She shrugged. “Then fight your ass off for him.”
I looked at Janie for a moment. Did she really care one way or the other about my future happiness?
She seemed so trustworthy, seemed to be somebody I could tell absolutely anything to and she’d give me her honest opinion. Like we could become really good friends.
If we wanted to.
Just like me and Thierry. We were different. There was no debating that fact. But from the moment he entered my life, I knew that he filled that empty part of me—the part I didn’t even know was missing something. I fell head over heels for him. And even when he’d gone all thirsty vampire on me, I hadn’t stopped loving him. I wanted to help him, not run away from him. That had to count for something, didn’t it? Other than my total lack of self-preservation. I didn’t care. I wanted Thierry. Even though I now knew he wasn’t perfect.Especially now that I knew he wasn’t perfect. He was Thierry. And I loved him.
Now if only the jerk could see that.
Honestly.Men .
I smiled at Janie. She returned the expression.
“By the way,” she said, “do you know who Gideon Chase is?”
My smile flew away. “What?”
“Gideon Chase.” She pressed a finger against her earpiece, then grinned at me. “He’s the leader of the hunters. Big bucks. Apparently really hot, too. He’s in town. Might make things a little more exciting around here.”
“I am going to be sick.”
“We’ll protect you. Don’t worry. Remember, the ninja thing? Why do you look so freaked out?”
I decided to tell her everything. Well, almost everything. About Nicolai and his plan to trap Gideon when he made a move to kill me. About how I hadn’t told Thierry.
Still didn’t mention that I was wearing the necklace right at that very moment. Later. I’d give it to her later.
My mouth felt dry when I finished. “So I guess I shouldn’t go to the party. Amy will be mad, but she’ll understand. Man. I think I’m going to throw up.”
She waved her hand. “Relax. I won’t let anything bad happen to you unless I do it myself. So just go about your regularly scheduled activities.” She grinned. “Do you trust me?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I trust you.”
Her grin widened. “Now, go about your day as you normally would. I’ll be watching. Don’t even think about the fact that you are now at constant risk of death. With any luck, you won’t even notice if Gideon tries to attack you. I’ll take him down first.”
“If you say so.”
“So let’s get you back to George’s so you can get ready for your friend’s party.”
I nodded, anxiety filling every cell of my body. As we headed for the car, I almost expected to see a swarm of hunters coming directly for me, but there was nothing but the normal swell of oblivious people on the sidewalk.
Gideon was in town to kill me. And I was putting my life in the hands of somebody I didn’t quite trust
100 percent.
I wondered what I should wear to the party.
“It’s pink.”
“Yeah, don’t you just love it?”
I stood behind Amy at Studio V, the vampire hair salon, and gazed in the shard mirror at her newly made-over reflection. She’d dyed her platinum-blond hair a vibrant shade of pink and cut it super short.
The stylist—a tall, skinny vamp with hollow cheekbones and black eyeliner—raised an eyebrow at her.
“It’sfabulous ,” he proclaimed. “Honey, you are fanged and fabulous.”
Amy grinned and pointed at her sanded-down teeth. “Well, you’re half right, Bernardo!”
“It’s pink,” I said again.
“And you can’t do it, too, this is all me.”
“Why pink?” I asked.
“Why not?”
“Do you want an alphabetical list or just off the top of my head?”
She pouted. “It’s my birthday, I can dye if I want to. This is the new me. I’m wild and free and don’t care about anyone’s opinion but my own.” She looked in the shard in front of her and blinked. “Are you saying you don’t like it? Because I can change it back.”
“No, I’m not saying that. It’s . . . different. What will Barry think?”
She rolled her eyes. “Do I care?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
“He loved my blond hair.”
“And?”
“It serves him right.” She took a deep breath and looked in the shard again, at me. “I’m leaving him.”
“So you’ve been saying. And that is happening when?”
“As soon as I find another place to stay. Hey, you’re looking for a new apartment, right? We should be roommates.”
While I adored Amy and she was my best friend, there was no way I was going to room with her. A vacation is one thing, constantly being in each other’s presence without the respite of your own home is something entirely different. But she was fragile. And it was her birthday, so I wasn’t going to shoot her down when she was in such a fragile mood. She might go and get a tattoo or something.
I forced a smile. “Let’s talk about it later.”
“Cool.”
I’d made the decision to not tell her about the surprise party. It was very tempting, but I’d managed to hold my tongue. I figured as soon as she saw what Barry had done for her, she’d snap out of this melancholy, “let’s dye our hair pink,” kind of mood. It was a theory. Besides, after hearing about Barry’s backstory I was feeling a little warmer toward her diminutive husband. Just a tiny bit. No pun intended.