Save the Last Vamp for Me (Discord Jones Book 3) Page 2

  “Let’s look upstairs.” Nick grabbed my hand and pulled me across to the staircase. We thumped up them to discover the landing was a rectangle that ran the length of the house. A half-wall around the stairway made certain no one would fall while stumbling around in the middle of the night.

  Windows at each end of the landing gave plenty of light. I shivered, excitement beginning to build. So far, this house seemed perfect.

  Nick let go of my hand to poke his head inside the first door to the left of the stairwell. “Bedroom. How many are there?”

  “Three, plus a bonus room.” I joined him, slipping past to look at the room. The closet was sort of small, but I was already designating it as Leglin’s room. The hound had asked to have one of his own. He wouldn’t need much closet space.

  A Hollywood-style bath ran between it and the other bedroom on that side. Across the landing, we walked into the master bedroom. “Okay, I love this house.”

  There was a pair of French doors leading out to a second story, roofed porch over the back one. The master bath had a shower stall and a corner garden tub. Nick had to drag me out to check out the linen closet set between the master bedroom and the bonus room.

  “This one’s really small.” He stretched his arms out after walking into the bonus room, fingertips brushing the walls on either side.

  “I’ll use it for storage.” We both noticed the string hanging from the ceiling. “Attic access.”

  He took hold and pulled. I helped unfold the ladder so we could go up. A pile of boxes lay in one corner of the otherwise empty space. I waited while he carefully walked across the plywood flooring, checking for weakness. “Sturdy, and I don’t see any sign of termites.”

  “Great.” I’d already decided, and hoped none of the dogs had any objections. I wanted this house. It had all the space we needed, and wouldn’t need more than cleaning, new paint, and maybe carpet to make it livable.

  Bone met us at the foot of the attic ladder, his one ear perked. “I like it. Red likes it. Diablo’s pulling his usual, but he likes it too.”

  “Good.” That only left Leglin. I caught him on the landing. “This would be your room.”

  The hound went into the bedroom, sniffing around the baseboards, and then looked out the window, which faced the back of the house. He made a faint sound and headed for the other bedroom, checking the view from its window, which faced the front of the house. “I’d prefer this one, Mistress.”

  “Sure.” The secondary bedrooms were basically the same size. Leglin had also asked for a human bed, and either room was big enough for a full-size version. “Whichever one you want is fine by me. So you like the place?”

  “Yes.” His tail wagged gently, just brushing my leg. “I do.”

  I turned a grin on Nick, who stood in the doorway. “We’re going to take it.”

  He smiled. “Good. The entrance to our territory is only about five miles away. I can be here in less than ten minutes.”

  “Cool.” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. The nearness meant an end to one of our ongoing problems concerning my tracking ability. I could call him whenever it popped up, and he’d be here by the time I’d finished dressing.

  Nick had invited me to meet his parents, but we’d had to put that on hold for the time being, between work and house hunting. I’d already met his brother, Patrick. We didn’t get along well, because Patrick was a douchebag.

  “Let’s go check outside.”

  First up, the garage. I was surprised to discover a small, unfinished efficiency apartment tucked behind the back wall. “I don’t remember seeing this in the list of features.”

  “You could have it finished and rent it out if you needed to. Or do some kind of trade with someone who’d take care of mowing and stuff,” Nick suggested.

  “Maybe.” I’d have to think about that, plus there’d be the expense of finishing it to consider. We left the garage and checked the other two outbuildings. One was a well house, the other just a small storage shed with a concrete floor. I didn’t bother walking the entire property, because the dogs would check out everything when we had more time, but did note that there was a short post and rail fence embedded in the evergreens lining the front sections of the property.

  “It’s perfect. We are definitely taking it.” I pulled out my cell phone to call my dad, who’d volunteered to help me navigate the scariness of first-time home ownership. “Would you lock up?”

  “Sure.” Nick took the house key and disappeared around the corner. I stood in the overgrown backyard, the dogs sniffing around not far away, and made what felt like a truly momentous call.

  I was buying a house.

  Three

  After leaving what I hoped would be my future home, we took the Pit Crew home before heading for the Palisades and the tiger clan’s garage. I had to wonder if the fact we caught every red light was a result of Nick’s reluctance to go there. At least he let me pick the music. I sang along with Blondie while holding an imaginary mic, and ignored the amused glances of other drivers. Once there, Nick and Leglin stayed in the truck while I headed inside.

  The first person I saw was Logan, and the view wasn’t bad, since he was nearly waist deep in the maw of a truck, his jeans clinging in a fashion guaranteed to draw eyes. I had to reflect on how wrong it was that I could recognize him from behind like that. Stop ogling your friend, Cordi. “Hey.”

  Logan backed away from the truck and turned. “Hi. Problem with your car?”

  “It’s running like a top.” His dark brows drew slightly together, so I added, “That’s a good thing.”

  “Oh. Hadn’t heard that one before. Did you want to see Terra?”

  “Maybe? I kind of have a favor to ask, and I’m not sure which of you I should ask.”

  His lips quirked. “Ask me, and I’ll pass you to her if necessary.”

  “Okay. I have a case that’s going to have me in the Barrows a lot, and....”

  “You need more backup.”

  “Yeah. I have Nick and Leglin, but I don’t want to take my other three boys down there.” As far as I knew, only shifters considered normal dogs threats.

  “I’d be happy to help out, but I really need to stay close to Terra.”

  “I know that, no problem.”

  He glanced around at the other men, who were all busy working on various cars. “Soames has been with me the longest. He’s a good fighter, alert, and follows orders.”

  “Anyone you trust is cool.”

  “I trust him with Terra’s life.” From Logan, that was probably the highest compliment he could pay someone.

  “You won’t be short-handed, will you?” Nothing had been settled concerning the other tiger shifters, led by a large, overly muscular man I liked to call the Mega-Douche. He wanted Terra as his Queen, an idea that didn’t exactly thrill the seventeen-year-old. They’d made another attempt to kidnap her three weeks before, but Logan and the rest of the clan had stopped them.

  He smiled. “No, we’ve had a few more people join us. I can spare Soames for a while.”

  “How many is a few?” Geeze, how long had it been since I’d last talked to them? Two weeks? Yes, that long. I’d had lunch with Terra and Logan, other members of their clan spread around the restaurant and keeping watch for trouble.

  “Five more, and one’s an older queen with the same talent Alanna has for crowd control. Two of the men are related to her. We’re lucky to have them.”

  “Good. I just realized what a terrible ally and friend I’ve been lately. I’ve only seen you guys twice since the Case of the Cursing Corpsicle.”

  Logan chuckled. “It’s okay. You’ve been busy, and we’ve mostly been staying close to home. Safer for Terra that way, even though she’s about to climb the walls.”

  I felt awful, hearing that. “Sunday, my mom’s planning to put together some care packages for the homeless. Tonya and I are going to help her, but we could use another person or two. I could teleport you two over and
back home afterward, so no one would know. Oh, and there will lunch, cookies, and dinner.”

  “Cookies are hard to turn down. I’ll let Terra know, but it’s probably safe to accept.”

  “Cool. It’ll be fun, and it’s for a good cause too.”

  “Right.” He raised his voice a bit. “Soames.”

  Soames slid out from under a car. “Yes?”

  “Go clean up. You’ll be working with Discord for a couple of weeks.”

  I hoped it didn’t take that long, watching Soames sit up before rising to his feet, a grin appearing on his face. “Bodyguard, or do I get to be an honorary PI?”

  “How about both?” I suggested, having learned that shifters could be quite the Noticers of Things.

  “Great. Sounds fun. I think I have oil in my hair, so give me twenty to shower and change.”

  “That’ll work, thanks.”

  He nodded and jogged to the door that lead to the stairwell of the attached apartment building. I looked at Logan. “Has he crossed paths with vampires before?”

  “A few times. Between the four of you, I doubt you’ll have too much trouble down there.”

  I liked that Logan never failed to count me as a fighter, instead of labeling me as cannon fodder, or the next best thing to it. “Tell me something: Did you charge for labor when you rebuilt my car?”

  “Didn’t plan to,” he admitted, his pine green eyes scanning the garage before meeting mine again. “Not until you told me the vamp was paying the bill. Him, I charged double.”

  “Should’ve charged triple.” We shared a laugh.

  “Let me guess, he’s your client.”

  I raised both eyebrows. “You’re getting better and better at this detective stuff.”

  Logan winked. “One day, I’ll open my own agency and give you a run for your money.”

  “You do that. A little healthy competition’s good for the soul.”

  We chatted until Soames returned. “I’m ready.”

  “I’ll make sure he gets home. We’re in Nick’s truck because of Leglin. I may have to get a second vehicle, with all these dogs to cart around.”

  “You can use one of our trucks whenever you need to,” Logan said. “Just let me know.”

  “That’s nice of you. Thanks, I’ll do that. Tell Terra I said ‘hi’, okay?”

  “Will do. See you later, Discord.”

  “Bye.” Soames and I left for Nick’s truck. I climbed in the front seat first, and made introductions while the tiger shifter followed me. Leglin had the whole back seat to himself. “We’re going to grab dinner first. Our meeting’s not until seven.”

  “Sure.” Soames pulled on his seat belt. “How much do I need to know?”

  “Vamps don’t tend to feel friendly toward me.”

  He laughed. “Knew that. Saw your car.”

  “Right. Okay, we’ve been hired by Lord Derrick to investigate some murders that appear to be politically motivated.”

  He nodded, using his forefinger to whisk a few hairs out of his eyes. “So I watch your backs and keep my eyes open for anything useful.”

  I nodded. “Pretty much. Leglin’s going to be watching all of our backs.”

  “Okay, can do.” He leaned forward to look past me at Nick. “Nice truck.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What kind of gas mileage does it get?”

  I managed to keep from sighing as they began talking trucks. At least they were getting along, without any sniping from Nick. That was kind of interesting, since he’d taken an intense dislike to Logan practically on sight, and had tried to talk me out of having anything to do with Terra. He was convinced Logan was interested in me, even though Logan had never flirted or anything.

  Logan was friendly, but no more so than either Damian or David, two of my witch buddies. Maybe Nick wasn’t being his usual jealous self because I’d already stepped into the shifter political arena by helping Logan run the Douche and his followers off a couple of times? Like a spilled milk kind of thing?

  Of course, my boyfriend had spent a few days trying to convince me to renounce being their ally, but he’d finally given up when I told him I wouldn’t go back on my word. We hadn’t discussed it since.

  Which was fine by me, because we argued about plenty of other things. For someone who’d said he loved me and had been prepared to propose, Nick had a lot of trouble accepting me for who I was.

  That didn’t exactly bode well for a future together, but I was willing to let things go for a while. He was the first boyfriend I’d had who took extra time in the bedroom to make certain I had as much fun as he did, and without my having to explain or ask.

  He was a good kisser, and near expert-level cuddler. Plus, he was hot.

  Wow. I had a bit of a shallowness problem going on. Definitely something I should work on. It wasn’t as though Nick didn’t have other, more important qualities. He was faithful, had a good sense of humor, and had proven more than willing to put himself between me and physical danger. He was open to trying new things, and he really seemed to like spending time with my family, little brothers and all. A pretty good guy and person.

  Whether he was the right guy for me long term, well...I’d reserve judgment.

  “Earth to Cordi.”

  I blinked, realizing we were pulling into the parking lot of my favorite Italian restaurant. “What?”

  “We’re here. What are you thinking so hard about?” Nick guided his truck into a parking space.

  “Girl stuff.” Thinking about your boyfriend totally qualified. “Sorry, truck talk zones me out.”

  Inside, we placed our orders, and I looked at Soames after our server brought our drinks and left. “Logan said you’d been with him the longest.”

  “First chosen for Terra’s clan. I was six.”

  I knew Logan was twenty-nine, and had been appointed Terra’s Protector at age twelve. That meant Soames was twenty-three. “Soames is your last name, right?”

  “Yes. According to my mother when she’s mad, my name is Dane Alexander Soames.”

  I laughed. “My mom does that too, even to my dad. Makes us both cringe because we know we’re in for it when she hauls out all three names.”

  “Exactly.” He looked at Nick. “Does your mother do that too?”

  “To Patrick a lot, but not so much to me. I don’t make her mad very often.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me that you’re the good son, and he’s the hell raiser,” I said. “Not even a little bit.”

  Nick scrunched his face. “He’s not a warl...oh, that’s one of those weird human sayings.” He pursed his lips. “Yep, he’s the hell raiser. It’s really annoying.”

  “He’s really annoying.” I changed the subject, because Patrick wasn’t a favorite one. Nick’s older brother had a thing for hitting on his little brother’s girlfriends. Patrick had told me so himself, right after hitting on me, the douchebag. “I’m hoping this case doesn’t take long.”

  “Don’t hurry on my account,” Soames said. “I’ll enjoy the break from being a mechanic.”

  “You don’t like the work?”

  “I like cars and trucks, but no, not working on them. You wouldn’t believe how much time Logan had to spend teaching me stuff so that I could get licensed.”

  I suddenly wondered how Logan had learned it all, and asked. Soames grinned. “He made a deal with a brownie clan after getting his first car magazine from them.”

  “What?”

  “Maybe we couldn’t pass between the realms, but some of the smaller folk could, and that’s how they survived, by smuggling stuff. Not just magazines, but all sorts of stuff.”

  Hm. “Stuff like, say, socks?”

  “Those, toys, you name it. If they could carry it, they did.”

  Hah, I’d just solved one of the greatest mysteries of humankind: Why socks always went missing from dryers. “They still work the smuggling gig?”

  “Sure. They’re pretty small, and that kind of makes it hard for them
to find jobs. They have to survive too.”

  “Of course,” I agreed. “But how did they get here and into people’s houses?”

  “Magic.”

  “But there wasn’t any here before the Melding.”

  Nick snorted. “There was, but it was too weak for most to use. Just not too weak for the little folk to survive on and use.”

  Huh, always something new to learn. I remembered something Terra had mentioned to me. “Is there a dragon living in Santo Trueno?”

  The two men exchanged a look, their expressions smoothing to identical blandness. I looked from Nick to Soames, wondering why neither had answered yet. “That’s a yes, right?”

  They kept gazing at each other, setting my curiosity on fire, and finally, after nearly a full minute of silence, I saw Soames shrug. Nick was the one who answered. “Yes, but he’s secretive, doesn’t like people knowing about him.”

  “Why would he care?”

  “I should’ve said ‘humans’, and he cares because he’s a freaking dragon, Cordi. One of the few left, and one of the most powerful supes in existence.”

  Soames nodded. “You don’t want to know what he’d do if threatened, or if people started hunting for his treasure.”

  “Okay.” I dropped the subject even though the confirmation we had one, and it had treasure, only further fueled my curiosity. Maybe my witch buddies could tell me more. I made a note to ask them later. “Ooh, here comes our food.”

  Conversation during the meal consisted of my describing the house we’d looked at to Soames. “It has loads of space. I hope I’m able to get it.”

  “It sounds really nice. We’re looking for a new place too.” He wrinkled his nose. “The Palisades are too noisy, but where we’re at was the best we could do at first.”

  “I can put you guys in touch with my realtor,” I offered. “She’s a family friend too. Her name’s Rita.”

  “I’ll pass that on to Logan when I get home tonight. Thanks.”

  “No problem.” We finished a few minutes later, and left, ready to begin the night’s work.

  Four