Page 4 of Bad Luck Vampire

Valerian scowled in response, but then leaned toward the phone and asked, “What about watching for Adamso—”

“He won’t show up with the police here,” Lucian cut in. “The minute he sees the police cars, he’ll turn around and return to his hole. We’ll have to stake out the restaurant again another night. It’s inconvenient and irritating, but you could hardly stand by and let a woman be raped while you watched for Adamson.”

“What?” Valerian asked with disbelief.

“What, what?” Lucian asked mildly.

“Is this the same man who gave us royal hell for rescuing a woman from being kidnapped a couple years ago?” Valerian asked dryly. “I thought for sure you’d be pissed about this.”

“You didn’t get hell for rescuing that woman, you got hell for showing your superhuman strength and speed while doing it and getting caught on camera,” Lucian growled. “This time you played it smart. The bastard will get arrested and charged with public indecency and probably get added to the sexual offender database since the restaurant is across the street from a school. You saved the woman and played it smart while doing it. Good job. Now get out of there. I can hear the sirens. The mortal police are close.”

Lucian ended the call without a goodbye, and Tybo grinned at a flummoxed Valerian as he bragged, “I played it smart.”

A short laugh slid from Valerian at his preening, and he shook his head as he shifted the SUV into gear. “Yeah, yeah. You were right and I was wrong.”

“It happens,” Tybo said with mild amusement, returning his attention to Carl and encouraging him to start doing cartwheels. He then winced as he watched him. There was just something really undignified about a naked man doing cartwheels, his junk swinging around in circles as he did.

“I was sure Lucian would skewer us for this one,” Valerian muttered as he steered the SUV toward the exit.

“And yet you didn’t try to stop me when I intervened, and didn’t protest much even after Sophie was gone,” Tybo pointed out, twisting his head to continue to control Carl as their vehicle carried them out of the parking lot even as two police cars pulled in.

“The guy planned to force her,” Valerian said tightly. “Of course I didn’t try to stop you.” Grimacing, he admitted, “I was willing to take the shit for intervening. I just wasn’t happy anticipating how much shit we’d be in.”

Tybo chuckled at his words and finally released Carl as the police cars squealed to a halt in front of the naked man, their headlights spotlighting him as he came out of his last cartwheel and did another pirouette before stopping and shaking his head like a wet dog. Tybo didn’t watch to see what would happen next. He was already getting a crick in his neck from twisting his head around. Besides, his job was done. The guy was in deep doo-doo no matter what he did now.

“So, are you really going to call Sophie?” Valerian asked a moment later.

Tybo smiled and glanced down at the phone in his lap. He’d texted himself Sophie’s number before erasing every sign of her from Carl’s phone. A quick check now showed that the text had gone through and he did have her number.

“Well? Are you?” Valerian asked when Tybo was slow to respond.

“Sure,” he said finally, slipping his phone into his pocket. “She’s a cute little thing. I’m thinking she’d make a great date for your wedding.”

“Yeah?” Valerian glanced over to give him a quick smile before turning his attention back to the road and asking, “But you were able to read her, right?”

“Yeah,” Tybo said sadly. Like the mythical vampires that most mortals would think of them as, immortals—which was what his kind preferred to be called—could read and control the minds of mortals, as well as other immortals younger than themselves. Except for possible life mates. In fact, not being able to read someone was a sure sign of a possible life mate, which is why most immortals read, or attempted to read, every new person they encountered. Life mates were precious. They made living such long lives bearable.

“Sorry. She seems nice,” Valerian murmured.

“Yeah.” Tybo sighed. He supposed it was foolish to be so disappointed that he had been able to read her. After all, he’d only been born in 1920. That made him young for an immortal, and his kind didn’t usually find their life mates until much later in life. That didn’t mean he couldn’t hope, though, or suffer disappointment when he encountered someone he liked but could read.

Pushing his disappointment down, he said, “Oh well, it’s fine. I’m young. Dating is a thing and she’s a nice gal. She’ll be a fun date for your wedding.”

One

“Packing up already?”

Sophie glanced up from the bag she was tucking her computer into and noted the confusion and concern on Megan’s face as she entered her office.

“Yes. I’m leaving early today,” Sophie said as she zipped up her computer bag.

“You? Leaving early on a Thursday afternoon?” Megan asked with amazement, and then a worried frown took over her expression and she asked, “Why? You’re not sick, are you?”

“No, I’m not sick,” Sophie assured her, understanding her concern. Sophie never left work early unless she was deathly ill. Well, actually, she’d only ever left early once and then it had been on a stretcher, headed for an ambulance and the hospital. Appendicitis. She’d been suffering pain in her lower stomach most of the day, but then she’d started vomiting and had managed to stumble and hit her head against the bathroom’s tiled wall. Megan had found her lying on the floor, still heaving and her head bleeding, and had immediately called 911. It turned out hitting her head had been a lucky break. If Megan hadn’t called 911, Sophie very well might have gone home thinking she just had the flu or something, and her appendix could have ruptured, which was extremely dangerous. At least that’s what the doctor had told her after the emergency surgery.

“So, why leave early?” Lise asked, poking her head into the office. “A hot date?”

Sophie scowled at the woman who had set her up with the horrid Carl of the rapey/alcoholic vibe. Something she still hadn’t forgiven her for. Seriously. The guy had apparently gone streaking around the parking lot after she’d left, flashing his bits for everyone to see. Sophie had read about it in the paper the next day and then seen the video online. Several videos actually. He’d gone viral. Sophie had figured out pretty quick that he was a dirtbag, but this was just beyond, which had made her even angrier at Lise. How the hell had her coworker ever thought Carl would be a good match for her?

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