“Decoy? Like bait?”
“Okay, let me try a different angle,” Michael said. Marlena crossed and uncrossed her legs impatiently. I got the sense that it was killing her to not talk over the top of him.
“You see, Olivia, when I spoke earlier about humans—youngpeoplelike you—I was implying that Marlena and I are different. So are our clients, who are also like us.”
“Different? Because . . . you’re older?” Marlena frowned and I amended, “Wealthy, I mean?”
Marlena threw up her arms. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Michael! You’re not making any sense! No wonder she’s looking at us like we’re nuts!” She turned to me, took my hand, and stared into my eyes. “You are going to find this difficult to believe, Olivia, but Michael and I run a decoy service for vampires.”
Vampires?
I snorted, shifting my gaze back and forth between my hosts, who were not sharing my amusement. Serious as a heart attack, these two. I glanced at my purse and thought of the pepper spray inside, abruptly concerned for my safety. These people were clearly out of their minds.
This was a million times worse than Michael and Marlena being sex freaks. I’d been formally schooled on how to distinguish run-of-the-mill fetishes, but individuals who believed in wizards, werewolves, and vampires were a completely different story. They were an extra-special kind of psychotic I wasn’t equipped to deal with.
“Right.” I smiled pleasantly, contemplating how far I’d get if I made a run for it, or if I could even manage to find the front door without getting lost.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a boy of about twenty strolled into the room carrying a tray with my coffee. As if I’d drinkanythingthese nutballs gave me.Cappuccino, please, hold the sedatives.
Like Marlena, the boy was impossibly beautiful. While his features were Mediterranean, his hair and eyes warm and dark, his complexion was chalky. Without a word, he set the drink down on the small antique coffee table that sat between the two sofas.
“Wait a tick, would you, Stephano?” Michael asked. Turning back to me, he said, “Olivia, I imagine you are perhaps concerned about our sanity—”
“Oh, no, not at all,” I broke in with what easily could have been the hardest lie of my life. It had taken everything I’d had to keep a straight face.
He gave me a disbelieving look and continued, “I cannot blame you for your doubt. In fact, you’re not alone in your reaction.”
“No decoy has ever believed us straightaway,” Marlena said with a laugh. “But they always come around. So, please, would you humor us and stay just a little longer? I promise, you’ll have all the proof you need.”
I nodded, because it wasn’t like I was going to challenge the lunatics.
Michael turned back to Stephano. “Do you remember that thing you did for me in the past?”
The boy nodded, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corners of his plush mouth. “Yes, with Jared, if I remember correctly.”
“Would you mind doing it again?”
“Not at all.”
“Okay, Olivia, keep your eyes on Stephano. Are you ready?”
“Absolutely,” I said solemnly. If Stephano wanted to bare his teeth and hiss at me or pretend not to see his reflection in the mirror, I would play along with an Oscar-worthy performance even Meryl Streep would envy. Whatever I needed to do to get the hell out of there in one piece.
At the blink of an eye, Stephano was gone. I looked right-left-right-left. He hadliterallyvanished. “Where did he go?” I whispered.
Michael and Marlena casually pointed up. I followed the direction of their fingers. Stephano was sprawled on the ceiling, his chin resting casually on his hands. He playfully wriggled his fingers. “Hi, Olivia.”
“Holy shit!” I sprang to my feet, slopping cappuccino onto the rug as I knocked my knee hard against the coffee table. I ran toward my purse—pepper spray, get the pepper spray—but I didn’t get too far on gelatinous legs. Dozens of white flecks danced in front of my eyes. I waggled my head to make them go away.
As the world began to turn black around me, a tranquil voice asked, “Think she believes you now?”
8
Confused by the sparkly chandelier overhead, plus the gorgeous boy fanning my face with the latest issue ofArchitectural Digest, I jolted up on the sofa.
The skirt of my dress had gotten tangled around my thighs during the failed escape attempt, and I quickly smoothed it down. Despite the impossible feat I’d just witnessed, my first worry was that I’d flashed everyone in the room my ugly old cotton underwear, faded blue with yellow ice cream cones.
I gulped the glass of water that had been placed in front of me on the coffee table. I must have been out for a couple minutes, because no signs remained of the spilled cappuccino. Stephano said it had been lovely to meet me and then made a hasty exit. Michael and Marlena peered at me expectantly from the other sofa.
