Georgia threw the tarp to the ground and pointed an accusing finger at me. “I need to give Sabina a piece of my mind!”
I crossed my arms and sighed. “Here we go. What’d I do now?”
She waved the envelope I’d left on her door around like a smoking gun. “If this is some sort of sick joke, I really don’t appreciate it.”
I tilted my head and frowned at her. “What? I told you, Mac asked me to bring it to you. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Bullshit! Mac would never be this cruel. It has to be a fake.”
“Georgia, I know you’re hurting,” Adam said. “But think about what you’re saying. Why would Sabina come all the way to New Orleans to deliver a fake letter from Mac?”
The vampire deflated a fraction and her eyes swiveled to take in all of us. Brooks and Zen were watching her with looks bordering on pity. Adam and Giguhl were puffed up, ready to defend me. And me? I watched her with my hands on my hips. We were burning daylight, Erron had yet to show, and we needed to get to Italy ASAP so we’d have the whole night there to make headway in finding Cain.
“Look, Georgia, I don’t know what to tell you. Mac asked me to give you that. I had no idea what was in it. I’m sorry if it upset you—”
“Upset me?” she yelled. “I’m not upset. I’m pissed! How dare she do this?”
I frowned, curious despite my best intentions to stay out of the middle. “What’d she do?”
Georgia was red-faced and sputtering now. She held up the letter. Adam came forward and grabbed it. His eyes scanned the stack of pages for a few moments before widening in shock. “Mac signed the building and the license for Lagniappe over to her.”
I frowned at the vampiress. “Let me get this straight. You’re pissed that Mac ensured you had an income and a place to live? How dare she?” I said with exaggerated indignation.
Georgia threw up her arms. “How am I supposed to hate her now?”
My mouth fell open. “Ah.”
“Ah?” Adam asked. “I don’t follow that logic at all.”
But I did. People always say anger is the strongest emotion. They’re wrong. Anger is the easiest emotion, the least complex. When other feelings are too difficult to bear, you can wrap anger around you like insulation. Like a shield to deflect more complicated and hurtful emotions—like sadness and fear.
I sighed and stepped toward Georgia. “She loved you in her own way, Georgia. It wasn’t the love you needed, but it was love. This is her way of proving that.”
“Fuck that,” she said. “I’m putting the building on the market ASAP.”
“Like hell you will,” Brooks said. His hands were on his hips and his head was swiveling with attitude. “You can’t put all those proud queens out on the street!” he said, referring to the drag queen corps who lived and worked in that building. Since Brooks was also employed by the club, he had a personal stake in Georgia accepting Mac’s gift.
“Besides, where are you going to go, baby girl?” Zen said, in full maternal mode. “That building is your home, too.”
Georgia’s lip trembled. “I don’t know! It’s just too hard.”
“So give yourself some time. A month, three. Whatever,” Zen said.
Brooks added, “Yeah, girl, don’t throw away this gift just because it’s easier than working through your shit.”
Georgia wrapped her arms around herself protectively. Her expression was abashed, like she finally realized she’d been making a scene. “I’m sorry. I just… it was a shock.”
Giguhl put his arm around the vampire. “Don’t worry. Love makes fools of everyone.”
The vampire blinked at the unexpected depth of the demon’s statement. “I guess you’re right. I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.”
“Trust me, it passes.”
“You sound like you speak from experience.”
The demon looked into the middle distance. “Even us badass demons aren’t immune to heartbreak, Georgia.”
I rolled my eyes. It’s not that I didn’t feel for Georgia or that I didn’t remember how hurt Giguhl had been when his demon girlfriend dumped him, but with each passing minute I was growing more and more aware of Erron’s absence.
“Look,” I said, “I know this has been rough on you. But Zen’s right—give yourself some time.”
“I guess you’re right. Thanks, guys.” Georgia sighed. Then she looked around and noticed the supplies and baggage littering the story. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re going to Italy!” Giguhl said excitedly.
“Sabina mentioned you were leaving. Vacation?”
“Hardly. We need to see a mage about murdering the father of the Lilim,” Adam said, using the ancient term for the vampire race.
Georgia’s mouth fell open. “Cain? Jesus. What the hell happened after I left New York?”
“Well,” Giguhl began, looking ready to settle in for a long gossip session. While he filled Georgia in, I pulled Adam aside.
“Should we call him?” I whispered.
Adam glanced at the clock. It was five after ten. He sighed. “Probably.”
I nodded and went to the desk to pick up the phone. While I dialed, Giguhl wrapped up his summary.
Georgia looked devastated. “I can’t believe they’re all dead. Oh gods, that must have been horrible. Here I am bitching about my broken heart and you guys are dealing with worse losses.”
She looked so abashed, I paused my dialing and looked up. “Georgia, it’s okay,” I sighed. “Loss is loss, right?”
She nodded. “I guess so. I just can’t believe you guys are going to try to kill Cain.”
“We’re not even sure we can kill him,” Adam said. “But hopefully we can at least find a way to prevent him from causing more trouble.”
I bit my tongue and looked down to finish dialing. Adam might believe that killing Cain was the worst-case scenario, but for me it was the only one. Allowing Cain to live after he’d killed so many people I care about was not an option.
While Adam and the others discussed the plans for Italy, I focused on willing Erron to pick up his phone. It rang once, twice.
Click.
“You’ve reach Erron Zorn. Leave a message.” Beep!
“Erron, it’s Sabina. Get your ass to Zen’s now!” I slammed the phone down. “Shit!”