Wilma
Dark spots colored my vision and the back of my head stung from where it smacked against the post. I felt something wet on my face and when I reached up to touch it, my hand came away bloody.
Oh no.
“Mi vida, I’m so sorry!” Gus said.
I felt the sting once more and realized he’d fanged me again. My tongue was bleeding and my mouth was hotter than the sun, like I’d been sucking on habaneros. I looked up at Gus and realized I was in trouble.
I was bleeding in the middle of a vampire bar.
This is not going to end well.
Gus, Freddy and Vinny all vamped out. Their eyes went black, and Freddy hissed. Gus got ahold of himself, however, enough to push his cousins away.
“Back off!” he growled at them, his fangs huge.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Bode? Look what you’ve done!”
Was that Jules? Bode was here?
“Everyone simmer down!”
All eyes turned to the stage.
Three stunningly beautiful women stood there looking scary. And sexy. Really sexy.
“That’s enough.” The one in the middle spoke. She crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re not going to have any fighting in here tonight, boys. We have special guests.” She gestured with her hand toward Gus and the guys. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Miscreants!”
There was some applause, but also a whole lot of awkward silence.
“You…” Freddy stared at the women, confused. “You Made us?”
Vinny elbowed him. “She Made you,” he said, pointing at one with white hair and a pink strapless dress. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of the ’50s, with a beehive and everything. “She Made Gus.” He pointed to a black-haired woman in a paisley jumpsuit wearing silver lipstick. “She Made me.” The woman who’d spoken first, who had Annie Lennox red hair and wore a men’s suit. She winked at Vinny, and he frowned at her.
“The platinum darling is Adriana. The dark-haired beauty is Maria, and I’m Diana. We are big fans,” she said. “After Havoc went missing, we couldn’t take the chance that anything else might befall our favorite band.”
“So it was groupies,” Carol said, coming over to stand before the vampires. “Damn. Zelda was right.”
She noticed my condition and clucked her tongue at me. “Not again. Honey, you really need to be careful around pointy things.” She flicked some sparks my way and the burning sensation disappeared.
Diana moved from the stage and into Carol’s face in a flash.
“How dare you! You shouldn’t be here. We have wards to keep the likes of you out!”
Carol held out her hands in a fake shrug. “Oops. You caught me. Now, tell me how the hell you managed to create this little portal? I know vampires don’t have this kind of magic.”
The one called Adriana came down from the stage using the stairs. “We wouldn’t have had to do it if it weren’t for the alpha kicking us out. We’re outside of city limits here, but we didn’t want to get shut down again.”
I looked around for Mac and Jacob and couldn’t find them in the melee.
“Where’s Mac?” Jules said.
“Oh, he’s around somewhere,” Maria said. “No harm shall come to him here. We happen to like wolves, even when they don’t like us.”
I knew there was no way vampires could overpower the alpha and his brother, who was both werewolf and vampire. Mac had to be immune to any sort of mesmerism a vampire could summon. If they didn’t appear soon—
I saw a green flash out of the corner of my eye, then Mac walked Annabeth out onto the dance floor. She held up her hands in surrender.
“I seek asylum!” Annabeth cried.
The vampires groaned, and Carol smirked at them. “What do you have to offer?”
“I was following orders. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
The three vampires flashed to the door—but Carol was faster.
“Uh-uh. Come on back.”
She used her magic to pluck them out of the air and bring them back to the dance floor, where she suspended them in midair.
“I have every right to turn you over to the vampire council for judgement,” Carol said. “You Turned these three men without their permission, which violates Code 1342 of the treaty between the living and dead in the magical community.”
“But they’re not magicals! That code shouldn’t apply to us!”
“I beg to differ,” Mac said. “These men are Muses. They fall under my protection.”
Muses? Those are real?
Gus and his cousins whispered to each other in Spanish while Carol continued to hold court.
“Mac’s right. Muses fall under his protection.”
“Thank you, Carol. Now, you three better listen up this time. I’m perfectly within my rights to pass judgement. You can’t keep dropping this dive into Assjacket to lure folks in unaware. You’ve got plenty of folks who want to be creatures of the night. You can’t use your powers for evil.”
Freddy snorted, and Mac turned an eye on him.
“You got something to say?”
“Sorry. It sounded like we were in a superhero movie or something.”
Mac placed a hand on Freddy’s shoulder. “Hey, Freddy? Learn when to shut up.”
Freddy pressed his lips together and made a lock and key gesture.
“Anyway,” Mac said. “Like I was saying—”
“Wait,” Gus said. “But we didn’t just end up here on our own, did we?”
“No,” Mac said. “You had help.”
“Oh my Goddess,” I shouted. “Bode!”
The bouncer at the door and Jacob had Bode and one of his packmates by their scruffs. They’d been trying to sneak out.
“I wondered why they just happened to be in the woods when I found you,” I said to Gus.
“It was hard to remember, but yeah. I knew I’d seen them before, but I didn’t know until now, you know?”
“Bode, you did this?” I asked. I knew he was bad news, but I didn’t think he’d do anything this awful.
“That’s right, he did.” Mac prowled over to Bode. “He foolishly thought that if he sicced some newbie vampires on me, they’d take me out and then Bode could make his move to be alpha.”
I gasped. “How could you?”
Bode struggled in the bouncer’s grasp. “Saw them handing out their flyers. Told the vampires we could bring them The Miscreants in exchange for a favor. They got all hot and bothered about it. I’m sick of waiting for my chance to challenge Mac for control! I knew newborn vampires were crazy…I would have stopped them before they hurt anyone else.” He sneered at Jules and me. “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if you meddling bitches hadn’t been there.”
Ooooo, I wanted to scratch his eyes out. I must have made a move, because Gus squeezed my hand tightly.
He’d been awfully quiet throughout this whole scenario. I was worried about what he’d think when this was all over. I wouldn’t have blamed him at all if he chose to leave. This was a disaster!
“What is this, some demented Scooby Doo shit?” Freddy said, cracking up. “Are you going to pull a mask off of him and it’s going to be Old Man Withers?”
“Let me handle this?” Mac said to Freddy.
“Sorry, sir. Mac. Alpha. Your highness. What do we call you, anyway?”
Mac exhaled and shook his head. “Bode, Kyle, for your actions,” Mac said, nodding to the bouncer. “You boys are about to be neutered.”
Basil the bouncer and Mac dragged Bode and his packmate into the back of the bar.
“You’re not really gonna…” Freddy made a snip-snip motion with his hand.
Mac grinned—and every man in the bar reflexively reached for their prized possessions.
Jacob clapped his hands together in delight. “Who’d have thought I’d come home to so much drama!”
Carol turned back to the vampires. “Now, where were we? Miz Bartender?”
Annabeth sucked in a breath for courage. “I’m indentured to them.”
“Indentured? What, like slavery?” Vinny asked, outraged.
“No,” Carol said, a frown on her face. “It’s more like a period of contractual service. What was your payment?”
Annabeth looked around. “I needed to get out of Kansas, they needed a place to feed. I was about to lose my bar. They paid off my debts and we moved around, eventually landing here. I work for them to pay off the debts.”
She looked so defeated. Even though she was tangled up in this mess, I felt sorry for her. I’d heard of witches going into these types of contracts. It usually ended up with them being exploited. Seemed like that was the case here.
“I didn’t know they were Muses. I never would have served these men if I’d known what they’d intended to do. I refuse to break magic law.”
“How much do you still owe them?” Carol asked.
“About fifty grand.”
My hand shot up. “I’ll pay it,” I said, quickly putting my hand down. Why am I such a weirdo?
“Wilma?” Carol asked. “Are you sure?”
I threw my shoulders back. “I’m sure. No witch deserves to be treated like this.”
Carol turned to face the vampires. “Looks like Annabeth and her bar have found a new home—and you three will be hitting the road.”
“Fine,” the one with the silver lipstick said. “This is a lame-ass town, anyway.”
“Then you’ll be on your way.” Carol gave them a fake smile. “Toodles.” She waved goodbye, and they disappeared.
“Where did they go?” Freddy asked.
Carol grinned. “They don’t like it here? I thought I’d send them someplace really awesome. Like Bakersfield.”
Freddy and Vinny cracked up, but Gus merely quirked one side of his lips.
“Alright! Now that all that’s taken care of—”
“Wait! How do I pay them?” I asked.
“Already taken care of. Now, I’ve got a hot date with Fabio,” she said. She snapped her fingers and her black latex disappeared. In its place, she now wore a Princess Leia bikini. “Wilma, just one more thing.” She pulled me away from a forlorn-looking Gus.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked her.
“That depends on you, my dear.”
“Is he…is he my mate?”
Carol narrowed her eyes at me. “I can’t tell you that. I’m actually not at liberty to tell you much. I did look into your curse, though, and it’s true. It’s yours until death.” She wiggled her fingers at me. “And I can’t help you if you get fanged again.”
My heart sank. How could I let anything further happen with Gus? Now that I knew he truly was a magical creature, he deserved a true mate, one who could join their magic with his.
“All is not lost, girlie. Things have a way of working themselves out where love is concerned. Don’t screw it up.”
She stepped back, snapped her fingers and was gone in a puff of smoke.