Part 17 (1/2)

”Don't you try and sweet-talk me just because I'm s.e.xual napalm, pal.”

He chuckled down at her, pressing a kiss to her lips. ”Fine. Next time, it's four. I owe you one.”

There was going to be a next time? She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from squeeing her joy. ”And I believe there was a beg for mercy in there. So, I win. You lose.”

”I'm happy to concede. So is it me, or is it completely off the wall that we're not doing any heavy breathing?”

”It's not you. It's weird not to be out of breath.”

”Or sweaty.”

Phoebe smiled, no doubt, dreamily. Hah. No b.o.o.b sweat. ”I think I'm okay without the sweat. But I get your meaning.”

”And no wet spot.”

She giggled. ”The crazy. It just keeps coming.”

”Do you think every vampire before us has had this conversation when they first experienced s.e.x as a vampire?”

”Yes!” a voice yelped. ”There are adults out here talking, kiddies. Now shut the f.u.c.k up and quit acting like this is some kind of amus.e.m.e.nt park and you two are the Tilt-A-Whirl!” Nina bellowed from the living room.

They both m.u.f.fled their laughter in each other's necks. Sam whispered in her ear, ”But woo and hoo. Vampire s.e.x is the s.h.i.+z, huh?”

”No lie.”

”However, we have a problem.”

Phoebe frowned, giving him a drowsy pout. ”Is this the regret portion of vampire s.e.x is the s.h.i.+z?”

”h.e.l.l, no. I don't regret a d.a.m.n thing. But I will regret something.”

”You mean tomorrow-like morning-after regret?”

”No. That I'm finding it hard to keep my eyes open and you'll be all bent out of shape that I didn't appropriately utilize our afterglow.”

”I don't think I'll have any right to complain.”

”Because?”

”Because I'm going to do a totally man thing and pa.s.s out in two, three, one ...”

As the deep, dark call of vampire sleep swept over them, they didn't disentangle their bodies-entwined, still locked in the last vestiges of their lovemaking.

Though now flaccid, Sam remained inside her, and her last thought was, she could do this every night with him.

For eternity.

”SO, vampire, where are we tonight?” Marty asked, threading her hands through her hair and plunking her poodle m.u.f.fin down on Sam's couch. She'd come to share a babysitting s.h.i.+ft with Archibald so Nina could catch her breath and on the off chance reinforcements were needed should trouble arise.

Nina's eyes were dull with defeat. ”I don't know, Marty. I sure as s.h.i.+t don't know.”

Marty held a hand up and frowned, her wedding ring gleaming in the lamplight. ”Hold up. I didn't hear an ounce of sarcasm in that statement. Who are you, and where's the real Nina, poser?”

”The real Nina's experiencing what some might call a life struggle,” Wanda offered, sitting down next to them and dragging m.u.f.fin into her lap.

Marty c.o.c.ked her head, her blue eyes wide. ”A life what? Nina? Our Nina? You mean she hasn't beaten the struggle out of someone to find the answer yet?”

Wanda shot Marty an admonis.h.i.+ng look and shook her head from behind Nina to signal it wasn't the time to razz their friend. ”We've got trouble, pal. Not just a little, either.” Wanda went about explaining where Sam and Phoebe's situation was now and the events of the night.

Marty's mouth fell open, but she instantly closed it. She put a hand on Nina's knee and squeezed it. ”We'll figure it out, Nina. We always figure it out. I know it looks grim, but we've been to grim and back.”

Nina grabbed for Marty's hand and clung to it in a rare act of true fear. ”I did this, Marty. I f.u.c.king well did this. Those people in there could die if I don't do something to save them. Die. I mean, Jesus Christ.”

Wanda stroked m.u.f.fin's head, running her fingers along the top of the poodle's lavender T-s.h.i.+rt that read, DOES THIS s.h.i.+RT MAKE MY b.u.t.t LOOK CURLY? ”It isn't just you that has to do something, Nina. You're not in this alone. We're in this together.”

Nina scoffed at them both. ”The h.e.l.l I'll let you two ballerinas end up hurt because of me. You're officially f.u.c.king sidelined. This is my stank to deal with.”

”The. h.e.l.l. It's like Wanda said, we always go in together, Nina. Period,” Marty reminded her with a stern tone. ”That's what OOPS is about. And Phoebe's your sister. She's family. We don't abandon family. You didn't abandon Casey when Wanda needed you and Casey's life was at stake. So was Clay's,” she said, referring to Wanda's sister and Clay's plight to untangle himself from a mate he'd never wanted to begin with.

Nina threw Marty's hand back at her. ”Yeah? Well, usually, when we go in together, I didn't create half the problem. We've got an equal interest in saving the client, and Casey's s.h.i.+t was on Clay. He spilled demon blood on her. It had nothing to do with Grace Kelly here. This time, it's on me. If I'd have chilled out like you warned me to, Princess Phoebe wouldn't be here today.”

Marty and Wanda both stared at each other. Simultaneously, they reached out to one another's chins and, using their index fingers, pushed them upward.

Marty nudged Nina's knee. ”Is that remorse I hear, Nina? Accountability? What the h.e.l.l's happened since I saw you two days ago?”

”I saw a dead body, no, three now, and the kid has-or had-whatever, Alzheimer's-early onset. So, yeah, my out-of-control temper saved her from dying from some crippling f.u.c.king disease, but it ain't gonna save her from the s.h.i.+t that happened to that dude on the roof at Alice's or what happened to Alice Goodwin. That s.h.i.+t's on me. I knocked her into Sam because I felt threatened.”

Marty's look was of the unfathomable. ”Hookay, shut the front door. You're owning up to pus.h.i.+ng Phoebe into Sam, not to mention, you're owning up to feeling threatened? You are not Nina Blackman-Statleon. No effin' way, imposter. Maybe she's one of those manufactured in the likeness of Nina vampires, too. So stop the crazy train, I want off.”

”Shut the f.u.c.k up, Marty. It is so me. I can feel like s.h.i.+t, too. So just let me, all right? Christ, you're like one of those yippy terriers, always humping my leg. I did this because I didn't want to believe my father loved anyone other than my mother. It made me want to crack her stupid Barbie head over my knee when she told me. But what she says is true, and what Wanda says is true, too.”

”And that is?” Marty asked, her eyes full of concern.

”That it's not Phoebe's fault my father did her mother and fell in love. My mom was gone. At least gone in the sense that she'd f.u.c.king abandoned me for some crack. I don't know the exact timeline on the s.h.i.+t that went down between Phoebe's mother and my father. I just know my dad did another chick. And that was all I could hear out of Foofie Barbie's mouth.”

”And you felt betrayed,” Wanda coaxed. ”Maybe even a little jealous that you weren't the only apple of his eye?”

Nina let her chin fall to her chest. ”I was hacked off at the idea my father had a whole other life. He was gone a lot when I was a kid. I guess some of that time was spent with Phoebe and her mother, and it p.i.s.sed me off that it could have been spent with me and Lou.”

Marty reached behind Nina and gave Wanda a poke with her finger. ”Wanda, hold me up, friend. I'm winded. Admission of guilt from Nina is one thing, but displaying emotions of remorse and jealousy-out loud? I expect to hear the clop of hooves as one of the Four Hors.e.m.e.n lands right here in Sam's living room.”

That Nina didn't respond to Marty's wisecrack made her instantly pull her friend's hand back into hers. ”Nina, if it takes an army of us, I'll find a way. We'll find a way. I don't know what the way is, but I'll figure it out. We'll all figure it out.”

Nina slid down on the couch and let her head rest on Marty's shoulder, pulling her hoodie around her face.

Marty drew Nina to her chest, letting her chin fall to the top of Nina's head, stroking her cheek while Wanda laid a gentle hand on her friend's arm.