"Now you're creeping me out." Penny locked the door with her key as she followed me out to the curb and watched me stow the cat in the passenger seat of my car.
"I'm glad. A vampire can't just walk around without watching for danger. Just like a woman by herself on a dark night in an alley can't." I slammed the car door. "Understand?"
"Only too well. I know Sixth Street gets its share of crime too." Penny pointed at the apartment lot. "That's my car, the blue Ford."
"Must get good mileage." It was an economy car and not old, but it had more than its fair share of scrapes and dings.
"It does. The battered look is courtesy of my inattention to detail when I park." Penny made a face. "That's what Dad says anyway. He gave up fixing the cosmetic stuff. Says I have to live with it, warts and all."
"Guess you think too much." I grinned. "About things other than the world around you."
"Exactly." Penny laughed, for once in sync with me. "I'll meet you there." She walked over to the car and I saw her add a scratch when the edge of the litter box bumped the rear door. I was watching her carefully near my new car.
I drove home with Boogie griping the whole way. He was obviously very worried that I might be taking him to the vet. I tried to reassure him, but talk was cheap in his world. By the time I parked, he was yowling. Penny pulled in a few moments later. I had deliberately parked between two cars so Penny couldn't park next to me. I heard a thunk as she opened her car door into the side of the Dumpster.
"Aw, Booger, is Glory being mean to you?" Penny stuck a finger into the carrier. "Ow! Don't bite me. This is not the vet's office, you ungrateful feline."
We both were distracted by Boogie's yowls so, when the man stepped out of the shadows, it was only natural that we jumped and yelled.
"Hyyyy-yah!" Penny swung into action with a karate move that impressed the hell out of me. The man fell flat on his back and grabbed his stomach where her kick had landed.
"Stop, vamp girl. I know this man and he's no danger to either of us." I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to keep her from landing a kick to his head while he was down.
"What?" Penny looked down at her victim, keeping a good distance from his arms as he struggled to sit up.
"Glory? Who the hell is this?" Nathan Burke took the hand I offered him and got to his feet.
"A fledgling I'm mentoring." I smiled at her. "Good work, Penny. I didn't know you had it in you."
"Self-defense classes. My folks wouldn't let me come to the big city without them." She smiled tentatively at Nathan. "Sorry if I overreacted. Obviously you and Glory know each other." She offered her hand. "Penny Patterson." Her nose twitched and I knew she was taking a whiff of her second delicious and rare mortal of the night. Another AB negative. She gave me a wink like maybe she thought I'd kept this guy a secret, as my own pet.
"Penny, this is Nathan Burke, a friend, not my blood buddy." I watched them shake hands, then stepped between them. "Nathan, be careful around Penny. You may not remember this, but new vamps have a problem with self-control around mortals."
"Some not-so-new vamps do too." Nathan ran his hand over his close-cropped hair. "That's why I'm here. Ray's way out of control and I need your help."
"Can we go upstairs to discuss this?" I gestured at the cat carrier where Boogie still wailed his distress. "I think the neighborhood may be getting ready to call animal control."
"Sure. Let me carry that." Nathan reached for the crate.
"Careful, he may try to scratch you." Penny relinquished the handle.
Nathan just shook his head. "I'll deal, but if he draws blood, don't think it's an invitation to dine." He grinned at me. "Glory has first dibs. Am I right?"
"Don't start putting ideas in Penny's head, Nate. Come on up and tell me about Ray's crisis." I helped Penny unload the rest of the cat paraphernalia and we trouped up the stairs.
Once Boogie was in the apartment, we let him loose and he ran to hide under my bed. We settled in the living room and Penny was all big eyes and curiosity.
"Who's Ray?" she asked first.
"Israel Caine. Nathan's his best friend and manager. I was Ray's mentor too. And, for a while, we pretended to be engaged, for the media." I grabbed a bottle of synthetic and one of the beers Rafe had left in my fridge. I handed the beer to Nate, who opened it gratefully.
"Are you telling me that Israel Caine, the rock star, the legend, is a vampire?" Penny was on the edge of her chair.
"Unfortunately." Nate took a deep swallow of his beer and sighed. "He's really into the synthetic with alcohol now that he's discovered it."
"I was afraid that would happen." I glanced at Penny. Might as well tell her the rest. "Ray was close to having to go to rehab for alcoholism when he was turned. Being a vampire was no more his choice than it was yours. He earned his fangs in an act of revenge by a woman who thought he deserved to lose daylight."
"As revenge, she got it right. He's still brooding about it. Getting suicidal again. Really into the daylight drug and I'm afraid he's going to fall down drunk outside some morning and just fry." Nate took another gulp of beer. "I've hired people to watch him, just in case."
"Oh, Nate." I was beside him on the couch and I put my hand on his knee. "This has got to be killing you."
"I was hoping you'd help me snap him out of it." Nate gave me a sad smile. "You know he loves you. Still."
"Doubt it. We really didn't part well the last time he made a move on me." I'd laid it out pretty clearly that I was either all for Jerry or even Rafe before I'd take a chance on a rocker with Ray's history of love 'em and leave 'em.
"I know you're not going to go back to him as his woman or anything like that." Nate grimaced. "Ray shared some of what went down with you. One night when he was bombed it came pouring out. I don't think he remembers telling me or he'd be embarrassed. Anyway, you always had a way of making him remember what he has to live for." Nate looked at Penny. "You guys have forever. But if you've lost what you value most, I guess that's not such a good deal, is it?"
Penny sniffed. "No, it isn't. I'm still trying to figure this out. How am I going to handle it when my parents die? My friends? Hell, I have a twin sister. Glory won't even let me clue her in yet about this freakin' change I've gone through."
"Listen to Glory." Nate put his hand on mine and squeezed. "She's been through a lot. She knows. I saw her handle Ray when I couldn't and he's been my best friend since grade school."
"I want to help him, Nate. Seriously. But how? Last I knew he was with Nadia and having a fine old time learning the ropes and chains and you name it of her freaky sex-perience." I eased my hand from his. "He's been living here in town and hasn't even called me, even though we're supposed to be friends."
"Nadia got tired of Ray's drinking and dumped him. I told you, he's out of control. Won't rehearse. Isn't writing the songs we need for the new album. Told the band to take a break so they're about to head out. He's pushing everyone away. You're not the only one." Nate shook his head. "Here's the worst. He even talked to Ian MacDonald about coming here to Austin. Ray offered to be the guinea pig if Ian would move his lab so they could work to make the daylight drug last all day. I think Ian's going to come check out the city."
"No way." I jumped up. This was bad. Definitely suicidal.
"What's this daylight drug?" Penny just had to ask.
I'd been so into the Ray thing I'd almost forgotten she was in the room. "It's a drug that will let vampires stay awake long enough to watch the sun rise. Out of direct sunlight, of course. You let the sun's rays hit you and you're toast."
"Wow. This Ian must be a genius with chemistry." Penny looked really interested.
"He is. You'd probably love him. I think I already mentioned that." I really didn't want her meeting the man. We needed to head Ian off at the pass.
"Have you tried it? Are you sure it works and isn't just an urban legend?" Penny was up now too, on my heels as I paced.
"Yes, I've tried it." I grabbed her. "Stop following me. The drug worked for a little while. It costs the earth. I can't afford it on what the shop makes so I put it out of my mind. Rich vamps can blow their money on a few minutes of daylight but I won't."
"So your boyfriend paid for it." Penny's eyes were shining, and I again got the feeling that her wheels were turning. That giant brain was trying to figure out what Ian had done to let vamps see daylight.
"Yes, one of them did. Think about it, Penny. After four hundred years, seeing the sun again can be a big deal, worth whatever the price if you've got it." I sighed. Might as well spill all the beans. "Ian's got a weight-loss drug too. I tried it. It worked. Actually got me down to a size six."
"No way." Penny was riveted, eyes wide, her hands on my arms.
"Oh, yes." I looked at her hands and she let me go. "But it was temporary. Also expensive and Ray picked up the tab for that one." I made a face. "Ian's a businessman, in it for the money. Which I get. But he's also a genius and dangerous as hell. He surrounds himself with bodyguards and he's a vampire with lots of weapons at his disposal. Not someone I'd like to see you mess with."