Ten, p.29
Ten, page 29
She flopped against the pillows again. Slowly, her gaze travelled over to the nightstand where a cup of water sat next to little paper packets labelled “Aspirin”, “Acetaminophen”, and “Ibuprofen”. The neat cursive handwriting made Georgia pause. Her jaw dropped as the door opened and she saw a tall, skinny, Asian man in a neatly pressed black suit.
“R—” She stopped cold as she saw brown eyes and a pencil thin mustache.
The stranger set a tray laden with croissants, strawberries, and coffee on the dresser, then gave a terse bow and slipped out the door. A tear rolled out of her eye as her heart sunk in her chest.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” Steve said as his big, brown eyes fluttered open. “You are amazing.”
“Holy Hannah,” she said, and she buried her face in her hands.
“Was I really that drunk on two martinis?”
“Well, you took quite a beating from a rogue vampire—”
“I didn’t imagine that?” she asked as she winced while touching her neck.
“Ooh, that looks bad,” Steve said joining her in a wince. “Can you breathe all right?”
Georgia nodded, careful not to stretch her neck too far. Steve reached over and delicately turned her head. As he surveyed the bruises welling up on her throat, he sighed, “You are very lucky to be alive.”
“I don’t feel very lucky right now,” she said, sniffling.
The vampire ever so carefully wrapped his arms around her.
“Hey, now,” he whispered as he gave her a little squeeze. “I know it seems bad, but as long as you’re still breathing, it can always get better—”
“I just can’t believe that I—”
“Threw up on your dress and my shoes?” Steve asked. “Yeah, the new guy has got everything at the cleaners now.”
“But—” she said between sniffles.
“I’m an asshole, but I’m not that much of an asshole,” he said as he pulled back the covers to show off his fully clothed bottom half. “I was only here to make sure you kept breathing all night.”
“You mean?” Georgia asked.
“As much as I may have been tempted, your last shreds of virtue are firmly intact.”
Her sniffles turned into a relieved chuckle as she leaned over to give him a grateful kiss. As she pulled away, the vampire did give her a little wink.
“Well, I may have copped one feel while I was pulling off your dress,” he confessed.
“Steve!”
“I am a vampire, Sweetheart. We aren’t exactly known for our self-control.”
“You always find a way to ruin the moment,” she sighed.
Steve hopped out of bed and dragged the tray over to her. As he fixed her coffee and proudly poured in milk, but no sugar, her irritated expression faded.
“I thought you were the one that insisted that relationships were never about moments,” he said. “It’s about the ability to do nothing and be happy, right?”
She remained silent as she sipped the coffee. Steve grabbed a robe for his guest. Once she got settled in some clothing and nibbled on a pastry, some color returned to her face.
“I see that you got a new servant,” she finally said.
“Yeah, he was a gift from Mom. His name is Shinosuke Matsuoka, but I call him Colin because he hates it,” Steve said.
“Colin?”
“He looked like a Colin to me,” Steve said with a little shrug.
“Anyway, he’s up here, while my sis is off doing her thing. She absolutely hates him.”
“Maybe she doesn’t like the thought of Ren being replaced either,” Georgia muttered.
“That would require my sister to have a soul, something I’m pretty sure she’s lacked since the eighteenth century,” Steve said. Before he could continue, there was a wimpy knock on the door. “Speak of the devil—”
“Master, there is a matter we must discuss,” Colin said in a voice even more cold and robotic than Ren’s ever managed to be.
Steve rolled his eyes. “Then come in here and discuss it, man,”
the vampire sighed.
“But, master, you are entertaining company—”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, get your ass in here, Colin,” Steve said.
“Georgia here is an old friend and the servant of the scion of House Pendragon. If you can’t say it in front of her, I want a drink first.”
“A Pendragon, sir?” Colin said as he timidly entered the room.
“We’ve already had this discussion. Geoffrey is a friend, and Georgia is an even better friend, so can you just spill the beans or what?” Steve asked.
Georgia instantly stiffened as she saw the look of disdain on the servant’s face. This Matsuoka walked dutifully up to his master and
tried to whisper unobtrusively.
“Master, there has been a theft,” Colin said.
“Excuse me?” Steve said. “What got ripped off now? Another break in at the docks?”
“No sir, this was a very targeted, personal robbery, I’m afraid.
There was a break-in at your Laguna estate—”
“Oh man, but I have security—” Steve snarled.
“It’s very odd, master. The thieves left all the money, the art, even the supply of firearms you kept in the safe—” Colin started.
“Well, what did they take?” Steve snapped.
“One suit, a pair of cufflinks, and a fedora, master.”
“Which suit?” Steve asked suddenly dreadfully serious. “Oh no, not—”
“I’m afraid it was the one you had in storage. The one labelled “S.
Spade” I believe, sir—”
“Oh no, not your Maltese Falcon suit,” Georgia said the moment she heard the name.
“Are you telling me that someone broke in to my winter home, saw all of my really expensive shit, and then went into my closet to steal the suit which is probably the single most sentimental movie prop I ever slept with a costume lady to get? Are you really telling me this?”
“Yes, master,” Colin said with a deep bow.
“You are on the job for less than two weeks and not only am I losing money hand over fist in the stock market, and my fake company is being sued, but I’m getting robbed too?” Steve said as he hopped to his feet.
“And I saw this on the morning news, Master,” Colin said before deeply bowing his head and offering up his phone as tribute.
“This says you caught a rare fire type Pokémon,” Steve said with a raised brow.
“A thousand apologies, Master,” Colin said as he quickly flipped the screens. “Here, sir.”
“Senator John McCaffrey being investigated on multiple counts of extreme pornography including bestiality—” Steve read. “How can this be? He’s one of ours!”
“When you say one of ours?” Georgia asked.
“I mean he’s been a vampire bitch for two whole terms.”
“So, none of this is true?” Georgia asked.
“Oh, of course, it’s true. How do you think we had such control over him? That’s neither here nor there though. We paid good money to make sure… uh-oh—”
Georgia peered over Steve’s shoulder. “Who is Miranda Young?”
she asked as she read the next scandal that appeared in reference to Senator McCaffrey of Maryland.
“Miranda Young just happens to be the current alias of Minerva von Fenstermacher, so my only condolence this morning is that I’m pretty sure that dear old sis is having a worse day than I am—”
Colin’s phone buzzed at that exact moment. The vampire handed it back to the flustered servant. “You’d best check that. There might very well be a Pikachu in this hotel room,” Steve said.
Colin gulped audibly as he checked the notification. As he stood there, shaking, Georgia finally stood up and took the phone from him. “Apparently there was just a fight at one of the shipping yards in Long Beach,” she said puzzled. She flipped around the phone to show a security camera picture of a ferocious looking man with a Grizzly Adams beard and out of control hair.
“What the hell is he doing at my docks?” Steve said. “Why that backstabbing bastard!”
“He looks both crazy and terrifying,” Georgia said as she stared into the feral eyes on the screen. “Is he—?”
“He should definitely not be there screwing up my things!” Steve snapped. “I’m sorry to do this to you, Sweetheart, but I do need to make a call—”
He was cut off this time by the front buzzer. The vampire glared at his servant. “Colin, whoever that is, get rid of them as soon as possible. Georgia, just give me like two minutes. I swear, I’ll explain
—”
“OK.” She sighed as she sat back on the bed.
Steve let out a tremendous sigh. “It’s been a bad few weeks. If the whole world wasn’t already filling up with bad news, I’d swear
that someone is out to get my sister and me. Oh, I’m getting mad now—”
“Master—” Colin said as he came running back into the room.
“Seriously, man!” Steve snapped. The door burst open and a streak of red raced into the room. Georgia squeaked as she saw Steve slammed into the wall.
“Where is she?” Mr. Lambley roared as he bared his fangs at his friend. A second later, Mina came running into the room and let out a huge sigh of relief as she saw Georgia perched on the bed. Her peaceful expression darkened instantly as she saw Georgia’s splotchy neck.
“You vicious Jaeger bastard” Mina cried as she ran to Georgia’s side.
“Wait!” Georgia cried. “Steve didn’t do this, I swear.”
“You—!” Mr. Lambley growled.
“Why hello to you too, Gingersnaps,” Steve squeaked out as a forearm kept his throat firmly pinned against the wall.
“Mr. Lambley!” Georgia cried. She was restrained as well as Lady Pendragon continued to fuss over her on the bed. “Mina, please, just stop Mr. Lambley before—”
“Enough, son,” Mina said. Her gentle sigh stopped the redhead cold. Mr. Lambley stepped away as Steve coughed and rubbed his neck.
“You must pardon us both,” Mina said as she curled her arm protectively around the human. “When you disappeared last night without your purse or phone, we were beside ourselves with worry, Georgia. We thought that young mister DeMarco and his skills might be useful—”
“So, you barged in and attacked him?” Georgia asked.
Steve laughed sadly. “Lady Pendragon, please,” he said with an exaggerated eye roll. “You just thought I was following in the family tradition of eliminating exes.”
“Tradition—?” Georgia asked.
“Long story, my dear,” Mina said. “Well, I guess you took my advice to heart about doing something you might regret—”
“Also, not what you think,” Georgia said quickly.
“How is your mother, Master DeMarco?” Mina asked in a strangely pleasant tone. “Is she bailing you out again this week as the legal fees mount?”
“Steve?” she asked.
“Colin, please find something for Georgia to wear. I think it’s time she heads home with her Pendragon escorts,” Steve said.
“Sweetheart, it was lovely to catch up, but it’s probably best you’re on your way. It’s always a pleasure to see you again, Lady Pendragon. Oh, and how is Lord Pendragon these days? I haven’t heard anything recently—”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s just lying around and enjoying a little bit of calm before the hustle and bustle of the social season,” Mina sighed.
“You know how men can be.”
“Come on, get up,” Paige grumbled as she helped Lorcan up off the mat. The vampire moaned and groaned as his legs wobbled at the mere effort of standing.
“Yeah, there may be some residual weakness from your hibernation and the anti-viral medications,” Kyle said from the sidelines.
“Some?” Lorcan asked as he leaned against Paige. “I didn’t notice.”
Paige shoved him back onto his own two feet. “Come on, old man, walk to the ropes,” she taunted him.
He coasted a bit on momentum but managed to stumble to the sidelines. Once he had a firm grip on the top rope, Kyle handed him a sippy cup. The vampire wrinkled his nose before choking down a few slurps.
“This is disgusting and ridiculous,” he spat.
“I’ve been studying everything I could get on your son’s recovery, you know, the vampire who seems to be recovering completely from the slow death—” Kyle said.
“It tastes like a dead rat,” Lorcan spat.
“Well, technically it is. Also, Paige, leave the blender soaking overnight,” Kyle said. “Look, your son’s assistant ordered like six blenders and has a monthly subscription on frozen rats per Kayleigh, so I’m pretty certain that’s what she’s been feeding him. Think about it, it’s a perfect protein and you get the minerals from the bones—”
“If you ever feed me this again, Kyle, I will be grinding your bones in a blender!” Lorcan snapped. “Now, get me something real to eat.”
“That’s all you’ve got until dinner so deal, Grandpa,” Kyle snapped right back.
Lorcan seethed, but as the taller, broader redhead rolled into the ring, the vampire relented and began slurping away at his chunky beverage with a terrible pout set upon his lips. Paige blanched as she took a step closer.
“Oh, that smells vile,” she said as she turned slightly green.
“I’ve been reading some of the texts Grandpa had stashed in the vault. Apparently, a Dr. Pang recommends a balanced diet tailored to the humors of a particular vampire to speed recovery, as well as a whole foods diet—”
“Dr. Pang is a half-breed, stillborn twatwaffle and a quack,”
Lorcan snapped.
“Wow, somebody is a little cranky today,” Paige said. “Also, such language in the gymnasium rented by your devoted servants!”
“The virus really fired up his limbic system, Paige,” Kyle warned.
“Poor Pops has a terrible case of werewolf angst, in my humble opinion.”
“Indeed,” Paige said in an imitation of Lorcan’s calm English drawl.
“You two are enjoying this way too much,” Lorcan growled.
“Well, I’m glad someone is enjoying themselves, while we do real work,” Kayleigh snapped as she dropped a duffle bag on the floor.
Toy and Nadia strode in behind her with equally tired and cranky looks on their faces. The shortest of the three flopped on a yoga mat and sighed, “Not even the triple bacon BLT made that little jaunt bearable, Shorty Spice. Nads, Freckles, you can handle this debrief.”
Nadia pulled out her phone and pulled up the news. “So, we have a senator sex scandal today. It’s also a terrible day for the Japanese
stock market due to underreporting of revenues by the Matsuoka Conglomerate for the first time in twenty-five years,” she said.
“Matsuoka?” Lorcan asked. “Are you certain?”
“There was also a landmark bust of the Russian mafia in New Jersey,” Nadia continued.
“And a shootout between Triad and Yakuza affiliated thugs in Los Angeles,” Toy chimed in from her perch on the mats. “I usually get one or two hits on the bloodsucker watch channels in a month, today my feed is lit up like Christmas.”
“Yeah, it’s not a good day to be a vampire, Grandpa,” Kayleigh added. “The bondsman-run law firm you used out of Pittsburgh is filing for bankruptcy.”
“Well, they were incompetent,” Lorcan muttered.
“But their incompetence just cost you about two million dollars,”
Kayleigh added. “I really wish we still had Morgan around because I didn’t get past basic accounting at school.”
Paige winced at the mention of his name but bit her tongue.
Instead, she helped the wobbly vampire out of the ring and into a folding chair, so he could read the insanity for himself.
“I’m glad I hid so much of my money,” he muttered as he started reviewing the information. “It doesn’t look like any of Meenakshi’s interests were touched yet, but I would not want to be a Jaeger in the United States right now.”
“What’s going on?” Paige asked.
“I’m afraid that your great-grandfather is having a far worse week than I am, Miss Paige. Many of these criminal busts are in ports that he supposedly manages, and to put it mildly, the criminals were most of his support base.”
“So, I’m the descendant of a vampire gangster is what you’re saying?” she asked.
“Indeed,” Lorcan sighed. “However, said gangster is apparently trying to reach me quite desperately. Kayleigh, can you escort his call in quietly?”
“Yeah, I was going to tell you about that. He’s been hitting your dummy phone for about an hour,” Kayleigh said.
Paige hopped over to her gym bag and pulled out her own phone. Sure enough, she had five missed calls and thirteen text messages. “Damn,” she muttered as she scrolled through “call me, plz” over and over. The last text, an image, made her jaw drop.
“Lorcan!” both she and Kayleigh cried at once.
He flipped around his phone to show the image of a wild-eyed Morgan roaring at the camera, while two armed guards tried to drag him away. “What is he doing there?” the entire room asked.
Paige’s phone began to buzz again. “So, what should I tell my great-grandpa?” she asked as she saw the name on her screen.
20
“I’M SORRY, Miss Sutherland, but there is simply no way that you saw what you claimed to see,” Colin said as he reviewed her notes on the laptop.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Matsuoka, but you are an asshole,” Georgia muttered under her breath as she slipped the last plate into the dish rack.
“What was that?” the other assistant asked.
Georgia turned off the faucet and plastered on her best smile.
“Oh, nothing,” she said sweetly as she pulled out two mugs.
“Coffee?”
“Cream and two sugars,” her guest said without missing a beat.
As Georgia started rifling through the fridge, she heard her name being called from the parlor. Colin remained firmly planted to his chair. She let out a deep sigh.
“Don’t get up,” she said as she plopped his coffee in front of him on her way to the living room. He continued blissfully typing.
