"Of course." I was relieved to see my dog wagging his tail. You never knew how animals would take to CiCi. With her strange perfume and booming voice, she'd sent more than one of my pups running for cover. Of course none of them sensed any danger to me in CiCi, just to themselves apparently. This one seemed to have developed an instant crush on her and was actually speechless.
"My, he's a big one, isn't he?" She leaned down to pat his head and give him a searching look. "Good. You need a protector since you are too stubborn to settle down with Jeremiah."
Jeremiah, Jeremy, Blade. This was CiCi as usual. "Jerry and I do fine on our own. Leave it alone, CiCi." I turned to Freddy.
"Where's Derek?"
"Out." Freddy lost his smile and gestured toward the curb. "Shall I bring in your bags? At least what you need for overnight?"
"Sure, thanks. Just the tote on the backseat. We can worry about the rest later." I watched Freddy stride down the brick sidewalk.
"He's miserable, Gloriana." CiCi actually managed a whisper. "Derek is out hunting. He will not give it up."
"They are still together though."
"Oh, yes. Except for this little disagreement, they are quite devoted." CiCi led the way into a cozy living room. It was full of the kind of antiques I love and I exclaimed over them to CiCi's delight.
"Yes, I do love beautiful things. Frederick tells me you plan to open an antique shop. A good idea. Who else would know so much?"
I ran my hand over the front of the beautiful tiger maple buffet loaded with porcelain figurines. "I never had anything this fine back in the day, but maybe you can help me." CiCi looked startled. "Oh, not to work, of course. But to give me your opinion from time to time."
"Why yes. I would love that. And perhaps then I might consign a few things." She gestured around the tastefully jam-packed room. "Frederick says I have too much."
"Not as much as I do. Trying to cram it all into the car and trailer wore me out. And gave me the idea to do this shop thing. I'm actually ready to let go of some of it." I turned as the door slammed and Valdez growled. Freddy with my bag and another man, Derek. Think Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz. Yum. I recognized him from e-mail pictures. Another myth exploded. You can photograph a vampire, but the mirror thing, yeah, that's true and a real pain in the butt for someone like me who wants to look good. I'd had to use the vamp whammy to get one of the other dancers to do my stage make-up. She's the one who'd talked me into the tan. Now I was rethinking it.
CiCi was nothing if not fashionable. Her black hair was pulled back to show off her flawless, pale skin and high cheekbones. Her sapphire pants suit perfectly matched her eyes and hugged her petite figure. I'm only five five, but when CiCi glided around the room, I felt huge and awkward.
Freddy and Derek were having a whispered conversation which of course I could hear every word of because of my more than excellent hearing. Derek had hunted near the university dorms and Freddy was furious.
"You did wipe his memory, didn't you?"
Derek flung Freddy's hand off his arm. "I'm not a fool. Leave it alone. It meant nothing. Now introduce me to your friend Gloriana."
I smiled and stretched out my hand. "Glory to my friends. It's a pleasure to meet you." Oh, God, Derek carried the scent of fresh blood. How long had it been since I'd allowed myself to sink my teeth into a sweet young neck? I inhaled then felt my fangs swelling against my gums and had to take a steadying breath.
"You see what you do to us?" Freddy's fists were clenched. "Glory's an inch away from going hunting because you come home smelling like O positive."
"I'm okay, Freddy. Really." Or I would be as soon as I downed a Bloody Merry. That's right, Merry, not Mary. My Merry's a canned synthetic blood, not a tomato juice cocktail. Another vamp invented it in the fifties, the nineteen fifties, that is. You get it at Merrymealsdotcom these days. Mortals think it's just an energy drink and depressed housewives claim to love it. It does pump you up, but not like the real thing.
Derek stood mere inches away. I inhaled again. Oh, I had to get away from that delicious aroma before I raced out of the house to search for the nearest warm body.
"Sorry, Glory." Derek gave Freddy a look that said go to hell. "But hunting is what we do. Why deny yourself? I can show you around if you like. The students here are wonderful. Young and healthy if you avoid the druggies and certain frat houses. We can check out Guadalupe Street or around the library."
"Enough, Derek." CiCi sat on an emerald green velvet art deco couch. Valdez settled at her feet and gazed up at her adoringly. Traitor. He looked over at me and thumped his tail against the Oriental rug. Shameless traitor.
"Gloriana just got here. Can't we have a civilized conversation? She doesn't really need to feed, do you, Gloriana?"
"No, I'm fine." Or would be once I got into my stuff and popped open the bright green can. Did you expect red? Too obvious.
"Ah, here's Sheba." CiCi looked down at Valdez. "You'll not bother the cat, sir. Or your stay here will be a short one." Valdez sprang to his feet. I could feel his horror as a beautiful gray cat with bright blue eyes strolled into the room. She looked my way, obviously dismissed me as uninteresting, then headed straight to Valdez.
"CiCi, maybe I'd better book a hotel room." If fur flew I had no doubt we'd all be attending a kitty funeral. CiCi placed a hand on Valdez's head. "You will not hurt my Sheba."
I had a feeling there was more than a bit of whammy going on. As for the cat, she sidled up to Valdez and rubbed her head against his chest. He practically vibrated with the urge to swallow her in one gulp. To my relief, Sheba moved on to jump into CiCi's lap. I sent Valdez a mental message to chill, but it wasn't necessary. He lay down at CiCi's feet.
"Now sit, all of you. Gloriana, tell us your plans."
I perched on the edge of a striped silk chair, as far away from Derek as I could get. I saw a tattoo on his muscular forearm, fairly modern looking spider webs. So he wasn't centuries old. No wonder he hunted so enthusiastically. Everyone was staring at me. Oh, yes. My plans.
"Vintage Vamp's Emporium. What do you think of the name?"
CiCi smiled. "Quite clever, my dear."
"You want everyone to know you're vampire?" Derek still stood, obviously wired from his night out. Feeding did that to you. Energized you. I did not miss the real deal.
"A vamp in the 1920s was a siren. A hottie to your generation." Freddy was clearly still pissed with his partner. He looked at me and forced a smile. "You should have seen Glory back then. Right, Mother? No one could Charleston like Gloriana St. Clair."
"Oh, I get it." Derek moved closer to Freddy and put his hand on his shoulder. He scored because at least Freddy didn't shrug it off. "Cool name. A vamp who's a vamp."
"That's the idea." I rolled my shoulders. "Sorry, folks, but would I be rude if I went to bed now? I've been driving all night."
"Oh, we are thoughtless!" CiCi glanced at the gilt and marble clock ticking on the mantle. "Less than an hour till the sun comes up. Of course you're tired. Frederick, show Gloriana to her room and help her settle in."
"Thank you for having me, CiCi. I hope to be more entertaining tomorrow night." CiCi just smiled and waved me out of the room. Valdez was hot on my heels. I could already see that I was crowding them in this house. With CiCi's large collection of furniture and knickknacks and three people already living here, there wasn't much space for me and my dog. I would have to make other arrangements as soon as possible.
Freddy picked up my bag again and gestured toward the stairs. "I've got it all fixed up for you. No trouble at all. You will stay with us. It's too dangerous for you to be on your own."
"Don't read my mind, it's not polite." I huffed up the stairs in his wake. "I'd rather not waste my energy blocking you."
"As if you could." He stopped in front of an open door. It was a charming bedroom with a four poster bed done up with a pretty vintage quilt. Heavy curtains had been drawn across the two windows.
"Okay, so I suck at some kinds of mental telepathy. I have other talents."
Freddy patted my hand. "Of course you do. Actress, dancer and soon to be shop owner. I think I've found the perfect location. We can go see it tomorrow night." He turned as Valdez trotted into the room. "Good, your protector is here. Promise you'll keep him with you whenever I'm not around."
"You sound like my ex. Blade said he'd talked to you."
Freddy got a grim look. "Yes. He told me about MacTavish. This Westwood isn't the only hunter out there, either. Two vampires were killed in Houston the same day Westwood attacked Blade in Lake Charles." I shuddered. I knew my geography. Houston was only about three hours away from here by car. "But not in Austin?"
"No, not here. But we're safer in groups, Glory. You can't just depend on a damned dog to keep you safe."
" Back off, vampire. Blondie's safe with me." My damned dog had sniffed out the room, then jumped on the bed to settle on the foot.
"Ah, now you speak." I walked over and tugged his ear. "Good job downstairs, with Sheba."
" Yeah, I don't know what came over me." He looked around the room. " But if that cat tries to sleep with us, all bets are off."
Freddy laughed. "Don't let Mother hear you say that. This is your guard dog?"
"Yes, he is. He really took care of me on the road. I even had to pay extra at one motel because Valdez scared the life out of a cleaning lady who tried to come in during the day."
"Damn straight. No one gets to Glory when she's sleeping."
I smiled and patted Valdez's head. "Of course I did sleep through what was apparently a 'vicious attack' according to the desk clerk. I had to take his word that the woman ran screaming across the courtyard and almost fell into the pool. I never heard a thing." Yes, we really do sleep like the dead and thank God for Valdez.