"Wow!" Nate came up behind me. "That was one scary dude."
"You'd better believe it." Greg Kaplan looked Nate over. "Nice blood type. This one must be your favorite pet, Glory." He put on his cape. "You handled Simon pretty well. As for the cameras, you had to know he'd be watching you out there, Caine. Sorry about the tabloids, but that was a freak thing. Won't happen again. I'm sure Simon will make it up to you. Free weekend in the sunlight room." He winked at me. "Now how are you going to turn that down? Looked like you two had a pretty good time out there before Blade crashed the party." Greg shifted and flew after his boss.
"Now there was a badass vampire if I ever saw one, but Circe wouldn't have touched him with a ten-foot pole, Glory. Ugly as sin." Aggie had a glass in her hand. "She'd have liked his friend, though."
"About Circe." I couldn't stand it that she'd just strolled in here like she was ready to join the party after what she'd put us through. I wanted an explanation at the very least. And where was the apology? "What"
"Not now, honey. We're having a party and I've got my body back and Will here to get busy with." She fluttered her eyelashes when he topped off her glass with Jack Daniel's. "I'll fill you in later. Much later. Tend to your mortals." Sure enough, Luke, who had Sienna under the whammy again, brought her to the door and snapped his fingers.
"Is the party over?" Sienna walked over to Ray.
"Just about. You look tired." Ray smiled. "You were great tonight."
"Hey, Sienna, need a ride to your hotel? I rented a Hummer. That's how I got across the water." Barry had obviously just been snapped out of it too.
"Yes! Thanks, Barry." The singer turned to Luke. "I gave you my number, didn't I?" She rubbed her forehead. "Funny, I guess I'm more tired than I thought. Call me."
Luke leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Definitely."
I shuddered and locked eyes with Lily. If she had any say over Drac's posse, she needed to put a stop to this budding romance. She just shrugged and kept her eyes on Nathan. They called this a party? I wanted to take all the mortals and lock them up with Valdez guarding the door. Not that I'd be able to pry him from my side. He bumped against my knee to assure me of that.
"Give me a sec, Sienna." Barry smiled apologetically at Ray. "Sorry to crash the party and bring you down, Ray." He suddenly noticed Jerry. "Whoa, guess you guys settled things between you."
Jerry walked up and stuck out his hand. "I'm Jeremy Blade, the man beating the hell out of Ray in the picture. Glory and I used to date. Obviously I wasn't ready to give her up."
"Can I give out your name? You've got to know the tabloids are screaming at me for details." Barry whipped a notebook out of his back pocket.
"I'd rather you didn't. Glory's made her choice and I made a fool of myself. I won't say the best man won, because I'd be lying." Jerry ignored Rays grumble. "Anyway, Caine and I have decided to act like adults. I came here tonight to prove we could be in the same room without trying to kill each other."
Barry frowned. "That's good, I guess. But don't be surprised if the paparazzi try to get pics of you with Glory. The reporters for the rags will investigate too. They'll stalk you until they get the details they need for their stories." Jerry glanced at me. "That's crap."
"True, but that's the way it is. Ray's used to it. And all this press may seem like crap to you, but it's golden to our boy Ray here. Especially right before the Grammys."
"Not this kind of publicity, Barry. Do what you can to put a lid on it." Ray put his arm around me. "Glory's not used to it. And, for the record, I beat the hell out of Blade."
"You know I can't just kill a story like this. But be patient. Some other celeb will be caught with his pants down or her top off." Barry grinned. "Sorry, Glory."
"That's okay. I knew when I started dating Ray that I'd be in the public eye."
"That's my girl." Ray took advantage and gave me a big kiss. Testing Jerry's temper? I eased away from him, not daring to look at Jerry.
"I'll do what I can, Ray." Barry gave me an approving look. "It would help if you two were seen together in public acting like this. You know. Lovebirds."
Ray grinned. "No problem."
"You about ready to go, Barry?" Sienna tugged on his sleeve. "I'm tired and I'm ready to get back to the hotel and a hot bath."
"I'll go with you. Barry, you don't mind dropping me at my place, do you?" Nathan stayed close to Sienna, obviously trying to keep Luke away from her.
"Not at all. I figure I've done enough here. Sorry, Ray." Barry pulled his car keys from his pocket. "Anyone else need a ride?
Got plenty of room in the Hummer."
Everyone else murmured and shook their heads. We watched the three mortals leave, the mood in the room subtly changing as we no longer had to guard what we said or did.
Ray and I turned to Aggie. Jerry was suddenly on my other side and I felt his hand on my elbow. Time for a showdown.
"You've got some nerve, Aggie, showing up here dressed to party and knocking back shots of Ray's booze after what you did to us." I moved in and felt Ray grab my hand. Jerry's hand tightened on my elbow.
Aggie flicked a perfectly manicured nail at me and I felt a jolt from my head down to my toes.
"Relax, vampy, or do you want to play statues in front of your guests here?" The blonde, who, except for her long eyelashes, had absolutely no resemblance to the freakish sea monster we'd been dealing with for the past weeks, grinned at us.
"Come on, Aggie, spill. Why'd the storm stop? What happened with Circe?" You knew I couldn't just let this go, didn't you?
"Forget it. Now's not the time to ask me your burning questions. Will and I are headed to his room to celebrate my return to this gorgeous bod." She ran her hands down Will's chest, and we saw him swallow and nod, obviously more than happy to oblige. That's when the first flaming arrow hit the coffee table.
Chapter Twenty
Whap! Whap! Whap! More flaming arrows hit pieces of furniture. Which was better than hitting some of the vampires who scattered.
"What the hell?" Lily grabbed Jerry's arm while Drac and his crew grinned and ran to snatch their capes next to the front door. We could hear thuds from there, which meant it was being hit too. No easy exit that way. Brittany ran out of the kitchen with a fire extinguisher and began futilely spraying the flames that had already consumed the table and were doing a number on the sectional sofa.
"Mio Dio! Let's go, amante. Glory, you'll shift with us, sl?" Flo held on to Richard and beckoned to me from across the open expanse between us that had quickly turned into a wall of flames. It was apparent, though that anyone trying to go from one side to the other would be toast, no matter what form they shifted to. Ray and I had been stuck on the opposite wall from the others when the arrows had started flying.
"You bet your life she will. But she'll go this way." Ray answered for me, holding me back as I instinctively started forward when it seemed like the arrows had quit coming. Sometimes my instincts suck.
Whap! Whap! Whap! Round two of flaming arrows. The heat was getting unbearable. Ray dragged me toward the kitchen.
"Glory!" Jerry lunged for me, but Lily had him in a death grip. He too was across the great divide.
"Get out of here, Jerry. I'll meet you at the car." I shouted this above the roar and crackle of fire and the whoosh of Nate's bottle of Jack Daniel's, which went off like an incendiary bomb when the fire reached it on an end table.
"I've got her, Blade. Get the hell out of here with the others." Ray tried to pull me out of the room into the hallway leading to the kitchen but I wasn't about to go yet.
"Glory, keep Valdez with you. Leave!" Jerry's yell was in my head since there was no other way I could have heard him. The heat was almost unbearable.
"Hot until you do! Stay safe. I love you. " I sent him that message then looked down and realized my furry friend was dogging my steps. Sorry, blame the metaphor on smoke inhalation. I figured I'd better quit breathing. I got a glimpse of the vampires across the room shifting into bats to fly up the fireplace chimney.
"I'm going. Now get the hell out of here. I love you too." Jerry was the last to leave, shifting right after Lily did.
"There goes our girl. Now we're going to kick some hunter ass." Drac grinned at Benny and Luke, their faces glowing in the firelight. The three stood next to the front door.
"What are you waiting for? The fire's getting worse." Why did I even care if these three fried? Couldn't they see the flames licking up the walls and running up the stairs to the top floor? And feel the heat? I wasn't breathing in the heavy smoke, but it made my eyes sting and tears run down my cheeks.
"You coming with us?" I shouted over the roar of the flames. I guess I felt like I owed it to Lily to make the effort.
"We're going after Westwood. I figure this is his work." Drac pulled a mean-looking knife that Jerry would have admired out of his cape. "With any luck, this will be his last chance to take a fang. Right, boys?"
"Right. He messed with the wrong vampires this time." Ben used his ax to break out a front window, the three shifted into bats and took off.
Ray and I barely made it into the study when we heard a crash behind us.
"Valdez!" I turned and could just see dark fur under a huge wooden shelf that had fallen on top of him. "God, V, are you all right?" Books and knickknacks were scattered everywhere.
I reached for him, but the doorway was on fire and Ray jerked me back.
"Are you crazy? You can't run through those flames." Ray wrapped his arms around me.
"I'm okay, Blondie. Just stuck. Can't get a grip on this damned shelf. Listen to Ray. VU wiggle out of here in a second."