"Ta da!"
"Magnificent." Flo laughed and headed out to the living room. "Someone is knocking. We have company. Get dressed, Glory. We take Valdez with us wherever we go."
" I could do more, but I've got orders not to tear up your place."
"Glad to hear it." I shut the bedroom door and got busy in the bathroom. Mortals say life is short, live every day like it is your last. Vamps say life is long, live every day like it is your first. So I was going out. Cautiously, but I was going out. So what if I had a body temperature of sixty-two point five? That was a good thing. It helped me live forever. That and my slow heartbeat, which Diana and Derek and I had also checked last night.
I've had a lot of years already. Wasted years to hear Flo tell it. Maybe it was time I got into my vamp thing. Developed more powers. Flo could give me lessons. She'd love that. I still wasn't sure about the shape-shifting, but there were other things. I stepped into the living room to find Lacy with Valdez and Flo.
"Our first day off, boss. I found someone to work days with me." She nodded toward the hall. "If you approve."
"She has a new boyfriend, Glory." Flo lifted her can as if in a toast. "Bring him in, Lacy. We'll let you know what we think." Lacy gave Valdez a look. "He's mortal. And he thinks we're all just regular folks. Okay?"
"She means we must behave. Got it, Valdez?" I went back to the bedroom for my Bloody Merry and finished it off. "Bring him in." I was pumped, ready for anything.
Anything but Palmer Ryan Dexter the Fifth. For some reason I'd imagined Lacy with the casual type. Not that he wasn't good looking. He was. Even dressed like Gatsby, from the ascot down to the saddle shoes. That was a plus when you wanted to work in a vintage-clothing store. The slicked down hair was a little much and I swear Valdez actually smirked when he saw Ryan, as he asked us to call him. He wore tinted wire-rimmed glasses and looked at Lacy adoringly. A little off center, but a winner if he worshiped Lacy.
"You ever worked retail before?"
"Sure. I've helped in my dad's stores every summer since I turned sixteen." He glanced at Lacy. "He owns fifty-seven SuitMasters." He and Lacy laughed like hyenas. "Can you believe it?" He looked down at his own pin-striped suit with wide lapels. Obviously vintage. "If you can't find a suit for seventy-nine ninety-five, you're not at SuitMasters."
"I've heard those ads." Flo smiled at Ryan. "I don't think you wear one of your father's Sunday specials."
"Naw. He and I don't agree on what we like." He looked at me. "Your store is really cool. I'm studying fashion merchandising at UT. I think the experience of working in a store like yours would be invaluable." He held Lacy's hand. "I want to start my own clothing chain."
"Wasn't there a SuitMistress store too?" Flo stared at Ryan intently.
Ryan winced. "Yeah. Not one of my dad's best ideas. Women didn't dig his cheap suit concept. My stores will be different. Quality vintage."
"You want me to groom my competition?" I kept my hand on Valdez's collar.
"No competition. I'll have to go home to Houston after graduation. I know the territory there. That's where I'll start." He kissed Lacy's cheek. "Lacy and I just met, but I'm already thinking she'd like Houston." Lacy actually flushed and gave Valdez another look when he made a rude noise. "Can we give him a try, Glory? I could really use the relief."
He was certainly qualified and who was I to trample on young love? Of course Lacy was actually about three hundred years old, but she was enjoying Ryan. It might even develop into something worth moving to Houston for.
"Sure. You can start Tuesday. Lacy, you can train him, right?"
"Right. Thanks, Glory." She hugged me, then pulled Ryan toward the door. "Bye, ladies." She pushed Ryan into the hall, then turned to hiss and rake her claws in Valdez's direction.
" She could do better." Valdez barely waited until the door closed.
"I thought he was cute. Couldn't really get a read on him, though. Some mortals do that with thoughts, like, what you call it, white noise. No matter. He looked harmless enough." Flo tossed her can into the trash and fluffed her hair. "Let's go."
"Blade wants Glory to stay here."
"Blade is not my lord and master." I put my hands on my hips. Yeah, I was a little scared to go out, but I knew what Westwood looked like now. And if we stuck together and went someplace really crowded… And what was this about Ryan? I hadn't tried to read his mind, but Flo didn't seem to think it was a big deal. Still… Maybe I shouldn't hire him.
"Ryan's fine. And I know just the place for us. Great music. Lots of people. And the last place a scumbag like Westwood would ever think to look for a vampire." Flo picked up her Fiori bag. Green and blue, a perfect match to her green pants suit. Her shoes were blue lizard. I needed new shoes. But who had time to shop?
Maybe tomorrow night I'd hit the mall. These brown sandals were okay, but it was almost October and the nights were getting pretty cool for bare toes. Surely Westwood wouldn't pull anything in a mall. I desperately needed new boots. I picked up a shawl and slung it around my shoulders. My own purse was a vintage tooled leather from Mexico. Very in right now. I was thinking about selling it.
"It's your day off, Glory. Quit thinking about the shop. Let's go." Flo gave Valdez a look. "Staying or going?"
" Going. I can't let Blondie out of my sight, remember?" Valdez grabbed his leash and dropped it at my feet. " Blade is going to kill me."
"He knows you can't stop me, Valdez." I clipped on the leash and dug out my keys. I locked the dead bolts, then dropped the keys in my purse.
"How are we getting wherever it is we're going? My Suburban is dead, you know." I should have thought about this before we headed out. Forget the bus. No dogs allowed. A cab? I'm sure a big tip would get Valdez on board. Flo didn't drive. That pesky reading problem.
Flo waved a set of keys in my face. "I have one of Damian's cars. He left it here for us to use when I told him your car quit. He wants you to drive me."
I debated for exactly one second. "Sure, why not?" If we were lucky, it would be a sexy model. A convertible. Or one of his vintage Mustangs.
It was parked in the alley next to my car. It was vintage all right. A Town Car. Black. Four doors. A mile long and built like an armored car. Were those tinted windows bulletproof? It would have been right at home in front of a funeral procession.
" Cool car." Valdez approved and what does that tell you?
Flo made a face. "I told him I wanted a sports car and you see what he gives me. Brothers! Pah!"
"Well, we should be safe anyway." I started the engine and it did purr like a very well maintained machine. "Where to?"
"Turn right at the corner. It's a surprise." Flo settled back and clicked on her seat belt. We only had lap belts. The car was that old. Ten minutes later we were in a parking lot overflowing with pickup trucks, battered economy cars and a few other relics like what I was not so lovingly calling "the hearse." I swear you could see the gas gauge go down when you pressed on the accelerator.
" What is this place?" Valdez stuck his head over the bench seat.
"The Moonlight Church of Eternal Life and Joy. I come here every Sunday night that I can." Flo's look said she dared either of us to say anything negative. Not me. I like churches, though I can't say I got to see the inside of one very often. Forget Sunday mornings. At least the name seemed like a sign.
"Yes, a sign, Gloriana. Eternal life. Us. Joy. Us." She looked at Valdez. "You're going to have to wait outside."
" Yeah, yeah." He huffed. " Sure. A church. No one would think a vampire would set foot in one."
"I'm in. You say they have good music?" I'd discovered hymns centuries ago and modern ones are cool. Rock and roll. I'd listened to them on the radio.
"The best." Flo opened her door and hopped out. "Very joyful." She let Valdez out the back. "You listen by the door, mister. You will learn something."
" Oh, great, now she's worried about my soul." Valdez trotted by my side as we walked up to the church. We got some looks. Not because of the dog, he lay down beside the door, out of the way. I figure we got some looks because we'd dressed up. I was surprised at the number of men and women in jeans and T-shirts. There seemed to be a bottleneck at the door.
"Churches are more casual nowadays." Flo whispered as we waited to get inside. "Not like they used to be. And of course this church is special, for night creatures like us."
"Cool concept." The Campbells had a private chapel, but keeping a priest to serve a family of vampires had proved problematic. At least one Campbell brother had enjoyed terrorizing the neighborhood and the priests. Not all the Campbells were into blending. I haven't seen any of them in decades. Hopefully they've wised up.
I've never lost the urge to pray for my soul. Maybe vampires are damned. But I don't want to believe it. Except for the fact that our clothes were cuter than ninety percent of the congregation, we were blending nicely.
"Welcome to Moonlight, friends." A man acting as greeter smiled and waved us into the large sanctuary. The walls soared above us to a glass ceiling that framed the clear night sky. Clever lighting made it possible to appreciate the view. I looked around as the church filled. Huge TV screens flanked a stage that held rows of singers in maroon choir robes. A fivepiece band was set up on the floor in front of the stage. They were playing a peppy melody that had me slapping my thighs as I followed Flo to seats near the back.
"Hmmm. I think we're not the only vampires here tonight." Flo looked behind her and nodded to a woman in a large brimmed pink hat.
"Seriously? All I smell is Chanel No. 5." I turned and smiled at the same woman. "Nice scent."