Stakes & Stilettos ib-4 Read online

  I blinked at him. "Don't quit your day job."

  He approached and stroked the side of my face gently. "Don't worry, Sarah. There's a simple answer to this. We'll find the witch. I'm confident that I'll be able to convince her to help."

  I felt the weight of those words. Yeah, Thierry had a way of making things happen when he wanted to. Master vampires could be very convincing.

  "So that's the plan?" I asked. "Find Stacy? What if you can't find her?"

  "I will find her. When we return to the city our first stop will be Barry's. He's lived through a curse before. He may be of assistance to us in this matter."

  Thierry made another call on his cell phone, and I called my parents from the motel phone to say good-bye. They were vaguely apologetic for their reaction to Thierry yesterday, feeling that they might have overreacted, but they just wanted me to "be happy." I assured them I was happy, and I said it with as much conviction as I could muster. It seemed to work. Luckily, they didn't ask for us to stop by on our way out of town, which was good because I didn't want to have to tell them that they'd be answering the door to a great big ball of fire.

  Half an hour later, Thierry's solution to our trip back to the city arrived. A rented cube van. So, wrapped very tightly in the tacky paisley comforter from the bed, I ran to the back of the van and threw myself inside. The door slammed shut and I was plunged into darkness. I felt the vehicle start moving and I counted down the minutes until we got back to Toronto.

  The front door was open and waiting for me at Amy and Barry's place. I could see it from the back of the van.

  "As quickly as possible," Thierry said tightly.

  With blanket in place I headed with him directly for the door. Amy was there, and she beckoned to me with a wave of her arm. She looked concerned. Possibly because of the ugly stolen comforter I had wrapped around me like a large paisley cocoon. The inside of their house looked so dark, so cool and inviting, that I couldn't wait to get inside. Even under the protection of the comforter, I could feel the sun reaching for me with its fiery fingers of death.

  When I reached the doorway I didn't slow down. Which was rather unfortunate because at the threshold it felt as if I'd just walked directly into a plate-glass window. I slammed into the barrier and fell backward. Thierry caught me before I hit the ground.

  "What the hell?" I said out loud, feeling bruised and shaken, not to mention charbroiled.

  Barry appeared next to his wife. He was a full foot shorter than her and Amy wasn't exactly an Amazon. He wore a small blue business suit and had his arms crossed and he studied me for a moment.

  I was getting warmer in my cocoon by the second.

  "Yes, it does appear to be some sort of curse," he said.

  And then he smiled at me. Smiled! At me!

  That little rat bastard. From almost the moment we met he'd rubbed me the wrong way.

  They always talk about love at first sight. They never mention seething dislike at first sight. I'd tried to like him. Really, I had. And the fact that my best friend had fallen head-over-four-inch-heels for the creep, been sired into a life of fangs and immortality, and married him within a couple of days of meeting him didn't exactly help the situation.

  He seethingly disliked me, too. Something to do with me corrupting Thierry and making life more difficult for everyone involved.

  Whatever.

  I forced myself not to panic. "I can't come inside. What am I supposed to do now?"

  Amy was wringing her hands together. "I'll go get the fire extinguisher. Just in case!"

  "No, that won't be necessary." Barry sighed. "I invite you into my home, Sarah Dearly."

  I glanced at Thierry. His expression was tight and he nodded.

  I tried walking through the open door again, braced for any resistance, but there was none. Thierry closed the door behind me.

  I let the comforter drop to the floor of Amy and Barry's foyer. Amy hugged me and stroked the slightly sweaty hair off my forehead.

  "Poor Sarah!" she exclaimed. "We're going to find that witch and we're going to break this stupid curse."

  "That would be a good thing," I said. "It's a little inconvenient."

  "Luckily the sun sets before six o'clock these days."

  I summoned a weak smile. "Hooray."

  "Why are you still wearing those sunglasses?" she asked.

  "Oh, just because." I released her and pulled the shades away to show her my black eyeballs.

  Her eyes went wide. "Yikes." Then her gaze moved down to my hand. "You have a new ring! Ooo! Did Thierry give it to you?"

  I nodded. "An early Valentine's Day gift."

  "It's beautiful!"

  "Sarah must now be invited into a home before she can enter," Thierry said aloud as if he were talking to himself. "She has uncontrollable thirst for blood and sunlight burns her."

  He shared a glance with Barry.

  Barry studied me for a moment with a smile still curling up the corners of his mouth. "A very interesting curse indeed."

  I eyed him. "Thierry says you were cursed, too."

  "I was."

  "What was the curse?"

  "That's a little personal."

  I sat down heavily on a wooden bench they had in their front hallway. Beside it was a shoe rack that held Amy's top twenty pairs of heels. One, I noticed, was a nice pair borrowed from me a year ago that I'd totally forgotten about.

  "Barry was cursed to be unable to speak for a hundred years," Thierry said.

  I snorted at that. "Why did you have to break a helpful curse like that?"

  Barry scowled at me. "It wasn't funny."

  "Neither is this."

  "The curse was broken by getting the witch to remove the spell. It is as simple as that,"

  Thierry explained. "Barry, I've made some headway. I know she lives in the city, but her phone number is unlisted."

  "I will help you with whatever you require, master."

  I rolled my eyes. It just creeped me out that he called Thierry "master." He also got a little peeved when everyone else didn't follow suit. I guess I could understand a little. Three hundred years ago Thierry had rescued Barry from being on display as an abused and exploited miniature vampire in a traveling fair. Hearing about that had softened me toward the guy, but not as much as I would have thought.

  "Butch called earlier to say that he will be back on the job today," Thierry said. "I told him to come directly here."

  Well, that was a relief. As much as I didn't like having a bodyguard around, it did lessen the stress. A bit.

  "I'm not sure if you've heard," Barry said. "But Gideon Chase is dead."

  Thierry nodded. "I did hear that."

  Barry went into the kitchen and returned with a piece of paper. "I printed this off the

  Internet this morning."

  I looked at the paper. It was Gideon's obituary on the VHA (Vampire Hunters of

  America) website. Alongside it was a striking picture of Gideon wearing a tuxedo and smiling for the camera. He'd been a very handsome man with chiseled cheekbones, a strong jaw, hair almost as dark as Thierry's, and piercing green eyes that seemed to stare out at me even through the poor quality of the printout.

  My eyes narrowed at the picture. Better luck next lifetime, creep.

  Amy peered over my shoulder. "Holy cow, he was hot. Too bad he was evil."

  "Any hunters in town with affiliations with Gideon are currently at his funeral," Thierry said. "It's quiet right now in the city. It will help not worrying about that so much as we search for the witch."

  "You will totally find her," Amy said brightly. "I'm sure of it."

  She'd turned her attention away from her husband and the picture of hot-but-dead Gideon to stare up at Thierry. I personally witnessed a small but disconcerting amount of eyelash fluttering.

  Thierry cleared his throat. "Your confidence is appreciated."

  She beamed.

  Right. Her crush on my boyfriend was going to have to be addressed
very soon.

  "What can I do to help?" I asked.

  "The best thing for you to do would be to stay here with your friend until we return."

  In other words, I'd get in the way. No big surprise there. I decided not to argue. It had been a hard enough day already.

  "Okay, I'll stay here if you can do something for me," I said. "Can you swing by George's and pick up my high-school yearbooks? I had my parents send them a week ago so I could freshen my memory of who's who before the reunion. Maybe if I go through them again I can remember Stacy better."

  He nodded. "I'll get them for you."

  "Is it okay if we go shopping later?" Amy asked. "I need a few things."

  Thierry appeared to mull that over. He looked at me. "If you're feeling well enough when

  Butch arrives, and if it's after sunset, then you may leave this house. I've informed Butch of the situation, and he will be on the lookout for any unusual signs."

  My babysitter. If it meant I could go out, then I was all for it. I hate being stuck inside for too long. Unless I'm stuck inside a mall.

  I chewed my bottom lip. "I'm not planning on biting anyone else. I'm feeling totally normal now."

  "Still." Thierry's jaw was set and he came closer to me. He ran a warm hand down my arm. "Please be careful."

  I nodded. "I will."

  I went up on my tiptoes and pulled his face down for a kiss. Our lips met and held before the kiss grew more passionate. Even with Amy and Barry witnessing this, I couldn't seem to stop. I didn't want to stop. I tightened my hold on him. His hands were firm on my lower back.

  Then he tensed against my lips.

  I frowned. "What's wrong?"

  "I don't think we should be too close until we work this problem out." He looked down at me and his eyes were as black as I sensed mine still were. "There seems to be something about this curse that affects me as well."

  I didn't let go of him. He didn't release me either. It seemed odd to see black eyes, completely without any whites, in someone's face, but it suited him in a very strange way.

  It looked right. It gave him an extreme edge of danger that I found myself uncontrollably attracted to.

  I knew my thoughts were growing cloudy. I noticed this from what seemed like miles away. I wanted to kiss him again. Even his warning didn't lessen that growing need.

  "Okay, what exactly is going on?" Amy asked uneasily.

  "I can't seem to control this." Thierry ran his fingers along the side of my neck and made a low, throaty growl.

  "Then don't," I said.

  He pulled me roughly against him and crushed his lips against mine. He began eating at my mouth in a kiss that made it feel as if he was trying to devour me. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and kissed him back just as deeply.

  "Separate them," Barry said. "Quickly."

  I was wrenched away from Thierry. Barry gripped my arms and I mindlessly began to fight against him. I turned and snarled, and with a push I sent him sailing across the room, where he slammed against the wall. Two framed Monet prints crashed to the floor, the glass shattering on impact.

  Suddenly, as quickly as the fog had come over me, it cleared away as if I'd just had a glass of cold water thrown in my face. I brought a hand to my mouth, which felt swollen from the kiss.

  "I'm so, so sorry," I said to Barry. "I will totally pay to have those refrained."

  Barry brushed himself off and scowled at me. Amy held on to Thierry's arm. He obviously hadn't thrown her across the room as I'd done with her husband.

  "Add increased strength to the list," he said to Thierry. "I think it's clear what we're dealing with here."

  "The nightwalker thing, right?" I asked as my stomach sank.

  Thierry's expression was pained as he looked at me. I watched his eyes slowly return to their normal color. "We'll take care of this. And we must leave now."

  Barry nodded, then he approached Amy and kissed her on the cheek. He warned her to be careful.

  Thierry stayed where he was by the door. His brow was furrowed. "I will see you soon, Sarah." Then he followed Barry out of the house, careful not to let too much sunlight in past the open door.

  Amy slowly turned to look at me. "That's one hell of a curse."

  I breathed out a long sigh. "Please remind me not to go to any more high-school reunions, okay?"

  "Uh, Sarah? You're not planning to attack me, are you?"

  I swallowed hard. "Absolutely not."

  Her eyes narrowed and she peeled back the curtain to the side of the door. I had to jump out of the way of the beam of light. "What a jerk."

  "Who?"

  "Thierry. Honestly, I can barely stand to be in the same room as that guy. I think I finally understand how you feel about Barry, because I feel the same way about him."

  I sat down on the bench again. I felt tired and I'd only been awake for five hours.

  "Actually, there's a difference."

  "Oh? What's that?"

  I looked directly at her. "I don't make googly eyes at your husband."

  Her eyes widened. "What on earth are you talking about? I hate Thierry."

  "Yeah, about as much as you hate strawberry cheesecake."

  "I love strawberry cheesecake!"

  I crossed my arms. "Exactly."

  "Sarah, you have it all wrong."

  I almost laughed at how mortified she looked. "It doesn't matter. Seriously. Your little crush on my boyfriend is the least of my worries at the moment."

  Her expression faded to one of guilt. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

  "That makes two of us."

  She shook her head. "Seriously, I don't like Thierry. I would never act on it. But there's something about him. He's just so… I don't know." She sighed. "You know?"

  I just looked at her. "Right. That's perfectly clear."

  "Are you feeling better? Your eyes are back to normal again."

  "Much." I thought about it for a moment. "Maybe Thierry's right about the curse affecting him as well. When he's not around I can think a lot clearer."

  "The man can seriously kiss," she said dreamily.

  I looked at her sharply.

  She cleared her throat. "So, we're waiting for Butch and the sunset. That's a few hours away still. Want to watch a DVD?"

  "Okay, but nothing weird, violent, or potentially dangerous to me in my current fragile state."

  "How about From Dusk Till Dawn?"

  "Perfect."

  Chapter 9

  I decided not to share with Amy the fact that I'd almost made Thierry bite me last night.

  After the near-death experience of the last time he bit me, she probably wouldn't think that was a good thing. I mean, I didn't think it was a good thing.

  We watched the DVD. I'd had it confused with another movie with a similar title—a romantic comedy. This wasn't. After a character had his throat torn out by the bloodthirsty vampire vixen, I asked her to turn it off and put in something kinder and gentler. We settled on Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Way fewer bloodthirsty vampires.

  Waiting there for my bodyguard to show up, I realized that I hated feeling helpless like this. It was a feeling I'd perfected, but it didn't mean I liked it. I wanted to be out helping

  Thierry instead of waiting here like a two-fanged sloth.

  "The sun has officially set," Amy announced.

  This was very good news. I looked out of the front window to the street and saw Butch nearing the house. I opened the door to let him in.

  Butch weighed close to three hundred pounds. As with a linebacker for a football team, the extra bulk was for brute force rather than running long distances. His head was shaved bald and he had a pale brown goatee. Under his winter jacket, he always wore a black T-

  shirt with some arbitrary phrase printed on it. Today it read: "You use the Force. I'll use my fists." He came highly recommended as a vampire bodyguard.

  Plus, he was a fan of reality TV. It all helped.

  I had cons
idered not leaving Amy's house after what happened with Thierry, but it had been almost four hours without incident, the sun was down, and a quick check in my shard confirmed my eyes had returned to normal. Butch gave the thumbs up for our field trip.

  I waited to feel the fog come over me again, but there was nothing. My mind was clear.

  "What are we going out for?" I asked.

  "Lingerie," she said. "It's Barry's birthday next week."

  "And he likes to wear lingerie? I had no idea. What's his favorite color?"

  "It's not for him, silly. It's for me."

  "Just make sure you don't wear your 'Thierry Is a Hot Tamale' T-shirt. He might not understand that."

  She glanced at Butch and her cheeks reddened. "I thought we were going to drop that?"

  "Oh, we are. It's dropped." Her crush on Thierry had quickly gone from annoying to amusing. The fact that she was completely embarrassed about the whole situation only made it funnier.

  "You're married, Amy," Butch brilliantly observed. "You shouldn't be looking at other men."

  "Thanks for your opinion," Amy said dryly, pulling on her winter coat. "Not that I asked for it."

  He shrugged his massive shoulders. "I think when you're married you shouldn't look at anyone else. It's wrong."

  Amy eyed me. "Sarah's dating a married man. What do you think about that?"

  "That's way different," I said quickly. "Can we go now? Pretty please?"

  The promise of an annulment was just that at the moment. A promise. I wasn't going to share that news with anyone else until it actually was news. Then I would shout it from the rooftops.

  But that was the future. I was currently dealing with the present.

  The present that included shopping for my friend's lingerie while my married boyfriend searched for the witch who'd put a nasty curse on my ass.

  A romantic fairy tale if ever I'd heard one.

  With every step I took through the Toronto Eaton Centre, my favorite shopping mall in the very heart of the downtown core, I asked myself:

  Am I feeling okay?

  Do I want to bite anyone?

  The answer continued to be: Yes I'm feeling okay and no I don't want to bite anyone. I felt perfectly normal. It was obvious that this situation was a temporary one. I could deal with it short-term, no problem, especially with Thierry on the case of finding Stacy.