“You know how I was raised, Glory. With Gramps a preacher, we practically lived at the church. I can’t handle all this evil in my face all the time.” I felt a hand on my knee and saw Penny squatting in front of me. “Why are you putting up with it, Glory? Why is she here?”
Alesa stood in the doorway, a frowning Laurie right behind her. “Because Glory wants to know if this baby is Rafe’s, don’t you?”
“I know it can’t be Rafe’s.” I gave her a hard look. I was sick of this particular lie.
Penny’s mouth dropped open. “This is Rafe’s baby?”
“No, it’s not. Alesa claims she got pregnant while her spirit or whatever inhabited me. Isn’t that insane?” I shuddered and appealed to Penny. My fledgling was smart and logical, a scientist. Like Ian, she would surely back me up that this couldn’t be true.
“Well…” She frowned, obviously thinking it over. “Come on, Glory. The whole idea of vampires and demons even existing is insane. After I woke up with my own pair of fangs, I learned not to discount the possibility of anything.”
“I simply refuse to buy into it.” I felt Laurie’s hand drop onto my shoulder, a warm weight that comforted me.
“Didn’t say I was buying it. But I know Ian came over here this week about that other thing.” She patted my hand. Penny turned to Alesa, who’d strolled over to stretch out on the couch again. To say that the demon cared less what we thought was an understatement. “Is he working with you too? As a doctor, he wouldn’t discuss a case with me. I swear he never mentioned your name, Alesa.”
“Yes, he’s my obstetrician. Good to know he’s sticking to the doctor/patient privilege thing.” Alesa smiled. “But, hey, you seem pretty smart. For a vampire.” She flicked me with a dismissive glance. “And I like your open mind. So tell him I want you on my case too. He can fill you in. We have an appointment Monday night. He’s going to do an ultrasound so we can get a sneak peek at my little bundle of joy. You can be there for it.”
“Wow. Oh, just wow.” Penny’s eyes were wide.
“That is if you’re all moved out by dawn today.” Alesa examined her fingernails. “Oh, and I didn’t have time to steal much from that cheesy hotel Rafael took me to. You could leave me a few essentials. Some hair product. A manicure set.” She eyed Penny’s size fourteen figure. “No clothes, obviously. But I have magic fingers. I make my own.” She laughed. “I can do the rest too. But sometimes it’s fun to play human, you know?”
“Uh, no, I don’t.” Penny glanced at me, then down at her feet, thinking.
“Oh, give it up, Penny.” I put my fledgling out of her misery, obviously she was torn between loyalty to me and her thirst for knowledge. “I know what a chance to study a demon would mean to you. Ian was all over it too. I’m sure God and Gramps would understand. I do.” This time I hit Alesa with my own look. “How often do you get to play doctor with a real freak?”
Alesa hissed but Laurie was right there, between us, before the demon could do more than mutter a few choice words. I was so loving my new bodyguard.
I got up and patted Penny on the back. “Go, be happy with Trey. And tell Ian to let you assist him on this.”
“Seriously? I won’t be abandoning you?” Penny hugged me hard when I shook my head. “This is so cool of you. You’re right about this rare scientific opportunity. A pregnant demon. Radical.” Penny let me go and approached Alesa. “Can I, uh, feel your stomach?”
“Knock yourself out. Nice to see someone appreciates me.” Alesa lay back, her hands behind her head. “Little devil loved the ice cream. He’s kicking up a storm.”
Penny cautiously laid a palm on Alesa’s rounded tummy, on top of the black leather. “This isn’t any good. Leather’s too thick. Can I pull up your top?”
“Yeah, why not? I’m not modest.” Alesa grinned at me. “And I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Even pregnant, my stomach’s flatter than somebody’s on their best day. Right, Glory?”
I wanted to slap the smug smile off her face. Of course Alesa had given herself a beautiful human package. Penny pulled up the demon’s top and laid her hand on porcelain skin. Then my fledgling jumped and squealed.
“What?” I ran around the coffee table to her side.
“It moved.” Penny looked at me then back down at Alesa’s stomach. Sure enough, you could see something undulating under there, like a serpent trying to escape. I shivered. Penny cautiously laid her hand on the skin again.
“You can feel it, right?” Alesa laughed. “Try it, Glory. You’re a witness. You can tell Rafael that there really is something inside me. My baby. Our baby.”
I was fascinated and not a little creeped out but I put my hand beside Penny’s. Sure enough, I felt something stir under Alesa’s warm, silky skin. I don’t know what I expected, but it actually wasn’t creepy. Instead, I felt sorry for whatever was growing inside her. Because that tiny creature was doomed. Rafe was right. Alesa for a mother. What a future.
“What about me? Can I join the party?” Laurie peered over the back of the sofa.
“No! You think I don’t see your intentions, tiger? You’d like nothing better than to rid the world of a demon before it had a chance to see daylight.” Alesa glared at Laurie. “Stay away from me. I mean it.”
The were-cat just smiled and nodded. Penny and I backed away. Alesa had actually seemed—dare I say it?—afraid of Laurie. I nodded at my bodyguard approvingly then followed Penny down the hall to help her pack. What do you know? My headache was actually gone. Seemed a little positive energy and a fierce were-cat were better than Excedrin.
Too bad I had another headache in my future. I’d never gotten around to telling Jerry about my new statue skill. He’d had an urgent business call while we were at the club. Yes, at 1:30 in the morning. That’s a vampire’s life for you.
“Finally, we’re away from that demon’s reek. Insane that you’re actually letting her live with you.” Jerry dragged me out into the hall and up the stairs to the roof.
“I really don’t want to argue about it, Jer.” I jerked my hand from his. “Insane”? His word choice hit me wrong, that was for sure. “Where are we going? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Somewhere we can talk without all those people around.” He opened the door to the rooftop and cool air hit my warm cheeks.
“All those people? Penny and Trey were trying to move her stuff. You could have offered to help.” I strode to the edge of the roof and looked down at the alley. Trey had borrowed a pickup truck and I could see half of it already filled with boxes. Penny’s precious computer was going last, in the backseat of her car. She’d asked if her cat could stay with me for a while and I’d been happy to agree.
“The shifter can handle things by himself and you and I need to get this settled between us.” Jerry stood next to me, his temper fairly vibrating the air between us.
“Settled? Doubt it. Because in your mind that means I’ll stand back and let Laurie do whatever it is she does to run Alesa out of there. It’s tempting. I admit it.” I could see in his face that I’d hit the target. “But I don’t want to stir the pot, Jer. An angry demon is a dangerous demon. So I’m just going to let Alesa park in Penny’s bedroom and then I’ll go with her to Ian’s Monday night. Where’s the harm?” I smiled at him, but I knew my fangs were showing. I was pissed at the way he’d rudely dragged me out of there. I’d wanted to help Penny with the move.
“I’m afraid you’re in over your head, Gloriana. There’s only so much protection Laurie can offer.” Jerry actually tried to take me into his arms. I wasn’t having it.
“My female, less than equal to the task, head.” I threw myself across the roof. Yeah, I was definitely in a snit. “God, Jerry, when will you get me? You may think I’m dumb as dirt. Or naïve. But would you at least pretend to respect my decisions?” I swear, if I were a demon, my eyes would be flamethrowers. Lucky for Jerry, I just had my fangs to show how truly furious I was. Too bad he’d see a move by me to rip out his throat as foreplay.
Four hundred years and it came to this. Block-headed Scotsman. Why did I still love him? I swept my eyes over him. Sure, he had a hot body but lust only went so far. And, yes, he protected me and cared about me, but that felt more and more like a suffocating blanket and less and less like the warm fuzzy comfort it had in the beginning.
“Gloriana, you’ve made many excellent decisions. But you tend to trust people who simply aren’t trustworthy.” Jerry didn’t come close, staying on his side of the roof. Okay, at least he realized that trying to win me over with a sexual move right now would send me screaming into the sky.
“Rafe? Ian? Or both, Jerry?” I leaned against the metal door to the roof. I had no intention of letting anyone interrupt this long overdue showdown. “Never mind. Don’t bother. I know the answer. Once a person hits your shit list, that’s it. No second chances.”
“Some things are simply unforgivable, Gloriana. I don’t know why you can’t understand that.” Jerry was stony-faced. Not promising.
“No, I’ll never understand that.” I wasn’t about to bring up the most obvious problem Jerry had with Rafe—my affair with the shifter. Unforgivable? Jerry had seemed to give me a pass while putting all the blame on Rafe. Obviously Gloriana was easily manipulated, putty in a bad man’s hands.
“And I’ll never understand why you persist in your dealings with MacDonald. What are you trying to prove?” Jerry’s fists hit his hard thighs.
“Prove?” I heard my voice rise and took a breath. “This isn’t about you. Get it? So Ian made the mistake of having the last name MacDonald. Big freakin’ deal. He’s a doctor. We need a doctor. That’s all there is to it. He’s not done one thing to warrant your continued suspicion of him.”