"Maybe somebody forgot their phone or jacket," I said, starting for the door.
"Or it's an axe murderer, and you should let me answer it," Jack countered, moving past me. "It's Dead End, so fifty-fifty odds."
He strode down the hall and opened the door. "I was half right about the axe murderer. It's Carlos."
"Funny, funny, little kitty cat," Carlos said, amusement in his midnight-dark voice.
"Hey, Carlos!" I beckoned him to come in. "Glad you could make it."
"I'm sorry to be so late. If you're not in the mood for more company, we can visit another time," he said.
Carlos wasbeautiful.Tall, dark, and deadly. I'd seen him around town a few times before he left town after high school, and he'd always been hot. But something about becoming a vampire had really upped his gorgeousness game. Maybe, like the movies say, it helps vampires entice their prey.
Or maybe he was just lucky.
Tonight, he wore casual jeans and a forest-green sweater, but still looked like he should be on the cover of a magazine.Vampire Quarterly, maybe.
He and Dave were in the beginning of a relationship, but I hadn't seen much of them lately. Everybody was so busy. And Carlos had mysterious vampire council business, so he was often out of town.
I stayed a few feet back from him, but not because I was afraid of him—I wasn't, he was my friend and Susan's brother—but because I hadn't touched him and didn't want to see how he'd died when he became a vampire. Or how he might die in the future. Didn't want to know, didn't want to take the chance.
"No, come on in! I saved you a big slice of pecan pie, just in case you were late. I mean, later than usual." He wouldn't come by until after sunset, of course.
Jack shut the door, and the three of us headed back to the kitchen. I gave my vampire guest a slice of pie and a bottle of water. Carlos wasn't much for beer or wine. He'd once given me a sly grin, glanced at my neck, and said he preferred more exotic beverages.
I'd blushed scarlet and burst out laughing. We'd been good friends ever since. I sometimes thought he wasn't used to knowing people who weren't afraid of him or trying to use him for the power he wielded on the council.
Certainly not many people who gave him friendship and homemade pie.
"What's up in the world of bloodsuckers?" Jack leaned against the doorway and grinned at us.
Carlos shook his head, grimacing. "Politics. Always politics. Some of the older vampires have been around so long they have nothing else to live for but Machiavellian conspiracies and plots. When Daniel was our leader, he worked so hard to make things better. Since he stepped down, they've only gotten worse."
"That's too bad," Jack said somberly. "Daniel is a good guy. You really get to know someone when your lives are in danger. I once had to pretend to submit to his girlfriend—who was a saber-toothed tiger at the time—because she thought I was threatening him. Fun times."
I blinked. "What? Asaber-toothed tiger? When was this? When you time-traveled back to the dawn of civilization?"
He grinned at me and walked over to join us at the table, pulling out a chair next to mine and across from Carlos. "You're not that far off. His girlfriend—mate, really—is an eleven-thousand-year old Atlantean princess. That's a long story."
I put my head in my hands and groaned. "Eleven thousand years. Long story. Yes, I get it."
Carlos ate his last bite of pie, closed his eyes, and sighed. "Tess, as always, that was delicious. I really must get you a gift that expresses the level of my appreciation for your baking expertise."
"I don't need any gifts," I said, laughing. "But if you see any interesting kitchen tools or implements on your travels, maybe pick one up. Jeremiah gave me a spoon made of jacaranda wood that a friend of his brought home from Brazil. I'd love to begin a small collection like that."
Carlos studied me with serious dark eyes and then shrugged. "If you like. I was thinking about a diamond bracelet. Or a Mercedes."
Jack's eyes narrowed at the same time I started laughing. "Right. People always give me diamonds for pie. Maybe stick with the wooden spoons."
"You've come into money," Jack drawled. "Small-town boy from Dead End makes good? Or are you into something dangerous?"
The vampire in my kitchen grinned at us. "Nefarious, perhaps, but not dangerous. I've been consulting in Hollywood. Everybody wants 'authenticity' on their films, now that supernaturals are mainstream. That werewolf picture with real shifters broke all box office records."
"I saw that with Molly," I said. "It was pretty scary and couldn't have been real. Jack doesn't go through all those painful contortions when he shifts."
Jack rolled his eyes. "They want big, bold, and scary and aren't interested in reality if it won't bring in the audiences."
"I'm not here to talk about movies," Carlos said. "I've heard some of what is going on, and I have no particular view on the UltraShopMart situation. However, the crime ring concerns me. I returned home last night to find that someone had broken into my home. I knew Jack was here, and it was the middle of the night, so I didn't call and warn you right then, Tess, but I have people coming to install security cameras."
