Page 48 of Vampire's Choice
“Oh. Forgot about that.”
Ruth winked at her, then gripped the edge of the table. “Please stop dicking around and do it,” she said in Dollar’s general direction, as politely as possible.
He complied. It was like being struck by lightning, without the mercy of being knocked unconscious. Biting back the undignified scream didn’t work, but she kept it to a muffled shriek behind clenched teeth—the enamel might have cracked—until she “felt” when the bones were aligned properly and could tell Dollar he was done.
He was sweating, a slight tremor in his hands. When she gave him a questioning look, he grunted. “First time I’ve had to do that to a slip of a girl.”
“I can bench press you,” she coughed. “Then hurl you halfway across the Big Top.”
Crap. She shouldn’t have said that word. She barely had time to grab a cauldron she sincerely hoped was a decorative prop before she threw up into it.
When she was done, Zee had returned. The woman sat two packets of blood on the table and withdrew a cloth rectangle from her slacks pocket. It was a tissue holder. As she offered Ruth one to wipe her mouth, Ruth noted the fabric was printed with cheerful ladybugs.
“I have allergies,” she told Ruth. “Charlie made me the tissue holder. I like ladybugs.” Her gaze shifted to Dollar. “I’d pay good money to see her do that bench press thing, boss.”
Dollar had recovered enough of his aplomb to shoot her a you wish look. He watched Ruth closely as she probed the stab wound in her chest. It had clotted, and its healing would accelerate moderately when she had the blood.
When she started to reach for it, Dollar pushed it closer so she didn’t have to aggravate her shoulder. “Do you want a sling for that?”
“I’m good. After I drink this, I can finish my shift tonight.”
“There’s such a thing as overkill when it comes to proving yourself,” he noted grimly.
“I did ask for your help setting the fucking thing. See? I can be girly.”
Though the residual pain was pounding through her body like the drum section of a high school band, she grinned at him. Having the arm back in its proper healing spot reduced the pain considerably, and being able to prove it with her banter, no matter how weak the delivery, eased some of his tension.
She was really worried about Merc. It would take time for the hallucinogen to wear off, but she reminded herself it would do so, and Marcellus was more than capable of looking after him. It replayed in her mind, the Trad coming back for that killing blow, Merc pulling him off of her just in time. Yes, that was his job. They worked together as a team to protect the Circus and each other’s backs. But what stuck in her mind was what he’d snarled when he’d pulled the Trad off of her.
She wondered if he was aware he’d said it. It had been a guttural hiss, barely recognizable as speech, but her sensitive ears could detect the nuances of a cat’s purr. Happy purr, sad purr, angry purr.
“She’s mine.”
“That’s Charlie and Gundar’s blood,” Zee told Ruth. It made Ruth stop mid-swallow.
“Tell me you didn’t take it from Yvette’s stock without asking?”
Zee gave her an amused look. “Do I look like I have a death wish?”
“We had permission,” Dollar interjected. “I sent Lady Yvette a brief status update over my second mark. She had Gundar intercept Zee with these packets.”
The honor of the Circus owner’s gesture was as rejuvenating as the blood itself. Ruth straightened in her chair.
“Yvette’s still doing the Promenade at the end of the show, right?” Clara asked.
“Yeah, far as I know. I told her we had the situation contained for now, though there’ll be a hell of a briefing after close-down tonight.”
“Good. The Promenade’s my favorite part. Will you feel up to it, Ruth? After you drink the blood?”
Ruth exchanged a look with Dollar. “If my boss is okay with me taking a few minutes, you can count on it.” But she had a more serious question for Clara. “Was the Trad the one you saw in your vision?”
“No.” Clara shook his head. “Probably someone doing his bidding.”
“I believe there was more than one,” Ruth told Dollar. “Fortunately, the second one was just a spotter. Kept his distance. Probably long gone.” And returning to villain central to report a vampire was now active on the security team. Shit. But at least they knew it would be far harder to access Clara here.
Maddock or Yvette might be able to retool the spellwork that helped “hide” Clara at the Circus, but it wasn’t likely they could fix the vision Trad’s awareness of her presence here now.
“We have the rest of the team scouring the area around the Circus,” Dollar said.