"I'm fine."
No use articulating the many things that were wrong. Misery might love company, but Denise had had enough of that without me piling on.
"You don't seem fine."
I didn't want to get into it, but I didn't want to tell her that. Instead, I sought for a distraction. "Look, the bull's out!"
With Denise's attention fixed on the amateur cowboy struggling on top of the bull, I was able to avoid her scrutiny. Across the crowd of people, I saw Bones nudge Spade, then they turned their attention to a tall, very thin, very dead man who approached. Must be the ghoul contact. Soon the three of them melted into the crowd.
I sighed, covering it with a smile as Denise turned back to me.
"That's so cool! Let's grab more liquor, Cat. Maybe you can jump on next."
I'd have loved to drink more liquor, but since Bones and Spade just went off with the contact, I couldn't very well go over to him and demand his wallet.
"Denise, how much money do you have on you?"
She frowned. "Oh crap, I left my purse in Spade's car."
Cooper reached again in his pants. "I should have brought my credit card. This should last..." he pulled out a wad of twenties and gave it a critical glance "...ten minutes."
Good old Coop. Can't say the man didn't know how the half-dead could pack it away.
"I'll pay you back," I promised, feeling like a poor relation.
Cooper's prediction turned out to be wrong. It was almost half an hour before his cash ran out. Of course, I hadn't counted on the nearby men offering to buy Denise and me drinks. I refused, but Denise took one drink per male offering, thanking the guys but giving a firm "no" to a second. Most of them took it with friendly, mock disappointment, but a large guy with bushy brown hair needed a little more persuading.
"Aw, come on, honey," he said to Denise, "let's dance."
His hand landed on her leg. My brows shot up. Cooper started to stand when I smacked the man's offensive paw aside.
"My friend only dances with me."
Denise smiled. "Sorry."
The guy gave me an evil, disgusted look, and walked away, his three friends in tow. Too bad, Bushy Hair, I thought.
"Nicely done, Commander," Cooper commented.
"Stop calling me that."
I didn't mean to sound so sharp. Cooper just didn't realize the title kept reminding me that my position as leader was forever gone. Right now, sitting at a bar trying without success to drown my sorrows, I felt pretty useless.
Denise glanced between the two of us. "I think we should get my purse now," she said.
Cooper and I walked Denise to Spade's car. It was unlocked, to my surprise. When I questioned that, Denise shrugged and said Spade had remarked that locks just kept honest people out. Her purse was still tucked under the passenger seat where she'd left it. Denise had just slung it over her shoulder when the slurred drawl behind us stopped her.
"Well, now, boys, lookie what we found."
I'd heard them approach. Their smell, loud steps, and obvious heartbeats made them far from stealthy, but since they were human, I hadn't been concerned.
"Beat it, guys," I said.
Bushy Hair from the bar didn't stop. Neither did his two pals, who were equally large.
"Now we was just sayin'," Bushy Hair began with a slur that revealed how drunk he was, "that it weren't fair two such pretty gals was only playin' with this here Negro."
"Negro?"
Cooper repeated the word with open challenge. God, a trio of bigots. Just what the doctor didn't order.
"I'll handle this," I said coldly. These dumb-asses didn't know I was the most dangerous of the group. They kept concentrating on Cooper, seeing only the well-built male as the threat.
"Here's some really good advice: Start walking. I'm in a bad mood, so get the f**k out of here before you get on my last nerve."
I didn't bother reaching in my clothes to get my silver. On humans, I didn't need weapons. Spade had parked in the far back corner of the lot. These chumps thought that spelled opportunity, but they were wrong.
It did surprise me, though, when Bushy Hair pulled a gun from underneath his shirt. He aimed it at Cooper.
"You." There was an ugly resonation to his voice. "You're gonna sit on that ground while we make nice with your gals."
"Cooper." It came from me in an incensed growl. I wasn't risking him or Denise getting shot. "Do as he says."
Cooper had been following my orders for a long time. He made a furious noise but sat as directed. From the way Bushy Hair handed off the gun to his friend, he was satisfied.
"That's real smart, redhead." He leered. "Now, you just stand by my buds while your friend and I get in this backseat."
I went right to his friends like he said. After all, one of them had the gun. If I quietly coldcocked them, there'd be no nasty scene -
Bushy Hair only got to place his hand on Denise before I felt a whoosh. I had an instant to tense before I realized who it was, and then there was a sickening thump. Or, to be more accurate, a splat.
It was difficult to say who had the most horrified look on their faces - the two men Bones now had dangling from their necks, or Denise as she stared at the remains of Bushy Hair's head. Spade stood next to her, muttering something foul, then he kicked the twitching figure of Bushy Hair hard enough to have him ricochet off her car. Spade had flung the man to the ground so viciously, his head looked like a watermelon dropped from five stories.
"Denise, are you all right?" Spade asked.
"He's.... he's..." Denise didn't seem to know what to say.
"Really, really dead," I supplied, relieved that two vampires flying at high speeds over a parking lot hadn't attracted attention. "Bones, let them go, you're killing them."
"That's the point," he answered, still holding them by their throats. "I'd break their necks, but that would be too quick."
They kicked and clawed at his wrists while their tongues protruded from their mouths. Denise looked like she was going to throw up.
"Why did you have to kill him?" she whispered to Spade.
"Because of what he intended to do," Spade replied, low and fierce. "No one deserves to live after that."
Cooper gave the body a pitiless glance. "We need to move him, Commander."
I didn't bother to comment about the title. First things first.
"Bones."
He glanced at me as if there weren't two dying men in his hands. Their limbs were moving slower now. One of them urinated, darkening the blue in his jeans. Clearly, he wasn't just trying to scare them.