Vanda shook her head. "You two look pathetic." She slammed three glasses onto the counter and opened the bottle. "Wow!" Her eyes watered as the fumes from the bottle engulfed her face.
"What is that stuff?" Darcy asked.
"Blissky. Half synthetic blood, half pure Scots whisky." Vanda poured some into the three glasses.
"Here you go."
Darcy added some ice to hers, then joined her friends in the sitting area. She settled into a wicker rocking chair.
"Bottoms up." Vanda raised her glass in salute.
After they'd finished gasping and coughing, Vanda refilled their glasses. She set the bottle down on the glass-topped wicker coffee table. "Okay. Who's first?"
Maggie tossed back her glass, then croaked, "Me." She leaned back against the floral printed cushions of the loveseat. "I went to DVN for my interview with Mr. Bacchus."
"Oh, no," Darcy groaned. "That was tonight?"
"Yes." Maggie wiped the moisture off her face.
"I'm so sorry, Maggie. I meant to warn you about him." But she'd gotten too immersed in her own problems with Austin.
Maggie's lips trembled. "You knew he was a lecherous creep?"
"What happened?" Vanda demanded. "Did he make a move on you?"
Maggie shuddered. "It was more like he wanted me to make moves on him. I was so shocked, I just stood there, gaping at him. Then he said, as long as my mouth was open, I might as well put it to good use."
"That Sly," Darcy muttered. "Always a smooth talker."
Vanda snorted. "I hope you told him to go to hell."
Maggie winced. "I should have. But I was so horrified, I just ran from the room." She slumped against the cushions. "Now, I'll never get an acting job. I'll never be with Don Orlando."
Darcy drank her shot of Blissky to bolster her courage. "About Don Orlando, you should know the rumors are true."
"No." Maggie's face crumbled. Vanda refilled her glass.
"He's had an affair with Corky Courrant and Tiffany," Darcy said. "And there could be others."
"Scumbag," Vanda growled.
New tears tumbled down Maggie's face. "I was so sure he was perfect for me." She grabbed her glass and drank.
Darcy sniffed. "I'm really sorry."
"Men." Vanda gulped down some Blissky. "Even dead, you can't live with them." She refilled their glasses. "Your turn, Darcy. Why are you upset?"
She sighed. "A man."
"Of course." Vanda lifted her glass and announced, "Men suck."
"Especially vampire men," Maggie grumbled, then looked stunned by the truth of her statement. The women burst into laughter and downed another shot of Blissky.
"Oh, my God." Maggie wiped her eyes. "I can't believe it. I'm actually getting drunk."
"You've never been drunk before?" Vanda asked.
"No, I was raised in a very strict Catholic family. Drinking was evil. Sweet Mary, everything was evil."
Maggie lounged back with a dreamy look. "I thought with enough love and religion, I could change the world. So, in 1884, I joined the Salvation Army. I had the smartest little uniform, and we marched around Manhattan with our brass band, preaching about the evils of rumdom, slumdom, and bumdom."
"Really?" Darcy asked. "You never told me this."
Maggie shrugged. "I didn't last for very long. I was only nineteen and so naive. After a few weeks, I joined the slum brigade, and we went into this seedy area close to the docks. We had baskets of fresh bread, and we were going to feed the poor. But then I got separated from the others and by the time the sun set, I was hopelessly lost." Frowning, she touched the scars on her neck. "I ended up feeding the poor, all right."
Darcy blinked. "You mean literally?"
The ladies looked at each other, then burst into giggles.
"To Maggie and feeding the poor." Vanda raised a full glass.
They clinked their glasses together and drank.
Vanda turned to Darcy. "So, who's the bastard in your life?"
"Austin, but he's not a bastard."
Maggie frowned. "I don't think we know him."
"Oh." Darcy propped her feet against the edge of the coffee table to make her rocking chair move.
"You know him as Adam."
"Adam's giving you trouble?" Vanda asked, her expression confused. "But he told me in the hot tub that he's in love with you."
"You were talking about me in the hot tub?"
"Sure." Vanda frowned. "I warned him never to hurt you."
"He's not hurting me. I'm hurting him."
"Hurray!" Maggie slouched on the loveseat, grinning. "Kick his ass."
Vanda gave her an annoyed look. "Darcy isn't enjoying this."
"Oh, sorry." Maggie leaned forward and plummeted onto the floor.
"What did you say his name was?" Vanda asked. "Austin?"
Maggie rolled onto her back and hiccoughed. "I thought his name was Adam. Or Apollo, the sun god."
"Adam is his stage name," Darcy clarified.
"Adam, Austin, Apollo." Vanda shrugged. "A dick by any other name would smell as sweet."
A burst of giggles came from the floor where Maggie was sprawled.
With a snort of laughter, Darcy pushed too hard against the coffee table. Her chair rocked back, then teetered on the edge. "Aagh!" She crashed onto the floor.
Vanda lurched to her feet and stood swaying over her. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Darcy giggled as she rolled onto the floor. "I'm in love." She burst into tears.
"Oh, great." Vanda helped her up. "We'd better get to a safe place before the sun rises."
"The bedroom." Darcy lurched toward the room, followed by Vanda and Maggie. They collapsed onto the king-sized bed.
The sun must be breaking the horizon, Darcy thought. She could feel the heavy pull of the death sleep.
"You know, there's one good thing about being a vampire," Vanda whispered on Darcy's right.
"What's that?" Maggie asked from Darcy's left.
"No matter how screwed up we are, we'll never lose a minute's sleep over it."
"True." Darcy reached for their hands. "Thank you for being here." With good friends, maybe she could survive this. She slipped into oblivion.
CHAPTER 23
Darcy woke with a monstrous headache. Vanda and Maggie looked equally as miserable as they stumbled back to their rooms on the servants' floor. As Darcy showered and dressed, she realized she couldn't face Austin. If she saw him, she might beg him to take her back. So she stopped by the cameramen's room and asked them to proceed without her.
Maria Consuela was judging the contest tonight. Gregori escorted her to the penthouse library. The rest of the ex-harem, including Darcy, watched from the servants' parlor.
Cora Lee squealed, pointing at the television where the library could now be seen. "There they are!"
"Not so loud," Vanda muttered.
Maggie groaned. Darcy rubbed her throbbing temples.
Gregori smiled at a camera. "Welcome to The Sexiest Man on Earth. There are only four contestants left, and two will be eliminated tonight as we test each man's strength. Our judge tonight is the lovely Maria Consuela of Spain."
Maria Consuela inclined her head toward the camera in a calm, regal manner. Only her tight grip on her rosary hinted at her nervousness.
"Our first contestant tonight is Roberto from Buenos Aires." Gregori opened the library door, and Roberto entered the room.
He looked suave, his black hair slicked back from a high forehead. He bowed to Maria Consuela.
"At your service, señora."
"Gracias." Maria Consuela stood by the fireplace and motioned to a nearby wingback chair. "I believe this chair would look much better in front of the desk."
"Claw." Roberto lifted the chair high over his head. He walked to the desk and set the chair down.
"Is this better?"
"Why, yes." Maria Consuela's dark eyes gleamed with approval. "And that little settee in the corner, I believe it should be here by the fireplace."