EYE OF THE STORM Page 5

  Vampire? I wasn't sure.

  Also, I realized my ideas of what vampires sounded like needed to be updated from the Sesame Street and breakfast cereal versions. Especially now that my neighbor was one.

  "I'm sorry, but yes. I'm just waiting for Carlos." I scooted back in my chair, not really being subtle about moving away from him, since he was standing way too close to me.

  "Oh, Carlos and I are old friends," he said, smiling at me with perfect white teeth. "I am Ivan. And you are?"

  No fangs that I could see, but I did know that vampires could retract their fangs.

  "Um, he's over by the bar, talking to the manager, if you to talk to want him." I didn't really want to give him my name, for some reason.

  "Why would I want to talk to him, when such a delightful woman is here to entertain me?"

  Okay, that was weird. I was definitely not here to entertain anybody. I started to snap at him, but then I realized that English might not be his first language, and the subtleties of "entertain" might be lost on him, or …

  He leaned even closer and stared into my eyes for so long I started to feel dizzy.

  Was it dizzy? Or was it enthralled? I felt like screaming but I couldn't move, couldn't make myself look away, couldn't …

  "I wonder what you'd look like naked, in my bed."

  Nope. That broke the spell or thrall or whatever he'd been trying to do to me.

  I stood and shoved the chair back so fast it fell over, and I got tangled in it when I jumped back and away from him, almost falling. He reached out, maybe to help me, I didn't even know, I just knew I did not want him to touch me.

  A second or two—at the most—later, Carlos was there, standing between me and Mr. Naked in My Bed.

  "You will stay away from her," Carlos said, and even though I didn't know him well, I could tell he was furious.

  Ivan threw his head back and laughed, but it felt very stagey. Like bwah ha ha, I am evil Ivan and take orders from nobody.

  Or maybe I'd just gone way past my limit for awful for the day and needed to go home and go to bed.

  "You own this club. You do not own me. You never give me commands, Gonzalez," Ivan said, his voice a harsh rasp, far different from the smooth tones he'd used when he'd approached me. "I touch whomever I choose."

  "I don't think so," I snapped, finding my backbone. "You don't know much about Southern women if you think we'll put up with that crap. Touch us without our permission, and you'll be very sorry."

  Both of them looked at me with varying degrees of surprise, as if the tablecloth had jumped up and started talking.

  It made me even madder.

  Neighbor or no neighbor, Carlos and I were going to have a little chat later.

  "And the mouse speaks," Ivan said, mocking me.

  I wanted to yell at him but suddenly I was just tired. Tired of him, tired of the evening, of the dancing vampires, of all of it. Tired of craziness and murders and finding bodies—or body parts—in my shop.

  "Whatever." I grabbed my purse. "I'm going home. Carlos, if you're still busy, I'll call someone to come get me or find an Uber that doesn't mind a long drive."

  Carlos motioned to Trinity, who rushed over.

  "Please put some chocolate tortes in a bag for us to take home." Then he turned to me and spoke as if Ivan the Terrible weren't still standing right next to the table. "Of course. I will take you home immediately. I'm sorry you had to put up with unwanted advances."

  Ivan stared at me the entire time, but I wasn't falling for that, again, so I kept my gaze from meeting his. When Carlos said "unwanted advances," a trace of anger crossed Ivan's face, but then Ivan smiled and slowly moved the lapel of his suit jacket, so I saw that he was wearing a large, silver cross on his shirt.

  A large, familiar, silver cross. It had intricate knotwork at the base, and it dated from the 1800s. I knew this, because, until a few hours ago, it had been one of the centerpieces of the jewelry counter in my shop. I hadn't specifically looked for it when I was cleaning up, but I wasn't much of a believer in coincidence, either.

  I couldn't believe this was happening. He had the nerve to rob my shop and then make cheesy moves on me?

  I pointed at him. "Ivan, you are going to jail. Carlos, watch out—"

  In a blindingly fast motion, Ivan reached out and grabbed the hand I'd so foolishly put in his reach.

  And then I watched as soldiers dressed in red and gold impaled him while he was still alive.

  6

  I may have screamed.

  I know I fainted.

  When I woke up, I was in Carlos's car again, and we were halfway to Dead End.

  "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, sorry," he said, over and over again.

  I rubbed my face with my hands and sat more upright. My head hurt, my throat was sore, and I was faintly nauseated. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too."

  He inhaled sharply and glanced over at me. "You're awake. Thank God."

  In spite of everything, I felt a moment of curiosity. "You still believe in God? Even being a vampire?"

  "I especially believe in God now," he said grimly. "And I am so sorry. When I find Ivan, he will very much regret the events of this evening."

  "No kidding," I said, thinking of the cross Ivan taunted me with just before hitting me with the vision of his death. But, for whatever reason, my instincts were telling me not to tell Carlos about that.

  "So. He's a vampire."

  "Yes. A very old one, I think, who did not benefit from our kind coming out to humans and very much resents living within rules and boundaries."

  I thought about what I'd seen and suddenly it was all too much. I'd held on to calm the best I could when I found the foot, but that added to this …

  "Stop the car! Pull over right now."

  I got sick on the side of the road, and it was just as much fun as you'd imagine. The next time a vampire invited me out to a nightclub, I was staying home to watch reality TV.

  I rinsed my mouth out with a bottle of water he had in the car, and then we drove in silence all the way back to Dead End.

  He slowed when we turned onto my—ours, now, I guess—road. "I know this evening has been a miserable failure, but I wondered if you'd like to at least try the chocolate torte?"

  I finally looked at him, and then wished I hadn't. He radiated misery. Shoulders slumped, hands clenched on the steering wheel, and head bowed. I felt bad that he was so upset, even though I realized how upside down that was.

  Darn Southern manners.

  I sighed. "Okay. It wasn't your fault, anyway. Come over to my place, and I'll make tea, and I guess I can try some chocolate torte."

  I tried to smile, but it felt wrong, so I stopped. I could be polite, but that didn't mean I had to be fake about it. He knew how bad it had been for me.

  Or, did he?

  "I saw him being impaled. While he was still alive."

  Carlos slammed on the brakes and turned off the car before he looked at me. "Was it—is it like a picture? Or a TV show?"

  "No," I said flatly. "It's like I'm right there, alive and in person, and this was one of the worst things I've ever had to live through. No offense, neighbor, but I won't be going to your club again. I don't want to ever see anything like that, ever again."

  He apologized again, but I waved it off, and we got out of the car. Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was spend anymore time with him, after everything, but I thought it might help make it less horrible and awkward the next time I saw my new neighbor if we got past some of this now.

  And I was calling Susan and Jack the minute he left, to tell them about Ivan and that cross.

  I unlocked the door, and Lou jumped into my arms.

  "Come on back, and I'll make some tea. If you'd rather have something stronger, I think I have beer—"

  "Tess. Tea is fine." He followed me down the hall and put the elegantly wrapped silver box on the table and pulled open the ribbon. The sides fell away to display the most beautiful chocolate torte I
'd ever seen.

  "Wow. If that tastes as good as it looks, you might be forgiven for all." I put Lou down by her dish and gave her fresh water, and then I filled the kettle and turned it on, got out some mugs, plates, and silverware, and sat down at the table.

  Suddenly, safe at home, I wanted nothing more than to sleep. For three days.

  Carlos cut two pieces of torte, but then he looked at me when he handed me mine—really looked at me—and he sighed.

  "I'm sorry."

  "Stop apologizing. It's over." I slumped in my chair, waiting for the water to boil.

  "No, I meant I'm sorry that I didn't realize how exhausted you must be. I'll be on my way."

  "You don't have to go," I said, but my heart wasn't in it. He was right, I was exhausted. And I had to get up in the morning and face the damage in my shop.

  He smiled, but his eyes were sad. "Trust me, if I'd had even the slightest suspicion that tonight would go as it did, I never would have invited you."

  "I know, Carlos. It's fine." I suddenly grinned. "It's not your fault you don't have a Suspicious Mind."

  He blinked at me for a moment, and then he got it and started laughing. "If you can still make such bad puns, you must be okay. Walk down the hall with me, so you can lock the door behind me."

  At the door, I wanted to give him a hug, because he was my neighbor, and he looked so sad, but there was no way I was risking that. Instead I did the next best thing.

  I invited him to dinner.

  "Hey. How about tomorrow night, you come over for a barbecue? I'll invite some friends, so you can meet some people."

  He shook his head. "No. I couldn't ask you to do that, after everything you've been through tonight."

  "You didn't ask me. It was my idea."

  "No, no. Really, it's too much—"

  "I'll invite Dave."

  "What time?"

  We both started laughing, and something eased between us, so then I knew it was going to be okay. I'd stay far away from his world of nightclubs and vampires, and maybe bring him into my world of good friends and barbecues. I had a moment's hesitation at the thought of Dave trying to fit into Carlos's world, but I respected my friend enough to know that he could make his own decisions about whether or not to get involved with a vampire.

  Before I could answer, we heard a rumbling roar of a sound that started off distant and rapidly became larger and louder, like a freight train was heading straight for my house.

  Carlos's eyes widened. "What is that?"

  "Who is that," I corrected him, but he didn't have to be puzzled for long, because an enormous Bengal tiger came crashing through the woods that bordered my yard.

  "Ah. Your boyfriend is here."

  "He's not my—you know what? Never mind."

  Jack never even slowed down. He raced across the yard and leapt up onto my porch, shifted mid-leap into human form, and landed between me and Carlos.

  Carlos, impressively, didn't run away, scream, or start crying. These were all reactions I'd seen before by people confronted with Jack in full tiger mode.

  Instead, he grinned at me and started humming.

  "Hound Dog?" I burst out laughing. "Carlos, you are going to fit in just great around here."

  Jack was not amused. "Tess, I've been calling and calling you. I was worried."

  Guilt washed over me. "I'm sorry. I forgot my phone here, when Carlos and I went to Orlando."

  Jack turned an icy stare on Carlos, while still talking to me. "Mr. Peterson was badly injured. The burglar threw him through their front window. He's in the hospital. Maybe it took somebody with vampire strength to do something like that."

  "Or shifter strength," Carlos said mildly. "And, as you know, I have a contractor. I have no need to rob hardware stores."

  "How did you know it was the store?" Jack shot back.

  I sighed. "I told him, Jack. Quit giving my neighbor the third degree and trying to scare him. You know he's Susan's brother."

  "Tess. Trust me on this. Turning vampire changes a person in far more ways that you can imagine. Carlos is not the man he was before, and he cannot be trusted. No vampire can be trusted. Not completely."

  "Trust me or don't, but it would take more than a cat with his fur ruffled to scare me," Carlos said, and I was abruptly sick of both of them.

  "Fine. Argue with each other. I'm going to bed. Carlos, I'll call you about dinner. Thanks for the dessert."

  Jack's expression turned from icy to interested. "Dessert?"

  "You can have some if you apologize to the nice vampire."

  "I would, if there were any nice vampires around. Carlos is high up on the Council, aren't you? And you don't get there by being nice."

  Carlos bared his teeth, and this time I saw a hint of fang. "I am not on the Council. I refused their invitation."

  "Nobody refuses the Council," Jack said flatly.

  I was interested, in spite of myself, even though I really didn't want to know anything about vampire politics. "Are you saying it's an offer you can't refuse?"

  Jack's lips quirked, but he didn't smile. "Exactly."

  "I refused it. And so did your friend Daniel," Carlos told Jack. "Maybe you should get your facts straight."

  "You're dangerous."

  Carlos threw his hands up and sighed. "Everyone on this porch is dangerous."

  "Thank you," I said, oddly pleased. "People keep forgetting that."

  "They just haven't thought enough about The Wonder of You," Carlos said, grinning.

  Jack's eyes widened, and then he laughed. "Okay. You can't be all bad if you can throw Elvis into the conversation."

  "No," Carlos said, serious again. "Not all bad. I hear you're working for Susan. Let me know if you need payment—"

  "I'm not charging your sister anything, and if you want to hear about the case, you'll need to talk to her."

  Carlos nodded. "I respect that. Thank you. Okay, now that we're all friends, I'm going out to find someone to eat."

  My mouth fell open, and then he winked at me, and I realized he was joking. Of course he was joking.

  Then I thought about Ivan, and wondered.

  "Good night, Tess, Jack."

  And he left, waving once after he got in his car and then heading down the road.

  Jack turned to me, and I could see that beneath his outward calm, he was really upset.

  "Tess." He put his hands on my shoulders. "You can't—"

  He stopped and walked to the end of the porch, took a deep breath, and came back. "Can we talk inside?"

  I shrugged. "Sure. But I'm almost talked out."

  I headed straight to the kitchen, and Jack stopped to pet Lou before he followed me down the hall.

  "Tess. I was really, really worried about you."

  I started cleaning up the dishes, trying not to be irritated. "I said I was sorry. I forgot my phone, Jack. You were the one who had to go help Susan, and you didn't call and let me know what you were up to."

  He sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he pinned me with his gaze. "You're right. I should have called sooner, but I was trying to track the thieves. But can you at least understand why, after you were robbed, and there were multiple other robberies, and a vampire was involved, I'd be worried when you didn't answer your phone, and when I came by, your car was here, but you were nowhere to be found? Mike and Ruby didn't know where you were, either, and then I had to hear from Mike about an amputated foot in your drawer?"

  By the time he got to the word "drawer," his voice was pretty loud.

  And I felt like an idiot.

  A remorseful idiot.

  "I'm so sorry. I didn't think—when Carlos invited me out, I just wanted to escape."

  A trace of pain shadowed his features. "Invited you out," he said carefully.

  "No, not like that. He's interested in Dave, you know that. And even if he'd asked me out, asked me out, I'm not going to go out with anybody else when you and I are … I mean …"

  Finally,
the tension in his shoulders and jaw relaxed, and he smiled. "I don't know why I should be worried. I've been trying for months to get you out on a real date. It's not like Carlos would have been able to succeed until at least mid-2020."

  "Funny guy." I took a fresh fork out of a drawer and tossed it to him. "Why don't you eat the rest of that cake, because I need to tell you something that will make you unhappy all over again."

  I was wrong.

  He wasn't unhappy when I told him about Ivan.

  He was furious.

  "I'm going to kill him." He jumped up from the couch, where we'd migrated to after Jack demolished the 'vampire cake,' as he kept calling it.

  I put my tea mug down. "Ivan?"

  "Definitely Ivan. Maybe Carlos, too, for putting you in that situation." He started pacing back and forth in my small living room, and Lou leapt out of his way and onto the back of the couch, where she watched him with narrow-eyed disapproval.

  He suddenly stopped pacing and turned to look at me. "At least you kept Carlos on the porch and didn’t invite him into your house. That was good thinking."

  I sighed. "Jack. You saw the dessert plates. Of course I invited him in. He's my neighbor. And tomorrow I'm having a barbecue for him to introduce him to some friends. You're invited."

  Jack gave me a "try to stop me from being there" look, but at least he didn't argue about it.

  I was so tired I was nearly falling over, which is the only way I could explain it, but I'd forgotten the most important part of the story. I smacked myself on the forehead. "Jack. I forgot to tell you this. Ivan was wearing a cross from my shop. He made a point to show it to me, just before he grabbed my hand. I didn’t tell Carlos about it, because I'm not sure how well he know Ivan, or if they're basically friends, but Ivan must be the one who robbed my shop!"

  Jack pulled out his phone. "We need to tell the sheriff about this."

  When he got Susan on the phone, he handed it to me, and I quickly filled her in on what had happened. "Has Carlos told you about anybody named Ivan?"

  "Yes," she said. "He wants to buy my brother's club. I need to talk to Carlos and tell him to watch his back, and see if he knows where I can find this Ivan. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Tess. Get some sleep."