“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“What I should have done a long time ago.” He grabbed the office phone, hit the speed-dial number for Kurt, and waited a few seconds for him to answer. Then he simply barked, “Where’s Ruxandra’s lair?”
Kurt hesitated, then asked, “Why? What’s going on?”
“She almost killed Claudia—despite your protection. Now she’s going to pay.”
“I’m sorry, buddy. I can’t be part of that.”
“Kurt…” he growled. His friend didn’t answer. “Kurt? Dammit, talk to me.”
When there was still no response, Anthony realized his good friend was switching allegiances and had hung up on him. He slammed the phone back in its cradle. “Fuck!”
Claudia winced. “I—uh…I need to call my sponsor.”
Anthony took in a deep breath and nodded. “Of course.”
Claudia edged around him until she reached the phone. “Um…alone, please?”
Anthony couldn’t help feeling a little hurt. She’d rather talk to someone over the phone than take comfort from him. Yes, he was probably a little frightening when he was angry, and she’d never seen him lose his cool like this, but of all people, she should understand why.
“We’ll be right outside the door,” he said.
“No. I need complete privacy and you can hear through doors.”
He sighed out the breath he’d sucked in earlier.
“You know what?” she said. “I’ll just call her from my apartment. I—I want to change into some dry clothes first.”
“Of course. You must be chilled to the bone.” He removed his suit jacket and draped it around her shoulders. She tried to refuse it, but he insisted. He also insisted on walking her to her door.
“You know you can’t tell your sponsor about any of this.”
She simply stood on the sidewalk and stared straight ahead.
“I mean it,” Anthony said a little more forcefully than he should have.
Claudia tipped up her set jaw and gave him what looked like a defiant glare. “She wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
Claudia paced across her living room, hoping her sponsor hadn’t missed her for a couple days. Fat chance.
“Hi, Gaye.”
“Where have you been?”
Claudia hoped she could deflect all the obvious questions and avoid lying, but it was going to be difficult. “Um. It’s good to hear your voice too. I’m fine, by the way.”
“Oh. Yes, I guess I skipped the pleasantries, but I’ve been worried about you. I tried to call several times, and it went straight to voice mail.”
“Sorry. It couldn’t be helped.” Truth.
“Why not?”
“I didn’t have my cell phone with me.” Truth.
“All right. But why didn’t you tell me you were going…where did you say you went?”
“I didn’t, and I can’t.”
Gaye muttered something under her breath. “Are you sober?”
Claudia gritted her teeth. It was a miracle she was sober right now. Part of her really wished she could escape into the bottle, but all the craziness would still be there when she sobered up—plus she’d have a hangover.
“Yes, I’m sober. I’m just tired, but I wanted to call so you wouldn’t worry. And I need to ask you something too.”
“Well, it’s too late to avoid the worry thing, but what’s your question?”
Claudia took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn’t set off Gaye’s alarm bells. “I need a place to go to think. Just for a night. Someplace where no one will disturb me.”
“What you need is a meeting.”
“Gaye, I can’t. Not tonight. I’m exhausted.”
Gaye didn’t say anything for several seconds. Finally her voice gentled. “What’s going on, Claudia? You don’t sound like yourself at all.”
“I know.” She felt herself choking up and took a deep breath, hoping to keep the tears at bay. “But I can’t tell you. At least not yet. I really need to get away and be by myself for a night or two.”
“That’s the last thing you need. Trust me.”
“I do trust you, but—”
“No buts. Either you trust me to know what’s best for you or you don’t.”
Oh God. Now what could she say? She trusted Gaye, but she really couldn’t divulge what was bothering her. Ever. She was nearly lying when she said she couldn’t tell her “yet.”
“Claudia, there’s a saying that you’re only as sick as your secrets.”
Oh, great. Another saying. Another tidbit of wisdom. “I’m sorry. I swore I’d never tell another human being.” Truth.
Another long silence followed. “Is it legal trouble?”
“No. I’m not covering for anyone so they won’t get arrested. It’s not that kind of thing at all. Can you please stop guessing?”
“Why? Are you afraid I might guess right?”
Claudia almost burst out laughing. Who would ever guess she’d been dropped onto a fishing boat by a vampire and set adrift.
“I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have called. I’ll go to a hotel or something.”
“Please don’t. I’ll respect your privacy, but you really shouldn’t be alone. My sister is in the program. She has a guest room and her home is alcohol free. Let me give her a call, and I’ll see if she can give you a safe place to stay.”
“Thank you. I’d really appreciate it.”
“I’ll call her right now and get back to you in a few minutes. You’ll answer when I call back, right?”
Claudia let out a sigh. “Yes. Of course.”
“Okay. Talk to you in a few.”
Claudia went straight to her bedroom and packed an overnight bag. She had to get going before the tea room opened and Anthony came looking for her. She’d call him as soon as she was on her way. Worrying people who cared about her never seemed to work out well. On the other hand, she realized, people did care about her. A mixed blessing, at best.
No sooner had Anthony entered his office and closed the door, than he found himself on top of a frozen mountain surrounded by many more snowy peaks.
“Oh, fuck.”
Mother Nature appeared in front of him with her arms crossed. “Well, you really screwed the goat this time.”
“Goddess, please understand—”
She pointed at him and roared, “No. You understand. Humans are not supposed to know about paranormals. Now, thanks to you and your rogue ex, your current girlfriend knows about vampires and muses. Magic and powers. What’s next? Are you going to introduce her to the whole Supernatural Council?”
“Of course not.”
“I might.”
“What?”
“I might take her to headquarters and explain the whole thing to her…then transport her to a loony bin and watch her tell them how she got there. They’ll keep her forever.”
Anthony had never felt so powerless and panicked. “Gaia, please. I need your help. I believe you can do anything. You can reset the world to right before I met Ruxandra—”
The goddess reared back and laughed. The eerie echo mocked him.
“Of course I could do that, but why would I? Just to accommodate you? How important do you think you are?”
“I…” Anthony sighed. There was nothing he could say to that. He supposed that even one minor change like letting Ruxandra die would affect hundreds or thousands of other incidents, like a ripple in a pond.
Gaia must have taken pity on him, because the next thing he knew, they were sitting in his office.
“I will help you, but not the way you want me to. That would be too easy and you’d never learn. Now, go to your girlfriend and make sure she tells no one what she knows. I want your personal guarantee.”