“Very. And arrogant. Think Mara as a macho male.” I got up and stopped next to Flo. I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry if I snapped at you. But tell your boyfriend not to do me any more favors.”

“That’s exactly what Simon thought. That he was doing you a favor. The VV is highly prized. He made a generous gift. ” Flo looked around and grabbed the lint roller from the table next to the TV. “I love black, but this is ridiculous. ” She attacked her skirt.

“I should make Will shift and clean this for me.”

I wasn’t going to touch that one. The image of Will, toned muscles flexing while he wielded a lint roller, suddenly got to me. Obviously the VV still lingered in my system. No way was I attracted to him in any form.

“Let me get dressed or we’ll be late for church.” I headed for my bedroom. “Did you invite Simon to come with us?”

“Yes, but he wasn’t interested.”

“Too bad. Church would be good for his soul. ” I stopped in front of my closet and decided I hated all my choices. I ’d remembered to hang up the velvet dress I’d worn the night before. I pulled out the full skirt and rubbed the soft material between my fingers. It would have moved so well on the dance floor.

If that damned VV hadn’t messed up the evening, would I have ended up in bed with Richard afterward? I knew we had chemistry, even without the VV boost. But I’m not a slave to my hormones. I needed a connection with a man before I allowed him sleepover privileges. And Flo was right about one thing, Richard put his “mission” ahead of everything else. Unusual in a vampire. We’re pretty heavily into self-indulgence. Yeah, even me. Okay, okay, especially me.

“Pretty dress.” Flo was right behind me. “What do you mean, Simon needs church for his soul? I told you Richard is wrong about him. Simon doesn’t send vampires into the sun and the VV is a good thing. What do you know that I don’t?”

“I don’t know what you know, Flo. For example, did you know Simon is Freddy’s father?” I pulled a red corduroy shirtwaist out of the closet and threw it on the bed.

“Freddy? Frederick von Repsdorf?” Flo sat on the bed, careful not to wrinkle my dress.

“The one and only.”

“So Simon and CiCi ...” Flo and CiCi have a bit of a rivalry going. Over men naturally.

“Centuries ago. She knew he was a vampire, but had no idea Simon could give her a baby vampire until after the deed was done. Kind of a nasty trick, don’t you think?” I pulled out some cute black patent peep-toe heels and a patent belt to go with the dress and tossed them on the bed.

“I’m sure Simon didn’t intend . . .” Flo picked up the belt and hit her thigh with it. “I’ve heard born vampires are only fertile every hundred years or so after they turn. He probably didn’t know—”

“He knew. He considered CiCi a ‘worthy vessel,’ and I quote the great man himself.”

"CiCi is a countess.” Flo hit the bed this time, a good whack. “So Freddy’s a born vampire. Simon’s son. And gay.” She smiled.

“I wonder what Simon thinks of that. Frederick may be the end of his line.”

“Who knows? If Simon could get CiCi pregnant, he probably left baby vamps all over the world. Unless the fertility thing is a one shot deal. Maybe you should ask him about it.” I concentrated on accessories, since the idea of baby Simons populating the vampire world seriously creeped me out. Would some be fork-tongued like their father? At least Freddy had dodged that bullet. I shuddered and dug out a black purse. Nope. I was getting into dowdy territory. I settled on a black and red tapestry. Definitely more interesting.

“Glory, look at me for a minute, will you?” Flo nudged me with the toe of her black suede boot.

“What?” I looked back, saw her expression and shoved the stuff aside to sit next to her. “Okay. I’m focused. What’s up?”

“Simon. He’s really important to me.”

“Oh, yeah?” I took my belt out of her hands so she wouldn’t have a weapon. “Is he important or is it the drug he’s plying you with night after night that’s important?”

“What? You think I’m . . . addicted?” She looked indignant, then thoughtful. “I could skip a night without the drug. Maybe not even make love at all one night.” Flo made this sound like the worst kind of depravation. Frankly, coming off my own dry spell except for the virtual variety, I didn’t get it. Hey, I’d gone years without sex. Don’t get me started about my life during Queen Victoria’s mourning period. And I look great in black. Really. I’d gone back to England for a little trip down memory lane and got stuck there for decades. It’s not easy going transatlantic when you won’t shape-shift.

“Don’t go to the EV compound after church. Come out with me. We’ll do something fun.”

“What?” Flo was actually wringing her hands at the thought.

I wracked my brain. Fun. What did we do for fun besides shop? And the kind of stores we liked closed early on Sunday nights. We could watch a DVD or two or six, but even a chick flick filmfest can get old. In Vegas I could always catch a show or, before the intervention, play poker. No gambling in Austin.

“We can troll the Sixth Street clubs. Maybe pick up some guys to dance with.” Even I could hear my lack of enthusiasm for that prospect.

Flo grimaced. “I’m not in the mood to deal with mortals. And I thought you still had Westwood ’s people after you. Jeremiah wouldn’t like you going out without the dogs. And I’m really not in the mood to drag those two around to the clubs.”

“Yeah, and what if Simon sent Greg Kaplan out with reinforcements to get me? Jerry really wouldn’t like that.”

“Are we going to fight about Simon all night?”

I could tell I was stressing Flo out. Was it because I’d suggested she avoid Simon for a night? Hey, she didn’t have to avoid him.

“No. He’s your boyfriend. You sure don’t need my permission to go see him. But do us both a favor and tell him you’re taking a night off from the VV. See if he can think of something fun you can do together. Does he ever go out? ” He must, he’d met Flo hadn’t he? And come to think of it . . . “How’d you meet Simon anyway? Where were you?” I made sure I was still blocking any mind probe Flo might try. This info could be useful to Richard and the EV posse.

“We met in the park one night. I was a beautiful bird, just enjoying the fresh night air and he landed next to me. ” Flo sighed. “I knew he was a vampire immediately of course. He smells delicious.”

“Which park? Do you ever go there together?” I had to make this interrogation seem casual, so I looked at the clock and jumped up. “Wow. I’d better get moving if we’re going to make the opening hymn.” We both loved the music at Moonlight. Flo watched me gather underwear and head toward the bathroom. “No, we never have gone back there. It’s the one by Barton Springs. Very quiet at night. Maybe I’ll have him take me there tonight. It will be romantic. We won’t need the VV.”

“You might not need it, but are you sure Simon doesn’t need for you to be under the influence?”

“Don’t be silly. He never uses it himself and he ’s certainly never insisted I take it.” Flo smiled and headed for the living room.

“He has an amazing capacity without it. Of course so do I.”

“Think about it for a minute, Flo. Why does Simon avoid it? Could it be because it’s addictive?”

“I’ll prove to you that I’m not addicted. Tonight.” Flo grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “I’m calling Simon right now to set up our date. I’ll meet him in the park after church. No VV. Just a romantic setting and us together.”

“Good.” I went into the bathroom. Maybe I should call Richard with this information. If he was determined to put Simon out of business, this would be a prime opportunity to get the king of the EVs alone. Of course he wouldn ’t be alone, Flo would be with him. And she’d probably defend him, since that seemed to be her knee-jerk reaction lately. It wasn’t like me to rat out a friend. But if telling Richard where he could ambush Simon would get Flo away from the EV, I could deal with the guilt. I jumped in the shower still not sure what I should do. Maybe just finding out if Flo was addicted to the VV would be enough for tonight.

When I came out of the bedroom, dressed and ready to go, Lacy was back with the dogs.

“No way am I splitting it with you fifty -fifty. My money, my human form buying the tickets. ” Lacy was eating some of the Cheetos I’d bought for Valdez after the fire. I’d gotten a little carried away with gratitude and had sprung for a case of Big Grabs. She was tossing every other bite into Valdez’s mouth.

“My idea, sweetheart. We hit, we split.” Will paced around the living room.

“Would someone clue me in?” I picked up my purse and checked to make sure I had my cell phone. “What are you arguing about?”

“Lottery tickets, Blondie.” Valdez caught another Cheetos with a snap of his jaws. “Someone here seems to have a little gambling problem.”

“It’s not a problem.” Will put his head on Lacy’s knee. He frowned when she tried to give him a Cheetos. “I don’t want your cheap snacks. I want champagne, caviar, a winning lottery ticket.”

Lacy grinned and looked at me. “He talks me into going into the mini-mart around the corner and buying a few tickets, then he thinks I’m going to split the fortune with him.”

“Do you actually think you have a chance of winning? I don ’t waste my money on such as that.” Flo came up behind me and slung an arm around my shoulders, like she wanted to forget our earlier fight. Which was good for me. I hate living in a war zone. And Simon was bound to be a temporary blip on the Florence Da Vinci radar. No man lasted long with her.