Kathy Love - I Only Have Fangs For You

Wilhelmina shivered, even though her bloodless skin didn't register the coldness of her damp clothing as it would have if she were human. But she'd been shivering since she'd gotten wet, since she'd…

An image of Carfax Abbey's owner appeared behind her closed lids. In some ways, he'd been exactly what she imagined, and in others… in others, he'd been very different. Like his unexpected reaction to the water damage. He'd handled the whole debacle with an easygoing amusement that she hadn't expected in an arrogant, dissolute, and wicked vampire. He'd even helped mop up the water himself. Although he had still looked every inch the decadent vampire doing it.

That was another reaction she hadn't anticipated-her fascination with his physical appearance. She'd encountered many beautiful vampires in her existence, and she'd been fully prepared for Sebastian's good looks. Or at least she'd thought so. And still she'd found herself watching him throughout the remainder of her shift, which he'd actually cut short, sending her home because she didn't have any other dry clothes to put on. She hadn't expected that from the infamous vampire either. Consideration.

She opened her eyes. She couldn't let his laid-back manner fool her. That was part of his charm, part of his lure, used to disguise the monster underneath.

"So what about the club owner?" Lizzie called from the kitchen. "Was he all that the Society had made him out to be?"

Wilhelmina frowned. Sometimes she really hated Lizzie's animalistic ability to guess her train of thought. Wilhelmina didn't want anyone picking up the feelings stirring inside her at the moment. Surprising notions about how intriguing she'd found the owner.

No, no, no! She only found him interesting because he was her opponent, her nemesis. She was wise to study him. And she was equally as wise to remember that he was beautiful and mesmerizing in just the same way a flame was to a moth.

Let's face it, the moth never made out well in that attraction. She knew that firsthand.

"Well?" Lizzie asked again as she re-entered the room, a large glass of iced tea in one hand and three packages of Twinkies in the other.

Wilhelmina shook her head. If Lizzie were human, she'd weigh three hundred pounds. But then, if she were human, she wouldn't have an enormous appetite. Lycanthropes really could pack it away.

Lizzie sank onto the sofa and arched a dark brow at Wilhelmina. "So? What was Super-Fang like?"

Wilhelmina frowned, another image of Sebastian appearing in her head. His golden eyes and lopsided smile.

"Dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

Lizzie nodded as she took a large bite of her snack cake. "So what's the next plan of attack?"

Wilhelmina sighed, and for just a moment, she considered putting an end to this crazy idea. But she couldn't let herself do that. She believed in what she was doing. She just needed to remain determined. She would see Carfax Abbey closed down. Unfortunately, she'd used her two best plans, and they'd both failed.

"I don't know," she finally admitted.

"What about the idea to empty all the vodka and gin bottles and fill them with water?"

Wilhelmina winced. Had she actually thought that would stop the club's business?

"No. That won't work."

"You could also replace all the whiskey and bourbon with tea," Lizzie said, raising the glass of amber-colored liquid to demonstrate before taking a sip.

"I don't think that would do much, except cost him some money."

"Probably not," Lizzie agreed, then she smiled slyly. "But it would be sort of fun."

"What if I put something in the beer that would make the human patrons sick?" Wilhelmina suggested.

Lizzie shook her head. "No. Food poisoning is a dicey proposition. Humans are fragile, and you wouldn't want to mortally injure the ones you're trying to save."

Wilhelmina nodded. That was true.

They both fell silent as they considered other possibilities.

"You know," Lizzie finally said, "I'd just go into the club before it's opened and burn the place to the ground. That would certainly stop him."

Wilhelmina shook her head. Lizzie had been right when she'd said that Wilhelmina didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't. She wanted to stop what happened at the club, but she didn't want to do anything that would truly hurt someone. She wasn't a radical who believed that sometimes violence was the means to an end. Although some of the members of the Society did feel that way. She just wanted mortals to be safe from sadistic, self-serving vampires. She wished there had been someone out there who'd done the same for her.

"Okay," Lizzie agreed, "no burning to the ground. Let me think." She ripped open another package of Twinkies.

Wilhelmina watched her, trying to think of something that would cause the club to be closed down for longer than an evening. Fire was out. Water damage was out-too much fire needed. Tampering with the liquor, ineffectual. Food poisoning-too dangerous. What did that leave?

"I've got it," Wilhelmina said, suddenly. "Health inspectors."

Lizzie nodded, looking impressed. "Yes, that could work. If you did it right."

Wilhelmina grinned. Oh, she'd do it right. This time her plan would definitely work.

Sebastian strode through the nightclub, nodding to several of the club's employees as he passed. They were busy with their sidework, getting ready for another hectic night. He scanned the large room for dark hair and black-rimmed glasses, but didn't see either. The new waitress wasn't in yet, or maybe it was her night off. Or better yet, maybe she'd quit.

"Where's the new girl?" he asked Nadine, keeping his voice casual as he slid onto a bar stool.

Nadine glanced at him, then picked up a bundle of napkins. "She'll be in any minute."

"So what's the deal with her?"

Nadine didn't look up from where she crouched behind the bar, restocking the shelves. "What do you mean?"

"She's-odd."

Nadine rose, crumpled up the empty wrapper from the napkins and tossed it down the bar into a gray plastic trash can.

"She is," Nadine agreed. "But she's harmless."

"When she's not starting fires in the backroom, that is."

"That was an accident."

Sebastian nodded, but knew he didn't look convinced. There had been something about the new waitress's behavior that still didn't seem right to him. It was almost as if she'd been disappointed when he'd assured her the rest of the nightclub was fine. And then in his apartment, she'd been downright afraid of him.

He supposed he could chalk up her fear to the fact that she'd fully expected to be fired, which many other business owners would have done. He wondered why he hadn't.

"You said that she needs this position," Sebastian said. "Why? What's her story?"

Nadine ladled maraschino cherries from a large jar into a metal serving tray. "I don't know much about her. She's pretty quiet."

"Then how do you know-" Sebastian started, but his head bartender silenced him with a sharp flash of her dark eyes.

"I just get the vibe that she needs this job," she stated. "There's something… desperate about her."

Sebastian couldn't disagree with that. At the very least, there was something desperately strange about her. He started to say so when Nadine's next comment stopped him.

"She seems lost."

Sebastian paused. Hadn't that been what he'd sensed about her, too? He just hadn't been able to label it as Nadine had. But there was something anxious and almost lost about her. She was unlike any vampire he'd encountered, and running this club, he'd met many. He had to admit that she made him curious.

And other than being a little accident-prone, she was obviously not dangerous. In fact, aside from her strangeness, she was rather unexceptionable. Another peculiar trait for a vampiress. Vampires were nothing if not noticeable. She wasn't.