Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Back at the sketchy bar, I immediately went to the room for a blood bag while Gavriel stopped at the bar to find something to eat. After flying with him, being so close, and then sitting not nearly as close as I wanted, I was craving his blood painfully.
His blood was as good as Tralcon’s had been vile. I shuddered at the thought, pulling out a blood bag and sinking my fangs into it.
“Hello?” the fairy girl said, knocking on the door. She poked her head in without waiting for me to answer, but she had Crucible, so I forgave her for interrupting me in the middle of feeding.
Her eyes widened when she realized what I was doing, but her shock quickly dissipated. I continued drinking my blood while I stared at her.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said in her chirpy way. “But what are you going to get Gavriel for his birthday?”
I blinked at her. His birthday? That’s right. A hundred years ago, I’d had birthdays. There should be presents and cake. My mother had made me cakes before she died. I pulled my fangs out of my bag long enough to ask, “When is his birthday?”
She smiled and came all the way in, like that had been an invitation.
She closed the door behind her and came close enough to touch, still carrying Crucible.
“In two days. I remembered him mentioning it at Romi’s shop, so I did some digging while you were in hibernation, to find out what he’d really want. ”
“Why are you so curious about his birthday?”
She gave me a shy smile and put her hand on my arm, like I wasn’t the world’s least stable assassin. “Thanks for getting us away from Romi. You do want to know what Gavriel wants for his birthday, don’t you?”
“I mean…Yes.” Of course I did. Because we were playing a part where I was a fixated vampire, not because I actually wanted to know.
Her face lit up, and she squeezed my arm. “Great! He doesn’t want a weapon, just a handmade cake and a card.”
I stared at her. “A handmade cake? I don’t cook.”
“It’s called baking. Just go to the fancy department store, and they’ll help you get everything you need from special flour to the special pans.”
“But won’t I need an oven?”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “I didn’t think about that.”
“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out. What about the handmade card? What does that mean?”
“You decorate a piece of paper, fold it in half, and give it to him.”
“Decorate it with what?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. The things angels like, I guess. Harp strings? Flowers? Insect wings?”
I stared at her. She stared back.
I was supposed to be desperately obsessed with the angel. I’d crawl over coals for him. I’d definitely sneak to the fancy department store and get everything for a cake. I could break into someone’s house and steal their oven for the sake of our unhealthy fake relationship.
“Thanks. I’ll have to think of a way to distract him while I’m gone.
” I took Crucible and snuggled him under my chin while I tried to look in love.
I could obviously just tell him that I needed to do this thing for the sake of our cover, but if I was going to do it, wouldn’t it be better if it was an actual birthday surprise?
Did he actually want a cake and a card, or was he making things up for Chira?
“What about a spa?” she asked brightly.
“What about a spa?”
“Don’t vampires like spas? You could say you need to go to one.”
“I’ve never gone to a spa in my entire existence. I’m not even sure what that is.”
“Then you could take me to one, and while I’m there, getting all polished and gleaming, you could do your shopping.” She beamed at me, clearly delighted with her plan.
It made no sense. “Do fairies go to spas?”
She sighed dreamily. “Oh, yes. Fairies have the best spas, and they get their wings sparkled and their skin hydrated. It’s glorious.” Her bright eyes were even brighter at the thought of it. She was such an adorable little thing.
“Okay. I’ll take you to a spa,” I said, smiling slightly. At least someone would be happy whether Gavriel actually wanted a cake and card or not.
“Girl time!” She flung her arms around me and squeezed me as tight as she could while I patted her shoulder awkwardly.
“Sure. Girl time.”
After that, it was time to put the plan in place. We’d leave first thing in the morning, you know, because it would take time to get ingredients and bake the cake. And we had to schedule an appointment with the spa.
Shane helped with that while Gavriel looked perplexed. Shane had a poker face while he watched me call on his phone, Chira chirping beside me about all the things we should do, exfoliating and peels, until I asked the lady on the phone to schedule everything they had, and hung up.
Everyone stared at me, Chira, Gavriel, Shane, Rafe, Frankie, and Lorien, who had come in at some point, looking sketchy.
“If you want to go to the spa tomorrow, you’ll have to do your chores today,” I said, looking at Chira seriously.
Her eyes went enormous, and she stank of fear. She didn’t show the fear, just raised her chin, waiting for me to finally show my claws. I owned her. What would I do with her?
“We’re going to clean this entire building from top to bottom, and when I say top, I mean the ceilings,” I said, looking up at the smoke stained, grease-flecked ceiling of the bar that had probably had a clear color underneath it.
“What do you mean, you’re cleaning my bar?” Shane asked, his poker face getting even more impenetrable. It was also impossible to tell how he was feeling by his scent.
“There was a time in my life when I wasn’t allowed to clean. Being free means I get to live without roaches, spiders, and rats.”
His eyes narrowed, and then he shrugged and relaxed slightly. “Fine. If you want to clean my building, top to bottom, feel free, but you won’t find anything incriminating in any of the private bedrooms, because none of us are stupid enough to keep anything like that.”
Rafe, Tiago, and Lorien immediately rushed the stairs.
I got to work. The top floor in the narrow attic was where Chira and Frankie had their rooms. It actually wasn’t too bad; no leaks, no drafts, but it was filthy.
Chira splashed around like a child, making a mess while she played in the bubbles her brother made for her, but he was a high-quality cleaner and didn’t mind working hard.
Gavriel took off his shirt and worked beside me with a broom, reaching up to sweep up cobwebs while Frankie scrubbed, using his wings to keep him aloft.
Tiago joined us a few minutes later, and the elf had a few spells that made things move much more quickly. He also started singing, and Gavriel joined in. Then it started to feel like a party. Not a Vampire King party, the kind that wasn’t nerve-wrackingly boring.
We worked our way down, and by the time we got to the bar, Shane was finished mopping up the floor, the ceiling was a dull cream color minus any grease or smoke stains, and Rafe was sanding down the counter.
“The back room is done,” Lorien said, coming out with a wet rag in his hand. He kept his eyes on the floor.
“Now, Ruby Blood,” Shane said, giving me a slight smile. “You have to dance with everyone here for working so hard.”
I stared at him blankly. “You would like to spar with me? What choice of weapons?”
He grinned, then nodded at Tiago, who strummed something elaborate on his guitar. “You’ll dance with everyone here, and then we’ll let you dance with your angel. That’s the price for letting you invade everyone’s privacy.”
“Oh. I don’t dance well unless my partner is a good lead.”
Shane glanced at Gavriel. “Do you object to her dancing with others?”
Gavriel studied me and then glanced at Lorien and back to me.
Was that something? Did I need to try to get information out of him?
Of course, because I could be so subtle, as demonstrated by the last time I’d slammed him against the bar and threatened to kill him.
“Yes, I object, but I’m overruled by her generosity.
Don’t make me regret it,” he said, shooting a glare at everyone there.
Rafe grabbed my hand and started hopping around the room with me. It was absurd. There wasn’t any actual dance, and I don’t think it followed Tiago’s song, but the elf switched songs so the fish guy’s dance almost worked.
After that dance, it was Frankie, and he was so graceful as he led me through the elaborate dance, while Tiago’s music became all that an elegant fairy ball could desire. Then it was Shane, who swept me around like someone who danced with awkward girls for a living.
When we were finished with an actually enjoyable dance that followed the music and was easy to follow, he handed me to Tiago, trading me for the guitar.
Tiago raised a brow and then bowed over my hand and proceeded to dance to the song Shane played. It was a country dance with a lot of leaping and elaborate arms, but Tiago did more than lead. He enchanted me so that I knew exactly what to do and performed perfectly.
After they were done, I turned to Gavriel, but Shane stuck his arm between us.
“There’s still the angel. You need to dance with him. Show that there’s no hard feelings.” Shane’s smile didn’t match his hard eyes. Was that what all of this had been about?
I hesitated, knowing that’s also what Gavriel wanted, then I turned to the angel and held out my hand.
“You may dance with me.”
He wrinkled his nose as he took my fingertips with a loose grasp. “It’s a pleasure.”
“I’m sure.”
We danced, me stiff the whole time because as much as I disliked Lorien, his blood was so close, beating beneath his skin, and I’d drunk so much of Gavriel that I was probably an angel-blood addict for life.
I mean death. He was stiff, probably because of the time I slammed him to the counter.
This time, he didn’t smell like the demon’s blood.
Had I been mistaken? It was possible, but not likely.
He had a strong lead, but I disliked following. He wasn’t Gavriel.