"No. There's something else happening with your teeth." There was no delicate way to put this. I took a steadying gulp of my own Bloodthirsty and felt the slide of my fangs before giving him a bright smile. "Your teeth aren't broken, Ray. You've got fangs now, like mine."

Ray quit poking in his mouth and stared, those incredibly beautiful baby blues suddenly wide and watery. "No freakin' way."

" 'Fraid so. Lucky really got even with you for dumping her. She turned you vampire." Fourteen

"I'm not hearing this."

"Really. Lucky's a vampire now too. Someone tried to kill her, and to save her I made her vampire."

"Cut the crap, you freak. Let me out of here." Ray practically fell out of bed and was halfway to the door before Valdez leaped in front of him.

"Stop right there. You ain't goin' anywhere." Valdez gave Ray a body check that landed the singer flat on his ass. Ray just sat there, his blanket falling to the floor while he looked ready to puke his guts out.

Can't say I liked the "freak" tag. But I walked up to Ray and put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder anyway, cutting him slack because of the shock factor. He crab walked to the other side of the bed and grabbed a book I'd left on the nightstand.

"Stay the hell away from me!" He tossed The Secret at my head.

Hey, I had a secret for him. I caught it in midair, enjoying his look of astonishment. "Valdez, I think you scared Ray."

"Aw, you think the badass rock star is freaked out by a talking dog?"

Ray put his hands over his ears. "This is a bad acid trip. You say Lucky did this to me? Well, make it go away. Or maybe I'll sleep it off." He crawled back into bed, giving me another nice look at his backside before he pulled the sheet over his head. "And dogs don't talk."

I sat on the bed beside him and pulled the sheet down until I could see his face. "Sorry, Ray. My dog does talk. And apparently when you do someone like Lucky Carver dirty, you pay for it, even if it takes her twenty years to even the score." Ray sat up straight. "I didn't do a damn thing to Lucky. I thought I loved her. I would've married her if . . . things hadn't happened."

"Funny. Lucky says you dumped her on her cute little ass."

"Yeah, well, I had no choice." Ray put his head on his knees. "Hand me that shit you made me drink. I feel like I'm gonna pass out again."

I pushed the bottle into his hand. "Drink it all, then lie back and let it work. It's a blood substitute." Ray spewed Bloodthirsty all over my bed.

"Hey, now I'm going to have to wash all my bedding!" I jumped up and grabbed more towels.

"Blood." Ray did a bob and weave and finally fell over. Lights out.

"That went well."

"You couldn't have kept your mouth shut just a little longer?"

"Nope." Valdez gave me a doggy grin. "A man's got to have some fun." I started stripping sheets, rolling Ray over, gawking at his package and that twinkling diamond before throwing a fresh blanket over him. Hey, a woman's got to have some fun too.

By the time Ray came to, I was dressed and ready to go to the concert, but didn't see how he was ever going to make it.

"What time is it?" He sat up, surprisingly alert.

"Eight thirty."

"Shit! I've got to get out of here. I've got a concert . . ." He rubbed the top of his head, making his beautiful hair wild. "I'm supposed to be onstage in an hour and a half." He jumped up, staggered and held on to the wall until he finally made it to the living room. He saw his shorts and T-shirt and managed to get into them, then collapsed on the couch.

"I don't think you're in any shape to go anywhere."

"I don't miss concerts, woman, or vampire, or whatever the hell you are." Ray gave me a narrow-eyed look. "I don't believe in this vampire shit, but let's say I'm playing along. Give me some of that crap you drink and a phone. This drink, it's not made from, uh, human blood, is it?"

"No, of course not. It's a synthetic." Okay, I know this sounds wimpy, but I threw him my cell and hurried into the kitchen to grab a bottle of Bloodthirsty. I wanted him to do the concert. It was a sellout. He'd let down thousands of fans, not to mention Flo and me if he didn't do it. But if he thought he was just going to waltz right out of here . . .

"Nathan. Yeah, yeah, save the lecture. I'm okay. I hooked up with a new girl last night. I know. Stupid, but what can I say? I know we're cutting it close. She's gonna give you the address. Have a limo here as soon as you can get here and bring my stage clothes." He paused and nodded to me to take the cap off the Bloodthirsty. "Just hurry. We'll talk later." He passed the phone to me. "Give him your address and any directions he might need to get here from the Irwin Center." I spouted off the necessary then shut the phone. Call me crazy, but then I flipped it open again. Took a video of Ray drinking Bloodthirsty on my sofa in his shorts and T-shirt. Sat beside him and tried to get the two of us in a shot. I glanced at Valdez, but didn't think he could hold the phone with his mouth or a paw. Damn. Ray just drank, like he was used to crazy women wanting a picture with him. Of course he was.

"How long do you think it will take him to get here?"

"About ten minutes unless traffic's bad." I kept watching Ray. He didn't look much better. I was afraid the Bloodthirsty wasn't doing it for him.

"I'll wait downstairs. Can't say it was a pleasure, lady."

Valdez planted himself in front of the door. " That's not the way this is going to work, Caine."

"I don't talk to hallucinations." Ray turned to look at me. "Get your dog out of my way."

"Talk to me, then. You don't have a clue what you're in for, Ray. I know you don't want to accept what you are. We can discuss the details later. But you're not stepping a foot outside of this apartment without me." I put my hands on my hips, then figured there was no point in emphasizing my worst feature, so I dropped them and settled for a hard stare.

"I don't take orders from a mother f-"

"Stop right there, asshole!" Valdez showed every tooth in his head and then some. "Show some respect. Gloriana is a lady and you will treat her as such, understand?"

"What?" Ray turned to look at me. "You're a f-freakin' vampire, but I can't drop the F-bomb around you?" I smiled, rather pleased by Valdez's standards. Hey, I come from an earlier time, and Blade has always respected me. It's kind of nice.

"You heard me." Valdez moved closer, to make no doubt in Ray's mind what he'd bite first if provoked.

"If you think-"

I'd heard enough. I moved in front of Ray and looked him in the eyes. I put him under the whammy and told him to sit on the couch until I could decide how to handle this concert. Good timing, because the door opened and Flo and Richard walked in just then.

"Glory, we must hurry if we are to get good seats!" She suddenly grabbed Richard's arm and tottered on her four-inch heels. " Dio mio! Ricardo, I told you that man on Congress Avenue had drunk too many Scotches. I am drunk. I am seeing my dream lover on our couch." She put her hand on Valdez's head. "Help me to my room, doggy. I need a quick lie down before the concert."

"It's him, Flo." I grinned and sat beside Ray. I put my hand on his thigh just because I could.

"No, impossible. I'm seeing the most delicious man in the world in his underpants in our living room." Flo sighed and reached out. When she actually touched Israel's knee, she shrieked and lost the battle of the four-inch heels. Richard caught her just before she hit the floor.

"Israel Caine here? In our little apartment?" Flo licked her lips. "How do I look? The wind was blowing, and I know my lipstick is gone."

"You look beautiful. But I thought I was your dream lover." Richard frowned.

"Don't be jealous, Ricardo." Flo stroked Ray's hair. "Israel Caine is all fantasy." She turned and slid her arms around Richard's waist. "You are my real lover."

"That's more like it." He nodded toward Ray. "Whammy?"

"Yes. Ray's had a rough twenty-four hours. He's one of us now, thanks to Lucky."

"Vampire? She turned him vampire?" Flo collapsed in a chair and began muttering invectives in Italian. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Ray will live forever, but he'll never see the sun again. Remember that video for 'Cry for You'?"

"God, yes. He was standing on the deck of his boat, the Forever Yours. He was so beautiful. The sun on his face. And the way he sang. It was almost like a prophecy." I sighed and Flo had tears on her cheeks. Richard and Valdez made gagging noises. "Oh, come on. It was amazing. You put on that video, Richard, then see what Flo does to you in bed. It's a total turn-on for a woman." Now that got the men thinking.

We heard a horn honk downstairs.

"That's got to be Ray's limo."

Richard pulled the drapes aside. "That's what it looks like."

"Okay, we've got to make him take us with him to the concert, and he's got to keep us with him and come home with us afterward, and before dawn. I'm not letting him fry. Lucky's made him my responsibility, and I'm taking it seriously." I sure didn't want him escaping and then ending up facing the sun somewhere. The very thought of Ray coming to such a horrible end made me feel weak.

"It's too soon for him to go through a strenuous concert on only a bottle of synthetic." Richard picked up the empty Bloodthirsty.

"New brand?"

"Yes, a bribe from Will."

Flo got up and squeezed in on Ray's other side. "Oh, to be this close to him." She leaned in and sniffed. "I don't think Lucky made him."

"Actually Etienne did it. He's signed on with Lucky and even promised Glory he'd steer Lucky right." Valdez snorted. "You see what that means to him." Valdez prowled in front of the door. "You know they're not going to let me into the Irwin Center. If you're really going to the concert, take Richard and Flo with you."