“Hello, Rachel,” sighed the one that had walked closest to Gabriel. “This…is my charge being dumb. And he has dragged along some of his friends to share in his dumbness.”
“Dumbness?” Hannah asked.
“It rubs off on you,” Timothy shrugged.
“Oh no,” Julia groaned. “Don’t tell me.”
Timothy dropped his head a bit. “He’s out to visit his righteous anger upon the man who stole his girlfriend.”
“Your Gabriel cheated on my Taylor with four different women this year,” Julia scowled.
“Six,” Timothy corrected ruefully. “It’s not like I can just tell him that. I’ve tried leaving plenty of signs to guide him from this path, but he’s willfully blind.”
“So what’s he gonna do about it?” Rachel asked.
Again, Timothy shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably beat up your Alex.”
Rachel snorted. “Fat chance of that.”
“Do you plan to interfere? Your condition gives you a freedom of direct intervention that the rest of us lack,” Hannah said.
“Yes,” Julia fumed, “you could, for instance, pull that abyssal trollop off of my Taylor.”
“Or you could’ve prevented your charge from soiling my Jocelyn,” sulked Sidney.
Rachel groaned, her eyes rolling uncontrollably. Finally she looked up at Timothy. “I’m not gonna do a damn thing,” she declared. “I don’t need to. Your boy starts anything, he’ll be the one who goes home crying.”
Timothy and the angels with him gave a collective snort of skepticism. “Unlikely,” said one of them, a short, dark-haired female. “Gabriel and these others are top-notch athletes. They’re in the best shape they could be in during the prime of their lives. You should be a little more concerned for the safety of your charge.”
“What’s your name?” Rachel asked with a curious cock of her head.
“Martina,” she said.
“So are you and Timothy ready to back up that shit-talkin’ with anything serious?”
* * *
Alex and Jocelyn made sure to look presentable before sneaking out of Sherri’s bedroom. They heard a bump and moan from the upstairs bathroom as they passed and shared a self-conscious giggle. “Wonder who’s inside?” Alex murmured on their way down the stairs. People saw them coming down, but they hardly knew anyone at the base of the steps and didn’t care about their suspicions.
“I need a glass of water so bad,” Jocelyn announced.
“Yeah, me, too,” Alex said as they turned the corner to the kitchen. A hand grabbed his wrist, abruptly pulling him in another direction.
“Gabriel’s here, outside,” Drew told him. “Lookin’ for you.”
“Shit, seriously?” Alex blinked.
“Yeah. Lookin’ for Taylor, too. She went off to talk with your girlfriend somewhere. Meantime I guess Gabe just showed up with his posse like two minutes ago an’ he’s beefin’. Wade’s out there stallin’ him.”
“Man, I really misjudged this one,” Alex muttered.
“Yeah, no shit. How many years I been tellin’ you to quit expectin’ people to act like adults?”
* * *
“We should not take this too far,” Lorelei murmured.
“No?” Taylor whimpered back. She blinked then, coming down a bit from their long, hot make-out session. “No,” she agreed. “I can’t…oh my God. I’ve never done this.”
The seductive smile she saw in response left her willpower in tatters all over again. “You’re a natural, Taylor,” Lorelei said in a quiet, encouraging voice. She continued to caress Taylor’s head, her neck and her shoulders. She trailed soft kisses across Taylor’s face and teased her lips with more.
“This is so bad,” Taylor thought aloud.
“No,” Lorelei shook her head. “It’s fine. This is all fine. What you have to decide is whether or not you want more. More of me…and more of Alex. Yours for the taking.”
Taylor inhaled with a tremor. She had no idea what she could possibly say to that. With each passing heartbeat, she also wondered more and more if she could possibly turn it down.
“It’s all up to you,” Lorelei said. “I will not pressure you. Nor would Alex. He cares for you, and he wants you to be happy more than he desires you. I will always honor that.” Her hands had not come off of Taylor, though, nor had their closeness become any less charged.
“I have to think about this,” Taylor admitted.
“Of course,” came Lorelei’s understanding response. “I have a proposition for you, though. Something to perhaps put your thoughts in context.” She backed up a step, took a deep breath, and let the tension diminish. “And then I must ask of you a slightly awkward and more immediate favor.”
* * *
“Well, I don’t actually know him,” Brittany said as the party shifted to the front of the house. “He goes to my school. I haven’t talked to him before tonight, but I’ve seen him there.”
Alistair nodded, asking nothing more. He received the sketched images over his phone half an hour ago. Alistair hadn’t looked immediately after the contraption buzzed. Though younger in mindset and more adaptable than many of his kind, even Alistair didn’t care for the presumptuous urgency of modern communications.
Serendipity made itself plain, though, when he got around to checking the message. He didn’t expect anything from his liege tonight. The vampire could barely contain his excitement when he viewed the images attached to the request for all in the city to look for two individuals. He had his phone’s camera ready just in time for a snapshot of Carlisle as he hustled past. It was a usable picture. Alistair knew this would win the favor of Lady Anastacia for quite some time.
Brittany vanished once more, but Alistair hardly cared. He immediately sent off the picture along with Carlisle’s name and school. He briefly considered relaying his location, but decided to wait. Best to display his unhesitating observance of duty with this immediate response, then later follow up with a hard-won trove of exclusive information.
Engaging either target in conversation appeared difficult. Alistair would have to break through either a pack of dazzled girls or a herd of aroused, hopeful young men depending on which target he chose. He suspected Carlisle would be unreceptive to anything more than a platonic approach. The woman had endless confidence and seemed entirely uninterested in anyone but Carlisle. She, too, could be tough to seduce.
A hand touched his arm. “Excuse me?” a voice asked. Alistair turned to see a pretty brunette. Her expression was shy but eager.
“Yes?” Alistair asked, nodding as if in a subtle bow. “What might I do for such a lovely vision?”
“Aw,” the girl grinned. She leaned in to pass along a secret. “Lorelei’s been watching you all night. You know who I mean?” Alistair nodded. “She’d like to see you…in the upstairs bathroom.”
Of course she would, Alistair thought, though he presented an air of surprise and flattery. “Thank you so much,” he said, pausing to take the girl’s hand and kiss it. She giggled and squirmed the way girls so often did under his attention, and then winked at him as he stepped away.
He could’ve sworn she muttered, “Douchebag,” as he left…but that would be ridiculous.
Alistair glided up the stairs to his rendezvous. It was about time, he thought, that the woman gave up on her feigned disinterest. She faced a master of that game, and sure enough, her resolve had wavered. At the top of the stairs, outside the bathroom door, Alistair smiled. He heard the shower running. Intriguing, he thought.
He knocked. A voice carrying more than one note of invitation responded with, “Enter.”
The open window over the shower allowed the steam to escape without fogging up the mirrors. Still, some condensation gathered on the shower door, blurring the view of the naked perfection on the other side. The little black dress lay over the closed toilet lid. Alistair smiled. Her odd approach to seduction had its charm.