8. Flora

Flora

I stared in shock as two of Teresa’s seemed to grow right in front of my eyes, pressing down over her bottom lip like something out of a cartoon.

She pulled away from me so quickly I almost fell over again. I thought we’d been having a moment there, but maybe not. It was too bad, because Teresa was a stunningly beautiful woman. I could look into the depths of those brilliant blue eyes forever. But it was clear she’d made up her mind not to like me, which was fine. She could dislike me if she wanted. I would just do what my mother had taught me at a young age: kill her with kindness.

“Sorry about that,” Teresa mumbled, pressing her palm over her mouth.

“But how did that… oh! You’re a vampire, aren’t you?”

I’d never met a vampire in real life, but I’d watched enough episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to realize what was happening. Although usually in Buffy the vamps had their fangs descend when they were trying to kill someone. Teresa, on the other hand, looked like she was thinking about kissing me.

But then again, I had to be imagining it. Maybe the stress of everything going on was finally getting to me.

“You know about vamps?” Teresa asked carefully.

“I have shifters in my family – related by marriage not blood – so I’m aware of the supernatural world, yes. But to my knowledge, I don’t know any vampires.”

“Well, I’m sorry that happened,” she said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What causes it?” I asked curiously, waving vaguely at her mouth.

“It’s, uh, a reflex sometimes.”

I had the sense that she wasn’t telling me the truth, but then again, it wasn’t really my business.

“Well I knew that Sapphic Security mostly hired supernaturals, so don’t worry, I’m not freaked out. And your secret is safe with me.”

“It’s not really a secret,” Teresa said. “But there’s also no reason to talk about it in a professional capacity.”

“I get it,” I reassured her. “You want to see the refrigerator now? I’m pretty sure I can figure out what it is.”

Teresa’s eyes bugged out and I started laughing. “I’m kidding. Come on.”

“Do you mind if I keep some blood in there?” Teresa asked. “It lasts longer if I can keep it cold.”

I shrugged. “No problem.”

After a brief stop to get the blood from Teresa’s room we headed down to the kitchen. Returning to her personal trainer ruse, my bodyguard evaluated the contents of my refrigerator.

“This is all pretty good,” she said. “I would like to see you eating more protein though. You need to sustain yourself during a workout, to ensure that you don’t break down your muscles.”

“Um, I don’t really like working out.”

I could practically see her straining herself trying not to roll her eyes. For someone who was only pretending to be my trainer, she was taking this pretty seriously.

“We’ll see about that.”

After perusing the refrigerator Teresa started searching the cabinets, giving me a running commentary on everything she saw there. Then she found my secret stash…

“What is this?” she said, pointing to a cabinet that was full of boxes of Rice Krispies, bags of marshmallows, and several tubes of Pringles potato chips.

“Looks like potato chips and marshmallows,” I said pertly, giving her a big smile. “And before you say a word, you’ll take away my Pringles over my cold dead body.”

“And the marshmallows?” she asked.

“I like to make Rice Krispie treats,” I said. “Sue me.”

Teresa shook her head. “You don’t exercise and you eat crap, I don’t understand why you’re so skinny.”

“I’m blessed with an excellent metabolism,” I shot back cheerily.

Just then my phone rang with a call from security.

“Miss Meyer, there are three very large men here for you,” the guard on duty said. “They said they’re helping you with training?”

“That will be my friends,” Teresa said, clearly hearing the conversation. “Send them back.”

A few minutes later I opened the door to three of the largest men I’d seen in my life. They were each at least a foot taller than me and twice as broad, with brown hair, brown eyes and adorable chin dimples. Bypassing me, they went one by one to Teresa, each of them gathering her up into a hug.

“You guys just saw me yesterday,” she protested with a laugh. “Come on now, get serious and meet my new… personal training client, Flora Meyer. Flora, these are my trainer buddies Boris, Yuri, and Alexsei.

Boris grabbed my hand, bringing my fingers to his lips. “It is pleasure, Miss Flora,” he said in an accent that was vaguely Eastern European.

We both froze as we heard what sounded like an animal growling. Boris looked over his shoulder at the other two men, and then fixed his gaze on Teresa.

“She is…?”

“No, she’s not,” Teresa snapped. “It’s all a mistake.”

“Yet you growl,” he said mildly as he took a big step away from me. “My brothers and I will show ourselves around and meet you in the kitchen when we are done.”

“Maybe you can check out the kitchen first,” Teresa suggested. “It’s something to see.”

Boris headed to the kitchen with us trailing him. He pulled out something that looked like a wand and systematically pointed it at every inch of the kitchen before turning back to Teresa.

“Is clear. I will continue in other rooms now.”

Teresa walked to the refrigerator and helped herself to a can of Coke before returning to the table. Pointing to a chair she said, “Tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

I got up to get a bottle of water, then sat across from her. Looking down, I sighed.

“Oh no!”

Teresa was immediately on alert. “What’s the matter?”

“I broke a nail. I must have snagged it when I tripped earlier. I hope I can smooth it down, there’s no way my manicurist will be able to fit me in this week, she’s very in demand.”

My bodyguard gave me a look of distaste. “Can we focus, please? I want to hear about the threats.”

“My parents were always paranoid about security,” I started. “At least I thought they were paranoid. I only learned as an adult that someone tried to kidnap me when I was a baby,” I explained. “We’ve always had a small security team at the house here and at our office, but when I was a teenager my parents started insisting that I have someone follow me around all the time when I wasn’t at home. I refused, and it was a huge battle that I thought I’d won, but I later learned they were just more covert.”

“How so?”

“When I went away to college, I got suspicious that my dorm roommate was in every single class with me. I finally worked out that they were a bodyguard pretending to be a student. I confronted my parents, and that’s when they told me about the incident when I was a baby, but even still, I thought they were being ridiculous.”

Teresa nodded. “When did you start to think it wasn’t just paranoia?”

“When they were murdered.”

I coughed then took a long drink of water to clear the lump in my throat.

“What happened?” Teresa’s voice was suddenly gentle.

“I was supposed to be with them that night,” I said quietly. “They were going to a big event at the Seattle Art Museum, and we were all listed as co-chairs for the event. Except the night it happened I was in the middle of a really bad period – I have endometriosis and get pretty sick sometimes – so I stayed home. The police said they slipped on black ice, but I don’t believe it.”

“What do you believe?” I asked.

“Someone was chasing them.”