“What did he do?”
“Why, saved your life, of course,” Nigel said frankly, then he leaned forward. “Well, you know, our version of life anyway.”
Katie stared at Nigel. He was a vampire, too? Holy crap, was everyone she knew a vampire?
“What happened to me?” she asked, the question as surreal as finding out all the people she’d known for years were undead.
“Well, you cracked your head open, dear.”
Chapter Twenty
FIND A BEER OR YOUR TRUE LOVE, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST
“YOU did lose Katie, didn’t you?” Drake said after he and Cort entered and exited yet another bar. This one on Conti.
Cort shot Drake an irritated look. Did he have to keep using the word lose? Lose. It made it sound like he’d lost his chance with her. But what if he had?
He didn’t know what had made her leave like that, and it was killing him. He had to find her and talk to her.
“I didn’t lose her,” Cort stated, not for the first time.
“She’s gone. She’s gone,” sang the bird, also not for the first time.
Drake gave the parrot and Cort a pointed look. “I think the bird knows something you don’t.”
Cort glared at his bandmate again. Drake fell silent, at least for a few seconds.
“Seriously,” he said, as they strolled back toward Bourbon, “why are we scouring the Quarter for her?”
“She’s a new vampire. She shouldn’t be wandering around alone. She could get into real trouble, not understanding her powers, her limitations. She needs looking after for a while anyway.”
“I didn’t have anyone to look after me.”
Cort gave his friend an incredulous look. “You were made a vampire by the captain of a ship and then kept on board for weeks, with other vampires. You were pretty much on the School at Sea version of vampirism.”
Drake smiled, clearly remembering those days fondly. “Did I mention the whole crew was women dressed as male pirates?”
“Several times.”
Drake shrugged, but continued to smile. Finally he snapped out of his affectionate memories to say, “It’s true that she probably shouldn’t be on her own, but why do I get the feeling you aren’t just worried about that?”
“No idea.”
Drake raised an eyebrow, but remained silent, but not for long enough. “Let’s try Bourbon Cowboy. We were there last night. Maybe she remembered something and ended up there, too.”
Cort nodded. “Why not?”
At this point it was like looking for a needle in a haystack anyway. And just like any good haystack, the Bourbon Cowboy revealed nothing more than any of the other places had. Just tourists drinking too much and cheering each other on as they fell off the mechanical bull. Maybe Cort was better off just heading home. If Katie didn’t want to be found, he was pretty certain she wouldn’t be. He just hoped she was somewhere safe. Maybe she was at her apartment. He’d tried there first, but she hadn’t answered. Maybe she’d just ignored his repeated knocks. Maybe she was already in bed. He just hoped she realized the sun was no joke. She had to avoid it.
Let Johnny’s death be a lesson on that one, although Katie had no idea that’s how Johnny died.
“You know I like to be a supportive friend and all, but man, I’m getting tired. I need a drink or something.” Drake stopped walking and leaned against the side of the bar as if he were ancient. Which he was, but vampires didn’t get tired. Not physically anyway.
Cort had to admit he felt tired, too, but he was emotionally drained. Man, this had been one stressful night. He would have thought last night was going to be the stressful one, what with dealing with the death of a friend and bandmate, but this night had managed to overshadow that one.
Sorry, Johnny.
“Okay, let’s get a drink.”
Drake levered himself away from the wall, eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“Yeah, it’s going to be impossible to find her. Let’s go to Fahy’s.”
“We already went there and didn’t find out much of anything,” Drake said.
“That’s why I want to go there,” Cort said. “I’m tired of looking for clues.”
“Me, too, brother, me, too.”
It was on the tip of Cort’s tongue to point out the only drama Drake went through during their drunken debacle was losing his tooth. That didn’t quite stack up to crossing someone over and a supposed marriage. But that would probably open up a conversation he didn’t feel like having. Drake already sensed Cort had more than protective feelings for Katie. Not that Cort cared if the guys knew how strongly he felt. Well, as long as Katie returned those same feelings, otherwise Cort planned to play it cool.
They turned down Bourbon and headed the several blocks toward Fahy’s.
“Hey, there’s Raven,” Drake said, pointing to the corner where a tall, bald man dressed in all black stood smoking a cigarette.
“Yippee,” Cort said.
“I was just thinking,” Drake started, then shook his head. “Never mind.”
“What?”
“I was just thinking that”—he paused again, really not wanting to finish his thought, but took one look at Cort’s impatient expression and continued—“maybe Raven has seen Katie. He always seemed to pay a lot of attention to her. He’d definitely notice her if she was around.”
Cort gritted his teeth. Yeah, that was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. Another man’s interest. Especially given he had no idea where he stood with Katie.
But Drake did have a point.
“It can’t hurt to ask,” Cort said, trying to sound casual. After all, it couldn’t hurt to ask, but it could piss him off. Royally.
They crossed the street, walking over to Raven. As soon as he saw them coming, Raven shook his head, looking decidedly displeased about seeing them. He tossed down his cigarette.
“What do you guys want?”
Drake glanced at Cort, waiting for him to speak, but when he didn’t, he asked, “Have you seen Katie Lambert?”
“Jesus, what is it with you Impalers and women?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cort said, frowning.
“Nothing,” Raven said, shaking his head. “No, I have not seen your blushing bride.”
Cort gritted his teeth. From Raven’s sarcastic tone, it seemed he knew they weren’t really married, too. And as much as Cort didn’t want to talk to him, Raven might know some other things about last night as well.