cell phone. It would be nice to call for help. No, that was the old Glory. I was going to handle this by myself. I'd just decided that when there was a knock on the door. I jumped up and ran my fingers through my hair. Why now? I knew who'd dropped by, and wished for a few minutes with my makeup bag and, good grief, a hairbrush.
"What's up, Glory? You're freaking." Penny looked interested as there was another, louder knock.
"My boyfriend. Well, maybe we're on break. Not sure. Anyway, he's also my sire." I glanced down at my well-worn robe. "Look at me."
Penny grinned. "He's not going away."
"Gloriana, I can hear you in there. Open up before I knock this door down. I need to talk to you."
"I'm coming, Jerry." I sighed and opened the door. "I'm not dressed and I have company." I gestured for him to come in.
"I certainly have no problem seeing you undressed." He grinned, then came to a halt as he saw my visitor on the couch. "Who's this?"
"Penny, this is Jeremy Blade, my sire. He turned me vampire in 1604."
"Seriously?" Penny gazed at Jerry with a look I recognized. Yep, the girl was checking him out and liking what she saw. Who wouldn't? Jerry was forever tanned and forever hard bodied with the broad shoulders and lean waist of a warrior who'd earned his physique in battle. He smiled with a slash of white teeth and stepped forward to offer his hand.
"Seriously. Jerry, Penny Patterson, a fledgling that I'm mentoring for the council."
Penny had snapped out of her initial lust fog to jump to her feet. Jerry did that to people, made them come to attention. He was good at intimidating, though this time it wasn't intentional.
"Hi." Penny took his outstretched hand and shook it. "Glory just got stuck with me tonight. We're still working out our arrangements."
"Will you be living here or is Valdez still here?" Jerry turned to me.
"Oh, Rafe's gone. Has his own place. Penny will be staying in the extra bedroom." I sounded desperate to explain. Not cool. I made myself stroll to the couch and sit, pulling Penny down beside me like I didn't care what Jerry thought. "Anyway, Penny was recently turned against her will. She'll need a lot of guidance to work through the transition."
"Of course she will." Jerry sat in a chair. "Penny, I wonder if you'd mind giving Glory and me a few minutes alone together. Some personal business we need to discuss." He gave her one of his charming smiles and Penny grinned back.
"No problem. I was about to go out anyway." She glanced at me. "To pick up some of my stuff." She grabbed her purse and tried to look innocent.
"Forget it. Go unpack. Your bedroom is at the end of the hall." I grabbed her arm, marched her past her backpack and thrust it into her arms, then guided her toward her new room. "We'll arrange to get your things soon. I'll talk to Damian about it." I leaned down to hiss in her ear. "You think I'm an idiot? You'd run straight to your sister because you feel full of synthetic, am I right?"
Penny flashed me a defiant look. "I am full. I could handle it. I'm not a child."
"In this world you're an infant. We'll finish discussing your sister later." I was sure she was going to nag me about it endlessly. I kept my gaze stern.
"Geez, get physical, why don't you?" Penny rubbed her arm. "All right, I'll unpack. Nice to meet you, Mr. Blade."
"Call me Jeremy." Jerry was on his feet, ever the gentleman.
"Jeremy. So you're Glory's sire. Does that give you the power to tell her what to do?" Penny glared at me. "Glory didn't sire me, but she seems to think she did."
"I'd listen to her, if I were you." Jerry turned to look at me. "Gloriana's advice will help you survive." His eyes darkened as he studied me. "Our relationship is complicated. Much more than sire and fledgling. Gloriana can tell you about it if she wishes, but I've given up trying to tell her what to do."
"Interesting." Penny looked from Jerry to me and back again. "Well, guess I'll put on my iPod and earphones, otherwise it seems my new supersonic hearing picks up everything within a hundred yards." With a wave, she headed down the hall.
Jerry looked so yummy I wondered if I could drag him to my bedroom for that "private