"Erin, I'll be down in a few. Ray's fine. But we're not - " I almost fell in when the bathroom door opened behind me. Ray came out wearing nothing but a towel around his waist after what had to be his quickest shower ever.
"Damn, that water's cold." He snagged me around the waist. "Let me call Nate and get some clothes up here."
I heard more glass breaking in the living room. "Erin, hang in there. Give me five minutes to kill a few men and I'll be down." I shut the phone and handed it to Ray. "Knock yourself out."
"Thanks, sweet thing." He gave me a smile and a squeeze. "Better do something about your guy in there before he kills your dog."
"You are such a jerk." I took his hand off my waist and charged into the wreckage of my living room. "Stop!"
Jerry rolled off Rafe and lay panting on the floor. His shirt was ripped and bloody and both eyes were swollen to slits. Obviously he'd been ready to call a halt or he'd never have obeyed me. Rafe lay on the floor where Jerry had left him. He had long gashes in his skin where obviously Jerry had used his fangs to good effect, and he was bleeding all over the floor and what was left of his ripped shirt. His lips were cut and swollen to double their normal size.
"Aren't you a pretty pair?" I put my hands on my hips. "And look at the mess you made." I figured the only piece of furniture still worth keeping was the couch. Both chairs had been destroyed, along with my lamp and various decorations I had used to make the living room homey. My coffee table hadn't survived either. Damn it. "Did this solve anything?"
"Sorry, Glory." Rafe winced as he sat up. "Guess we should have taken this outside."
"Ya think?" I kicked the broken lampshade aside to make a path. "You will pay for every bit of damage. Both of you." I glared at Jerry, who was getting to his feet. I saw him bite his lip against the pain but didn't have much sympathy for him. His temper had started this.
"Of course. Send me half the bill." Jerry held on to the wall as he staggered. "The shifter can pay the other half."
"It should all be on you." Rafe was on his feet now and grabbed a kitchen towel to wipe the blood off his arms. "You put your hands on me first. I don't take that shit from anybody."
Jerry smiled. "You just took it from me. How'd you like the beat-down?"
Rafe growled, obviously about to launch himself at Jerry again.
"No!" I jumped between them. "I've got to get to the shop. Apparently Ray and I are an item again, according to the tabloids, and all hell has broken loose down there."
"Seems hell has broken loose up here too." Penny stared around the room in dismay. "You didn't bump into my computer, did you?" She picked her way to the kitchen table and anxiously checked the new setup there.
"See? See what you've done? Is this an example to set for a fledgling, Jerry?" I thumped him on his bruised chest and had the pleasure of seeing him wince. "And, Rafe, get that smile off your face. You threw the first punch and owe me for half. Make no mistake about that." I grabbed my purse, which, luckily, had been in a chair safely near Penny's computer. I stomped back to the bathroom door and held out my hand. Ray, having just ended a call, slapped the phone into it.
"Nate coming?"
"No. He's pissed at me. Says for me to stay here and dry out." Ray shook his head. "What the hell is the matter with him? Where's the loyalty?"
"I think you drank it, Ray. Right out of his veins." I clomped into my bedroom, picked up the bag of Blud-Lite that Ray had obviously unearthed from my hamper, and hefted it. "This is coming with me. Take Nate's advice and dry out. I'll check in on you later. You and I are a couple again." I brushed my hand on his cheek. "Sorry, sweetie. I know this is going to be rough. Please try to stick with it."
His answer was a lunge for the bag that made him stagger. "Glory, I need to leave and work on my research at the lab at school. My computer is okay now, but . . ." Penny glanced at