Netherworld II: Blood Potion No. 9 by Tracy St.John Page B

anger’s thrall, and I
turned it on Boyfriend Number One. “Why don’t you just come right
out and call me a whore, Dan? I did what I felt I had to. I didn’t
have sex with Bane to hurt you or get my jollies.”

    “But you had it. Why didn’t you go
poltergeist and distract them that way instead? Thrown some beer
bottles around, smashed some glasses? You could have done
that.”
    That shut me up. Holy crap, he was
right. I could have sucked up energy from somewhere and trashed the
club, putting an end to C.K.’s homicidal homo hunt.
    All the righteous fury drained out of
me. I really had screwed up big time. All I had to offer was, “I
swear, that never occurred to me. I panicked, okay?”
    Scarier than the white-hot rage he’d
displayed earlier was Dan’s crystalline iciness. “No, Brandilynn.
It’s not okay. Not okay at all.”
    He disappeared.
    I burst into tears despite it being the
thing I most hate doing. I had ruined a great relationship with a
man I adored. Worse than that, I had hurt Dan, destroying trust in
the most horrible way a woman could. Stupid, stupid
Brandilynn.
    Over my sobs I heard Patricia sigh, “Oh
boy. Should I go after Dan, see if I can find him?”
    Tristan’s voice was heavy. “I’d
appreciate it. Thanks sweetie.”
    “No problem.” Patricia left, leaving me
alone with Angry Boyfriend Number Two. The day just refused to look
up.

Chapter 6

    I brought myself under control with a
lot of effort. When I had a handle on my upset, I saw that Tristan
had sat down on the leather couch in the periodicals section of the
room. I moved to stand close to him.
    He watched me with a look I couldn’t
quite read. I didn’t dare speak first. Dan had already walked –
okay, de-materialized – out on me. I was afraid Tristan would
too.
    Finally he said, “Did you really think
we’d be okay with you doing that?”
    “It was stupid of me. But as God is my
witness, Tristan, it was all I could think to do at the
moment.”
    He rubbed his forehead, looking really
tired. Ghosts don’t get tired, at least not physically. Tristan
rarely let people see him as anything but cool and unflappable.
“That really cut what you said about I didn’t have any reason to be
upset because I have sex with other women. You have a point
though.”
    I regretted my choice of words. I knelt
at his feet, wanting to touch him but not having the guts to do so.
“Forget I said anything, okay? You’re a vampire. Blood and sex go
together. I know that.”
    His dark eyes searched my face. He
shook his head almost violently. “It doesn’t have to. Plenty of my
kind get along on the bottled and pouched stuff. I could
too.”
    Then joy of joys, he reached for me.
His hands closed over my upper arms and he pulled me into his lap.
I fought the urge to cry again as I snuggled against
him.
    I had to make this right, somehow. I
had to keep Tristan. “The bottled stuff isn’t as good. No vampire
who can get it fresh from a donor drinks from a bottle.”
    I wouldn’t do Tristan as a vampire if I
could. It is just too freaky even for me. But I’ll be honest. It
did hurt to know my sweetie had intimacies with other women, even
though as one of the fanged, he’s a very different man from his
ghostly aspect. Still, I’d put up with it. I love him that
much.
    I was totally shocked when Tristan
said, “If the vampire loves someone enough, he will find a way to
stay monogamous with her.”
    I pulled back to look him in the face.
“What are you saying?”
    “If I gave up the blood groupies for
you, would you give up Dan for me?”
    I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.
Emotions swirled within me: terror, delight, love, and
dread.
    Tristan chuckled. “My little
commitment-phobe.” He turned serious again. “No need to answer
right now, Brandilynn. But once the blood supplies are safe again,
I’m willing to take that step. It’s time to choose one man. Neither
of us is going to share you much longer.”
    The words popped out