Page 36 of Visions in Blood
“Hello, Cressa.”His voice held a lilt of mischief, and when I glanced at Ginger, she seemed to have recovered, a glint of merriment in her own twinkling gaze.“I wanted to make sure Ginger was all right and to apologize for not being able to keep her safe.”
“I told him it wasn’t his fault.I’m the one that ran off after he told me not to.And then when that other vamp showed up, I just freaked.I thought I’d be braver than that but, I guess you just don’t really know until you find yourself face to face with a vamp.”She blushed again when she glanced at Lucas.“Well, not any vamp, but a really, really pissed-off vamp, who obviously doesn’t like you.”
I’ve known my best friend for over five years, and she had an amazing ability to ramble on for minutes without really saying anything.She was a professional babbler.It was one of her charms.Yet, something was different this time, and I reconsidered what assignment Lucas might have been on that had kept him away from the mansion for almost the same length of time Ginger had been in Seattle.
“As I told her, it was a frightening situation, and anyone not familiar with vampires would certainly have handled the situation far worse than she did.”
“Huh-huh.Well, you were outnumbered.”I inched into my room, feeling like the intruder.“I thought Ginger might like to hang out in the pool for a bit.Our movie night is all set.”
Ginger leaped up, the robe slipping open to reveal her bra and undies, which would have been difficult for any man, including a vamp, not to notice.And Lucas stared for longer than what was considered acceptable.In this case, I wasn’t sure if it was the vamp stare they all did beyond the point of politeness, or something more intimate.
Ginger sashayed to a dresser where she kept a few of her clothes and didn’t bother closing the robe.Since she’d be changing into a bikini, there really wasn’t anything Lucas wasn’t about to see anyway, unless he’d already seen more skin than that.
I’d never judged Ginger on her hookups, but wasn’t this different?When my erotic dreams with Devon came to mind, I didn’t have much room to criticize.And I’d be lying to myself if I claimed I had no attraction to him outside of those visions.
Lucas strode to the door, pausing when he reached me.“I understood you did well keeping the enemy busy while Ginger escaped.”
I lifted a shoulder and a grin slipped out.I did do well.“I have good teachers.”
“Even if it was foolish to go running after her by yourself.”
My smile faded.“And there it is.Always a back-handed compliment.You vamps sure know how to make a person feel good.”
His smile showed a bit of fang.“Training to overcome an enemy is to save your life, not make you feel good.”His gaze roamed over Ginger, almost possessively.“Making a person feel good requires other measures.”He bowed his head and left.
When I turned to Ginger, she had her bathing suit in her hand and was dodging into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind her.
Good grief.Those two were getting chummy under the sheets.I rubbed my face.It wasn’t any of my business.If she wanted me to know something, she’d tell me.Though I was curious.Ginger had a system for tracking her hookups.If a man interested her enough to punch his number in her phone, she’d add a rating from her “would I fuck them” scale.If anything, I was tempted to search for her phone and see what she put next to Lucas’s name.If he was playing bodyguard—and didn’t that word have a whole new connotation—then his number would definitely be on speed dial.
I gathered my own bathing suit and changed, then wandered into the closet to pull my dirty clothes together.Greta, the housekeeper, took care of the laundry, but I never liked someone else doing what I could do myself, even when I lived at Christopher’s.When I strolled out and dumped the clothes basket by the door, I noticed Ginger sitting by the windows, the robe back on to cover up the bikini.
“Are those the gravestones where you saw that woman?”
I tugged on my own robe and sat next to her.“Yeah.But I haven’t seen the mystery woman since before the ball.Maybe she’s from the house next door and occasionally wanders over.”
“How would she get past the gate?”
“Having your backyard edge the coastline leaves some weaknesses.Walls can only go so far.There’s a small-game trail that skirts the edge of the wall on both sides of the property.It’s a pretty scary drop, but a person could clear it.”
Ginger glanced toward the ceiling.“No weird sounds or moving of curtains from the third floor?”
I nibbled a nail, my focus on the grave markers.“No.I haven’t paid much attention lately.It would have been the best time with Devon gone most days, but I’ve had my mind on other things.At this point, I could probably be talked into it being nothing more than my imagination.”
She squeezed my arm.“I didn’t properly thank you for earlier.”
Words stuck in my throat and tears pricked my eyes.We weren’t going to rehash that near-death experience.“Which part?The saving your life or the shoulder I lent you for all the blubbering.”
She snorted.“The last part, of course.I look horrid when my mascara smears.”
I laughed.“Don’t we all.Let’s grab another bottle of wine and hit the pool.We’ll need a good buzz before movie night.”
ChapterThirteen
The landscape rushed by,turning from coastal views into suburban homes then city streets.The car was quiet except for the soft purr of the motor and the fan blowing warm air to dispel a chilly coastal day as Sergi drove to my mother’s spa.The stoic security guard didn’t play the soft jazz he enjoyed, but maybe that was for me.He probably sensed the trepidation beating drum solos in my head.I had no doubt he smelled the sweat reeking from my pores.
Earlier that morning, Devon had reviewed the plan several times with the team that consisted of me and five vamps.It was solid.I’d been on sketchier jobs that hadn’t created this much anxiety.But it wasn’t my mother’s bodyguards that had me cranked up.It was what to say to her after all these years of stubborn silence on both our parts.I should have been the bigger person to reach out, but didn’t she have a responsibility to her daughter?She was the one who abandoned me in our own home when I was barely tall enough to ride the Ferris wheel at the summer carnivals.
A cellphone vibrated in the center console, and Sergi tapped his headset.“Teams one and two in place.Understood.”He gave me a side glance but said nothing more.
