Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(14)

“I have nearly three hundred vampires in my gang, the largest in North America. Santos has not even half that, and his are spread out, avoiding working for him because he doesn’t have the ability to keep them in line. He thinks that if he can kill me, he can take the vampires who are loyal to me. What he doesn’t understand is that when a vampire boss is killed, the loyalties of their followers don’t automatically shift. They can go wherever they wish. Santos . . . he is a fool. A dangerous one, but a fool nonetheless.”

“How long . . . have you been at war with him?” I glanced up as his furrowed brow.

“Since the day I was turned into a vampire. Nearly four hundred years.”

“Fricky dicky, that’s a long dang time to hold a grudge. Why does he hate you?” For a moment I couldn’t understand, and then I thought of Colleen. Maybe I could hold a grudge that long.

A tired smiled crossed his lips. “It’s . . . a complicated story, one I’d rather not get into right now.”

I mulled over his words, thinking of the many implications of his world that I’d not considered before. “And . . . the influence. You have people who work for you in high places, don’t you? Like Officer Jensen, only higher than him.”

He nodded and once more redirected. “Yes. But perhaps we can talk of other things besides vampire politics?”

I understood a little. Dahlia had told me that Remo didn’t open up; no vampires opened up to the outside word, or to other Super Dupers. But with me, Remo let me in, despite us having the wrong kind of fangs for each other.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” I asked, then immediately cringed at my faux pas.

Remo laughed, spun me around, and stared down into my face. “Are you offering?”

I blushed and looked away. “I didn’t . . . I mean, not like that. I wasn’t thinking, I guess.”

“You should eat,” he said, a grin on the side of his lips. “If you are anything like the other shifters I know, food is essential after you flip back and forth.”

My stomach rumbled in agreement. “Yeah, I could eat.” I froze. All my clothes were gone, and even the stack of papers that proved who I was were with Tad. Worse, though, was the simple fact that I’d left all my money back at home. The little bit of change I’d had in my skirt pocket had been for a coffee.

“Umm, actually, no, I can’t. I have to go back to number thirteen.” That was Remo’s crew’s vampire safe house I was staying at on the other side of the Wall. Seemed rather fitting, considering all the bad luck I’d had lately. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave. Good things had happened there too.

“I’ll pay.” He cut through to the issue.

My face heated up. “No, it’s okay, I can wait till I get back home.”

He was shaking his head as I spoke. “There is an Italian restaurant around here that has been in business for twenty years. The humans rave about it.” He looked away from me, checked the street signs, and then had us moving again. The thought of lasagna, garlic bread, and Caesar salad had me drooling. I rubbed a hand over my mouth to make sure I didn’t in fact have drool on my lips.

We walked in silence, though I saw a flutter of white feathers up ahead of us. I glared at the feathers and the face attached to them. Remo didn’t seem to notice Ernie sitting on the streetlight, grinning down at me. I wasn’t sure I trusted the chubby cherub. He’d played both sides of the field when it came to Achilles and Hera, and that had almost gotten both me and my brother killed.

At the same time, he’d helped me understand what I was and what I was capable of. So to say our relationship was complicated was a bit of an understatement. I wanted to trust him. I just wasn’t sure that was the best idea. For now, I waved at him to get lost. The last thing I wanted was an audience when I was on a date with Remo. Ernie winked and blew me a kiss, then to add to it, he spun around and flashed his bare white bottom at me.

I snorted and averted my eyes. Remo gave me a funny look and raised an eyebrow. I shook my head, not wanting to explain, and not really needing to. Ernie was like that. One minute silly and my friend, the next working for the other team.

But Ernie wasn’t going to be ignored.

He flew right in front of us, grinning. “You two on a dress-up date?”

I clenched my teeth. “Ernie, not now.”

“Oh, come on. Let me ride along with you. I haven’t shot anyone with my trusty arrows in a long time.”

“And you’re not going to start now,” I pointed out. He shrugged, then mock frowned.

“Maybe my arrows could come in handy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Would they work on Theseus? Make him fall in love with me so I could boss him around?”

Ernie shook his head. “No, they don’t work on the gods and demigods.”

“Then I doubt they can help me,” I said, and he slumped, his smile sliding off his face.

“You don’t need to be mean.” He pouted.

“I’m not.” I held a hand out to him. “Ernie, I just . . .”

“Never mind,” he said as he turned and flew away.

I called after him. “I’m sorry, Ernie!” He flapped a hand back at me that looked suspiciously like he’d flipped me the bird. I sighed. I couldn’t seem to do anything right. It was definitely a Monday.