“Sure thing, Mas. But you and I need to catch up. Your family’s been actin’ all…happy, like they’ve been pilfering the inventory.”
I only wished they’d been drinking too much whiskey.
“Yeah. They get that way sometimes. We can talk about it later, but there’s nothing to worry about,” I lied. There was plenty to worry over, but she’d find out soon enough. The last thing our customers needed was Ashley freaking out over their whiskey and fries.Let them enjoy their food before pandemonium hits.
Ashley walked away to put in my order, and as I waited for Charlie, I got to checking emails on my phone.Five hundred and eighteen replies?This was fantastic. People from all around the world wantedto join the fight.
I got through the third email, noticing the next one had attachments. I clicked and gasped, covering my mouth. Someone had sent an image of a vampire strung upside down like Jaws. Five men in colorful shirts were all standing around him, pointing and smiling.
“What is the matter with these people?” Not that a vampire wouldn’t do the same, or worse, to one of us in their waking chambers, but I wanted to believe humans would be more humane about killing these monsters. These pics were grisly and disturbing. I prayed Charlie had a solution better than mine.
“Masie,” said a familiar voice.
I looked up from my phone to find Charlie. He wore a blue plaid shirt and jeans on his now very lean body. His dark hair looked shaggier than I remembered it, and his face had aged five years since I’d seen him twelve months ago.
“Charlie, you look…”
“Tired?”
Maybe a little, but it was better than all that perfect hotness found on a vampire. “You look like a breath of fresh air. Take a seat.”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Everything okay?” he asked.
“My okay is so un-okay that it’s renamed itself Krystal and decided to takeup pole dancin’.”
“Vivid.”
“Yep.” But it did describe my current state of mind: I would rather be doing anything than this. I missed my quiet, no-vampire-drama life.
Charlie sat across from me at the table.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked. “We have the best rattlesnake fingers in the world.”
His nose crinkled, and he flashed his palm. “Nothing for me, thanks. I need to get back to the airport.”
“Okay.”
He leaned in. “I’ll cut straight to the point, Masie. My team and I have been,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “running simulations. Hundreds of them.”
“You mean how to stop,” I also whispered, “a vampire takeover?”
“Yes. And every scenario leads to a total collapse of humanity, except one. Unfortunately, it’s the most dangerous.”
Of course it is.Well, on the bright side, at least there was one. “I assume it involves me.”
“I did some research, and I think we can use your distillery to…make hooch.” He winked, and I blinked, unsure of where he was going.
“But we make straight whiskey.” The best in Tennessee. It was known for its smooth, smokey aftertaste and nutty Kicklighter undertones. We also made hot versions that could make a firefighter cry.
“Yes,” he said. “I know. And now I need you to blend a batch of your most expensive, award-winning whiskey with your new inhousepoteen,” he said slowly and deliberately.
“You mean you want me to produce moonshine? The vampire kind?”
“Shhhh…” He looked over his shoulder. “Don’t use that word. Someone could hear.”
“Oh, sorry.” I whispered, “You want me to make white lightning like that crimson-chugging man-whore of my ex?”
Charlie gave me an odd look. “Uh, yes?” He went on to explain that in five days, Washington would be flooded with lobbyists and hundreds of powerful people from the western hemisphere, pushing senators to pass the bill. He needed a truckload of moonshine-spiked whiskey to serve at the parties. “We will have people—the bartenders, caterers, and hotel staff—inside every major event.”
