Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(30)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"Hey." A woman tapped his arm.

"Yes?"

Hostess for a restaurant with a nautical theme, the woman was wearing a mermaid-influenced skirt and breast shells. She crossed her arms over her shells. "You goingto pick that up?"

"Pick what up?"

She pointed to Button’s mess. "We have laws about that, you know."

Glancing down at it, Seamus could see why. That was really damn disgusting, and he suddenly felt guilty for letting Button do it in the first place. But hell, where was he supposed to take the dog? Drive him out to the suburbs and let him do his thing? They lived in a casino, and the dog had his choice of gravel, sidewalk, or the grass by the pool. Somehow Seamus didn’t think that would go over big either.

"What am I supposed to do with it?"

Rolling her eyes, she bent over her hostess stand, just inside the door of the restaurant. She pulled out a blue plastic grocery bag. "Here. Pick it up and throw it away in one of the street trash containers so it doesn’t stink up anybody’s restaurant or bar."

He took the bag, feeling less than delighted at the prospect of cleaning up dog shit. "How do I get it in the bag?" He wasn’t touching that.

"You use the bag to pick it up, then turn the bag inside out and tie it closed." She petted Fritz’s head when the dog rushed over to wag his tail at her.

Seamus was half tempted to use vampire persuasion and get her to do it, but his conscience pricked him. He rearranged the bag over his hand and leaned down, holding his breath so he didn’t have to smell it.

"Why are you walking your dogs at two in the morning anyway?" she asked.

"It’s a favor for someone." Seamus gripped the mess and picked it up.A big favor. He quickly turned the bag around and tied it off. Now he had a warm plastic bag dangling from his fingers.

And his cell phone was ringing. He pitched the bag in the trash and wondered if Cara was worth this kind of aggravation. Maybe he should just let her leave like she wanted to.

The caller was Ethan. He pushed the on button. "What’s up?"

"Come to my office, please. Cara had a little run-in with your friends from the alley."

Seamus went stone cold. "Is she okay?"

"She’s fine. Just a little shook up. I have two guards with her at your place."

"I’ll be right up." Seamus shoved the phone in his pocket and tugged on all three leashes. The dogs tumbled all over, turning left and right and nudging each other.

An emotion he didn’t quite understand clogged his throat, and Seamus lost his patience. "Line up, boys. Now," he said in a low, firm voice.

Miraculously, they all snapped their heads up at his tone and untangled themselves.

He jogged them back to the casino as fast as he could, letting the Labs go full retriever speed, the Chihuahua traveling in his arms, yipping with excitement. Seamus blew right past the twenty-third floor, where Ethan’s offices were. He needed to check on Cara first.

When he opened the door to his place, she was pacing in the living room, looking pale and frightened, but uninjured. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and held out her arms. Seamus was moved that she wanted his comfort. He walked toward her, feeling his heart rate return to normal. Damn, she’d scared the hell out of him. He needed to feel her in his arms, too.

But instead of walking into an embrace, she reached out and plucked the dog out of his arms. She buried her mouth in the Chihuahua ‘s head and closed her eyes with a shudder.

Seamus stopped with his hand halfway to her shoulder. Okay, now he felt like an ass. She wanted the rat-faced dog, not him. And the bodyguards, Michael and Stanley, were unsuccessfully pretending they hadn’t noticed.Wonderful.

They were standing on either side of the living room, one in front of the windows,the other by the door that led to the hotel hallway. They were busy studying the floor and ceiling respectively now.

"Can you wait outside, please?" he asked, jerking his thumb in that direction.

"Yes, Mr. Fox." They moved past him with a rustle of clothing and shoe squeaking.

Once they were gone, Seamus took a deep breath and tried to relax. Cara looked fine. That was what mattered. "What happened?"

She opened her eyes, and the fear there cut him deep. "I was just walking to cash out, and he was there in the hall. One of the guys from that night the one who told me I was pretty.That I would taste good."

Seamus remembered that sick tone to the vampire’s voice that night and how it had infuriated him at the time, but he’d been unable to help her since he was battling the other vamp. "Did he say something to you tonight?"

"No. He reached in his coat and pulled out a knife. The bodyguard came from behind " She gestured with her arm behind her. "And then he knocked the guy down before I even realized what was happening. But the guard said the guy was going to kill me."

It took every conscious effort to keep from throwing his coffee table out through the back window. This seriously pissed him off. He wanted to know who the vampires were and what they wanted.And how he could kill them. No one was going to mess with Cara.

"Hi, Mr. Spockie-Wockie ," Cara crooned to the dog. "I missed you." She looked over at Seamus, her expression troubled. "That guy he smelled, Seamus. Like a sickly sweet sweat odor, but it was extreme.Like he hadn’t bathed. It was almost a chemical scent."

She shuddered again and Seamus gave in to his urge and put his hands on her shoulders and drew her against his chest. She didn’t resist. In fact, she sighed and laid her head on him, the dog resting between them.

"I’m damn glad you had a guard with you."

"Me, too."She glanced up at him. "I’m sorry I was so stubborn about wanting to leave and go home. I didn’t understand."

Hugging her to him, Seamus ran his lips over the top of her hair. It was satin smooth. "It’s my fault. I should have explained things better. I haven’t exactly done a stellar job of initiating you to vampirism." Something about what she’d said pricked at him. "He smelled bad?"

"Yes. It was disgusting. Like sick room. Like when my mother died of cancer." She gave another shudder and moved farther into his touch.

Then it hit him."Drug blood. He’s addicted to drugs. I’ve met a few over the centuries.Opium in the nineteenth century.Heroin and cocaine in the late twentieth century. I haven’t met one in a while, but they all have that same medicinal smell to them." Sea- musabsently rubbed her back, wondering how hard it would be to track down information on this guy.

"That would definitely describe the way this guy smelled. So you mean he drinks blood that has drugs in it?"