Anthony didn’t have time to blink, much less speak, before he found himself shivering on a snowy mountaintop. A goat walked up to him and stared him in the eyes.
“What did you do to piss her off?” he asked.
The goat bleated.
A moment later, he was back in his office. Mother Nature shook her head. “He can’t answer your question. He’s a goat, stupid.”
Anthony folded his arms. “What do you want from me? Besides walking away from Claudia, because I won’t do that.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Isn’t it obvious? I want you to dump your human girlfriend right fucking now. But, I’ll let you think about the consequences if you disobey me. Someone is about to barge in on us, and I don’t want to be here when he does.”
A knock at the door drew Anthony’s attention for a millisecond. When he turned back to Mother Nature, she was gone.
Kurt poked his head around the door and saw Anthony standing in the middle of his office, clenching his fists.
“Is everything all right, buddy?”
“Uh, yeah. Come in.” He rounded the desk and sat behind it. Unusual for Anthony. Back when he owned the bar, he was much less stiff and formal. Maybe he was trying to seem more professional for some reason.
Kurt took a seat on the opposite side of the desk, but stretched his legs out and leaned back with his fingers interlaced behind his head. If Anthony didn’t want to be comfortable, that was his problem.
“You came to see me about something?”
“Yeah.” Kurt sat up and leaned forward. “Ruxandra tried to mesmerize me.”
Anthony’s spine straightened even more than it had been with the broomstick up his ass. “What do you mean, ‘tried to’? It sounds like she didn’t succeed.”
“Correct. She looked directly into my eyes and told me to step into traffic.”
“Jesus!”
“Yeah. Her eyes turned some kind of funky gold and purplish color, and she seemed genuinely shocked that I didn’t do as I was told.”
“I’m sorry, Kurt. I didn’t think she’d try anything like that. Stay away from her. I’ll figure something else out.”
“No. It’s okay. I’m glad to know she can’t make me do her bidding. In that way, I’m probably the best man for the job, Operation Distraction. Even more than that, though, I think she can be useful if and when we find the lab.”
“Have you gotten any closer to locating it?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Sadie described her surroundings and tried to get back to the place, but she’s being blocked for some reason.”
“How is that possible? Who could prevent her from astral projection? That specter of a security guard?” Then, for some reason, Anthony pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “Never mind. I think I just realized the answer to my own question.”
“Really? Because the only explanation she can come up with has to do with her spirit guides protecting her. Have you got some other possibility in mind?”
Anthony took a deep breath. Something Kurt had never seen him do. He seemed to be mulling something over. Finally he said, “Never mind. Let’s get back to Ruxandra. I need to know that your spell to protect Claudia is rock solid. There’s no way she can be mesmerized by me…I know that. I tried. But do you think Ruxandra could make her do something like step into traffic?”
“I doubt it.”
Anthony shot to his feet. “You doubt it? That’s the best reassurance you can give me?”
Kurt held up both hands and pushed Anthony into his chair without touching him. By the look on Anthony’s face, he seemed surprised and a little impressed.
“How did you do that?”
Kurt grinned. “I don’t give away my trade secrets.”
“Hmmm…maybe I should hire you to be Claudia’s undercover bodyguard.”
Kurt rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she wouldn’t catch on to that at all.”
Anthony slumped over his desk, his hands covering his face. “What the hell am I supposed to do? I need to protect her, but I can’t.”
“I don’t know. I’ve done what I can. I’m not ready to give up on Ruxandra, as long as I know she can’t mesmerize me. By the way, why do you think that is? Are vampires losing their ability to mesmerize humans?”
Anthony rose and came around his desk. “Let’s find out. You are human, right?”
Kurt leaned away from him. “You’re going to mesmerize me?”
“Why not? I’m a vampire. I think you’re human.”
Kurt smirked. “Watch the insults. I’m one hundred percent human—just a well-trained wizard.”
“I won’t make you do anything dangerous. I hope you know that.”
“Of course. I trust you. You need me.” He smirked.
Anthony let out the long breath he’d inhaled a few minutes ago. He leaned down and caught Kurt’s eye. All Kurt had time to do was blink—at least it felt like he’d just blinked. He was sitting in Anthony’s chair, looking at a piece of paper on the desk with the word “black” written in his handwriting.
“Impressive,” he said. “Why did I write the word ‘black’?”
“I asked you to write down your favorite color. Black seemed like an odd choice, but you’re an odd guy.” Anthony shrugged.
“Hey. I thought I told you to watch the insults. I said ‘black’ because I love all colors and black is what you get if you mix all the colors together. Besides, I look awesome in it.” He tugged the shoulders of his black T-shirt.
“Okay. So, vampires aren’t losing their touch. Maybe your spell to protect Claudia from Ruxandra protected her from me and you from Ruxandra?”
“Not very likely, but I don’t have a better explanation.”
Chapter 9
Anthony exited his office to check on the tea room. Angie was sitting with Tory and Nick. He was surprised to see her still there. He waved to Sadie, who was doing a reading, and approached the table of three.
“Didn’t you finish your shift a couple hours ago, Angie?”
“Ah, yeah.” She fidgeted. “Is it all right if I become a customer in the evening?”
“Of course. I just didn’t think you’d want to hang around where you worked. I guess you don’t hate it here.”
She laughed. “Not at all. I like it. The job is easy, even if I can’t get any White Russians here and the clientele is the same old, demanding bunch.” She pointed at Tory and Nick with her thumb.
“You love us,” Tory said. One side of his mouth quirked up.
“And you’re best friends with my wife,” Nick added. “Insult me, and she’ll have to stop hanging around with you.”
Angie laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“Actually, Nick, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. Can you come into my office for a few minutes?”
“And leave these two unchaperoned?”
Tory shoved his thick arm. “Please. I think we can manage without you.”
“Fine. I know when I’m not wanted.” Nick rose and followed Anthony, but before he reached the office, he called over his shoulder, “If you need my protection, just yell.”
“I think I’ll be okay, Nick,” Angie called back.
“I was talking to Tory,” he said. He closed Anthony’s door on her indignant sputtered retort.
“You like to give Angie a hard time, don’t you?” Anthony asked.
“Been doing it ever since I’ve known her. She’d miss it if I didn’t. So, what did you want to see me about?”
“Have a seat.” Anthony waited for Nick to get comfortable, then asked, “How’s the investigation going?”
“Which one?”
“You have more than one case?”
“Yeah, but they seem to be related. Apparently there are more paranormals missing, and if they’re being taken to a secret lab in Cambridge, we can’t find it.”