I knelt at the closest pew. “Thanks for the help tonight.” Then I stood and did a little curtsy to the altar. That might not be the right way but I winged it. The appropriate formula for prayer was foreign to me.
When I returned to the stairs, Red blocked my way. He grinned from ear to ear, disfiguring his ruddy pockmarked face.
“That was so cute, Connie. Someone might mistake you for a lady doin ’ a curtsy like that.”
“Stick it in your ear, Red.” I brushed past him to make my way downstairs. Red was the size of a grizzly bear. People thought his size made him slow but they were wrong. He snatched me up like a doll and crushed me in his version of a hug.
“Breathe...” I swatted the back of his head with my free arm while stars flashed before my eyes.
He loosened his grip while setting me back on the ground. I gasped in air. “You big redheaded goof. Are you trying to break me in two?”
“Thought we lost you tonight, shrimp.” He ruffled my hair, pulling strands out of my neat ponytail. “You added more white hairs on my head when you ran out onto the Promenade away from us.” He leaned in close, meeting my eyes to make his point. “Next time, climb the damn fence. I’m too old to be sprinting after a lunatic.”
“Have you ever tried climbing a fence in a dress and heels?”
“When we get back home, you’re doing more training with me.” He pointed his thumb to his chest. Red’s hair may be getting whiter but his body could still dent things. “I’ll have you climbing fences in a clown suit.”
I snorted but returned his hug. Red meant well. I could count on one hand the number of people who truly cared about me. Red was one of them.
We made our way down the stairs. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “I heard about the vampire who followed you home. You shouldn’t play with strays, you might catch something.”
“Har, Har, you’re such a comedian.” We continued further into the church basement.
“How come he didn’t do anything to you?”
“I didn’t—I mean, he lost interest and dawn was coming.”
“You tellin ’ me this thing chased you three blocks, followed you to the hotel, and then lost interest?”
They thought the vampire who hunted me from the party followed me to my hotel room. “I reasoned with him.”
His eyebrow rose. “How?”
My thoughts raced. How indeed? “At the party Rurik gave me to a pretty powerful vampire as a present. Everyone witnessed it. I reminded him of that.” If I kept my lies close to the truth, I had a better chance of keeping them straight.
Red just stared at me, ridicule painted across his face. “That’s it? How’d he find ya?”
“I don’t know, Red. The subject didn’t come up, kinda had my hands full, staying alive and stuff, okay?” I could have sworn I felt my nose grow with each lie.
He opened his mouth then hesitated before shrugging. A huge duffel bag lay open on the floor. He picked it up. “Jump in.”
“Why?” I peered into it. “Is this punishment for screwing up?”
“If we wanted to punish you, we would have left you at the party.” He opened the bag wider, placed it back on the floor, and gestured to it. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve carried a body in it.” His face looked grim.
“I believe you, Red.” I mirrored his expression. “How else would you get a date to go home with you?”
His grin re-emerged.
“I’ve always liked ‘em small and quiet-like.”
“Good thing I have a big mouth.”
His laughter filled the room.
“Why couldn’t we meet here, Red? Why do all this subterfuge?”
“Things went bad tonight and on top of that, you were followed. It may be daytime but what if one their humans trailed you here? Maybe they made a connection between you and our attack last night. We can’t afford that.” He gestured to the bag again. “Getting in?”
I stepped into it, humiliated. I fit but stopped Red as he zipped it up.
“Not all the way. I need to feel like I can open it.” My voice sounded small, even to me.
“Okay, not all the way.” He left it open a smidge so I could see some light. Then heaved me over his shoulder and exaggerated a stagger. “Need to lay off those cookies.”
I elbowed him through the bag and he rewarded me with a grunt.
“Red,” I whispered quietly as he lugged me around like dirty laundry. “You’re not putting me in the trunk of the car, are you?”
“As tempting as that sounds, no. I’m tying you to the back of my motorcycle.”
“Red!” Suddenly I became weightless as he threw me onto the back seat of his car. Relief washed over me—I could be so gullible. The car’s motion rocked and lulled me into a much needed sleep.
Colby assisted me out of the bag when I was placed on the floor at last. We were in a makeshift office. No pictures or advertisements hung on the walls, just a room with a desk, chairs, and a filing cabinet. He stopped my progress to examine my split lip then my neck. His piercing green eyes never missed a detail. “No bites. Good. Any other injuries?”
“Just bumps and bruises.”
He released me and made his way to sit behind a battered wooden desk.
I pulled up a cold, metal chair to sit on and faced him. His dirty blond hair stuck out as if he’d been pulling at it. Thin strips of medical tape held a cut over his right eye together and a bruise along his jaw line was surfacing. “Was any of the team killed?” No matter how many times I explained this to myself, I still felt responsible when someone got hurt trying to protect me. Thank goodness it didn’t happen often.
“None. Three sustained injuries, enough to merit a hospital, but it appeared like most of the vamps held back from the fight.” He rubbed his bruised chin.
“From my angle at the top of the stairs, I could see some of the vamps fightin ’ among themselves. Mother fuckin ’ weird, if you askin ’ me.” Red leaned against the wall by the door with the duffle bag at his feet.
“What happened at the club? Why did you let him lead you out a side door instead of the main one like planned? I figured he didn’t know you were planted since he didn’t kill you in the alley.” His soft commanding voice gave me a chill. It reminded me of Dragos’.
I leaned forward against the desk. “Things were going smoothly. He finally made a pass and offered me a drink. We flirted a little and I got him to agree to leave the club with me, but he slipped something in my drink. I had trouble focusing on what we were doing. He took me to the side door instead of the main entrance. A car waited for us when we got outside then he pulled a whammie on me.” I glanced at my clenched hands and relaxed them. “The drug affected my mental shield more than anything else. I had no power over them. They just ran through my control like sand. He took me.”
Red cleared his throat. He stood by the door, guarding it. “He ... uh ... do anything to you?” His crossed arms over his chest, which bulged with contained tension.
“No, at least not what you are implying.” I shifted self-consciously on my seat. “He helped me into a car and told me he wanted to introduce me to an important magistrate. I have to point out here that Rurik’s powerful. He’s not fresh-outta-the-grave, he’s old and strong. Some of the vampires at that party were even stronger.”
“We noticed.” Colby ran a finger along his injured jaw.
“Rurik offered me as a ‘gift ’ to a real bad ass vampire he referred to as Master Dragos.” Colby and Red exchanged a quick look.
“Describe him.”