Forbidden Nights with a Vampire(44)

 

"Where is your home?" Maggie asked.

 

"New Orleans." LaToya stuffed a shrimp in her mouth.

 

Maggie covered her mouth to hide her grin, but Vanda wasn't that polite.

 

She snickered. "No Vamps in New Orleans?"

 

"Dammit." LaToya set her plate down. "There's no escaping those monsters."

 

"They're not monsters," Tino grumbled.

 

"You're right, sweetie." Lara tousled the little boy's curls. "They're real people. And they have real feelings." She gave LaToya a stern look. "You're hurting Phineas's feelings. He doesn't deserve that."

 

"All right. I'll let Blackula know just how sorry I am." LaToya walked off.

 

Lara watched her go, then turned back to Vanda and Maggie with a confused look. "That seemed a little too easy. She's usually more stubborn than that."

 

"Maybe she's had a change of heart." Maggie stood up to survey the crowd. "Where is she?"

 

"There." Lara pointed to a bar. "She just picked up a Vamp drink."

 

"Maybe she's taking it to Phineas," Maggie suggested. "It would be a nice gesture."

 

Vanda walked over to the refreshment table for a closer look. "I don't think she's giving him a peace offering. The hot sauce is gone."

 

"The red stuff?" Tino asked. "I saw her take it."

 

Lara gasped. "I've got to stop her." She ran after her roommate.

 

"We should warn Phineas." Maggie searched the crowd. "Do you see him?"

 

Vanda scanned the room, then looked down when something tugged at her skirt.

 

Constantine clenched her skirt in his fist, his eyes wide with worry. "Is something bad going to happen? Why doesn't that lady like Phineas?"

 

"She just doesn't know him," Vanda explained. "Once she gets to know him, I'm sure she'll like him."

 

"I see him." Maggie pointed at the dance floor. "He's over there by the band."

 

Vanda quickly poured a cup of punch and pressed it into the little boy's hands. "Can you take this to your mom? She gets very thirsty."

 

"Okay." Tino headed back to the dance floor, carefully holding the cup of punch.

 

Maggie gave Vanda an appraising look. "You really are good with children."

 

Vanda shrugged. "Come on, let's get to Phineas before LaToya does."

 

She and Maggie skirted the table, but came to an abrupt halt when Corky Courrant made a grand entrance into the banquet hall. Her cameraman followed, the camera perched on his shoulder as he recorded the scene.

 

"Oh great," Vanda muttered. "Who invited her?"

 

"She reports on all the big parties." Maggie pulled Vanda behind a potted plant. "If she sees you, she'll start screeching at you."

 

"So? I'm not afraid." Vanda moved back into view.

 

Maggie pulled her back. "She'll try to provoke you into a fight. She wants everyone to think you're violent."

 

"I am violent." Vanda stepped out.

 

"You don't want to start a scene." Maggie tugged on her arm. "It would ruin Lara's engagement party."

 

Vanda spotted LaToya on the dance floor, handing Phineas a drink. "Looks like someone else is going to ruin it first."

 

Meanwhile, she didn't have to worry about Corky seeing her. A group of well-dressed Vamps had gathered around the reporter, no doubt hoping they would appear on her next show.

 

"Don't crowd me," Corky hissed at them. She wore a glittery black dress with a low bodice that displayed her augmented bosom. The shimmering black skirt hit just below her knees.

 

Vanda recalled that one of the brassieres she'd sabotaged was black. And she'd altered some black underwear, too. She gave Maggie a sly grin. "Corky might be giving a bigger exposé than she planned."

 

Maggie frowned. "What do you mean?"

 

Corky posed in front of the camera and spoke into a microphone, her voice drowning out the low roar of others. "This is Corky Courrant, reporting for Live with the Undead. Tonight, I'm attending the posh engagement party of Giacomo di Venezia, known as Jack to his close friends, like moi. Recently, some rumors have surfaced. I know the truth, of course, so I will confirm that Jack is actually the son of that famous libertine, Giacomo Casanova."

 

Corky assumed a tragic face. "I'm afraid the other rumors are true, as well. It grieves me to tell you this, but Jack is, indeed, illegitimate. And not only is he a bastard, but he's fallen for a common mortal. Once again, a rich and eligible male has brought shame upon Vamp society by marrying far beneath himself."