pacing.
“Bliss, dear?” Sadie waved her over.
She approached the psychic half expecting a “See? I told you so,” but instead the older woman just smiled at her and said, “I think I’ll have that White Russian now.”
The fire station was experiencing a welcomed lull. The guys seemed relaxed. Kelly and Benjamin were watching TV. Bruno was on the computer. Drake pretended to read. He couldn’t concentrate on anything except what Zina might be up to next.
He had to call Bliss to make sure she was all right. Her shift was almost over, and he’d vowed to wait until it was. He checked his phone for the umpteenth time and
Several rings later, she picked up and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Did I interrupt your cleanup duties?”
“Not really. We don’t actually do a lot after closing. I understand there’s a cleaning crew that comes in around midnight.”
“Just on my way out the door.”
“Is anyone with you?” He may have asked too quickly, but he had to know she was taking his appeal for an escort seriously.
After a brief hesitation she said, “Yeah. Anthony’s right here. Do you want to talk to him?”
He let out a deep breath and said, “No. I’m just glad you have a bodyguard.”
She was quiet again for a few moments.
“Bliss?”
“I’m here. Drake, are we going to have to do this much longer?”
“It depends on Zina.”
“Any sightings?”
“No, and that makes me nervous.”
He heard her thanking Anthony and assumed she must be inside her apartment. A moment after he heard the door click, Bliss began whispering frantically.
“Oh my God, you wouldn’t believe the insane night I’ve had.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Anthony’s old girlfriend showed up.”
“Ruxandra?”
“Yeah. That’s what Sadie called her—although she didn’t actually talk to her. Well, Angie was in the office with Anthony, and this blond bombshell went off like a, well, a bomb!”
Drake dropped his head in his hand. “Oh, crap. I’ve heard about her legendary jealous fits, although I’ve never seen one. Please tell me Angie’s all right.”
“She took off but never came back. Hang on… let me check her room.”
Drake waited an anxious moment.
“Nope. She’s not here.”
“If so, Angie got a good head start.”
That didn’t help ease Drake’s worry for the young bartender. Ruxandra was a vampire. She could smell her and outrun her.
“Wait. I just got a text.”
“Is it from her?” Drake mentally crossed his fingers.
“Yeah. She says she’s staying with a friend tonight. Not to worry. She’s safe.”
“Whew. I’m glad to hear that.”
Bliss put on her sexy voice and said, “That means I’m all alone tonight. Care to come over and get my cat out of a tree?”
He lowered his voice. “I’d love to, but I don’t dare leave the guys, just in case.”
“Well, maybe I’ll use my newfound privacy to take a long bubble bath or something.”
“Mmm… I’ll picture that as I’m falling asleep. Maybe I can join you in an erotic dream or two.”
She sighed. “I guess that will have to do.”
Zina couldn’t believe her lucky break. The back door to the bar was almost off its hinges. One good tug and she’d be inside.
She grabbed the metal handle and yanked. Surprised, she stumbled back a few inches when the whole door came off in her hand. Stifling a maniacal laugh, she glanced around the alley to make sure no one had heard the noise—no need to add more suspicion if she laughed out loud.
Fortunately, no one appeared out of the shadows, and no lights came on upstairs.
She flipped up the hinged section of the bar top and perused the various bottles of liquor. There was a nice selection of top-shelf spirits, as one would expect in a bar on classy Beacon Hill.
She took a swig of her scotch, letting the liquid burn her throat—in a good way. She shook her head hard and chuckled her approval.
Zina set bottle after bottle on the bar, opening each one. She threw the caps and corks on the floor. No need to be neat when the whole place was going to be ash in a few minutes. When she’d finished her scotch, she was giddy. She staggered out to the main floor and grabbed two bottles at a time—one in each hand.
Wobbling from one table to another, she drank and poured, drank and poured. Soon the entire contents of the now-empty top shelf coated every surface. And just for good measure, she splashed quite a bit on the walls, too.
“Time for my grand exit,” she muttered.
Standing in the corridor that led to the back door, she removed her shoes and stayed on the only dry spot. Zina quickly stripped off her clothing and shifted into her dragon form. Gripping her clothes in her talons, not wanting to leave a single clue behind, she took a giant step backward toward the door—or more accurately, the hole in the building that used to be the door.
She inhaled deeply and leaned forward as she blew out a column of fire about twenty feet long. The room erupted in flames. She waited just long enough to be sure the sprinklers in the ceiling were as woefully inadequate as she’d expected.
With a giggle of glee, she took off into the night and waited atop one of the buildings high on the hill so she could watch the place go up in flames. She’d have to use her imagination to picture Drake as he tried in vain to save her nemesis, but the mental image was worth a thousand laughs.
Chapter 17
Bliss awoke to the smoke alarm blaring and immediately kicked into high gear. She couldn’t believe this was happening again! She didn’t bother getting dressed—just grabbed her precious laptop and a robe, then fled to the apartment door.
“Wait. The CD,” she said out loud. She had just received the backup design disk from the bank and it was in
