I melted into his arms, glad to let the stress of the night go. I felt several pairs of eyes on me again, not all of them kind. Figuring out Alesa was beyond me for now. At least I was safe for the moment, and anyone who tried to take me out could damn well expect to become a statue on the spot.

I closed my eyes. Oh, yeah. Just try to mess with Glory St. Clair. I was powerful, whatever the hell I was. Overconfidence. Of course I was riding for a fall.

Seven

The apartment door opened before I could get my key out.

“So this is your guest.” Penny smiled. “Wow. Dig the outfit. I’m Penny Patterson, Glory’s fledgling and roommate.”

“Alesa.” The demon breezed by me without even a nod for Penny. “I’m starving. Hitting the fridge.”

“Well, what did we do to deserve this?” Penny made a face, obviously remembering her last encounter with demons.

“Don’t ask. And now she’s bent out of shape because she didn’t pick up any souls tonight for the big guy downstairs.” I waited for a reaction and wasn’t disappointed. Alesa stuck her head out from the kitchen.

“Not bent. Didn’t give it a real shot. Not that I need to explain myself but I figured why should I go to any trouble for a man who tossed me out in the cold, literally, when I needed him the most?” She made a rude gesture at the floor, sniffed then disappeared into the kitchen again.

“Good news for the souls in Austin anyway.” I smiled at Penny and settled into a chair. “Now why aren’t you with Trey?” Laurie prowled the apartment while keeping an eye on Alesa. If Laurie were in her cat form, her tail would be twitching.

“He’s still at work, helping with closing. He wanted me to stay, hang out, but where’s the fun in that? Besides, I thought I should touch base with you without a crowd around.” Penny sat in the other chair. We could hear Alesa rummaging in the kitchen. “Guess I could ask you—where’s Mr. Blade?”

“Business call. He owns casinos in several states. Which is ironic considering I’m a recovering gambler.”

“Good thing Texas doesn’t—” Penny jumped when she heard a noise from the kitchen. Clearly Alesa was making her nervous. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, Glory. You up for church? I figured it would be a demon-free zone.”

“I heard that too.” Alesa sang from the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway to pry the lid off a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. “Seriously, you girls need to embrace your dark side. It’s fun over here.”

“Church without demons sounds like a bit of Heaven to me.” I grinned at Penny. “Wouldn’t miss it.” We usually did attend the Sunday evening services at the Moonlight Church of Eternal Life and Joy. No way a demon could get past the giant crosses flanking the doorway. Not unless she was trapped inside a really good person. I sent Alesa a mental reminder of that little incident. She popped me back with a comment too ugly to repeat.

Penny frowned when Alesa dropped onto the couch and dug a spoon into the ice cream.

“Where did that come from? And do you have to eat it in front of us?” Penny sighed. “That’s just cruel and unusual.”

“Aw, vamp girl. Having trouble adjusting? Rafael bought it for me.” Alesa scooped up a big spoonful of Chunky Monkey, waved it in front of us and then stuffed it in her mouth. “Mmmm.”

“Demon bitch,” Penny muttered.

“Thanks, sweet thing. Words like those are music to my ears.” Alesa smiled and licked her lips.

“Okay, enough. Now, Penny, how was the football game? You handle the crowd all right?” I turned my shoulder to Alesa.

“No problem. Jenny was in her element of course. And the home team won. It was fun being in the crowd. I could pretend for a few hours that I was, you know, normal.” Penny sighed. “Anyway, I loaded up on the synthetic blood first, of course, just like you taught me. Didn’t flash my fangs once.” She seemed to shake off her regrets and suddenly grinned. “I really came by because I have big news! Trey’s asked me to move in with him.”

“Wow! Are you ready for that step?” I kept my thoughts blocked. So Trey’s solution to getting Penny out of here was to have her with him. Nice of him, but was Penny really ready to live with the shifter? If he was only doing this to keep her safe—

“You know I can read through your puny vampire mind blocks, Glory. Are you really going to bring the kid down with a bunch of objections? She’s in looove.” The way Alesa said the “l” word made it sound like a disease that had to run its course. She had stretched out on the couch, the ice cream carton empty on the table, the spoon inside it. “Let the girl enjoy her hot stud while the fire’s still burning. You know what I mean?” The demon grinned. “Hah! Sure you do. You should poke around in Nickel’s mind. The girl gets some good lovin’. Don’t you—what does he call you?—love bunny?”

“Penny, not Nickel. And excuse me? You, you’re reading through my block?” Penny jumped up, clearly outraged. “How, how rude!”

“Another compliment. Quit kissing up, will ya?” Alesa yawned. “Glad to hear you’re going. I can move right into your little bedroom. Love the rat perfume you’ve got going on. Makes me hungry, but then just about everything does these days.” She patted her tummy.

I shuddered at the thought of Alesa right down the hall. Obviously she’d never be civilized. I saw Penny’s horrified expression and knew the sooner my fledgling got away from her, the better.

“I hate to admit it, but Alesa’s right about one thing. Follow your heart, Penny. You and Trey have been going together for months. If you want to take the next step toward commitment, go for it. Just don’t feel like you have to rush into something because this thing is camping out here. I’ve got Laurie for protection now. We should be perfectly safe with her watching over us.” I felt the heat of Alesa’s eyes flaming my way. “I know living with a demon isn’t exactly on your top ten list.”

“You’ll be as safe as if you were in church, Penny. Count on it. So stay if you’re not ready to shack up with your boyfriend. I’ll keep Ms. Alesa in line.” Laurie began to pull things out of the duffle bag she’d brought up from her car she’d left parked outside N-V. “Burning some cleansing incense right now. Suggest you move your butt down the hall, demon. This is going to sting. Though we’d purely enjoy watching you crying and reaching for a tissue. Am I right, ladies?” Laurie grinned as she waved a branch of what looked like weeds and clicked a lighter to set them aflame.

“I’m going. That shit is nasty!” Alesa hurried down the hall toward Penny’s old room. “Don’t be surprised if I start emptying drawers and tossing stuff into the hallway.”

“Will she?” Penny sniffed. “I think this incense or whatever smells nice. Beats the hell out of the rat poop stench I’ve been sleeping with.”

“Yes, she’ll probably throw out your stuff, but if you’re moving…” I stood and waited while Penny got up too. “Are you?”

“Yes. I love Trey. And I want to be with him. Maybe this hurried our relationship along a little, but I’m okay with that. I’m sure you’d like some of your space back.” She glanced at her big computer set up on my kitchen table. She’d used it when she’d still been doing research at the University of Texas. Now she did most of her work on Ian’s state-of-the-art equipment in his lab. But I was sure it would go with her. She’d even named it. She’d also brought her cat. I’d grown really attached to Boogie and if she wanted to leave him here, I was fine with it.

“I loved having you here. Don’t leave on my account.” I hugged her. “I just want you to be happy. But getting away from Alesa is probably a good idea.” Penny and I grinned when Laurie started chanting and circling the room with her smoking weeds. “Even with Laurie here, there’s still danger. I don’t want you anywhere near the demon.”

“I’m sure that’s why Trey asked me this tonight. He’s sweet, wanting to look after me. Kind of like how Mr. Blade always wants to protect you.” Penny peered down the hall and frowned. “She just dumped my underwear drawer. Can you believe it?”

“Nothing Alesa does surprises me.” Did I dare warn Penny about protective men? Should I? They meant well. Too bad they sometimes went too far, didn’t know when protection became control. Some lessons we needed to learn for ourselves. And Trey wasn’t Jerry. Maybe he knew not to cross that line with Penny.

“I’ll take care of this.” Laurie’s growl, when half of Penny’s closet landed just feet from the bathroom, made the hair on my arms stand on end. She stormed down the hall and we heard Penny’s bedroom door slam.

“What is she?” Penny clutched my hand.

“Were-cat. Turns into a Bengal tiger. I don’t think there’s enough space in your crowded room for her to shift, but she says she’s also got some kind of mystical mojo going, besides the incense, that can handle a demon.” I sighed and sat back in a chair again. “I hope she’s right.”

“Cool. And the energy in here already feels better. Bet Mr. Blade brought her in. Did he?” Penny began dumping papers into a cardboard box.

“He and Rafe got together on it.” I glanced down the hall, expecting noise of some kind, but it was eerily quiet. “Where demons are concerned, I let my independent woman thing go and allow them to pay the freight.”

“Good. I’m glad.” Penny started unplugging wires. “Trey wants me out of here tonight and I’m glad about that too. He’s bringing a truck after he finishes closing.”

“Fine.” I watched her for a moment then closed my eyes, life without a headache a dim memory. “I know it’s for the best.” Penny had come to mean a lot to me and I really would miss her.