“You don’t know that. I could ask Damian first. Explain the circumstances. He has a sister in the program.”

“Program?” Jenny’s voice went up three octaves. “This is a program?” She shoved Penny away from her. “I’ve been thinking. I haven’t seen you during the day for months, have I, Pen? I bet you can’t go out in the daylight.”

“No, I can’t.” Penny frowned as Jenny sat up.

“And our donut and coffee runs are history now. Can you even eat real food?”

“No again. We drink blood, that’s all. But we have good synthetics like Glory said. I can get you set up with that.”

Jenny dug into her purse. “I’m thinking the movies aren’t all a crock.” She pulled out her compact then swept me with a disdainful glance. “Glory, you fall onto your blush brush tonight? Obviously you people can’t see yourselves in a mirror.” She checked her reflection, wiped lipstick off her front tooth then passed it to Penny.

“That would be a no.” Penny passed it back without pretending to glance at it.

“And you expect me to buy into this?” Jenny thrust the compact into her Dooney & Bourke tote. “You’re nuts. How would I go to cheer practice? Attend class? Organize the pledge breakfast? I could go on and on. Things you two wouldn’t understand but are important to me.” Jenny gave me a superior look. “While I realize Glory knows some interesting people…” She grabbed Penny’s thigh, suddenly not so high and mighty. “Oh. My. God. Are you telling me Israel Caine is a vampire?”

“Not telling you anything. I just happen to know him.” I got up and sent Penny a mental message to let this go for tonight.

“Now listen to me, Jenny. Penny made the offer. We get it. You’re not interested. Fine. But you will not tell anyone else about your sister, vampires, any of it. Understand?” I looked her in the eyes. “If you do there will be bad consequences. To you and your family.”

“My family?” Jenny turned to Penny. “You wouldn’t let them hurt Mom and Dad, would you?”

Penny understood even if her sister didn’t. “Our survival depends on staying under the radar. I couldn’t stop the vampire council if they decided you were a danger to vampires in Austin. They might come after you, or just start with Grammy and Grandpa. To make a statement.”

“Oh, God save us all. What have you gotten us into, Pen?”

“Penny didn’t get you into anything, Jenny. She was dragged kicking and screaming into this paranormal world but she’s making the best of it. You really should be proud of how she’s adapted after a major trauma. But you’re too self-involved. Obviously.” I gripped Jenny’s elbow and got her to her feet. I could tell that she didn’t like my hand on her. “Now I bet you have to get back to the sorority house. And we crash at dawn.”

“Oh, right.” Jenny glanced at her watch. “Look at the time. I don’t know how long I sat there. And then that demon—Lord above watch over me!—told me you had moved out, Penny. You should have told me!” She glared at her sister.

“It was recent. And you don’t usually drop by.” Penny kept apologizing until Jenny shook her head.

“Never mind. I, uh, love you no matter what you are but I need some time. And my lips are sealed.” She put up her hand and shook her head again when Penny tried to hug her.

“They’d better be. Vampires are everywhere, Jenny. We will know if you let our secret slip. Believe me.” I was aggravated that Jenny still wouldn’t touch Penny when she so obviously needed reassurance.

“Okay. I get it. I said I’ll keep quiet. You tell that to your nasty council. No one needs to get hurt to make me keep my mouth shut.” She grabbed her purse and made it to the door on wobbly heels.

“Jenny.” Penny was tearing up. “I’m sorry. About that demon. She really scared you, didn’t she?”

“I’ll say. Look.” Jenny held out her shaking hands and we could see that she’d bitten her cuticles until they were red and bleeding. The smell of that blood made Penny and me sigh. “You know how I worked to break that habit. One bad night and I’m ruined again.”

“I’m sorry. Best get home and put some cream on them then.” Penny practically shoved her twin out the door. “Good night.”

We looked at each other as soon as Jenny was out of sight. “Synthetic.” A trip to the fridge for both of us and then Penny had to hurry to Trey’s before the sun caught her. I was ready to hit the sheets. It had been a long night.

First I looked in a mirror. Yep, Lucifer had taken away that gift. No surprise there. So I grabbed my computer monitor that had a webcam I used like a mirror. Ian’s tranquilizer that he’d obviously slipped into my synthetic had given me a case of ruddy cheeks that would have made a Highland sheepherder look pale. I wasted a few minutes rubbing in moisturizer I knew wouldn’t help then fell into bed. I didn’t want to think about what came next.

“There is no way in hell you’re going to meet the Storm God without me beside you.” Jerry had arrived soon after sunset and he figured I was recovered enough to get into this.

“Relax, Jer. I’m not eager to have a confrontation with the guy. If I do decide to have a face-to-face, I’m sure I’ll want you there at my back.” But did I really? Whatever we heard from Achelous was probably going to either break Jerry’s heart, send him screaming into the night or make him want to kill someone. Hopefully that someone wouldn’t be me. But if he decided to attack a god? I had to keep Jerry calm or he’d end up a mere charred stain on the ground once the Storm God got through with him.

I might not have memories of our ancient history, but my recent showdown with his high and mightiness was a vivid and horrifically clear picture in my mind. Achelous loved to toss lightning bolts for one thing. My hair had been fried, my nerves sizzled by power surges and I hadn’t been able to hear for a week after our thunderous encounter.

“No, I’m in no hurry to see the Storm God again.”

“Glad to hear it. If Aggie is right, the man rejected you. You have no reason to think he’d want to see you again.” Jerry played with my hair which was now clean and untangled, thanks to a nice hot shower and shampoo.

He’d wanted to join me in that shower, but I’d reminded him that Laurie still occupied my spare bedroom. She must have arrived some time after dawn. And, while my death sleep had cured any lasting effects of my meltdown other than rosy red cheeks, I couldn’t deny I was more than a little depressed and not exactly in the mood for a wild romp in the bathtub.

“I do have questions for Achelous but I wonder if I’ll like the answers.” I leaned against Jerry as he moved his finger down to trace the vein in my neck. Maybe I wasn’t as depressed as I’d thought. “Anyway, I promised to go shoe shopping with Flo and Aggie tonight. I’m not about to tell Florence any of this. Just that we got rid of Alesa.” I heard a thump from Penny’s old room. Laurie was packing her things after doing yet another cleansing ritual. I was all for whatever magic she performed. I couldn’t seem to get the stench of demon out of my nostrils.

“Shoe shopping?” Jerry dropped a kiss on top of my head. “That sounds refreshingly normal after the week you’ve had. I say have at it. Buy some shoes on me.” He dug for his wallet.

I stopped him before he could pull out a platinum card. Stupid maybe, but I wasn’t accepting charity and I was determined to fight any Siren tendencies. One of those avaricious creatures would have gladly maxed out Jerry’s card and come back for another one.

“That’s okay. I’ve got this. I’m not really in the mood for an orgy of retail therapy anyway. I’m planning to cut this outing short if I get the chance.” I laughed when Jerry frowned, laid his hand on my forehead and peered into my eyes.

“Are you ill? You look flushed. I swear if MacDonald slipped you one of his potions…”

I was keeping that latest dose to myself. I was definitely piling on some concealer as soon as I could get to my makeup bag.

“I’m fine, Jer. Now I need to get ready. Later. When we come back from the mall. Be here. You’re paying Laurie off tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, a nice severance package. I had no idea we’d wrap things up so quickly.” He released my hands and pulled me into his lap. “We will actually be alone here. Finally. I can chase you naked through the entire apartment.”

“Chase? Am I supposed to run?” I leaned forward and bit his ear, drawing blood and sucking it away greedily. Oh, yes, this was my man. I felt the hard length of his arousal pressing against my hip. To hell with shoe shopping. I’d feign a headache. Send Flo and Aggie off together and…

“Excuse me, you two.” Laurie cleared her throat. “I’m ready to go.”

I reluctantly gave her my attention. It was a shame I’d never seen her tiger. I bet it was awesome. Then again, if she had to shift into that, we’d be in a hell of a mess, wouldn’t we? Of course she blocked her thoughts. I decided to test my powers and concentrated. Could I blast through that block? It felt like I was shoving against a rock wall. Powerful entity. And she’d held her own against Alesa.

“Give it up, Glory. I’m more than I seem.” She threw a hand up toward the ceiling and around her body. The air shimmered in an arc, encasing her in what looked like glittering crystal.

“Wow. Guess so.” I blinked as I felt her punch through my own block to flip through my thoughts like they were yesterday’s newspaper. Her grin said she’d picked up on how I’d just wiggled against Jerry’s erection to torment him. “Hey, I was practicing. Aggie told me about a few of the powers I’d had as a Siren. I’m seeing what might be hanging around.”

“Powers. Yeah, give them a try.” Laurie nodded. “You can never have too many weapons. So if they’re there, keep them sharp.”