Cat Devon: The Entity Within

“I wish I could compel her. It would make life easier.”

“I guess you are just going to have to deal with her on an equal level.”

“No way,” Damon said. “Vampires are superior to witches.”

“Says who?”

“It’s a well-known fact.”

“To you maybe.”

Damon eyed Daniella suspiciously. “Maybe she cast a spell on you and that’s why you weren’t able to get more information out of her.”

“I doubt that.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her. She’s already put all the surveillance cameras in the house out of commission.”

Instead of sharing his outrage, Daniella said, “Did you tell her about the cameras?”

“Of course not.”

“Then how did she know about them?” Daniella asked. “I mean, they are usually pretty well hidden. And I certainly didn’t tell her about them, because I didn’t know they were even there in the first place.”

“She’s a witch,” Damon growled. “She knows things.” He turned on his heel and started walking away.

Daniella followed him, stopping him with a hand on his arm. “Where are you going?”

“To go talk to her myself,” Damon said.

“She might not let you in.”

“Oh, she’ll let me in all right.”

“Don’t be a bully. Do not upset her.”

“Right. Do not upset the witch,” he said sarcastically. “Got it.”

Damon removed her hand from his arm and walked away from her.

“Be nice,” she called after him.

“Like that’s going to happen,” he muttered under his breath before taking the steps to Zoe’s front door two at a time. Nice was not in his vocabulary. Nice didn’t get you anywhere. It certainly didn’t get you turned into a vampire or help you survive the torturous transformation.

Damon was all set to bang on Zoe’s front door, but it opened before he could raise his hand. Zoe stood there wearing the same clothes she’d had on a few hours earlier at the bar and looking surprisingly good despite the startled look in those weird bicolored eyes of hers.

“How did you know I was out here?” he demanded.

“I didn’t,” Zoe said. “Daniella left her scarf. I was going to run after her to give it to her.”

“There’s no need.” He grabbed it out of her hand. “I’ll give it to her.”

“Okay.”

Zoe was about to swing the door shut when he put his foot out to prevent it. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the polite thing to do.”

“Says the rude vampire who doesn’t want me here.”

“You don’t want to aggravate me,” he warned.

“Ditto,” she shot back. “Vampires can’t cross a threshold unless they are invited in.” She’d read that somewhere.

“Damon, how nice to see you again,” Gram called out from the stairway. “Do come in.”

Damon quickly moved inside before Zoe could slam the door in his face.

“Sorry I can’t stay and chat but I’ve got more unpacking to do,” Gram said. “You two sit down and have some tea.”

Gram turned and made her way upstairs, leaving Zoe looking more pissed off than nervous.

“I can’t imagine you drinking tea,” Zoe told him. “It’s not a vampire thing, is it?”

Instead of answering, Damon surveyed the room, noting the location of the hidden camera. It was still there in the corner of the crown molding. He also noted that the room contained a hell of a lot more furniture than it had in the earlier video coming in over the feed. In fact the room had been empty but now it had several large pieces of furniture in it, including a weird chair with writing all over it. It had a modern edge that was at odds with the rest of the place.

Well, maybe not. He was no expert on home decorating but even he could see that the heavy Victorian armoire looked weird compared with the rustic denim couch, which overpowered the dainty table with a teapot and two cups. There was a zebra rug in front of the stone fireplace.

“It’s not real,” Zoe said. “I don’t believe in hurting animals.”

“I hope you’re not expecting me to make the same claim,” he said sarcastically.

“I’m not expecting you to do anything.”

“Oh, I plan on doing something, all right. Do you recall telling me that you aren’t practicing magic anymore? That you and your grandmother wouldn’t make any trouble?”

She nodded. For the first time this visit, a trace of nervousness flashed in her eyes before it was gone. He could hear her heart beat faster. Vampires had ultra-sensitive hearing. When he concentrated he could practically hear the swish-swish of her blood rushing through her veins. He saw the slight tremble of her fingers.

Good. Damon wanted her scared.

But he wanted more than that. He wanted her lush mouth covered by his. He wanted her nude body beneath his. Which were only two of the hundred reasons he wanted her gone.

Zoe refused to allow Damon to intimidate her. Not in her own home. They were on her turf now.

Okay, so it was only a rental turf, but still …

And yes, they weren’t paying rent, but that didn’t mean surly vampires could walk in and glare at her. She’d had enough fangy angst for one day.

She raised her hands in the air in a mocking motion of surrender. “I get it. You don’t want me here. No need to keep pounding it home. Message received loud and clear.” She lowered her hands to place them on her hips. “But I’m not going anywhere, so get over it.”

“It would be easier to get over it if you were half as trustworthy as you claim to be.”

“I don’t know what your problem is—”

“My problem is you, ” he said, interrupting her. “You’re not even here twelve hours and already you’re spinning spells.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You disabled the cameras with your magic so no one could see what you were up to.”

“Cameras?” She looked around the room. “You’re spying on us?”

“Most places in Vamptown have surveillance cameras.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“For security reasons.”

She didn’t like his answer and neither did Gram’s cat Morticia, who jumped onto the arm of the denim couch and hissed at him.

“That your cat?” he asked.

“Morticia is my grandmother’s cat. That’s my cat,” she said as she hurried to scoot Bella from the creamer she’d been sticking her paw in. Scooping Bella into her arms, Zoe glared at him. “I can’t believe you had the nerve to plant cameras in here. There has to be a law against that. Were you hoping to get some kind of kick out of watching the video?”

“I don’t watch the video,” Damon said. “Someone else does.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“I don’t care how you feel,” Damon said.

Morticia growled at him. Bella merely yawned. Zoe was well aware that her grandmother’s familiar was being more protective than her own.

“What I care about is getting those camera feeds back online,” Damon continued.

“Online? You mean you’re posting them on YouTube or something?”

“They are linked to our neighborhood security system.”

Zoe hugged Bella closer for protection. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care.”

“Does Nick know about this?”

“Yes.”

“What about Daniella?” Zoe asked. “Does she know, too?” Something made her add, “And what’s going on with the funeral parlor?”

Moving with vamp speed, Damon pinned her and her cat against the wall. “What do you know about the funeral parlor?” he growled with clear menace.

“Everything okay down here?” Gram asked from the stairway before joining them. “I see you met my cat Morticia.” She moved closer to run her fingers over the calico cat’s head.