"And how long will that take?" Jerry frowned and reached over to wipe what was probably mud from my cheek. "I'm stopping at your apartment. You need some dry clothes. But hurry. The sun will be coming up soon."
"Not long. Ray was leasing. Nate found the last place fairly fast. Then he had to get the black-out shades installed in the master bedroom."
"Be quicker to let him sleep in a closet." Jerry took my hand and laid it on his thigh.
"We have to stay together at least until after the Grammys." Ray handed me my cell phone. "You are going to the Grammys with me, aren't you, Glory?"
Okay, I admit this was a big deal for me. How cool to go to the biggest music-awards event of the year as Ray's fiancee. And of course Jerry saw my reaction.
"She wants to go. And wear a fancy dress that you'll pay for, Caine."
I looked at Jerry. Yeah, that's why I loved the guy. Sometimes he actually paid attention at the right times.
"Of course." Ray grinned. "We'll have to spend about a week in L.A. That's why I'd given my mortal bodyguards this week off. So they'd be ready for the marathon of that week. Good thing they weren't there tonight." He shook his head. "Hey, good news, though. Now that West wood's out of the picture, Glory won't need her own bodyguard."
"Forget it, Caine." Valdez spoke from the third seat, which he shared with Brittany. "Where Glory goes, I go. There are other dangers besides Westwood, L.A.'s full of creeps." Valdez managed to slap a paw on Ray's shoulder. "So's Austin." He smiled at me, and for the first time I noticed that even his dog face had dimples.
Blade pulled up in front of my shop. It was close to dawn and he would barely have time to get back to his house. I knew what we should do and made the decision.
"I'm getting out and staying here. Jerry, you take Ray to your house. Brittany, you and Valdez come with me. Jerry, I'll see you and Ray tomorrow night. If we don't hear from Will and Aggie, somebody's going to have to fly to Aggie's cave and find out what happened with the Circe/Storm God deal."
"Glory, wait." Jerry jumped out while Brittany and Valdez were climbing out of the car. Ray didn't bother to argue. I figure he was as tired as the rest of us and knew he could count on clean clothes at Jerry's.
I stopped wearily in front of my shop, for once not even caring that there were a couple of customers inside and that Lacy was making a sale.
"Don't you dare kiss me out here, Jerry. Paparazzi could be hiding in the bushes and I don't need any more bad press." I backed up until I was next to the security code box and punched in numbers. Valdez and Brittany waited until I was safely inside, then came in with me. Jerry pushed in before I could close the door.
"Now can I kiss you?" He smiled down at me.
"You'd better." I reached for him, needing to feel his mouth on mine. It had been one of the longest nights of my life. He smelled like smoke and I'm sure I smelled like that and lake water too. Neither of us cared. I held on to him for a moment and just absorbed his strength because mine seemed to have seeped out on a slope next to the lake when I'd gotten way too familiar with a crossbow.
"Hurry home and don't let the sun catch you." I hugged him, then pushed him out the door. "See you tomorrow. And don't kill Ray between now and then."
"No promises there." He smiled and strutted, yes, strutted to the car. Ray was up front, totally ignoring him. Oh, yes, they made a fine-looking pair. But I knew which one owned my heart.
I headed up the stairs, two shifters waiting for me patiently. They could shower after I slept, so I hurriedly got rid of all my stenches and dropped like a rock into bed.
Chapter Twenty-One
"I know you said no more food in your shop, Glory, but these are by way of an apology." Ellen laid the plastic bin on the counter. "I realize those last cookies were horrible. Because I was so worried about Tina."
"Why?" I lifted the lid and inhaled. Blueberry, white chocolate chunk cookies. Heavenly. I slipped one out and surreptitiously dropped it into Valdez's mouth. Because you knew he'd followed Ellen to the counter and parked himself beside me when he'd seen the tub she was carrying.
"Oh, she'd been working out of town. I hadn't heard word one from her for over a week." Ellen sighed. "But she's back now. Got her old job back. She's even dating an accountant at work. It's weird though." She leaned over. "Stop that! Glory, your dog is trying to bite the lid off the cookie container."
"Oh, bad dog!" I grabbed the carton and stuck it in a drawer. "Well, as long as Tina's happy What's weird about that?" She was lucky to be alive. I was actually surprised Simon had kept his word.
"She's lost all interest in Israel Caine. Won't even help me with your MySpace page." Ellen sighed. "She's boring!"
"Lots of mothers wish they could say that, Ellen." I looked up when the bells over the door signaled a new arrival. Flo hurried inside with two bags from Nordstroms. No one had ever called my best friend boring.
"I guess you're right."
"Glory! You must see these shoes I bought." Flo looked Ellen over. "Latest spring styles. One pair may work for my honeymoon. This will be number twelve with Ricardo I think. We go to an island this time. I love Capri, don't you?" Flo focused on Ellen again and frowned.
"Oh, I'd better go." Ellen had the faintly overwhelmed look mortals sometimes got around Flo. Maybe my BFF was doing a little mind control. She had a bad habit of sending mental messages to mortals. Nothing like the power of suggestion
"Thanks for the cookies." I walked Ellen to the door, then hurried back to Flo. "And thanks for the rescue. I just wanted to know if Tina was alive or dead. After that, forget her."
"I hear you, girlfriend. Now look at these shoes."
"Let's take them in the back, in case a customer comes in." I turned to Bri, who had already pulled out the cookies and was dividing them with Valdez. "Bri, will you handle the front for a while?"
"Sure, Glory. You girls have fun. The V-man and I are busy here." All this was said around a mouthful of cookie.
"I need a drink." I headed for the back and the refrigerator I kept stocked with synthetic.
"Still off the hunting?" Flo pulled a shoebox out of her bag.
"Definitely. I can barely get this down after the other night and what happened with Westwood. I don't think I'm a normal vampire." I took a swig of B positive and wrinkled my nose. "Whatever a normal vampire is supposed to be."
"I cheer you up, mia arnica. See my Balenciaga gladiator sandals. A new color. The next big thing. St?" Flo lifted them carefully out of the box. "And look, a new magazine. I finally find the perfect dress for you as maid of honor. I listen. You want slenderizing, no? This is black. Perfetto!"
We amused ourselves for the next ten minutes with shoes and wedding plans.
"The new council members will be groomsmen. I'm still working on who else I should ask to be a bridesmaid."
"What do you mean 'new' council members? What happened to the old ones? And why didn't they show up the night of the storm?"
"Pah. Because they were stupid, macho men who cared more about which headphones to buy than about their duties." Flo carefully laid her bridal magazine on the table. "That's why Damie fired them. They spent so long arguing over the best ones to buy in the stereo store that they didn't arrive at Israel's poor house until the fire trucks did. Which reminds me" Flo gave me one of her looks that meant she had an agenda.
"What?" I sat on the oak table while she settled into the chair.
"Spill, Glory. What's it like living with Israel?"
"Hard on Jerry, of course. He has to shift and come in on the roof while Ray's practicing at the studio with Sienna." I finished off my synthetic and headed to the bathroom to rinse out the bottle. "He hates it, but it was the logical thing to do after the fire."
"No house for Israel yet?" Flo admired her new sandals, which she hadn't yet taken off.
"No, and I don't think Nate's really looking. With the Grammys coming up, he's busy with the logistics of getting us out there. Ray's in your old room, and you couldn't blast Valdez off the foot of my bed. He's in serious bodyguard mode." Flo looked up, her dark eyes gleaming. "And how is that? Now that you've seen our Rafael as a man."
"Strange." I dumped the bottle in the recycle bin and sat on the table again. "He was really good-looking. And, of course, we're such great friends. I mean he knows everything about me. Even more than you do, Flo."
"Now I'm hurt. You confide in him, mia arnica? Am I not your best friend?"
"Of course. But you didn't live with me for five years when I was a dancer in Las Vegas. Or help me go through some problems there. Never mind."
"You won't tell me?" Flo leaned forward. "You block your thoughts. Was it a man?"
"No, money." I really didn't want to get into this.
"Pah! I won't pry then. Money comes and goes. This I understand. I have had my little emergencies. That's why I keep a stash of good jewelry in a special place in Roma. Not even my Ricardo knows this. I never be poor again, I tell you. That diamond from Israel? Keep it, girlfriend. I don't care if this was a pretend engagement. Its your future. Hide it somewhere safe."
"I couldn't" I was seeing a hard edge in my friend's eyes I hadn't seen in a while.
"Yes, you could. We have to look out for ourselves, Glory."
"She's right." Suddenly there were three of us in the room. With the same shimmering light trick the Storm God had used, Aggie materialized in front of me. The beautiful, blond Aggie, not Swamp Thing Aggie.
"Mio Dio!" Flo leaped up, fangs down. "What the hell are you?"