"Tell her the truth, Lucky."
"Okay, okay. She saved my life, Brit. I gave her the purse. In gratitude. I'd be dead if she hadn't found me bleeding out in the alley. Honest. Let her go."
An astonished Brittany glanced over her shoulder. "Are you kidding me? You gave up your Birkin bag? Willingly? " I saw my chance. I hadn't watched ESPN wrestling with Valdez just for the muscular male bodies, writhing in next to nothing. I used my legs in a scissor kick to throw Brittany off balance as I grabbed her wrist and squeezed. I jumped up and tossed the stake halfway down the block, ready to finish her.
"Ow! Son of a-" Brittany was flat on her face, Valdez on her like a dog-skin rug. "Oof. Get off me." She raised her head and sniffed. "Rafael?"
"Who wants to know?" Valdez put a paw on her injured wrist and she yelped.
"Rafe, baby, it's me, Beth." She had tears in her big blue eyes.
Valdez leaned down and dragged his nose through her really gorgeous blond mane. "Holy shit." He leaped off her, knocking me on my butt.
"Hey!" I stomped on her injured wrist again when it looked like she was going to get up. She screamed and stopped struggling.
"Stop! It's Brittany!"
"Stop! It's Beth!"
I kept my foot where it was and faced the chorus. "I don't care if it's Santa Claus. She just tried to stake me." I could see Valdez was thinking about a head butt. "Don't even. I'm not letting her up until I get some explanations." Lucky made some threatening gestures with her generic hobo bag. "Lucky, you should be with me on this. Where the hell was your 'bodyguard' when you were almost killed?"
"Yeah, Brittany, where were you? A vampire, not this one, tore open my throat and left me for dead."
"I . . . I don't remember. One minute I was checking out this alley . . ." She looked at Lucky, then me. "Then I woke up in the rental car this morning. I've been looking for you ever since."
"Where's your cell phone? You could have tried calling me." Lucky looked like she wanted to believe this story, but, like me, she saw there were holes in it you could heave hobo bags through.
"I lost it. My purse, my ID, even the keys to the rental. I found my stuff this afternoon in the Dumpster, but the battery in my cell phone was dead."
I moved my foot ever so slightly and Brittany gasped. "I think you broke my wrist."
"Doubt it. But you ever aim a stake at me again . . ." I frowned down at her. I've had way too many close calls lately. And I couldn't forget how I'd found Lucky alone and bleeding out in this alley.
Brittany reached for Valdez with her good arm. "Rafael, baby. I'd never betray a client. You know that."
"Quit torturing her, Glory. Let's hear her out." Valdez stopped short of actually vouching for her. He put a paw in the middle of her chest when she tried to get up. "Stay put, Beth, until we hear the rest of your story."
"There is no rest. I woke up in the backseat of the rental car, realized Lucky was missing and started searching. I saw the blood in the alley, but when I couldn't find her, I hoped someone had saved her." She had a watery smile for Lucky. "Or that Lucky had saved herself and used one of her knives to get away."
"I used a knife. But I'm no match for a vampire. Or at least I wasn't." Lucky actually patted me on the shoulder.
"Ah, gratitude." I wasn't sure what to believe and I still had a sore spot where the stake had pricked me. I looked down and checked out my sweater. Yep, a tiny hole and a bloodstain, but black is pretty forgiving so hopefully no one else would notice.
"What do you mean?" Brittany tried to get up again, and this time Valdez moved out of her way. I stepped back, determined to keep my eyes on her. She had legs a mile long and wore her designer jeans tight and her cable knit sweater loose. The stake had come from somewhere. She probably had a damned arsenal tucked in her waistband.
"Hand over your weapons, Brittany." I held out my hand.
"You want to leave me defenseless?" Brittany said it to me, but glanced at Valdez.
"I don't think you're ever defenseless, lady." Valdez nodded. "Give." Brittany sighed, but handed me a gun she'd had tucked into her waistband. I dropped it in my purse. I've never been big on guns. They aren't much help when you make a vampire mad.
"You're not going to believe what happened, Brit. Glory came along and saved me. She had to make me vampire or I would have bled to death." Lucky showed off her new fangs."Oh, my God. Your father is going to have me killed for this." Brittany was pale and held her injured wrist against her chest.
"I've talked to him. Neither one of us thought you could have done this to me. And Daddy's actually decided it's pretty cool to have a vampire in the family. Now the company will go on forever." Lucky reached out and touched Brittany's arm, then looked at me.
"Do you think I can heal her, Glory? Like you did me?"
"You sure you want to? I know you two were buds, Lucky, but I haven't heard anything yet that convinces me she wasn't in on the plot to take you out."
"Hey, I told you-"
"Oh, hush, Brittany. I believe you, but Glory doesn't know you like I do. Give me your arm. Vampires can do this healing thing. I want to practice on you." Lucky grabbed Brittany's wrist and I heard the bodyguard's hiss of pain.
"Fine. You can try. But it takes a lot of power to heal someone, Lucky. You're awfully new." I shut my mouth when Brittany eeked and big, fat tears ran down her porcelain cheeks. Valdez-no, make that Rafael, baby-stayed by my side but his eyes never left Brittany aka Beth.
Valdez has always kept his past a secret. He knows everything about me, except my weight of course. No one knows that. But I know next to nothing about him. If he and Brittany, sorry, but I was calling her that, had hooked up, then he must be pretty hot in his human form. Because Amazon bitch or not, she was gorgeous. I'd always suspected, okay, fantasized that Valdez was actually a stud muffin under all that Labradoodle fur.
Not that I have feelings for him. Eww. We're friends; that's all. Oh, and we have that guard, guardee relationship. He makes me feel safe. Which is nice. Okay?
Lucky had been concentrating with pursed lips and closed eyes. Her grip was obviously pretty tight if Brittany's face was anything to go by.
"Lucky, you can let go of me now. It feels better, honest." Brittany gently pried Lucky's fingers off her wrist, then tentatively moved her injured hand. "Damn, girl, you did it." She flung her arms around Lucky and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!"
"Maybe we should go upstairs for this reunion." Valdez glanced at me. I got his message. He wanted Blade around for backup. In case his old pal Beth was a wild card and decided to pull out another stake.
"Wait a minute." I held up my hand. "Lucky, didn't Damian go down to your car and get your overnight bag last night?"
"Yes, yes he did." Lucky stepped away from Brittany. "You weren't in the car then, Brit. Damian would have seen you."
"I don't know where the hell I was. Or how much time passed before I woke up. What day, er, night is it anyway?" Brittany looked at Valdez, like maybe she hoped he would help her out here. Nope, he just stared at her, his teeth glinting in the moonlight.
"It's been forty-eight hours since Lucky was found back here. Two days, two nights." I jingled my keys, wishing I stashed knives on my body like Lucky and Blade did. Maybe a key in the eye . . . I could tell the shifter was strong. Maybe too much for me alone. I glanced at Valdez and saw he was ready to attack if it came to that. "You couldn't have been sleeping in the car during the day; we have regular foot patrols in this neighborhood. The cops would have seen you and pulled you out."
"I . . . I don't know where I've been. I . . ." Brittany reached out to Lucky. "I can't remember . . ."
"Convenient." I almost jumped back when Lucky and Valdez stared at me. "What? Are you just going to buy this story? And will you sleep well tomorrow during the day, Lucky, with this, this deserter guarding you?"
"I swear . . ." Brittany bit her lip and looked around, like maybe she'd find some kind of evidence to back her up. "I'd die for Lucky. It's what we do, right, Rafe?"
"It's what I do. You, babe, I'm not so sure about. Last time we were together, you ran. I was left with a torn shoulder that was a bitch to heal."
"I had a reason. I had to save-"
"Enough. Brittany probably had the whammy put on her. Like you did those two upstairs. Like you do to mortals. You said you could wipe out their memories. Someone did that to Brit." Lucky linked arms with her bodyguard and pulled her toward the street.
"Let's go to Glory's shop. I need clothes. Brittany, you need clothes too. Then we'll call Daddy. He'll arrange to have stuff sent for us."
"You think Daddy Carvarelli will just accept this lame excuse?" I followed, but I wasn't entirely happy about it. No way was I turning my back on Brittany. Not until I had some kind of proof she wasn't in on the attack.
"He never thought Brit could have done it. He and Brittany go back a long, long way. She was his bodyguard when he was just a teenager. He liked having a hot blond woman with him all the time." Lucky stopped in front of my shop. "Look, Brit, Vintage Vamp's Emporium, isn't that cute?"
"Yeah, cute." Brit tentatively put her hand on Valdez's shoulder. "You. You believe me, don't you, Rafe? I'd never flake out on a client. And I didn't have a choice when I left you, before."
"Save it for later, chica . Let's go inside. And keep in mind there are mortals all around us. Time to show off your defense." Valdez nodded his head and I pulled open the door. "And your loyalty."
Yep, there were mortals in the shop and, other than my salesclerk, Derek, at least one vampire. Friend or foe? I didn't recognize him. And he was showing signs of aggressive behavior. Fisted hands, stiff shoulders and muscles on top of muscles. Damn, were we going to have another showdown? I couldn't say I was sorry; I was still flying on adrenaline and here was a chance for Brittany to show whose side she was on.