“Oh, right. Right,” Cort lied, not sure why he felt the need to save face in front of this kid. Maybe because he was a kid and he was a centuries-old vampire. He should be able to hold his drink better than a juicehead college kid.
“I just wasn’t sure who was—was still with us,” he added.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katie watching him, but she didn’t say anything.
“Do you happen to remember?” Cort said, trying to sound casual.
The man sighed, but answered, describing the members of the band. “And there was also some guy with a shaved head and tattoo on his cheek.”
Shaved head and tattoo? That sounded like Raven. Why would Raven have been with them?
“And a priest who kept shouting that he’d married you two. He was totally wasted, which didn’t seem very . . . religious of him. But then, I guess you were all twisted.”
Twisted was a good word. But man, it really did irk Cort that this kid was judging his behavior.
Of course it was hard to defend the classlessness of a wedding where everyone—including the bride, the groom, and the priest—was bombed.
“You bought us all a drink, then your bird stole my watch. And I want it back.” The kid held out his hand.
The bird stopped poking its ice cube and looked at the guy, lifting its crest and bobbing its head like it was laughing. The little ass probably was.
“Like I said, the bird isn’t mine,” Cort repeated.
The frat boy eyed the bird warily, but demanded again, “Where is it?”
Seriously? Cort didn’t remember getting married, like he was going to remember where a fowl-pilfered timepiece was.
Cort stood and pulled the wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans.
“I couldn’t begin to tell you where it is. I’m sorry. But I’m more than happy to pay you for it.” He opened his black leather billfold and waited for the man to give him a price.
“The watch was my grandfather’s. I can’t put a price on that,” the frat boy said, crossing his arms over his chest again.
Of course it was a family heirloom. Still, Cort was hoping this guy had a price to go away, because he seemed to be getting more irritated by the moment, if the veins popping in the side of his neck were any indication.
“I just want the watch back.”
Katie shifted in her chair, regarding the kid warily, too.
“I’m sorry,” Cort repeated, “I realize money can’t replace it, but would two hundred help?”
The guy shook his head, the muscle in his cheek bulging as he gritted his teeth.
“How about four?” Cort pulled out several bills.
The man shook his head and took a step closer. Katie shifted again, getting more nervous. Cort moved between her and the large kid. She didn’t need to be in the line of fire if there was a fight. She’d been through enough in the last twenty-four hours.
“Listen,” Cort said, using all his vampire charm and coercion, “I feel awful about the watch. I really do. And I think you can see I’m not a fan of the bird myself, so I totally understand your irritation, but all I can do is offer you some kind of monetary reimbursement. Just name your price.”
The man stared at Cort for a moment, and Cort couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“A thousand,” the kid growled.
“A thousand?” Katie said before Cort could reply.
The man nodded. “A thousand and we’ll be even.”
Cort stared at him for a moment, but then pulled more bills from his wallet. He handed them to the man.
“I don’t suppose you’d want a free parrot, too,” Cort asked. Behind him the parrot whistled loudly as if it understood.
The man counted the money, then said as he was shoving it into his pocket, “No way in hell. That thing is evil.”
The frat boy left then, smiling broadly at his friends.
“I bet that watch wasn’t even his grandfather’s,” Katie muttered, frowning with displeasure. “It was probably a battered old Swatch or something.”
Cort wouldn’t doubt that either and he sure as hell didn’t feel like he got a thousand dollars’ worth of information from the kid.
“I think we should go,” Katie said, standing up, too. “Who knows what else the bird did here last night.”
Cort couldn’t argue that, even as he looked longingly at his drink.
Cort took out another couple of bills, his wallet getting seriously depleted, and tossed them on the table to cover their drinks, then he reached for the bird. The damned thing pecked him again, but just like before it then climbed up his sleeve to his shoulder.
“You’re an ass,” Cort informed the red-feathered beast.
The bird bobbed its head merrily as if laughing again.
“Look at the employees behind the bar,” Katie said quietly as if they could hear her from across the loud, crowded bar. “They don’t look happy.”
Cort covertly glanced in the direction of the bar. Three of the waitstaff were looking their way, talking amongst themselves. And Katie was right, they didn’t look happy.
“What else did you do, bird?” Cort muttered.
The bird bounced its head again, quite pleased with itself.
That reaction couldn’t mean good things.
“Yeah, we better go.”
Chapter Nine
I DO . . . OR DID I?
“SO,” Katie said as soon as they were outside of the crowded bar. “We had a wedding reception with the marrying priest in attendance. It would appear we are truly married.”
Cort nodded, letting himself take a moment to assimilate, as Saxon would say, that information. He had to admit he didn’t feel nearly as panicked by the idea as he should. As he always thought he’d feel. Shit, he hadn’t handled his last marriage this well. And he’d known Francesca his whole mortal life.
Weird.
He glanced at Katie. She was still painfully pale, partly because of her new state of being, but he suspected some of her wan pallor was also due to this information.
And truthfully, her reaction was far more normal than his own. Sure, they did see each other nearly every day. They did chat and occasionally have a drink together. That was it. And now Katie Lambert was Mrs. Berto Cortez, wife of a Bourbon Street musician and vampire.
“It’s pretty weird, isn’t it?” he said.
“Yeah. It is. This is all pretty weird.” Her blue eyes glittered like sapphires against her wan skin.
It might be weird, but Cort couldn’t deny that he was very, very attracted to his new wife. She was beautiful.