourself it’s real. We have much to discuss… Just come out.
Hmm. I rolled onto my side, threw my pillow over my head and went back to sleep.