Page 41 of Good Vampires Go to Heaven

“It’s me,” Zeb admitted, feeling his face heat. “I supposedly stink like a friggin’ rain forest.”

“No, not rain,” Trond said to Cnut, ignoring Zeb’s comment. “I smell cinnamon. Like those buns the Amish sell down at the market.” Trond tilted his head in question toward Regina.

“Rain and cinnamon? You guys are imagining things.” This from Beau, who was helping Zeb into one of the recliners.

Suddenly, Trond and Cnut made the connection. As one, their gazes fixed on Zeb, then Regina. They let out hoots of laughter.

“Lifemates! Can you believe it?” Trond said.

“The witch and the demon! What a combination!” Cnut remarked.

Regina understood before Zeb did. “Oh, no! Absolutely not! I don’t even like him.”

“You do so,” Zeb said, before thinking. “You said last night that my bald head is hot.”

“I did not!”

“Well, you implied it. Besides, why did you rescue me if you don’t like me?”

“I did it for me, not you, idiot!” She glared at Zeb. “Why are you arguing? Do you want a lifemate?”

“Hell, no! I mean, absolutely not!”

“Cinnamon rain . . . has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Trond said to Cnut, clearly to annoy Zeb and Regina.

Regina stomped off.

And Zeb asked the two Sigurdssons, “Is there any way to undo a lifemate connection?”

“If I were you, I would be more worried about how we are going to get all of you out of here,” Trond said.

“Right,” Zeb agreed. “Escape first, broken heart later.”

Trond was surprised at his answer. “Will you have a broken heart?”

“I always have a broken heart.”

Chapter 9

Preparing for a road trip . . .

Cnut and Trond spent the next few hours giving Zeb some of their blood to speed his recovery. Vangel blood was like a triple dose of antibiotics and a miracle drug combined. There had been cases of vangels near death who’d come back to life after such ministrations, and quickly, too. Plus, the two VIK members were older and stronger vangels than Regina, and their blood presumably more potent.

Oddly, Regina missed the blood-giving task.

And, no, it wasn’t the lifemate nonsense. There was just something that spoke to a woman’s maternal side when nurturing a sick man. Didn’t matter if it was the flu or a terminal disease laying a man low. Not that Regina felt anything close to maternal about Zeb. Far from it! But she’d gotten him this far, and she felt a responsibility for carrying through her mission. Who was she kidding? She wanted to be the one to take him back to the castle. Package delivered. Pride of accomplishment. I-told-you-I-could-do-it! End of case. Instead, Trond and Cnut . . . men . . . would probably brag that they had to rescue her . . . a poor weak woman . . . and pick up the pieces. Not that she needed rescuing, much. She was handling things just fine. Mostly.

At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.

Meanwhile, she and the others were preparing to close up the bungalow. Which was probably a futile effort. If Jasper discovered the hideaway, he would no doubt raze it to the ground in frustration.

Regina had ordered Grimelda to take a shower or Regina wouldn’t take her with them. While the old crone was in the bathroom, tossing curses right and left, Regina put Grimelda’s dirty garments into the washing machine. They would probably disintegrate from age and filth. She could match Grimelda curse for curse anyhow, and Regina had told her so.

And Regina had ordered Patience to ditch the bikinis, for now, at least. She doubted Michael would look too kindly on the demon witches, to begin with, but a half-naked one would surely push all his archangel buttons. Patience was also doing a lot of grumbling about Regina and her bossy ways.

Beau needed no ordering. He was smart enough to know his future was on the line, and he was behaving as well as a demon could. In fact, he was being downright ingratiating toward Cnut and Trond, who were taking advantage of him by having him fetch and carry for them. Beau’s model behavior was only temporary, of course. Regina suspected Beau was planning a trip “down the bayou” as soon as he could manage to slip away from the castle. A little redneck retribution was in line for the voodoo priestess Lilith, assuming she was still there.

“How is he?” Regina asked when Cnut and Trond came out of Zeb’s bedroom.