I had a new definition of hell: four vampires, one bathroom and an ancient hot water heater.
"Look, it's my apartment so I go first." I gave Jerry, then Ray, an uncompromising look. "And, no, I don't need company in the shower."
Penny giggled. I swear she hadn't taken her eyes off Ray since we'd all popped awake at sunset. Well, Ray hadn't exactly popped. He still showed some effects of a rough night before, lounging on the couch and trying to weasel information from a dazzled Penny about my stash of alcoholic synthetic. Someone should run downstairs and get the man a shirt. Penny glanced at me and winked. Hmm. Maybe not.
"Go ahead, Gloriana. I'll make sure Caine behaves himself around your fledgling." Jerry plopped himself in the chair nearest the couch. I swear if he'd brought his broadsword, it would be resting across his knees.
"Right, babe. Go for it. I'm not sure I can stand alone in a shower anyway." Ray leaned back to smile at me. "When it's my turn, you'll have to go in and hold me up, scrub my back."
"Like hell." Jerry pulled a knife from the sheath he kept at his ankle and began to clean his nails. "I'll dump you in the tub, Caine, and hose you down with the showerhead myself. Water should be good and cold by then." He grinned and waved his knife at me. Even from the doorway I could see that it was wickedly sharp.
"Put the knife away, Jerry." I sighed and took advantage of the lull to grab my clothes and hurry into the bathroom. What a circus. Oh, no. Bad choice of words. Because who should jump out from behind the bathroom door and cause me to drop my underwear and dress but Spyte?
"Israel Caine." The demon wasn't in clown costume today but black jeans and T-shirt. He shouldered the door closed and we were shut inside together. How creepy was this?
"What about him?" I picked up my dress and hung it on the hook on the back of the door. "Get out of my bathroom." I could barely move without touching the demon and I sure wasn't taking off my robe with Spyte the spy in here.
"He's a hell-raiser. A prime candidate. We could make every song he puts out an instant hit. Or we can give him his mortality back. Tell him that. Reel him in for the big guy and you'll be shrinking before you know it." Spyte gave me a hip bump in case I missed the point.
"Ray is basically a good person. He's just a little depressed. I won't be the one to send him to hell." I set my underwear on the back of the toilet, then sat on the closed seat. "Get out of here. I need a shower and you're not invited."
"Too bad. Curvy women were once my thing." Spyte stared at my robe and I figured he could see right through it. "True hell is when you still appreciate the view but can't do anything about it. Trust me on that."
"And that's what you want for Ray?" I jerked my robe closed, even though I hadn't even been showing cleavage. "Get out. Leave my friends alone. You approach Ray and no way I'm helping with Simon. That's our deal. Don't drop in here again. You screw this up and I bet Lucifer will be mighty unhappy with you. Am I right?"
"Yes, of course. But then he's always unhappy and bored. Takes a lot to amuse him. It's a hell thing. Sure, he gets a charge now and then when we bring him somebody unexpected. Like a do-gooder who does bad or a really public figure who falls prey to one of our seductresses." Spyte gave me another once-over. "You seem to keep your guy happy in the sack. We've got a job opening in that department. Pay's lousy but there are benefits you wouldn't believe." Spyte's leer made me shudder. "Lucifer likes to interview applicants himself. I've heard those one-on-ones can be quite an experience."
"Get. Out." I hopped up and opened the lid of the toilet. I pointed to the water. "I'm sure you know the way."
"Funny girl. Hurry with that shower. Your bud Valdez is on his way and I don't think your lover is going to be happy to see him." With an evil grin, Spyte vanished, just not into the bowl.
I looked all around, even behind the shower curtain, then stripped and turned on the water. So what if the water was still cold? I had to hurry. Rafe and Jerry in the same room. They needed a referee and Penny wasn't up to that task.
To my surprise my fledgling had come through with a pair of false eyelashes her sister Jenny had given her. Getting those on straight slowed me down, but I'd just made it into the living room when there was a knock on the door. I knew who it was so I sent Penny into the bathroom for her shower before I let Rafe in.
"It's Rafe. Stay calm, Jerry." I gave my lover a warning look.
"What the hell's he doing here?" Jerry jumped up to stand by my side. Ray just smiled. He'd taken off his boots and had his bare feet propped on the back of the couch.
"This is gonna be good. Oh, how I wish for the days of popcorn and beer." Of course Ray knew all about my fling with Rafe. It had infuriated him and hurt him at the time. Now he just wanted to see how Jerry handled it.
"Shut up, Ray." I unlocked the door and opened it. "Come in, Rafe."
"What is this?" He looked from a glowering Jerry to a grinning Ray. "An ambush?"
"No." I put my hand on Jerry's chest and felt the rumble of a barely suppressed growl. "Not at all." I stared up at his frowning face. "Jerry, maybe you should head home and take your shower there."
"Not likely." He smiled suddenly when he saw Rafe sniffing the air and obviously picking up on something that caused a furrow between his own dark brows. I'd showered off my hint of sex, but Jerry reeked of me and how we'd made love the night before. Ray had probably noticed, but no longer cared enough to even give me grief about it.
"Glory and I have business to discuss. It's none of yours." Rafe shut the door behind him. "I believe she asked you to leave."
"I'm going to have to tell him what's going on, Rafe. No more secrets." I felt Jerry's hand slide into mine. Possessive. I understood and accepted it.
"He's going to blow a fuse." Rafe glanced at Ray. "And what the hell is he doing here?"
"I'm here for the show. I can't wait to see how Glory keeps the two of you from killing each other." Ray sat up, looking more alert by the minute. I saw that he had finished one bottle of synthetic.
"Think you can walk, Ray? Go lie on my bed. We don't need an audience." I nodded toward my bedroom. Maybe that wasn't a good idea with the alcohol stashed in there, but Ray wasn't budging.
"No, too weak. I'm still sick. Either bring me a real drink or call me a cab." Ray patted his pockets. "Hell, I don't even have my phone or wallet."
"Yes, I know. You're here to dry out. If you think you can handle it." I really didn't want to get into this now, especially not with this audience. Rafe and Jerry both looked ready to reach for cab fare and to haul Ray to the street.
"I can handle it. But I don't want to." He rubbed his forehead. "Whatever. Go ahead, do your thing. I'm going to bed." He heaved himself to his feet and staggered toward my bedroom. He hit the wall on his way and I ran to help him, tossing back the covers to the clean sheets I'd put on the bed after Jerry and I had gotten up at sunset.
"I'm sorry, Glory. Call Nate. He'll come take me off your hands." Ray pulled my fingers to his lips.
"Not right now, Ray. I've got my hands full." I sighed. "Rest. I'll check back with you in a few minutes. Okay?"
"I feel like shit. What's the matter with me? I'm supposed to heal." His eyes fluttered closed and I pulled my hand out of his.
"You've abused your body. Even vampires have limits." I turned and left the room. No time for this. At least the living room was quiet. Which meant Rafe and Jerry weren't fighting. Yet.
"Now, Gloriana. Want to tell me what you and Valdez are working on together?" Jerry gestured for me to sit on the couch. Of course he was beside me, too close beside me, in an instant.
Rafe sat in the chair Jerry had used earlier. He studied me with his warm brown eyes and I knew he was hurt and not a little disillusioned. I could easily read his thoughts. There Glory goes again, back to Blade and her old dependent ways. I sat up straight and slid into a corner of the couch, using my knees to put some space between Jerry and me.
"Okay, here's the deal. Alesa, the demon who possessed me before - "
"Valdez's ex-wife." Jerry glared at Rafe.
"Yes, she was that. Anyway, she went down to hell after we drove her out and apparently bragged about how strong I was." I looked at Rafe for help.
"Knowing her kind, that was to save face. She was trapped in Glory for a good long while. Any demon worth her salt should have been able to jump right back out again after what happened. Instead, she was stuck in Glory. Couldn't get back to hell until we used extreme measures."
"Right. The exorcism and the power of love." Jerry looked beyond grim. "This all goes back to you and your demon origins, Valdez."
Rafe leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Which you knew about and appreciated when you hired me to look after Glory. Thought my powers might be useful."
"Okay, so that's a standoff. Am I right?" I didn't like the heat rising from Rafe or the way Jerry's fangs were glinting in the lamplight.
"Not exactly. What has that to do with now? You sent this demon bitch back where she belongs. So you're done, Gloriana. Valdez no longer works for me. He's no longer your bodyguard or your lover. Am I right?" Jerry stared at me, almost daring me to close my mind to him.
I didn't. I opened it wide. "No, he's not my lover. That's history." I turned to Rafe. "I'm sorry, Rafe, but Jerry and I are together now. What you and I did . . ." I stopped. No need to dredge that up. "Anyway, I'm committed to making our relationship work now."
"Committed. Working. Fine. Have at it. But you and I are in a hell of a mess." Rafe glared at Jerry. "Sorry, but we're committed too. And if I don't help you, Glory, we're both up shit creek."
"Explain." Jerry bit off the word.
"Alesa did such a sales job on me that two demons showed up, determined to make me an offer I couldn't refuse." I sighed. "They want me to work for Lucifer, to collect souls for him."
"That's ridiculous." Jerry smiled. "Anyone who knows you would never expect for a moment that you'd go over to the dark side."
"Exactly!" I wanted to reach over and hug him. But I didn't. Rafe was here and I wanted to keep the tone of this meeting as neutral as possible. "They even tried bribing me. Said if I did this, they'd make me a size six, permanently." I laughed. "Like that would do it."
"I remember when you went down to that size, in California." Jerry reached over and rubbed my bare knee, exposed by my skirt. "You were too thin, lost your full curves. You weren't the Glory I knew and loved."
"Well, maybe not physically, Jer, but, no matter the size of my outside, I'm always the same inside you know." I frowned, hearing myself. Hello? When I was right, I was right.
"I could have told you that, Blade." Rafe just had to put his two cents in. He nodded at Jerry like get a clue.
"Don't start, Rafe." I sighed. "In that world, Hollywood, surrounded by so many glamorous stick-thin women? It was important to me. And, I admit it, ultracool. A dream come true." I sighed again. Too bad it hadn't lasted. I'd always consider Ian MacDonald a genius for creating a vampire diet drug that worked. But so temporary and so outrageously expensive. Ray had paid for it. Which reminded me. I could see that he'd shut my bedroom door. What was he up to in there? If he was hunting for my Blud-Lite . . .
"Regardless, she turned them down flat. Even though they gave her another incentive." Rafe smiled at me. "She can see herself in a mirror. Actually gets a reflection."
"I don't believe it." Jerry gripped my knee.
"Oh, believe it. I'll show you later." I sat up straight, effectively getting away from Jerry's hold. I was afraid this next bit of news was going to make him crazy. "Then they called in the big guns."
"How so?" Jerry looked from me to Rafe.
"Me. I owe hell a favor." Rafe shot me a look that said it wasn't too late for me to abandon him. I sent him a mental message that he could forget it. "For using my powers. So I'm charged with helping Glory work for Lucifer."
"No, by God!" Jerry jumped up, gripping Rafe by his shirt front.
"You think I want her working for demons?" Rafe shoved at Jerry and the sofa moved.
I jerked the coffee table out of the way. I'd already lost one to a fight in here and I really liked this one.
"Calm down, both of you. There's nothing we can do except work to fix this."
"All of this comes down to this damned demon." Jerry snarled at Rafe.
"You brought me here. Let me get to know Glory, love her. This is your damned fault, Scotsman." Rafe was livid and he threw a punch that landed with a sickening crunch on Jerry's nose. Blood spurted and I screamed.
"If you love Glory, then get these hellspawn away from her. Do something!" Jerry roared and charged, hitting Rafe solidly in the midsection and reducing my chair to kindling as they hit the floor.
"Stop it!" I kicked at both of them but they didn't even notice, too busy pummeling each other as blood sprayed the wooden floor and pieces of chair crunched under their bodies.
"Nice." Ray stood in the doorway, a bottle of Blud-Lite in his hand.
"Damn it!" If that didn't just make this whole thing worse.
"Glory, your cell is ringing." Penny came out of the bathroom, my cell phone in her hand. I guess I'd left it next to my makeup bag. The mirror in there was now my favorite place in the apartment.
Jerry and Rafe cursed and rolled toward me. I threw up my hands and stalked around the back of the couch. To hell with them. To hell with Ray too, who now leaned against the bathroom door, flirting with Penny. I grabbed my phone, shoved Penny toward her bedroom and Ray into the bathroom, then slammed the door. I finally answered the phone, though I could barely hear over the grunts, curses and crashes from the living room.
"Hello?"
"Glory? It's Erin. We've got an emergency in the shop. You'd better get down here."
"What kind of emergency? I've got a situation up here that's pretty bad at the moment." Damn it, there went my lamp. Jerry was paying for a new one. I was pretty sure he'd started this brawl with his attitude. Then Rafe's red eyes started heating up and I was afraid he was going to owe hell even more favors. I had to stop this, right now.
"Paparazzi. Seems you and Israel Caine are back together again if the fact that his SUV is parked behind this building is any indication. Which is way cool. But you know what happens. We're swamped. You went to that concert and someone got a picture of the two of you right after he did a header off the stage. Is he okay?" Erin sounded breathless. "Yes, ma'am, this is her shop. Oh, yes, I'll ring you up." I heard the rustle of fabric. A sale.
"Erin, I'll be down in a few. Ray's fine. But we're not - " I almost fell in when the bathroom door opened behind me. Ray came out wearing nothing but a towel around his waist after what had to be his quickest shower ever.
"Damn, that water's cold." He snagged me around the waist. "Let me call Nate and get some clothes up here."
I heard more glass breaking in the living room. "Erin, hang in there. Give me five minutes to kill a few men and I'll be down." I shut the phone and handed it to Ray. "Knock yourself out."
"Thanks, sweet thing." He gave me a smile and a squeeze. "Better do something about your guy in there before he kills your dog."
"You are such a jerk." I took his hand off my waist and charged into the wreckage of my living room. "Stop!"
Jerry rolled off Rafe and lay panting on the floor. His shirt was ripped and bloody and both eyes were swollen to slits. Obviously he'd been ready to call a halt or he'd never have obeyed me. Rafe lay on the floor where Jerry had left him. He had long gashes in his skin where obviously Jerry had used his fangs to good effect, and he was bleeding all over the floor and what was left of his ripped shirt. His lips were cut and swollen to double their normal size.
"Aren't you a pretty pair?" I put my hands on my hips. "And look at the mess you made." I figured the only piece of furniture still worth keeping was the couch. Both chairs had been destroyed, along with my lamp and various decorations I had used to make the living room homey. My coffee table hadn't survived either. Damn it. "Did this solve anything?"
"Sorry, Glory." Rafe winced as he sat up. "Guess we should have taken this outside."
"Ya think?" I kicked the broken lampshade aside to make a path. "You will pay for every bit of damage. Both of you." I glared at Jerry, who was getting to his feet. I saw him bite his lip against the pain but didn't have much sympathy for him. His temper had started this.
"Of course. Send me half the bill." Jerry held on to the wall as he staggered. "The shifter can pay the other half."
"It should all be on you." Rafe was on his feet now and grabbed a kitchen towel to wipe the blood off his arms. "You put your hands on me first. I don't take that shit from anybody."
Jerry smiled. "You just took it from me. How'd you like the beat-down?"
Rafe growled, obviously about to launch himself at Jerry again.
"No!" I jumped between them. "I've got to get to the shop. Apparently Ray and I are an item again, according to the tabloids, and all hell has broken loose down there."
"Seems hell has broken loose up here too." Penny stared around the room in dismay. "You didn't bump into my computer, did you?" She picked her way to the kitchen table and anxiously checked the new setup there.
"See? See what you've done? Is this an example to set for a fledgling, Jerry?" I thumped him on his bruised chest and had the pleasure of seeing him wince. "And, Rafe, get that smile off your face. You threw the first punch and owe me for half. Make no mistake about that." I grabbed my purse, which, luckily, had been in a chair safely near Penny's computer. I stomped back to the bathroom door and held out my hand. Ray, having just ended a call, slapped the phone into it.
"Nate coming?"
"No. He's pissed at me. Says for me to stay here and dry out." Ray shook his head. "What the hell is the matter with him? Where's the loyalty?"
"I think you drank it, Ray. Right out of his veins." I clomped into my bedroom, picked up the bag of Blud-Lite that Ray had obviously unearthed from my hamper, and hefted it. "This is coming with me. Take Nate's advice and dry out. I'll check in on you later. You and I are a couple again." I brushed my hand on his cheek. "Sorry, sweetie. I know this is going to be rough. Please try to stick with it."
His answer was a lunge for the bag that made him stagger. "Glory, I need to leave and work on my research at the lab at school. My computer is okay now, but . . ." Penny glanced at Jerry and Rafe.
"Oh, they are both leaving. Immediately. Don't touch this mess. One or both of them will come back later and help me clean it up." I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. "Am I right?"
Jerry nodded. "Of course I'll be back. Don't expect the shifter though."
"We still need to talk. I don't want her involved with these demons any more than you do, Blade. I told her that." Rafe glanced at Jerry, then me.
"Yes, well, I can't let them torture you when I . . ." I shook my head. Jerry didn't need to know the details of why Rafe had lost his cool and used his powers. "You're my friend. I don't abandon friends who need me. Get it, Jerry? Ray, you hear that?"
"Glory the good witch," Ray muttered as he staggered over to fall on the couch. "I hear you. Thanks, I guess."
"Gloriana, you need to think about this." Jerry glared at Rafe. "Valdez is letting you off the hook."
"I know. Not accepting that. Now I've got to get down to the shop." I shoved them both out to the hall. "I suggest you each go upstairs, shift and disappear that way. I have a feeling the paparazzi will be camped on my doorstep waiting for a Glory sighting. I really don't want to be seen with either one of you looking like you've been mugged. They'll assume Ray took you on and won."
"Hey, I like that." Ray grinned, but the effect was ruined when he lurched to his feet and ran into the bathroom. We could all hear him heaving into the toilet. Uh-oh.
I hurried to look in on him. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here. Clear everyone out. Guess it's what I deserve." He looked up at me, a towel in his hand, his face pale. "The fewer who see me like this, the better. You dig?"
I ran cool water on a washcloth and wiped his face. "I really will come up and check on you in a while. There's plenty of regular synthetic if you feel like it."
He grabbed my hand. "Thanks, babe. I know you and Nate mean well."
"Yeah, we both love you." I brushed his hair back from his face. "Need help getting back to bed?"
"No, think I'd better camp out here next to the john for a while. Go. I mean it." He leaned back against the bathtub, managing to flash me. Ray as usual noticed me looking and winked. "Or stay if you can get rid of the brawlers out there."
"Gloriana?" Jerry was suddenly behind me in the hallway.
"I'm coming. And you're leaving." I shook my head at Ray and pushed Jerry toward the door. When Jer leaned toward me as if he thought to kiss me good-bye, I held up my hand.
"No, not going to happen." I whipped out my compact, checked my lipstick and dabbed some translucent powder on my nose. "You're bloody and I'm mad at you. Penny, will there be mortals at the lab?"
"Uh, no. Too late for that. I'll be alone. I've got a key card and the security code. This won't be the first time I've gone in late to work." She picked up her laptop and stuffed it and some papers into a canvas bag. "And I drank two bottles of synthetic in case I run into anybody."
I stared at her, pretty sure she was up to something, but just didn't have the time to deal with her right now. "Okay, take off and make it soon. Ray would like some privacy. Just don't mess with any mortals. Remember the council's termination policy."
That got her attention. "Yeah, sure. Just need to do something in the lab. Not thirsty at all." Penny glanced at the bathroom. "Will he be all right?"
"Hopefully. Try to ignore him and just go." I wasn't sure I trusted Ray not to try to talk her out of her cell phone to get some alcoholic brew delivered. I didn't say it, just got both men out the door, slammed it, then waved my hand at a frowning Rafe and Jerry. "See you both later. Don't call me, I'll call you."
I strutted down the stairs, the effect ruined when I had to drag my bag of Blud-Lite behind me. Did you think I was going to toss it down the garbage chute? Are you kidding? That stuff costs the earth. I'd just stash it in the fridge in the back room of my shop. I braced myself, then opened the door to the outside. Sure enough, there was a gaggle of cameramen lying in wait for me.
"Glory! Is it true you and Israel Caine are back together again?"
"Glory! Where's Caine? How is he? What hospital did you take him to?"
"Glory! Look this way! Tell us about Caine!"
I held up my hand. "When Ray was hurt, I couldn't just stand by, not knowing how he was, whether he was seriously hurt. Naturally, I rushed to his side." I put on a stricken face and it was funny how silent these creeps got, the only sound the clicks of their cameras.
"Imagine how horrified I was to see the blood under his head as he lay on that hard concrete, so still, looking almost" - I took a shuddering breath - "dead." I dabbed at my eyes, careful of those temporary lashes and trying not to drop my sack or my purse. "But head wounds do bleed profusely, even when they're not serious." I sighed. "Thank God Ray's injury wasn't." I smiled. "He's fine now. Just resting after a concert and, admittedly, a rough fall." I waved and stepped toward the door of the shop.
"Glory! Are you two back together? Did this tragedy spark a new romance?"
I stopped in my tracks. "I will always love Israel Caine. Who doesn't? His music speaks to me. And" - I looked down at my feet and that damned heavy bag of booze I'd finally had to set down - "he's so very charming." I looked up again. "But we'll just have to see how things work out. Ray and I agreed to go our separate ways a while back. It was for the best then and it's probably still for the best. I'm just a simple shopkeeper. The life of a rock star is pretty intense. I'm afraid his lifestyle isn't for me."
"But, Glory, he did move to Austin. Don't you think that meant something? That he wanted to put things back together with you?" This from a local reporter who'd been pretty good about promoting Ray's music and was definitely a fan. I didn't mind answering him.
I smiled. "Ray's a complicated man. And Austin has a great music scene and good studios. He likes Austin. And we'll always be good friends. Now I've got to go to work. You want to help me? Spell the name of the shop right. Vintage Vamp's Emporium on Austin's Sixth Street. Bring me more business." With that I shoved my way through the crowd and made it into the store.
Wow. And the place was full. Nothing like being a rock star's main squeeze to pull in business. I stashed my booze and my purse in the back room and went to work. It was great therapy. I could almost forget for a while all the stuff going on in my life. Yeah, right. That is until CiCi, the Countess Cecilia von Repsdorf, dropped by to pay me a visit. Talk about perfect timing. CiCi was Simon Destiny's ex-lover and the mother of his son. She could give me the lowdown on how things were between the EV leader and Freddy, his son.
"Cheri, you are radiant. I guess the rumors are true then? You are with this sexy rock star?" CiCi looked me over.
I had to admit I'd picked a dress in Jerry's favorite blue, a color that brought out my eyes, and in a style that hugged my waist. Of course the deep V-neck got attention where it needed to be and not on my hips. I was still dodging those full-length mirrors but had known I wouldn't be able to dodge those cameras.
I looked around and realized we were in a lull. "Come in the back with me and I'll tell you all about it." Since my best bud Florence was still out of town, CiCi was a good shoulder to cry on. I led the way to the back room.
"Gossip, I live and breathe for it. Tell me all." CiCi sat on the only chair, happily accepting one of my bottles of booze while I stuck to the straight stuff.
"Jerry's back and he's responsible for my glow."
CiCi leaned forward and clinked bottles with me. "Excellent. You know I've always wanted you two together. Keep talking. What about the Israel Caine rumors stirring up again?"
"Ray's an alcoholic and he's on the sauce again, vampire-style. I was his mentor and now I hope to help him dry out. He's upstairs right now thinking about it." I took a swallow. "Or at least I hope he is. I didn't leave him with many resources, but he is a vampire. He might take off anyway."
"Sounds like you have your hands full. With Jeremiah back and this handsome singer there too? What does your Scot think about your helping another man this way?" CiCi peeled at the paper label on her bottle with a scarlet painted fingernail.
"He's actually pretty okay with Ray. It's Rafe, Valdez, he's freaked about. He and Rafe got into it tonight. I thought they were going to kill each other." I drained my bottle and set it aside to recycle.
"Ah, because you were unfaithful with that shifter." CiCi had never approved of my affection for a man who was not vampire.
"Of course. And now Rafe and I are involved again because, uh, CiCi, the demons are back." I hated to get into this. What would CiCi think? I knew she was deeply religious. Don't laugh. A lot of vampires, who were people first, you know, hang on to their mortal values and faiths after they get their fangs.
"Why? We routed that horrid creature, Alesa her name was. And you said demons. More than one?" CiCi set her bottle on the floor. "What have you gotten into now, Gloriana?"
"I didn't get into anything. That bitch Alesa went back to hell bragging about how I held her against her will inside me." I huffed. "As if I wanted her in here." I thumped my stomach. "It was the most miserable time of my life."
"I know, cheri, I still think she is why you had the affair with that shifter." CiCi delicately wiped her lips with a hanky from her designer clutch.
"Well, whatever, I thought I was totally through with all things from hell, but it seems her big mouth got me some unwelcome attention from Lucifer."
CiCi shuddered and crossed herself. "I cannot imagine being discussed by such creatures. What has happened now?"
"Two of his minions came calling and made me an offer. They will give me a reward if I gather souls for the Devil." I sighed. "I refused, of course."
"Certainly you did." CiCi reached forward and patted my knee. "And was that enough for them?"
"Of course not. So they put on the pressure. Gave me an incentive. I can actually see my reflection." I grabbed CiCi's hand and tugged her into the bathroom. "Look!" I stood in front of her and gazed into the mirror above the sink. Oh, I had a smudge of pink lipstick on my tooth. I wiped it away and turned to look at my friend. She had tears in her eyes.
"C'est impossible!" She peered around me, did the hand-waving thing in front of my face, then sighed. "You really do have a reflection."
"I know. Isn't it great? It makes you realize how people are seduced into deals with the Devil." As usual I had to literally tear myself away from the mirror, finally shoving CiCi out of the bathroom and shutting the door.
"Yes, it is the work of the Devil." More frantic making of the sign of the cross and CiCi pulled out a gold crucifix from the bodice of her cream silk blouse and clutched it. "These demons, you must get them away from you. I'm afraid" - she shuddered - "I'm afraid for your soul, Gloriana."
I hugged her, then settled her back in her chair. "Relax. I'm not tempted even one little bit by their caper. But I'm going to have to do something to placate them and send them on their way before they do real damage around here. They threatened Rafe. And I know you don't think much of shape-shifters, CiCi, but he's saved my life more times than I can count. He's a dear friend and I'm going to help him gather at least one bad guy for Lucifer. Someone I figure is already bound for hell anyway. Someone you know, actually." I bit my lip.
Could she still harbor some residual feelings for creepy Simon? I figured the only way she'd ever had an affair with him in the first place had been if he'd been in one of his disguises. In his normal persona, he was about as appealing as a zombie after a hard Halloween.
"Who? Who are you going to try to send to Lucifer?" CiCi rummaged in her purse and came out with a rosary. "I'm sorry, Glory, but you are making me nervous. Ever since your exorcism, I have been carrying around these religious objects. Just to be on the safe side, you understand." Her hands were shaking and she looked around the room. "Are you sure we aren't surrounded by evil now?"
"No, I'm not sure. Hell, they pop in whenever they feel like it." I looked around too. Spyte and Caryon could be anywhere, and I did have a tingling feeling, like I was being watched.
"Relax, Glory, honey. You are being watched, but it's by the good guys this time." The Texas twang had a comforting familiarity that brought tears to my eyes. I looked up and saw a pair of boots dangling from the top shelf behind CiCi's chair.
"Emmie Lou!" I jumped up. Another pair of boots appeared next to hers. "And Harvey! I thought you went to Heaven permanently."
"Gloriana? Are you mad?" CiCi grabbed my arm. "Are they here? The demons?"
"No, look up there." I pointed at the shelf where my ghosts, the two who had haunted the shop for years, had suddenly reappeared. They were dressed in brand-new cowboy duds, matching red-checkered shirts with blue bandannas and white cowboy hats. Their boots were shiny black and they each sported a pair of filmy white angel wings.
"Angels? You have angels to look after you!" CiCi grinned and gave me a hug. "Now that makes me feel better."
"Me too. How did this happen?" I pulled CiCi down to sit beside me on the table.
"Someone up there doesn't like the way you're being bullied by someone down below." Harvey Nutt wore his usual suspenders on his jeans. He popped them, then winced. Guess they were too new to be adjusted quite right. "Anyway, we're here to keep you safe in the shop. We can't leave here, but as long as you're inside, we can keep them demons from doing any of their ugly tricks to you or your friends."
"That's right, Glory gal. They won't be lightin' any fires or hurtin' any of your pals while they're in here, I tell you that. Consider this your safe place. It's the power of goodness and light. Evil don't stand no chance agin that." Emmie Lou hopped down and flew around the ceiling before landing on the chair. "How do you like them wings? Ain't they a doozy?"
I laughed. "Beautiful." She was so tiny, all I could do was grin at her, a hug would crush her. "Thanks, guys. I feel better already. Now let me tell CiCi who I'm trying to get for Lucifer. Maybe you could kind of go invisible and keep an eye on things out in the shop. Okay?"
"Fine. We got your back, Glory, and that's a fact." Harvey snapped his suspenders, muttered a "darn it" and disappeared, Emmie Lou with him.
"All right, Glory, now who is it you want to garner a soul for Lucifer?" CiCi sat back in her chair again. I was glad to see the rosary had been put away.
"Simon Destiny. Do you care if I try to snatch his soul away from his goddess?" I braced myself. I was committed to this, but if I had to lose her friendship over it, I was going to hate it, really hate it.
"Simon?" CiCi pulled out that rosary again. "You have any idea what you're dealing with? Don't be a fool. Touch Simon and the only one going straight to hell is liable to be you."