“I guess I’m a bit rusty.” The Red Devil’s voice sounded strange, as if he was trying to make it sound lower and raspier than it really was. Maybe he had a cold.
Did vampires get colds? I made a mental note to Google that later.
I didn’t turn to look at him. I was too busy feeling a tug-of-war of emotions. On one side I was wary of him after what Gideon said. On the other side I was still embarrassed about what had happened earlier with the fledgling.
Bottom line, the night had only reminded me how terrible my curse was and how desperately I wanted it to be ancient history.
If the Red Devil hadn’t stopped me earlier—
A shudder ran through me at the thought.
“Who did you just visit?” he asked.
Uh oh. I’d forgotten about my new bodyguard when I’d casually sauntered into the lair of the vampire hunter.
“My aunt,” I said quickly. “She’s in town for a few days.”
“You’re lying. Tell me who you saw.”
The jury was out on whether this guy was bad news or not, but he wasn’t making a great second impression on me. “None of your business.”
“Your safety is my business.”
“Thierry must be paying you very well.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Is Gideon staying here?”
Busted. The Red Devil was bossy, but insightful. I made a mental note.
I licked my dry lips nervously. I still didn’t want to turn my head and meet his masked face. “Look, I know I shouldn’t be here. I know it’s dangerous and whatever. But it’s not as bad as you think. He wanted me to pick something up for him and I did. That’s all.”
“You’ve done this before tonight as well?”
“A couple of times.” I hesitated. “But there’s no reason you need to tell Thierry about this. Or about what happened in the alley earlier. I don’t want him to be worried.”
“You keep a lot of secrets from him, do you?” His voice was cold.
I swallowed. “Unfortunately, I have to.”
“I see.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t know him. He’d take this totally the wrong way.”
There was no reply.
I chanced a look over my shoulder. There was no one there anymore.
Leaving right in the middle of an awkward, unfriendly conversation? That was rather rude.
Who was that masked vamp, anyhow? I wondered as I waited at the bus stop. I planned to catch a ride back home to the small house George and I shared, even though I had yet to give him any rent money.
I wondered where the Red Devil had been hiding out for a hundred years. What made him stop helping people? What made him return? Thierry wouldn’t tell me anything, but I was burning with curiosity.
Would he tell Thierry that he’d seen me leaving Gideon’s hotel? I sure hoped not. I’d tell
Thierry the next time I saw him. Get it out in the open and deal with his reaction then.
I’d also tell him about Gideon’s bargain—the Red Devil for the grimoire. I’d originally wanted to wait until my issues with Gideon had been resolved before I dealt with the curse, but now I saw that there was no time to waste. I had to de-curse myself or somebody was going to get hurt. It was only a matter of time.
But was his nausea-inducing deal the only way to save myself? Had I completely painted myself into a corner when it came to dealing with my thirsty nightwalker?
My life had become one big sensible-footwear-owning question mark.
George wasn’t home when I arrived, but someone else was.
“Twice in one night?” I said. “I’m a lucky girl.”
Thierry was waiting for me inside the little house. Silently. In the dark. You know, like a regular, everyday boyfriend.
I moved toward him for a kiss, but stopped in my tracks when the look on his face registered with me. He rarely showed any emotion. I’d trained myself to read him pretty well, but even I ran into difficulties when he got all expressionless.
He wasn’t expressionless at the moment. He looked angry.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
Oh, damn. The Red Devil was a total gossip ghoul.
Maybe he had a blog and a Facebook page, too.
“About what?” I decided to play coy even though I knew it was pointless.
“You’ve been seeing Gideon, but haven’t mentioned it to me. I was under the impression you hadn’t seen him since that first night. That you didn’t have to see him again until the full moon.”
I threw my purse and coat onto the sofa, trying to seem at ease when I felt anything but. “I have to see him. If I don’t do what he says then he might go all homicidal and kill everyone like he threatened to, remember?”
“So he’s forcing you to come to his hotel against your will?”
“No, he’s not exactly forcing me.” Damn, this was complicated. And it was all my fault.
“He actually asks politely. It’s not a big deal.”
“If it wasn’t a big deal you would have told me about it.”
“In the three or four minutes we have together these days?”
“The reason we can’t be together at the moment is his threats. Or do you forget that small detail?”