on every movement around him. He discretely pocketed the dagger handle and stuffed his blood covered hand in his pocket… he’d wash the jeans later.
Nick frowned when he made his way back to the door and found the closed sign staring back at him at eye level. He glared at it. How the hell had he missed that thing? In his defense, he’d been a little busy with a couple of fangers. His gaze lowered to the notice… reading that the shop would be closed tomorrow.
“Damn it,” Nick cursed, suppressing the urge to kick the defenseless door.
The overnighter must have been rescheduled. The old saying ‘you snooze you lose’ came back to haunt him. He completely forgot his paranoia about vampires and marched right back into the alley where the side door of the shop was located. Holstering the gun, he tried the door and found it locked.
“Goody,” Nick whispered and kneeled down in front of the door. “This night is just full of freakin’ surprises,” He ranted to himself. “What did you expect? Her to call you and tell you she was leaving for her… overnighter? Dummy, it’s not like you’re her boyfriend or anything. Just because you haven’t asked her out on a date doesn’t mean others won't.”
Nick glared at the lock as if it was its fault. He’d already noticed that the store’s alarm system was simply for show and had been since the old man died. Either Gypsy hadn't paid the bill or she’d had it turned off not thinking she needed it.
He smirked, the deadbolts might be enough to keep the newbie’s out, but this was the city… even he was a pro. The girl undeniably needed someone watching out for her.
Taking out a small wallet-like item, he flipped it open and withdrew two tools that looked like tiny awls. Placing them both into the lock on the door, he proceeded to pick it open. When the lock turned, he grinned and quickly put the tools away.
Glancing around to make sure he was still alone, Nick smiled as he slipped inside and bolted the door behind him. He’d have to talk to Gypsy when she got home about her ‘security’ system. Maybe even offer his services… free of charge of course.
Nick stood still for a moment letting his night vision kick in before walking through the storage area and into the main room.
The store was beautiful at night, the streams of streetlight shining in the front reflected off all of the crystals that were scattered throughout the room. The bottles of potions and scents reflected different colors and the glint of polished silver weapons lined the walls. It was serene and hypnotic to his feline senses.
Making sure not to disturb anything, he moved through the shop on a mission… to find anything he could about where Gypsy had gone and just who she was meeting. If he had a rival, then he wanted a face and name to go with it.
“Jealous? Who me? Nooo,” Nick rolled his eyes at his little attempt of humor. He’d never really felt jealousy before and the fact that he was feeling it now had him curious as hell.
After combing through all of the paperwork near the front counter, he decided he was looking in the wrong place. Heading back the way he’d come, Nick passed up the storage area until he came to a set of steps leading down into the basement. He’d wanted to know what was hidden down there for a while now and it looked like he was finally going to get his chance to find out.
His grin faded and his eyes narrowed. The bottom of the stairs was barred by what looked like an old fashioned vault door that had been built into the brick and mortar. He cocked an eyebrow realizing the store must have been built over top of a bomb shelter. Now if that wasn’t just as neat as hell. The large wheel on the front of the metal door told Nick that it was a combination lock.
“Great,” Nick complained “This place is locked up tighter than Envy with Devon as her warden.”
Rubbing his hands together, he stepped up to the door and gave the wheel a spin. Then, pressing his ear against the door he concentrated, letting his feline senses pick up the tiniest click of vibration. He began to slowly and methodically move the wheel around until finally, he got the last click and heard the lever echo as it released its hold.
“Gotcha,” Nick whispered and pulled the thick steel door the rest of the way open. He felt excitement bubble up inside of him as he realized he was getting ready to possibly see Gypsy’s inner sanctum.
The first thing he noticed was that she’d left the lights on… just not your normal lights. Several crystal vases were scattered around, housing huge candles that would probably stay lit for a week if they were left alone. They added a mystical atmosphere to the room, showing off a lot of the same crystals The Witch’s Brew sold upstairs. From the looks of things, she probably picked her favorites from each shipment and kept them for herself.
Sliding the tips of his fingers over a crystal wizard and then a black crystal dragon, Nick's lips hinted at a smile knowing what to get her for Christmas. His Gypsy girl had a fetish for crystals… not that it wasn’t an awesome thing to collect. She had a renaissance type theme going on that fit her perfectly.
The furniture was well used but in a comfortable way. When it was originally bought, Nick was sure it would have cost a fortune. Now, the deep purple almost black upholstery was beginning to show signs of wear and he smiled when his finger brushed against a tiny rip that had been sewn closed with black thread.
His eyes lit up in appreciation at the display of medieval weapons on her wall. She didn’t strike him as the type that knew how to use them for anything other than décor, but he was alright with that. He’d never cared for girls that come across as bad asses… they made it hard for a guy to play the hero.
Walking over to the computer desk, he carefully moved the few items around trying to find some clue about where she’d gone. Turning on the computer, he cursed softly when he saw it was password protected.
“Well hell,” he griped and started to turn away when he saw something still sitting on the printer tray. Reaching for it, his eyes lit up when he saw it was a corrected flight itinerary… to New York. She’d canceled one flight and rescheduled another.
“So, you left a day earlier than expected,” Nick said and briefly played with the idea of hopping on the next plane to New York but quickly changed his mind. He didn’t even know where she’d gone once she’d arrived there.
Nick put the itinerary back where he’d found it and leaned against the sofa arm behind him. It still bothered him that those vampires had been stalking this place and wondered if he should stick around until she was due back. He toyed with the idea, trying to come up with a good reason for staying.
The store was pretty safe as long as it was daylight, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep it company at night. Gypsy’s return flight wasn’t until tomorrow evening and her security upstairs sucked as far as he was concerned… though downstairs was about as secure as she could get.
Nick cocked a dark eyebrow... that settled it, he was gonna stay the night and guard the place. His gaze slid toward the back room that was sectioned off from the rest of the huge bomb shelter. There were countless strands of crystalline beads hanging to form a wall. Nick sharpened his eyesight seeing through the slim lines into Gypsy’s bedroom and bath.
Moving purposely through the bead wall, he headed into the bathroom and took off his jacket and shirt. Dropping them into a neat pile on the floor, he washed the blood off of his hand and picked up the shirt to examine it. There wasn’t any blood on it but the jacket sleeve had some on the end of it.
Turning the cold water
