“Scout is not something to joke about with me,” I said sharply. He brought me through their large house and then followed me to my car, which wasn’t far. The sex store was right next door.
“I’ll keep that in mind and make sure Tully does too. You go kill whoever, and you can take her upstairs and do whatever you want with her when you get back. Okay?”
I climbed into my car and rolled the window down. “Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”
I sped to New York City, which was only about a half hour away. Corinne had promised that it’d be easy, but the guy had been tipped off, and I spent a good hour trying to hunt his ass down. Finally, I cornered him in his own car, trying to make a getaway.
“Hi, George!” I greeted him, slipping into the passenger’s side. He jumped nearly a foot in the air and tried to unbuckle himself,but I quickly locked the door and snatched the keys from his hand. I then grabbed his wrist tight. “You get out,and I’ll make your death slow.”
“Why? Isn’t me leaving town enough for her?” He cried out. I tilted my head, and for a moment, I grew curious. This Bloodshed vampire was conventionally attractive. Built like he was a gym junkie, and his face wasn’t bad. He did fit her type.
“What did you do that warranted Ginata to ask me to come for you?” I twisted in my seat to pull out my knife roll while still holding tight to George.
“I turned! That’s all. I swear. I was one of her familiars for almost three years, and we talked about my turning when my birthday came. Then she decided I wasn’t allowed to anymore, and I chose to do it anyway. Please, don’t kill me because of that. Just let me leave.”
“How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Turn.” I sighed. I wasn’t sure why I always asked. Morbid curiosity?
“I turned the heat on in my bedroom and laid under a rug.”
“What?”That made no sense.“Like, you smothered yourself? That worked?” I tried to envision it, but it just sounded absurd. He nodded, his eyes still scared shitless.
“I got it soaking wet with bleach. It didn’t take long.”
“Why are you guys always trying to outdo the next one? What happened to a good,old-fashioned noose over a strong beam?”
“Please, let me go,” he pleaded again.
“I can’t do that. Surely you’ve spent enough time around Ginata to know that once I’ve been sent for,there areno take-backs.”
He started to cry then. Streams of blood exploded from his eyes,and suddenly I felt a little bad for him. I struggled to believe that Ginata would want someone killed for something so dumb, so he must be lying. “Look, I’ll just make this quick for you.” I let go of his wrist and set my knife roll on my lap. I unbuckled it and grabbed the largest knife in the pack out. “This should take your head off in only a few quick whacks.”
And it did. He didn’t fight me much, and within half an hour,I was exiting his car to climb back into my own. My clothes were saturated with his blood, and the ride back to New Jersey wasn’t exactly pleasant.
The entire drive back,my stomach churned with nervousness. Was Scout okay? Was she safe with Dante watching over her? It made me go even faster, and soon I was sprinting back into their house and down to the basement.
The room was now full and loud. People, vampires, and humans were all sitting at tables or at the bar, chatting and laughing. I scanned the dark room, looking for Scout, and finally, I found her slumped in a seat at a busy table.
I stormed over, looking for Dante as I moved through the crowd. He was nowhere to be seen. However, when I reached Scout’s table, my stomach dropped. Blood nearly came up through my throat as I saw a very satisfied-looking Tully sitting across from Scout. She looked up at me,and fear flooded my system as I looked down at her face. Thin red lines dripped down her cheeks as she cried.
I cupped her face and kissed her quickly, trying to soothe her. “Shh, what’s wrong? What happened? Where’s Dante? I demanded, glaring at Tully.
Tully grinned. “He had to take a call. It’s fine. I kept her company.” His eyes widened,and slowly it all started to take shape—whyScout was upset. I looked at the table in front of her, where her cards lay. It was a shit hand.
She didn’t know how to play.
“What were you playing?” I demanded, focusing back on Scout. My question only caused her to begin shaking as she cried. Her head dropped down,and she refused to answer.
“It was just a simple game of poker. I think she just got in a little over her head. It’s fine,” he tried to calm me down, but seeing that it wasn’t working turned to Scout. “They’ll be more games, sweetie.”
I rested my hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “What did you bet?”
Although I was looking at her, the question had been directed at Toulouse. He knew it and took great pleasure in answering me.
“She bet an orgasm.”
