That made her smile. “Are we?”

“Totally.” I kept munching and popped open a new bag of Doritos. “It’ll be an open marriage, of course.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Of course.”

“Oh hell yeah. Dan’s eventually going to marry—probably some fugly chick at the rate he’s going.” I shuddered. “They’ll go on to make fugly-ass babies and where will that leave me? Shit, you know I don’t cook. And someone has to clean.”

“Mmm. Cook and clean, too. You really know how to woo a gal.”

My grin widened. Ceel was a hell of an audience for all my bullshit. “I’ll come home—after a hard night of bartending or banging some hot broad—and you’ll be waiting with my breakfast, dressed in an apron and stilettos.” I thought about it. “Unless your figure starts to go. Then it might have to be a naughty nurse outfit—just to cover some of that sagging shit up. It’s the perfect arrangement. What do you say?”

“Oh, hot damn and golly, Bren, who could resist such a generous offer?”

I would have believed her if she hadn’t nailed me in the head with an apple from the fruit bowl. I caught it on the rebound and took a bite. “Thanks, Ceel.”

We finished our sandwiches while continuing to rip into each other, had a couple more, and washed them down with a blackberry pie. “Do you want me to pick you up, or do you just want me to meet you at the club?”

Celia licked the last trace of blackberry goodness off her top lip. “You still want to go out? After what we just went through outside?”

I grinned. “A bet’s a bet. Besides, you can’t let a bunch of spooks ruin your good time.”

“I guess.” Celia stiffened before her head whipped toward the sliding glass doors leading out to her deck. She rushed to the doors. I followed, my wolf sensing something stirring outside. “Oh . . . my God.”

I slung an arm around her shoulders when I saw what had her lids peeling back. Wisps and shimmering veils of silver and white lifted from where we’d pimp-slapped La Llorona back to hell, and from where the shreds of screeching fabric had met their end. One by one, thirty, forty, maybe fifty ghosts swirled their way into the sky. “Huh. Well, will you look at that?”

She slowly turned her head to face me. “There’s an army of ghosts taking off to the moon in my backyard, and this is seriously all you have to say?”

“Relax, Ceel, this is a good thing. It means we shattered whatever nasty magic trapped La Llorona’s victims in her dress and compelled them to want to devour our blood and guts. Given how long she’s been prowling the earth, it probably took some time for her power to fully dissolve.” I pointed upward. “Her victims are free now and have a one-way ticket up to the pearly gates, babe. So, we going out?”

She smiled, watching the spirits drift away. “Yeah, sure. I guess we have reason to celebrate.” She jumped when the transparent image of a little boy skipped barefoot up to the glass door. Big eyes blinked back and an even bigger grin greeted Celia. He waved at her with his little hands. Celia waved back and chuckled when the little boy blew her a kiss.

We watched as his little body elongated into one long swirl that joined the others spiraling into the sky.

I tugged Celia against me and whispered into her ear. “Hey, Ceel. Do you think that was the little puke who wanted a sip from your boob?”

Chapter Five

After a quick shower back at my place, I met Celia at the Watering Hole. The music blared and the colored lights flashed to the beat of some Lady Gaga song. I found Celia dancing on the floor, surrounded by a cluster of Misha’s vamps who dressed like naughty Catholic schoolgirls. I rolled my eyes. That master vamp ass**le she was shacking up with wanted her watched closely.

Celia had changed from her sweaty, evil-ghost-smeared clothes into a sheer white top with a tight little black camisole underneath. Her jeans were dark and her boots black. Anyone would think she dressed for style. Nah, it was all about comfort.

I watched her for a while. That gal was well aware of her body and how to move it. Aric and her must’ve had a hell of a time together. It sucked that no one paid attention to her now. As always, humans gave her ample space. A tiger’s presence had that effect.

Celia inched her way from the group when two of the naughty Catholics began to dance provocatively against each other. Shit like that made her uncomfortable. The vamps didn’t care. It was always all about them. More attention meant more power—power over humans who begged to have sex with them. The vamps obliged them willingly, getting laid left and right, while they pierced their prey with their fangs and took small amounts of blood.

The one with the pigtails and little librarian glasses laughed when the chick with long black hair flicked her tongue on her plunging neckline. My hate for vamps aside, it was kind of hot. They continued to grind, garnering the lustful stares of patrons and basking in the attention. I guessed the tiny little uniforms weren’t enough to get the interest they desired . . . nor the pheromones they emitted each time they breathed.

Like a row of falling dominos, males popped wood around the scantily clad vamps. Celia did a double-take, scenting their arousal. She backed away, right into some ass**le trying to snap a picture of the gyrating vamps with his cell phone. The loser dropped his phone and stumbled backward when he caught Celia’s defensive posture and uneasy expression. She lowered her gaze to appear less threatening. It didn’t work. The guy continued to back away, leaving his cell phone on the floor where some bigger dude mashed it with his foot.

Celia crossed her arms and left the floor. I knew what she was thinking, that her looks had scared him. No, babe. That would be that little feline you keep closely in check.

Celia didn’t get how beautiful she was—long sexy hair, large green eyes that saw right through you, and a killer body anyone with a libido would drag off to bed. Aric never could keep his eyes off of her . . . what blows is neither could that bloodsucker, Misha. Both had managed to get close to her, but only because weres and vamps didn’t scare easily. Problem was Misha was getting a little too close now.

The sea of bodies parted as I advanced toward Celia. I had the power to draw back my beast just enough to blend in among humans, a trick I’d learned being a lone. I never needed that extra aggression. My height and bulk was enough for humans to back the hell up. I hurried along, and just to give her a little love, grabbed Celia’s ass like it was on sale.