into this now, especially not with this audience. Rafe and Jerry both looked ready to reach for cab fare and to haul Ray to the street.
"I can handle it. But I don't want to." He rubbed his forehead. "Whatever. Go ahead, do your thing. I'm going to bed." He heaved himself to his feet and staggered toward my bedroom. He hit the wall on his way and I ran to help him, tossing back the covers to the clean sheets I'd put on the bed after Jerry and I had gotten up at sunset.
"I'm sorry, Glory. Call Nate. He'll come take me off your hands." Ray pulled my fingers to his lips.
"Not right now, Ray. I've got my hands full." I sighed. "Rest. I'll check back with you in a few minutes. Okay?"
"I feel like shit. What's the matter with me? I'm supposed to heal." His eyes fluttered closed and I pulled my hand out of his.
"You've abused your body. Even vampires have limits." I turned and left the room. No time for this. At least the living room was quiet. Which meant Rafe and Jerry weren't fighting. Yet.
"Now, Gloriana. Want to tell me what you and Valdez are working on together?" Jerry gestured for me to sit on the couch. Of course he was beside me, too close beside me, in an instant.
Rafe sat in the chair Jerry had used earlier. He studied me with his warm brown eyes and I knew he was hurt and not a little disillusioned. I could easily read his thoughts. There Glory goes again, back to Blade and her old dependent ways. I sat up straight and slid into a corner of the couch, using my knees to put some space between Jerry and me.
"Okay, here's the deal. Alesa, the demon who possessed me before - "
"Valdez's ex-wife." Jerry glared at Rafe.
"Yes, she was that. Anyway, she went down to hell after we drove her out and apparently bragged about how strong I was." I looked at Rafe for help.
"Knowing her kind, that was to save face. She was trapped in Glory for a good long while. Any demon worth her salt should have been able to jump right back out again after what happened. Instead, she was stuck in Glory. Couldn't get back to hell until we used extreme measures."
"Right. The exorcism and the power of love." Jerry looked beyond grim. "This all goes back to you and your demon origins, Valdez."
Rafe leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Which you knew about and appreciated when you hired me to look after Glory. Thought my powers might be useful."
"Okay, so that's a standoff. Am I right?" I didn't like the heat rising from Rafe or the way Jerry's fangs were glinting in the lamplight.
"Not exactly. What has that to do with now? You sent this demon bitch back where she belongs. So you're done, Gloriana. Valdez no longer works for me. He's no longer your bodyguard or your lover. Am I right?" Jerry stared at me, almost daring me to close my mind to him.
I didn't. I opened it wide. "No, he's not my lover. That's history." I turned to Rafe. "I'm sorry, Rafe, but Jerry and I are together now. What you and I did . . ." I stopped. No need to dredge that up. "Anyway, I'm committed to making our relationship work now."
"Committed. Working. Fine. Have at it. But you and I are in a hell of a mess." Rafe glared at Jerry. "Sorry, but we're committed too. And if I don't help you, Glory, we're both up shit creek."
"Explain." Jerry bit off the word.
"Alesa did such a sales job on me that two demons showed up, determined to make me an offer I couldn't refuse." I sighed. "They want me to work for Lucifer, to collect souls for him."
"That's ridiculous." Jerry smiled. "Anyone who knows you would never expect for a moment that you'd go over to the dark side."
"Exactly!" I wanted to reach over and hug him. But I didn't. Rafe was here and I wanted to keep the tone of this meeting as neutral as possible. "They even tried bribing me. Said if I did this, they'd make me a size six, permanently." I laughed. "Like that would do it."
"I remember when you went down to that size, in California." Jerry reached over and rubbed my bare knee, exposed by my skirt. "You were too thin, lost your full curves. You weren't the Glory I knew