“Yes, she’s young. Made only a week ago. I need to do something about training her. All I’ve done so far is taught her to drink synthetic.” I let him lead me up the stairs to a table far away from any occupied ones on the balcony.

“You must pay attention, Gloriana. I believe her shifter bodyguard is giving her his blood. Much as your guard once gave some to you. Verdad?”

“What?” I saw Danny follow Sienna closely up the stairs, his hand on her waist. Thinking back, I realized her cheeks had been flushed from recent feeding when we’d picked her up earlier to go to the auditorium, a deeper flush than a mere synthetic would have given her. Danny had been with her, of course. I’d smelled shifter on her but figured it was just because he’d been guarding her during her death sleep.

“They seem very close. As you and Valdez are.” Miguel just wouldn’t let it go.

“I never used Rafe as my blood slave, Miguel. I rarely drank from him. Only in emergencies or when . . . Never mind.”

“Ah, I see.” He winked. “I can read your mind, you know. There is no better time to feed than after making love.” He laughed at what must have been my furious expression.

“Stay out of my mind. I mean it.” I sat down, spreading my skirt over my knees. I’d dressed carefully for my excursion to see Mel. I had on a red and black print wrap dress that was as slenderizing as anything I owned. My black heels made me taller than usual but I still felt small next to big, muscular Miguel. I shrugged off my black jacket that had given me a professional touch and set my clutch on the table.

“You are so easy. I didn’t even have to read your thoughts. Your facial expressions give you away, Gloriana. But enough play, we are here to do business.” He nodded to a waitress who brought over our drinks, slipping her a large bill for her trouble. She blushed and backed away.

“What business? I have no business with you. I don’t need a loan and that’s all the business I know that you conduct in Austin.” I picked up my drink and took a cautious sip. My favorite flavor and nonalcoholic. I took another drink.

“Gloriana, relax. We were talking about a simple exchange of information. You seem to run with what is considered the legitimate crowd of vampires in Austin.”

“Legitimate? You mean the law-abiding citizens? Then, yes, I do. While you are one of the illegitimate.” I smiled. “Oops, I didn’t just call you a bastard, did I?” I couldn’t resist. The man had deliberately gotten me drunk and continued to flaunt powers he considered superior to mine.

“You wouldn’t be wrong.” His smile was tight. “I want to break away from Lucky Carver and her operation. It has a stench that taints everyone who comes in contact with it.”

“You mean the stench of sleazy, ill-gotten gains.” I set down my drink. “She’s not my favorite person, obviously. When she turned Ray vampire against his will, I became sorry I ever saved her life. She loans money to desperate people at an exorbitant rate of interest. When they can’t pay, she threatens them, sometimes hiring hit men to make a statement about what happens to deadbeats. You know anything about that?” I was glad we were in a public place. I’d met him in a dark alley once and hadn’t doubted he could have killed me if he’d wanted to. But Miguel had let me go. Yes, he could be bad, but even then I’d sensed a better man somewhere inside his hard exterior.

“Of course. You know I do. But I’m through with her. I want to settle down, become an honest man. I need your help with that.” He signaled the waitress for another round. “You promised last night to assist me.”

“Why should I?” What the hell had we talked about when I’d been in my tequila tailspin? “I can’t imagine promising you anything.” I picked up my drink.

“You’ve had too many threats to your shop and you want them to stop. The latest one is by that voodoo woman your lover Blade hooked up with.” Miguel put a hand over his heart. “Surely you remember this conversation. You told me everything. How you hate this Mel person.”

“So? I’ve handled threats in the past and I’ll handle her too. I’m sorry I unloaded on you. Won’t happen again.” I drained my first glass just as the second one landed on the table. I was never touching tequila again.

“I was happy to listen. But you confided in me that you are tired of the men in your life running to your rescue. You need someone who’s not emotionally involved with you to provide protection for your place. Right?” He’d barely touched his first glass. Now he drank it down while he waited for me to process this bombshell.

Why had I told him all this? Yes, I hated that Jerry, Rafe, even Ray were always coming to my defense. It not only made me feel obligated, it pushed me into the role of helpless female. But the worst thing was that it put the men I loved into harm’s way. I looked Miguel over. If there was ever a man who could take whatever crap came at him and survive unscathed, it was this guy. Not only would he survive, but whoever dared mess with him would regret it if they lived long enough. I’d love to see how he handled Mel and her zombie bookends.

“My blessing with the good guys in exchange for your protection?” I traced a circle in the moisture on the table. I’d just written down my future goals. If I’d added protect the business, things could not have fallen into place more perfectly. Mel would have said it was the universe providing what I needed. I just had to pay attention. Too bad I knew this guy for a loose cannon of the most dangerous variety. How confident was I that I could handle him?

“That’s the deal.” He wouldn’t look away when I finally met his gaze.

“What if nothing I do can get you the sweet smell of legitimacy?”

“I have faith in you, Gloriana. And if you can find out from your mother that I might be descended from the gods . . .” He raised his hands in an almost Italian gesture. “Well, we know that kind of pedigree goes a long way toward buying forgiveness for past sins with the upright citizens of the world.”

“Having Aggie around you isn’t going to add any luster to your image.” I had to say it.

“Her name is now Angel. I’m hoping she will start acting more like her new name. And she’s disposable.” He leaned back like he hadn’t just hauled Aggie to the dump.

“Nice name. Good luck with that. But rethink disposing of her. Your new image demands a kinder solution. Maybe you can find her a new sucker, uh, I mean protector.”

“So you’ll do it?” He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “I want to start immediately.”

“Then prove you know something about voodoo. This woman Melisandra Du Monde wants my boyfriend Jerry for herself. Can you check on her? See what she’s got going? I don’t want her to hurt him or to get a chance to drug him again. She did that once and it almost destroyed him.”

“I can do that.” He reached across the table.

I stared down at his outstretched hand. “What? You want to shake on the deal?”

“Oh, yes. You’ve not agreed formally. I insist on it, Gloriana. I know if you give your word, you will keep it. In my business, I’ve learned how to read people and I’ve done my homework. You do have integrity, do you not?”

“Unfortunately. It hasn’t always been my friend.” I remembered Mel exhorting us to do whatever it took to get what we wanted. I’d never been ruthless. Mel would see it as a weakness. I looked into Miguel’s deep brown, almost black eyes. He wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed doing. Right now, that was an asset I could use.

“Do you swear you will honor your half of our bargain, Gloriana?” He just kept staring.

I swallowed then glanced down at his hand again, dark, big and calloused from years of handling weapons. I laid my hand in his and felt a shock of power bind us together.

“Deal. Don’t make me regret this, Miguel.” I glanced up in time to see a satisfied smile soften his harsh but handsome features.

“And don’t let me down either, Gloriana.” He raised my hand to his lips, then lightly dragged a fang over it. “I don’t take disappointment well.”

Fifteen

I headed upstairs slightly light-headed from all the power exchange. I wasn’t sure what I’d done but, with Miguel checking out Mel, at least I’d done something. Ray was waiting for me and the band clapped when I entered the room.

“Oh, wow. Thanks. But you haven’t heard me sing yet.”

“If Ray says you’re good, that’s enough for us.” The drummer gave me a cymbal crash. “Hop up here and let’s see what you’ve got.” The rest of the band echoed the sentiment.

Aggie aka Angel made a noise as she walked out of the room. Sienna stopped her and spoke to her quietly. They both left, I guess to hash out the right attitude. I couldn’t worry about it now. I had to prove myself to seasoned musicians.

When Ray and I were ready, the band started the music, an eighties hit. We looked at each other and smiled. It was fun and the beat with the drums became irresistible. When we finished, the band made appreciative sounds with their instruments.

“Stop! You’re embarrassing me. But I had no idea we could sound so good.” I hugged Ray. “Thanks for doing this, Ray.”

“No problem. Now we’ll run through the other two songs. You ready?” He sat down at the piano. We’d talked about how it would go, but now he included the band on these numbers too. I knew it would sound better and it did. By the time we were done, going through the songs time and time again, I was exhausted but elated. We’d rehearse a few more times but basically we’d gotten the songs worked out.

“Thanks, guys.” I gave each band member a hug and made sure we were all happy with how it went. I didn’t tell them this was the one and only time I’d sing in public. I had a feeling it would take the edge off the performance. But I owed it to Ray to let him know. I was surprised Sienna hadn’t told him. But then Sienna probably didn’t say a whole lot to Ray anyway.