Page 3 of Bad Luck Vampire

Sophie’s eyebrows shot up at the question. It was the last thing she’d expected.

When she just stood staring at him in surprise, he added, “I’d love to take you for coffee or something to prove that not all guys are jerks like this one.” He gave Carl a shake and her gaze skated to the man he was holding when the light splashed over him again. Carl’s eyes were open and he was grimacing. He was no longer struggling, though, she noted before the light shifted again and Carl disappeared into the darkness.

Sophie returned her gaze to Tybo and his friend. This was the craziest situation she’d ever encountered. The guy was dangling her blind date in the air and asking for her number. They were complete strangers. For all she knew he was a serial killer or something. On the other hand, he had saved her from an awkward and even potentially dangerous situation by dragging Carl away from her. Still, Sophie wasn’t sure it would be smart to accept a date from this guy.

She was about to say no when she noted that the blond was looking at Tybo as if he’d lost his mind. Sophie was self-aware enough to know that was what changed hers. As one of the workers at a group home she’d lived in had put it, she’d always been a “contrary bitch.” Tell her she couldn’t do something, and it was as good as done. The fact that his buddy obviously didn’t think she was good enough for Tybo was enough to convince her to go out with him.

“Sure. We could do coffee,” she said now. “If my number’s not in his contacts, it’ll be in a message from Lise Cunningham. Give me a call sometime,” she added, and then turned away, opened her car door, and slid in.

“Tell the truth... you’ve lost your mind.”

“Huh?” Tybo glanced at his partner, Valerian, with confusion at those words, but then just shook his head and looked back to the white Nissan exiting the parking lot. Sophie Ferguson was a pretty little thing. He couldn’t wait to call her. That thought had him lowering Carl so that he could search his pockets for his cell phone as he said, “She thinks you don’t think she’s good enough for me.”

“What?” Valerian said with surprise.

“You were looking at me like I was crazy when I asked for her number,” Tybo explained as he went through Carl’s pockets.

“That had nothing to do with her,” Valerian said at once. “She seems fine.”

“Yeah. I know, but it’s probably the only reason she said yes to going out with me,” Tybo told him as he found and pulled out Carl’s phone. Lowering the other man, he cast Valerian a smile. “Thanks for that.”

Valerian snorted at his words. “I was looking at you like you were crazy, because what you’re doing is crazy. You do remember what happened the last time we went vigilante, don’t you?” Shaking his head, he predicted, “Lucian’s going to be pissed if he finds out about this.”

“No, he won’t,” Tybo said with certainty, and then held out Carl to him. “Hold this asshole while I remove Sophie’s number from his phone.”

Valerian’s mouth twisted with irritation, but he caught Carl by the collar and took over holding him while Tybo quickly went through the phone in search of Sophie’s number. It hadn’t been entered into contacts yet, so all he had to do was erase it from messages and recent calls. After a hesitation, he then snapped the phone in half. The bastard deserved it. Carl’s intentions had not been good. Despite Sophie’s obvious disinterest, he’d decided she was just playing hard to get and if he hadn’t been able to coerce her back into the restaurant to continue their date, he’d intended to follow her to her car, force her into it, and take what he felt he deserved and was sure she was just withholding to tease him. Carl had been positive she’d be glad in the end.

Reading those thoughts from the man’s mind was what had moved Tybo to intervene. The guy was an arrogant asshole who figured if a girl agreed to a date, she was agreeing to sex and he was going to get it one way or another.

Bastard, Tybo thought, dropping the phone on the ground and stomping on it for good measure. It was guys like Carl who made women leery of the rest of the men in the world.

“Can we let this douchebag go and get back to work now?” Valerian asked when Tybo turned back to him.

Tybo considered Carl with dissatisfaction. A broken phone was hardly much of a punishment for what this guy had intended. Finally, he said, “Let him go.”

Looking relieved, Valerian released the man and then eyed him warily, no doubt expecting Carl to freak on them. Instead, the man turned and began to skip away from them across the parking lot.

“What did you—?” Valerian began, but his question died as Carl kicked off his shoes and began to remove his suit jacket. Once that was off, he tossed it away. Even as it landed on a little Hyundai, Carl was skipping along again, working on the buttons of his shirt. A moment later the dress shirt was flying into the back of a pickup.

“Oh man. We are dead,” Valerian almost moaned as they watched Carl push his pants and underwear down next and then pull his feet out and kick the clothing under a nearby van.

“No, we’re not,” Tybo assured him, grinning evilly as he made Carl pirouette in the middle of the space between the first double row of cars and the door to the restaurant, his junk swinging out from the movement.

A squeal drew his attention to the restaurant to see two women frozen in the open door, gaping at the man dancing naked outside. After a shocked moment, both women backed into the building and the door closed. But they didn’t move away from it. Instead, their gawking faces were visible through the glass of the upper part of the door. When other faces began to join them, as well as several phones suddenly popping up to film, it was obvious they’d reported what was happening outside to the other patrons. Which meant the police would be called.

Smiling with satisfaction, Tybo began to lead Valerian to the SUV where they’d been waiting and watching for the arrival of a suspected rogue.

“He’s still dancing,” Valerian said tightly as he got behind the wheel. Turning on the engine, he asked, “Are you going to release him?”

“Eventually,” Tybo said mildly, his gaze still trained on the man as he controlled him and had him start hopping around like a bunny, his bare butt jutting out and junk flopping with each hop.

“Jesus,” Valerian muttered, and then stiffened and glanced sharply at Tybo as his phone began to ring. Mouth tightening, he growled, “We’re so dead.”

“No, we’re not,” Tybo assured him, and answered, putting the call on speakerphone.

“The cops are on the way. Wait till you hear the sirens and then get out of there,” Lucian barked.

Tybo grinned when Valerian’s eyes widened incredulously at their boss’s words. Told you, he mouthed to him silently.

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