Мишель Роуэн - Tall, Dark & Fangsome

“Damn.” He groaned, then staggered back a few feet and clutched at his face. “Why did I have to mention it?”

Before I could say anything else, he cried out and fell to his knees on the plush carpet of the suite. It was the hellfire. Gideon convulsed in pain as he fought against the flames that couldn’t be seen, only felt.

I stood, frozen in place, feeling sick as I watched him suffer. I pressed up against the door, wanting to leave, but finding it difficult to move.

“What should I do?” I asked.

“Nothing.” His voice caught as a shudder went through him. His teeth were gritted. I was willing to bet my bottom dollar that nobody had ever seen Gideon like this before. So weak and needy and pathetic. The thought didn’t make me feel the least bit better.

“Maybe I can call a doctor—” I offered lamely.

He looked up at me with glassy eyes. “I don’t want you to see me like this.” When I didn’t budge, he raised his voice. “Leave me! Now!”

“Fine with me.” I turned around, opened the door, and left Gideon alone to his suffering and solitude.

I didn’t care if he was in pain. This was the man who held my life in his hands and was forcing me to do what he wanted.

I hated him.

And, even more than that, I hated the small part of me that didn’t hate him. It was very inconvenient.

M aybe I should have taken the diamond earrings after all.

No. I pushed the thought away. In fact, I tried very hard to push away all my thoughts about Gideon, his pain, his plans, and his new scar-free but still evil face. My thoughts, however, had other plans as they continued to churn through my tired cranium.

I left the hotel and walked quickly down the sidewalk, my arms crossed tightly over my chest. I wanted to call Thierry and go see him, but I couldn’t. Which sucked. Besides, I really didn’t want him to find out that I was seeing Gideon on a regular basis behind his back.

I’d fully planned on tonight being the last time I came to his hotel like an obedient Girl

Scout, but now he’d presented me with something I couldn’t simply forget even if I wanted to.

The grimoire. Did he really have it or was he just messing with me?

Was the Red Devil really as bad as Gideon suggested? I mean, I had figured he didn’t go around giving people fashion advice or handing out gift certificates. He was an immortal vigilante, after all. It was possible that he’d done some super-nasty things in his life to achieve his reputation—things that I might even consider evil.

But was that enough proof to stick an apple in his mouth and offer up his head on a platter just so I could get what I wanted?

I felt sick at the thought. I wished I could be a little more heartless. Just a smidge. Nice girls don’t get the corner office, after all. They get trampled on. And, well, cursed.

Speaking of heads-on-platters, I sensed something then. It was strange. I didn’t actually hear any footsteps and I didn’t see anyone, but on a deeper kind of vampire-sense level I felt that someone was following me. The sensation of ants doing a conga line down my arms was a tipoff.

And I had a funny feeling I knew who it was.

“I figured you’d be better at the stalking thing,” I said a little shakily to the silence as I approached the nearest bus stop. There was no one else around. “But you’re definitely no ninja, are you?”

“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.”