“Friends,” Nick said.
“Does that mean you’re not here to evict us?”
“I thought I made that clear before.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“We have company,” Damon announced before pulling the front door open.
“I brought pizza!” Daniella said with such enthusiasm that Zoe grinned.
“That’s great!” she said with equal excitement. She was starving.
“No, that’s not great,” Nick said even as Daniella came inside and headed for the dining room with the large pizza box in her hands. “I told you to stay home.”
Daniella smiled at Nick, her cheerful demeanor unfazed by his disapproval. “I know you did.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To introduce Zoe and her grandmother to Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and welcome them to the neighborhood,” Daniella said.
“You already brought some of your delicious cupcakes earlier,” Zoe said.
“Yes, but now it’s dinnertime,” Daniella said. “And I got to thinking … there is still at least one demon on the loose. I think I’d be safer here with you, Nick, than home alone in my little apartment.” She cuddled against him and kissed him.
“That’s disgusting,” Damon said. Seeing Nick’s angry expression, he explained, “I meant the cat jumping on the table.”
“Is that the talking cat?” Nick asked.
“Wait, you have a cat that can talk? Really talk?” Daniella said.
“I’m not just a cat,” Bella proclaimed. “I’m her familiar.”
“And you shouldn’t be on the table.” Zoe hurried to lift her down.
“I smelled pizza,” Bella said.
“Wow.” Daniella was impressed. “Will you talk to me?”
“Bring me a cupcake next time,” Bella said. “Chocolate is my favorite flavor. We can sit and have a nice chat. The tales I could tell you about Catherine the Great and her court.”
Daniella’s eyes widened. “You knew Catherine the Great?”
“I was one of her closest confidantes,” Bella said.
“Were you her pet?” Daniella asked.
Bella’s eyes narrowed with displeasure. “I was a countess, one of her ladies-in-waiting. I have never been anyone’s pet. Although I wouldn’t mind having Misha as my pet.”
“Was he a Russian lord or count?” Daniella said.
“I was referring to the ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov,” Bella said. “I’ve never met him, but I would certainly like to.”
“We are getting entirely off the subject here,” Damon protested. “We need to discuss the security and surveillance issues for tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” Zoe demanded.
“Nick and I will be spending the night here.”
“Me too,” Daniella raised her hand to add. “So you won’t feel awkward about having two vampires watching over you as you sleep, Zoe. Not that they would actually be in your bedroom, right, guys?”
Vampire silence.
“They have a camera in my bedroom,” Zoe said. “How am I supposed to sleep knowing that I’m being watched? How am I supposed to put on a nightgown or pajamas with them watching me?”
“The cameras can’t see in the dark,” Daniella said,
“They are equipped with night-vision technology, which turns things green,” Damon said.
“Like the witch in
“‘They called one witch good and one witch wicked,’” Daniella quoted from the musical.
“I know which one I’d call you,” Damon said, looking right at Zoe.
She looked right back at him. “I know what I’d call you, too, if I hadn’t been raised not to curse.”
Daniella frowned. “I didn’t have surveillance in my bedroom.”
“That was different,” Damon said.
“What he means is that he doesn’t care if we get eaten by demons,” Zoe said.
“That’s not true,” Damon said.
“Right. My mistake,” Zoe said. “They need us alive to try to retrieve the spell book.”
“True,” he agreed.
“Damon, tell her you won’t let any demons hurt her,” Daniella instructed him.
“I won’t let any demons hurt her.”
“Now say it as if you mean it,” Daniella said.
“She won’t believe me.”
“Then do a vampire pinkie swear,” Daniella said.
Damon looked aghast at the idea. “I don’t even know what that is.”
“Sure you do.” She nudged Nick. “Tell him.”
Nick remained silent.
Sighing, Daniella explained, “A pinkie swear is—”
“I know what a pinkie swear is,” Damon interrupted her.
“This is just the vampire version and since you are immortal it means even more,” Daniella reminded Damon. “Now you link your pinkie with Zoe’s.”
“No way,” Zoe and Damon said in unison.
“The pizza is getting cold,” Nick said.
“Oh, right. We can do the vampire pinkie swear later,” Daniella said.
“Or not,” Zoe muttered.
“I smell pizza,” Gram said as she joined them. She was wearing her favorite flowing caftan in shades of aqua and green along with a hundred inches of freshwater pearls, which she had wrapped around her neck several times. Addressing Daniella, she said, “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“I’m Daniella Delaney. I own Heavenly Cupcakes.”
“Oh my. I had one of your creations earlier,” Gram said. “The Irish cream was to die for. Well, not really. Not that I want anyone dying, I mean.”
“Daniella brought us a pizza to welcome us to the neighborhood,” Zoe told her grandmother.
“It’s Chicago-style deep dish,” Daniella said as she opened the box. “We’ll need a big knife to cut this.”
“Don’t bother offering your demon dagger,” Nick warned Damon.
“I wasn’t about to,” Damon denied.
“I’m not allowed to conjure sharp objects,” Gram said. “Zoe made me promise.”
“I’ll get a knife from the kitchen.” Zoe was eager to leave the room if only for a few brief moments. Given a choice, she would have stayed in the kitchen. But she didn’t have a choice and she hated that fact. She hated this entire situation.
It didn’t take her long to find a knife. She returned to the dining room and handed it to Daniella.
Standing beside her, Damon said, “I’ll bet you were tempted to run that blade through me, weren’t you, little witch?”
“Not at all,” Zoe said. “It wouldn’t hurt you.”
“It would sting. I might even say ouch.”
“You’d only say that to mock me,” she countered.
“True.”
“Too bad you can’t eat,” Zoe said.
“Now you’re the one mocking me,” Damon said. “I fed before I came, so you can relax.”
Yeah, right. Like that was ever going to happen. There was no way she could ever relax with Damon around. Every additional second she spent with him increased the sexual tension between them by a thousand percent. She was more and more aware of those awesome dark blue eyes of his and the erotic shape of his lips. But there was no way she could act on her desire … or his. She’d seen him eyeing her.
