“So, it sounds as if you two spent some time together if you found her in France during the reign of the Marquis de Sade and were still an item recently in New Orleans.”
Anthony flopped against the back of the couch. “We were together for over a century, and after that, off and on. I was obligated at first. I taught her what she needed to know to survive—something I never learned from my own maker, but that’s another story. Ruxandra and I even had a few happy decades. Unfortunately, that makes it worse. She remembers the good times but conveniently forgets that things haven’t been good between us since the turn of the century.”
“2000 wasn’t that long ago.”
“I was talking about 1900, the century before.”
“Oh. So, where does she sleep?”
Anthony paced the nine-by-nine room in two strides. “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
“Whoa. Aren’t you supposed to look after the vampires you turn? Isn’t that some kind of vampire law or something?”
“I fulfilled my obligation to her years ago. She knows as much about survival as I do. Maybe more. There’s nothing more I can teach her, other than how to let go of me and move on. She seems unwilling to learn those lessons.”
“So, what you’re saying is, you’re kind of fucked.”
“Unless you can find some way to entice her far, far away from here.”
“I, um…I’ll have to think about it.”
Something in Kurt’s voice told Anthony he had an idea but wasn’t willing to share it yet.
“Meanwhile, my friend, I need to know that Claudia is safe—no matter what.”
“She is. Trust me. She can go anywhere and do anything she likes. The protection spell won’t wear off or fade with distance. She could leave the state and still be fine.”
The idea of Claudia being miles away bothered Anthony, but he didn’t have time to examine that now.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. Thanks, buddy. I owe you.”
“You sure do.”
Kurt laughed, but Anthony meant every word. Claudia’s safety was worth whatever promises he had to keep.
“So, how’s the investigation going?”
“Not well. Every time Nick thinks he’s found a lead, the trail goes cold.”
“Are more paranormals disappearing?”
“A few. At first it was just wolves. Now, it seems a couple of vampires are missing.”
“Vampires?” This development hit home for Anthony. “Who? Where? Are you sure they’re missing and not just moving on?”
“According to Nick, a family reported their mother and young son missing. They seemed genuinely distraught. Said there was no way they’d ever leave the rest of the family willingly. Considering they went to a werewolf for help, they must have been desperate.”
“Shit.” How did humans sneak up on a vampire—never mind two of them—and then manage to capture them?
“Exactly. A werewolf capture is hard enough to understand, but they can’t move quite as fast as vamps can when threatened. They must have been shot with some kind of fast-acting sedative.”
“That’s the only thing I can think of. Is there anything that works so fast it could take down vampires before they disappeared?”
“Not that I know of.”
Anthony scratched his head.
Kurt elbowed him. “If I find out what it is, maybe I can use it on Ruxandra. Then lock her up until Stockholm syndrome kicks in and she falls madly in love with me. That would take care of your problem.”
Anthony laughed bitterly. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
Claudia had made sure everything was okay and said good-bye to her waitresses. She figured she’d better beat it before Anthony handcuffed her to his side. She took two strides toward her apartment entrance, but before she reached her door, Ruxandra stepped in front of her. Dressed in red as usual, she was hard to miss, but she also wore gobs of sparkly jewelry and a fur stole. The only things missing were a tiara and long, white gloves.
“Yikes. You startled me.” Claudia glanced all around. “Where did you come from anyway?”
Ruxandra’s frown edged up into a slow, creepy smile. “Never mind that. We need to talk. How about if you invite me up…for a drink.” Her teeth seemed to gleam and looked sharper than Claudia had remembered.
Doing her best to mask her alarm with annoyance, Claudia blew out a deep breath and dug in her purse for her keys. “What about?”
“I think you know.”
“Sorry. I don’t, and I’m…I have to be somewhere in…” She glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes. I barely have time to change.”
“Into what?”
Huh? She’s just trying to get to me. Claudia didn’t actually have to leave her apartment for another hour, but letting the pushy blond know that would be a mistake.
Ruxandra reached out as if she were about to grab Claudia’s arm, then recoiled and said, “Ouch. I broke a fuckin’ nail. What are you made of? Iron?”
Claudia tried to step around Ruxandra, but the woman maneuvered herself directly in front of Claudia again.
“I won’t take much of your time.”
Claudia closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath.
“May I please come up to your apartment so we can talk in private?” Ruxandra asked in a syrupy sweet voice.
Claudia was about to tell her to take a flying leap when Anthony flew out of the tea shop and wedged himself between the two women.
“Do not invite her in, Claudia.”
How did he hear what was said from inside the shop? She was tempted to defy him and invite Ruxandra upstairs just to show him she could do whatever she liked, but technically, it was his apartment. And considering how much Ruxandra wanted her out of the way, defying him on this—or anything else where the blond bombshell was concerned—would be just plain stupid.
“Honestly, Anthony. Are you going to tell me what to do every minute of every day? I mean, evening.”
Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Ruxandra during the day, either. Did they really spend their days apart? Is that why his former girlfriend feels she still has some kind of right to him? Claudia told herself she was being ridiculous. Anthony wanted nothing to do with the buxom blond.
He put a hand on the small of Claudia’s back. “Why don’t you go inside? I need to have a little talk with Ruxandra.”
“And she says she needs to have a talk with me. Maybe the three of us should just sit down and talk until we all have nothing more to say.” Claudia glared at Ruxandra. “I’m getting sick of being ambushed.” Then she faced Anthony. “…and ordered around.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Anthony said. “I’ll handle this.”
“Handle what?” She folded her arms. “Did you two break up or not?”
Ruxandra tipped her nose in the air. “What we have is something that can’t be broken.”
“And yet,” Anthony said through gritted teeth, “it’s been broken for a long time.”
What the hell cryptic nonsense are these two saying to each other? “You know what? This is between you two. I’ll be upstairs getting ready to go out. If you’re still here when I leave, pretend you don’t see me.”
“Claudia, wait.” Anthony started to follow her.
She yanked open the door to her stairwell and said. “No. I’ve waited long enough.”
Anthony hoped Claudia wouldn’t refuse to let him in. He needed to talk to her. She must be wondering what Ruxandra was babbling about when she said their relationship couldn’t be broken, and he had to do damage control.