Fanged & Fabulous ib-2 Page 14

“Yeah, that’s so.”

  “Like what? Name something you know about me.”

  He studied me for a moment. “You can forgive really stupid mistakes.”

  “For example?”

  “Me being a vampire hunter when we first met. Trying to kill you.” His expression grew serious. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that. I . . . I was a different person back then.”

  I shook my head. “You weren’t different. You were you, only a little less educated in the way things actually are.”

  “That’s a nice way to put that I was a complete idiot.” He pulled a chair out and sat down heavily.

  “What am I going to do to make up for all the things I was responsible for?”

  “You just need to put it behind you.”

  He looked up at me, his eyes moist. “I don’t even understand how I could do it. Looking back, I see that it was wrong. But I truly believed . . . I believed that I was doing the right thing.”

  I went to the fridge and grabbed a couple more beers and brought them out. I put a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Look, the way I figure it you have two choices. You can either dwell on the shitty past you’ve had and you can pretty much curl up and die, or you can move on with your life.”

  “Is there a third choice?”

  I twisted the cap off my beer and took a sip. “Yeah, you can get off your lazy ex-hunter ass and show me how to beat your old friends up.”

  He laughed. “So you’re saying I should just forget about my past.”

  “No, I’m not saying that at all. You were a hunter. Now you see that you were wrong. You have a chance to make a difference because your view on the subject is clearer than anybody else’s could ever be. I have total faith that you’re going to find the vamp responsible for the murders. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. And no, you can’t take back what you did . . . I’m not even saying that you should try to. Just use the rest of your life in a way that is positive.” I stopped talking for a moment. “Do I sound a little bit like Anthony Robbins?”

  “A little bit.”

  I shrugged. “I guess I must have bought some positive pants yesterday during my shopping spree.”

  “They suit you.”

  “Yeah. Well, I guess when the night is at its darkest, the sun starts to rise.” I blinked. “Somebody stop me.”

  He eyed my neck. “So are you going to tell me what happened to your neck or should I just go ahead and guess?”

  I touched the offending mark. “It was an accident.”

  “An accident,” he repeated. “You just fell on his fangs, did you?”

  “Don’t you read romance novels? Biting is a sign of true love.”

  He shook his head. “What do you see in that guy?”

  The question took me by surprise. “What?”

  He stood up. “Thierry. What do you see in him, anyhow? I don’t get it. Where is he? Why isn’t he here right now? He should be teaching you how to look after yourself, not me.”

  “He’s busy.”

  “Yeah, he’s busy.” He shook his head. “Even without my suspicions, that guy is a self-righteous,

  overbearing, pompous dickhead.”

  I felt myself tense up. “You don’t know him.”

  “And you do? Don’t tell me that the two of you have a damn thing in common.”

  “We both enjoyAmerican Idol . The man is a serious Clay Aiken fan.”

  He snorted. “I think I get it. You justthink you’re in love with him. He’s this dark alpha jerk with his black cape and mysterious past. A romantic fantasy that you’ve convinced yourself is real.”

  “Alpha jerk?”

  He swore under his breath. “You think you’re supposed to fall for the tortured guy who lives in the shadows. But you’ve been with him for two months now, Sarah, has he come out of the shadows for you yet?”

  “Quinn, I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “No, of course not. You might actually start seeing the cold hard facts. Well, if you could look in a mirror, I think you’d see the cold hard facts staring at you from your neck. That is not a love bite, I don’t care what you try to tell me. I may have killed vampires without knowing everything I should have, but I know that vamps as old as Thierry shouldn’t be drinking blood.”

  I swallowed. “It’s none of your business.”

  “Do you know what happens when they drink blood? Is that the reason he’s off somewhere hiding his face right now? Is he embarrassed at showing you his dirty little secret? Or maybe he’s off doing the same thing to another victim.” He shook his head. “I admit I ended a lot of vamps that didn’t deserve it,

  but some of them do. I’d forgotten. After everything that’s happened to me, I’d forgotten that some vampires deserve to die. There is a reason there are vampire hunters, Sarah. To kill the bad ones. The ones we’re at risk of becoming if we don’t get enough blood. The ones the old ones become if they get too much. It’s a fine line we walk now.”

  I stared at him. “Thierry’s not like that.”

  “Maybe,” he said, drawing closer to me. “Maybe not. I follow my gut, Sarah. And my gut tells me something is seriously wrong. You’re at risk being involved with him. But I won’t let that happen. I won’t let him hurt you.” He grabbed my hands and brought them to his lips.

  My cheeks felt warm. “Quinn, what do you see in me? There are better girls out there for you. Trust me.”

  He managed to grin at that. “Well, for starters, most girls would have listened to my little tirade just now and then given me the finger and taken off.”

  I gave him the finger.

  “You’re still here,” he said.

  “Yeah, I am. Mostly because I still want to learn a few moves.”

  He drained his beer. “But you didn’t let me tell you what I see in you. You want to hear?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Too bad. Okay, so what I like about Sarah Dearly, by Michael Quinn. You’re funny.”

  “I do try.”

  “You’re pretty. That dark hair you keep tucking behind your ears, and those big brown eyes with that glint of mischievousness. I like that.”

  I shook my head. “I’m no Veronique.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  I frowned at him and he started to laugh.

  “That’s actually a compliment,” he said. “Veronique’s too . . . tooVeronique . If that makes any sense at all.”

  “You barely know her.”

  “Now you’re defending her?”

  I shrugged. “She’s not a bad person.”

  He leaned back against the edge of a table. “Do you know why we stopped seeing each other?”

  My ears did their Barkley perk-up. “No, why?”

  He pressed his lips together for a moment before he spoke. “Because I may have called her by your name at a very . . .inappropriate time.”

  I stared at him. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  He shook his head. “She wasn’t all that impressed.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “To prove a point. To show you that just because you mistakenly chose the other schmuck doesn’t mean that this schmuck wasn’t still thinking about you.Inappropriately .”

  I cleared my throat. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

  He grinned. “Fine. I like that you get embarrassed over small stuff, but all indignant over the big stuff. I like that you believe everything’s going to be okay even when things look really bad. I like that you aren’t afraid to ask for help. I like that you can handle your liquor—”

  I shrugged and glanced over at the bar. “Vamps can’t get drunk unless you’re drinking blood at the same time. Believe me, tried, tested, and true.”

  “I like that you never stop talking even when somebody else is trying to speak.”

  “Some people might find that annoying.”

  “I’m not some people.” He moved toward me and reached up to catch a lock of my hair between h
is fingers. He smoothed it behind my ear.

  “No, you’re not some people,” I agreed.

  “And I’m not Thierry.”

  I broke away from him. “No, you’re not.”

  “You never answered me. What do you see in that guy? He’s dangerous. My gut tells me he’s more than that. What makes him so damn special to you, anyhow?”

  I stared at him but said nothing. What was I supposed to say? Rattle off a list of things I liked about

  Thierry? Depending on the hour of the day, that would be either a very short or very long list. But is that the proof of somebody’s feelings for somebody else? The ability to list a bunch of qualities they admire in the other person? Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know.

  Was I supposed to tell him that despite knowing everything about him, even the things that scared me and made my blood run cold, I still loved him so much it hurt? How can you explain something like that?

  Even to yourself?

  “Teach me some moves,” I said quietly. “Or I think we’re finished here.”

  He looked at me for a long moment, then finally said, “Okay.”

  “Okay.”

  He moved back a few steps. “Attack me like you mean it.”

  Surprisingly, I wasn’t as gentle this time. I threw punches, kicks; Quinn blocked them all. He showed me in slow motion how he managed to block them. How to break free of a chokehold. What parts of the body I should aim for that would do the most damage to my attacker.

  We continued the lesson for a good half hour before I started to feel like I was getting it. Then he became the attacker, and I was the victim. It wasn’t much of a stretch.

  I realized that the more relaxed I was, the stronger I was. Along with my enhanced senses, my strength had definitely grown by leaps and bounds. I mean, I wasn’t Wonder Woman or anything, but I could definitely throw somebody around.

  Which I did by accident as Quinn came at me, and I deflected his attack with a push that knocked him headfirst into a nearby table. He fell to the ground in a heap. I slapped a hand over my mouth in surprise and ran to his side.

  “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry. Did I really hurt you?”

  He wasn’t moving.

  “Quinn?” I got down on my knees next to him and tentatively touched his shoulder. Good God, did I knock him out? I was likeXena: Warrior Vampire .

  Just as I was starting to get worried, he turned and grabbed me. “You always have to be on your guard.”

  He rolled me over so he had me pinned to the ground, his weight holding me down.

  I looked up at him. “You totally cheated.”

  “Hunters cheat.”

  He moved my arms up above my head and looked down at me. “You’re not trying to get away.”

  No I wasn’t. That was very strange.

  He grinned. “If I was the bad guy, you’d already be dead.”

  “Good thing you’re not the bad guy, then, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, good thing.” He moved his face down closer to mine until our lips were almost touching. Until I could feel his warm breath against my mouth, his body pressed firmly against mine.

  I heard the entrance door to Haven slam shut just as Quinn kissed me.

  Chapter 12

  Ipushed Quinn back a few inches.

  There was silence for a moment before Thierry spoke.

  “I saw on my call display that you had phoned me from here, so I drove over to see you. I apologize if

  I’m interrupting.”

  He sounded very blase, very cold, as if he hadn’t just walked in on Quinn lying directly on top of me in the middle of his club. Oh, and the kissing thing. Yeah, couldn’t have been better timing if I’d planned it.

  And by “better” I, of course, mean “completely, incredibly horrible.”

  Quinn just grinned down at me with a self-satisfied smile on his face. Then, obviously not seeing the complete mortification in my expression, he winked, then pushed against the floor to stand up.

  “Thierry,” I began, propping myself up on my elbows. “Quinn was teaching me some self-defense.”

  His arms were crossed over his chest and he stood off to the side by the entrance. His expression was tight. He nodded. “Ah. So that’s what that was. I wasn’t certain.”

  Quinn reached a hand out to me to help me up, but I ignored it and got to my feet by myself. I absently brushed off my jeans and wished suddenly that I was on a plane headed far, far away.

  “My idea,” Quinn offered after a long, uncomfortable moment of silence. “Sarah needs to learn how to protect herself, and I figure there were no other takers, so here I am, offering my assistance in the matter.”

  Thierry’s jaw was tense. “That is very kind of you. So tell me, what kind of self-defense do you call that exactly?”

  “That? Just straightforward street fighting.”

  “I see. And the kiss was just . . . for effect?”

  I felt my cheeks blaze with heat.

  Quinn didn’t look the least bit embarrassed. “No, not for effect. That was just an added bonus. You know, when things get a little hot and sweaty, things tend to happen between two people. It’s called chemistry. Sometimes you can’t control that.”

  “Indeed.” Thierry’s gaze flicked to me for a moment.

  I was busy searching for that hole in the floor I wanted to disappear into.

  Quinn shrugged. “Maybe if you were around a little more, Sarah wouldn’t have to find other people to help her with . . .self-defense . But that’s cool. I enjoy . . .teaching .”

  A smile twitched at Thierry’s lips. “Perhaps you’re right. Sarah, I know I haven’t been around very much lately and I apologize. I certainly understand the need for you to find your education from other sources. And as I said yesterday, it’s so kind of you to be there for Quinn. You’re very accommodating.”

  My lips thinned. “It’s not like that.”

  Quinn frowned at me. “Not like that? Could have fooled me.” He turned his attention on Thierry.

  “Listen, how about we all say what’s really on our minds?”

  “Yes, why don’t we?”

  He crossed his arms. “She trusted you and you bit her, you bloodsucking bastard.”

  I touched the bite marks on my neck. “Quinn, I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “Why not? We’re all friends here. What does your boyfriend here have to say about it? Was she tasty?”

  Quinn’s eyes narrowed. “She hasn’t healed up yet, like a good vampire should. With the marks still showing, I’d say you went a bit overboard, didn’t you? I’ve done a little research on you . . . from what I found it wouldn’t be the first time you showed your monster to a woman who trusted you. Luckily for

  Sarah, she’s still breathing.”

  A trace of anguish played in Thierry’s silver eyes. “You found that in your research, did you?”

  “Yes. And a lot more, too. Want me to share it with the class? You want me to go chronologically or alphabetically for all the bad shit you’ve been involved in, old man? How about those murders I mentioned the other night? Got any inside information about that? I think you probably do.”

  “Quinn, just shut up,” I said.

  “No, I’m not shutting up. I’ve wanted to say this since the moment I met the ‘master,’ here.” The two locked gazes.

  “You mean the moment that I saved your life?” Thierry replied softly. “When you were dying from being half-turned? When the vampire toxins were coursing through your body causing unbearable pain until I helped to ease it instead of allowing you to die in agony? Yes, I can see why that would elicit your hatred toward me.”

  Quinn snorted. “Whatever.”

  “Just the intelligent response I expected.”

  “Actually, I thank Sarah for saving my life that night. Don’t you see, Thierry? She made a mistake when she picked you, she just won’t admit it yet. If you are really all that concerned with her well-being, then I suggest you step aside and let a re
al man take care of her.”

  “Excuse me,” I said, feeling that I had to nip this in the bud before things got out of hand. “I appreciate your concern, really, but I choose what’s best for me. And frankly, right now I’m thinking it might be

  Lenny. He has that big knife, you know.”

  Quinn looked at me and shook his head. “You never answered me before. Just what do you see in him?

  I don’t get it.”

  “In Lenny?” My eyes flicked to Thierry for a moment.

  He didn’t smile. “No, in ‘suicide watch’ over there.”

  “I told you, we’re both heavily into reality TV.” I tried to smile, but found that my lips shook too much to pull it off believably.

  Quinn scowled. “You need to stop being so stupid, Sarah, and open your eyes. Why can’t you just admit that you made an idiotic mistake?”

  He turned away only to realize that Thierry was now standing directly next to him.

  “You can say what you like about me,” Thierry said, his voice still steady and cool, but his expression betraying his anger. “But don’t insult Sarah. Not in front of me. I won’t allow it.”

  “I didn’t insult her. I’m trying to make her see facts.”

  “You cannot make someone see facts by shoving them in her face.”

  Quinn grinned. “She didn’t mind a minute ago when I was in her face, did she? Oh, and by the way,not the first time we’ve kissed.”

  Thierry glanced at me.

  I bit my lip. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Look, asshole,” Quinn grabbed Thierry’s attention again. “Much as I’m enjoying this heart to heart,

  I’ve got places I need to be.”

  “Really? I was under the impression you were staying at a seedy motel, wasting your time as you figured out how to spend the rest of your worthless life.”

  Quinn’s eyes narrowed. “I think you should give Sarah a little time to think things through. She’s got a lot on her plate right now. You know, being a target? Which, in case you’re not aware of it, is all your fault,

  you selfish bastard.”

  “You are trying my patience, hunter.”

  He laughed. “Am I? Am I carving into that oh-so-cool exterior of yours? Don’t you see, Thierry? It’s only a matter of time until she takes off her rose-colored glasses and realizes what a bloodthirsty monster you really are underneath the surface.” He took a step closer to Thierry so they were chest to chest.