In-Between Work and Play (The Jocelyn Frost Series Book 1) (15 page)

It wasn’t until
I was in college that my mother confirmed what my brain already accepted. 

“I’m sorry to
have brought up such a sensitive subject, Frost.  I can’t imagine my life
without Hamish and Saoirse.”

I gave him a
halfhearted smile.  “It’s okay, Finley.  I never met him… or her.  So, don’t
worry about it.”

 We walked the
last block in silence.  It didn’t take us long to reach the three-story
Victorian.

Something seemed
out of place.  I narrowed my eyes, scanning the exterior of the house.  A knot
formed in the pit of my stomach when I noticed that the back door was wide
open.

Finley grasped
my shoulder and said, “Stay here.”  He leaped over the gate like a track star
before throwing himself onto the porch and running to the front of the
building.  A chill crept up my spine.  I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but I
followed him anyway.  Darkness stole my vision upon entering the foyer.

“I told you to
stay outside,” he growled in a tone so low, I could barely hear him.

“Lia!” A deep
voice called from the direction of the kitchen. “We gots us company.”

Calloused
fingers grasped my wrist as Finley attempted to drag me back outside.  The
entryway doormat tripped me and I stumbled into him.  A blast of what could
only be described as the scent of roadkill assaulted my nostrils as I tried to
regain my balance before bile climbed up my throat and filled my mouth,
threatening to trigger my gag reflex.

Small
earthquakes began rattling the house as a demi-giant filled the hallway.  He
flashed his pointy choppers at us. “Going somewhere?”

Finley’s eyes
dilated and I felt his pulse quicken through his fingertips. 

Shit, this was
not good.  Why the Helheim would anyone turn a demi-giant into a vampire?  And
why was he standing in the middle of the hallway?

“I KNOW YOU HAD
SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT, RIVERS!  DON’T DENY IT!” A woman shrieked loud enough
that I feared all the windows would break.

Dex’s muffled
response filled my soul with relief.  He sounded fine.  If he had replied by
moaning and groaning, I would have been worried, but his tone sounded more
annoyed than anything else.

“Boss!”  The
vampire demi-giant shifted on his feet like a toddler during potty training.

An adult porn
star version of Goldilocks with way too much cleavage popping out of her
child-sized top appeared in the foyer.  Armed with a nasty looking attitude and
fangs, she scanned her surroundings like a bully at a playground.

I imagined most
people would have been scared at the sight of her, but having already dealt
with Inez, I allowed her to think I was not intimidated by her. Or her
oppressive status.  Not for a second.  Well, maybe for a second.  She had a
bitch face that was nasty enough to make macho men cry for their mommies.

Slowly stepping
backward, Finley pulled me into the parlor.  The small flock of ibis huddled
together in the reading nook, trying not to be noticed.  I guessed Dex had
something to do with that. Otherwise, they would have been in full attack mode,
defending their master.

I held my
breath, waiting for the vampires to leave, which they should have done, like,
ten minutes ago.  Not because they scared the molasses out of me, but because
the stench was so bad, I was on the verge of passing out.

No such luck. 
Sergeant Bitch turned on her spiked heels.  Those dead, blood-red eyes of hers
paralyzed me from the chin down the moment they spotted me.  If only I’d been
wearing sunglasses, I might have been able to turn away.  Sunglasses offered
some protection from certain vampyric powers, but not all of them.

“Look, Lia, we
don’t want any trouble with your enclave,” Finley said as he stepped in front
of me.

“Move aside,
Finley.  You’re a good lay, and I would hate to have to drain you,” she hissed,
using some sort of Eastern European accent.  Damn, those heels gave her enough
height to get up into his face.

“Do it!” The
vampire demi-giant ordered from behind her while he continued doing the pee-pee
dance.  Man, did he look like he had to go!  That concept brought a whole range
of inappropriate questions to my frazzled brain—like, did vampires pee urine or
blood?

“I told you to
get out!” Dex roared.  Wood splintered and glass broke outside my line of
view.  A large imprint pushed into the wall.  Ugh, I could only hope the
demi-giant wouldn’t wet his pants.

“Lia, this is
illegal. Leave now,” Finley grabbed her arm, but was tossed halfway across the
room.

The female
vampire threw herself on top of me before I could even move.  Her legs
straddled my waist while her hands gripped my wrists.  This couldn’t be
happening to me!  No, way in Helheim would I go out as vampire sushi! 

“Pretty little thing.” 
Hooters took in a deep breath through her nostrils.  “I know your scent.” She
tilted her head the same way a dog does when it’s trying to figure out what you
want from it.  “Oh, why do I know your scent?”

“Get off!”  Her
legs were like vises, holding me in place.  I tried kicking my legs out, but
they started going numb.

Her dry tongue
traced its way up my wrist as she purred. “Yes.  You were there, weren’t you?” 
A fang nicked my skin. Cold lips suckled the drop of blood that escaped.  “Ah,
that explains it.”  Her palm tapped my cheek.  “You and I, dear girl, are going
to become real good friends.  But first, I think I’ll celebrate.” 

Just like that,
she went from super bitch to super weird.  Great! That’s all I needed in my
life, a bipolar vampire. 

“Stop fooling
around, Cannon, Momma wants to go hit the clubs!” Hooters flashed from being on
top of me to dashing out the front door faster than a heartbeat.  Her bodyguard
limped behind her.  Black and blue bruises the size of bowling balls were visible
on his arms, neck, and face.

I pushed myself
up and ran over to Finley. “Hey, are you all right?”

“Just give me a
minute, lass.” He flopped his head to look up at me. “Just a little sore,
nothing to be worried about.”

“Jocelyn?” 
Dex’s ragged voice nearly broke my heart.  I turned to find him leaning against
the doorway.  “Are you okay?” he asked me.

I left Finley
and rushed over to Dex.  “I’m fine.  What happened?  What’s going on?”

He held his hand
up in order to halt my approach.  With a slight grunt, he pushed off the wall. 
A quick flick of his wrist folded the staff up onto itself.  “I’m sorry, Joce,
one touch of this weapon and you would have been sailing off to Helheim.”  He
clicked it back into a device that was attached to his forearm before rolling
down his shirtsleeve.

I rubbed my
arms, trying to avoid shock. 

A guilty look
crossed his bruised face. “I’m sorry you had to see that.  They believed I had
something to do with their master’s true death.”

Shivers broke
out all over my body. “Did you kill him?”  I whispered. Hel only knows how good
vampires could hear. If Miss Walking-Boobs-with-Teeth and her love giant were
outside, I certainly did not want them rushing back in.

“No.  I didn’t
kill him.  We had a misunderstanding, that’s all.  I know better than to fight
with a vampire.  You take one down and the rest of the enclave comes after you,
looking for blood.”  He brushed a stray piece of hair off my cheek.  “Are you
sure you’re okay?  I can call for the healers if you need them.”

The tenderness
in his voice made the butterflies flutter in my stomach. “I’m fine.  I
promise.”  I reached up and gently touch his bruised face. “Do you need a
healer?”

“Nah, this is
nothing,” he replied, capturing my hand with his.  Tingles, the good kind, zapped
through my body as his lips kissed my palm.

“Well, if you
two lovebirds are done, I could use a bloody hand to help me stand up!” Finley
jeered. 

I mentally
sighed. That was one way to wreck a moment
.
 
My feelings were fairly selfish, but I didn’t let them show.  Finley tried to
protect me.  I should have at least tried harder not to appear annoyed.

Once he was on
his feet, Finley looked a lot better.  He grunted and complained about having
to fix all the damaged woodwork. That was Dex’s cue to lead me into the
kitchen.

He iced his jaw
while I made us something to eat.  I’m not a great cook, but I know how to fry
hamburgers and bake French fries in the oven.

I shelved the
haunting words that vampire Goldilocks said about us becoming BFFs into the back
of my mind.  There was no way in Helheim I would spend another minute with a
woman who tasted my blood! 

Dex filled the
silence by explaining why he carried a quarter staff that looked a lot like his
father’s caduceus.  By the time the burgers were ready, I learned more about
Thoth than I ever wanted to know.  I also learned that Dex had a real obsessive
cleaning habit. Was it his nerves?  He scrubbed the kitchen island’s countertop
with at least three different cleansers.

Finley returned
shortly after the burgers were ready.  “I fixed the molding in the foyer. 
Everything else will have to wait if we want to leave for Erda,” he said,
grabbing his burger. 

“Do you think
it’s still a good idea to go?  You two aren’t in the best shape right now.  I
really think you should be seen by the healers.” I gave them the good, old
stink-eye for ignoring my concerns.

“We’re fine,
Joce,” Dex replied as he reached over and squeezed my knee.  “A few bruises
aren’t a big deal.  Yes, I’m still worried about heading over there, but at
least now, with the three of us watching each other’s back, I think we’ll be
fine.”

“Don’t forget
Bill and Ted,” Finley grinned. 

I did a mental
eye roll.  Bill and Ted were likely banging out their frustrations as we ate.
“Yes, I’m sure they will be loads of help.  Were either of you able to find out
where we’re going?  My computer was kind of messed up, so I couldn’t do a
search for Caress Winters.”

They exchanged a
look and Finley’s shoulders sagged.  “Fine,” he said as he bit into his burger
before running off.

“Should I be
worried?”  My brows knitted together as I watched him leave.

“Nah.” Dex
motioned toward my plate and asked, “Are you done?”

“Yes.  Are
you?”  I slid off my stool.  Taking my dishes to the sink, Dex joined me.

“You wash, I’ll
dry?”  He pulled a towel from a drawer.

“Sure.” Be
still, my beating heart—he actually helped with the dishes. 

We were just
about done when Finley reappeared, minus one burger, plus one book.  “Here we
go!”  He chomped down on a fry.  “The Directory of the Brothels of Erda.”

I gagged. “They
have a directory?”  The tome was twice the size of the yellow phonebooks we
used to get in the mail.

“Of course. 
I’ll have you know, Ms. Frost, that during the Gilded Age, cities all across
your United States had directories for all the locations of local brothels.” 
He looked off into the distance. “Or maybe it was during the Victorian Era?”

“I’m not even
going to bother asking how you know that.” I shuddered as the images of what
those women went through filtered through my brain.

Finley grinned.
“What can I say? I know my whores.” He slid the book across the island toward
Dex.  “Here you go, Mister Librarian.  You’re best suited to find the right
place.”

After drying his
hands, Dex handed me the towel.  He flipped open the index and skimmed through
the pages.  In about two minutes flat, he flipped through the book before
stopping at a colorful advertisement for a brothel called “Amber Primrose.”

“This is the
place. It’s located in Castordale,” he stated.

“Isn’t that in
Roxsheen?” 

Castordale? 
Roxsheen?  I never heard of those places.  True, I’d never been brave enough to
go into Erda, but now that we were actually headed there, I felt my anxiety
level quadrupling. 

“I believe so.” 
Dex turned toward me. “Roxsheen is primarily a dark elf and unseelie fae
nation.  Their technological level is similar to the Late Progressive Era.  As
long as we keep a low profile and use public transportation, we’ll be okay.”

I shifted my
gaze out the window.  We only had about an hour of sunlight left.  According to
Carmine, many unseelie fae had developed a taste for mythos blood, since human
blood tended to be a hard commodity to come by in that dimension.

“Do we want two
or three rooms?”  Finley was already on the phone, making our reservations. 

“Two,” said
Dex.  “We’ll be all right.  It will only be a short train ride into Castordale,
and then we’ll catch a stagecoach to the Amber Primrose.”

“For someone who
only last night did not want me to go into Erda, you’re suddenly all gung-ho
now,” I said, raising my brows.