by Wendi Wilson
When we got to a quiet corner near the back of the bar, he began to apologize. “I’m sorry I came inside. I didn’t want to ruin your girl time, it’s just… I could tell you were upset.”
“Wow, you vampires must have psychic powers, too.” I pulled him toward a dark bench, and we sat down together while the music droned like a steady hum around us. “The truth is, I am upset. True made me use my compulsion powers on the bouncer to get us in here.”
“Ah,” he said. “I wondered what it was. That sucks, Piper. I’m sorry.”
I tossed my head back, shaking it out as if to clear it. “She just wants us to have a good time. She doesn’t seem to realize how icky it makes me feel.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I can relate.”
“Did you ever use compulsion on people like that?”
He nodded. “When I was a young vampire, I worked with a traveling carnival.”
“Wait, what? How have I never heard this story?”
He smiled, and I had a feeling that, if he weren’t a vampire, he’d be blushing. “It’s embarrassing to be a carnie.”
“No, it’s not! Tell me more. Were you a ride worker? Did you guess people’s weights?”
“Sadly no. I was a grunt. Heavy lifting.”
“How did that lead you into compulsion?”
His chest rose and fell as if he were sighing. “Well, there were some shady vamps that worked for the carnival.”
“No!” I said, feigning shock.
“Truly,” he replied with a smile. “And, they often used compulsion on the rubes to swindle them out of cash. Made them play the unwinnable games until their pockets were empty, had them ride coasters that were poorly put together. Shitty stuff like that.”
“Did you do that? I wouldn’t judge you if you did.”
He quickly shook his head. “I never did anything that might hurt someone, but I did take my share of people’s spending money. I was young and angry at being turned. I’m not proud of what I did.” His teeth captured his bottom lip as he remembered.
I slid my hand into his and drew him into me. “I guess we all make mistakes.”
“I wouldn’t lump what you did into the same category as me,” he said, brushing hair off my shoulders, before pressing his lips to the skin there. “You seem to have a better sense of right and wrong than I ever did at your age.”
“So does that mean that when I tell you I want to become a vampire, you’ll agree with me?”
His expression went dark. “Let’s just enjoy tonight. Your night is going to improve from here.”
“You sound like a fortune cookie,” I said, allowing the subject to be dropped. “You want to tell me my lucky numbers too?”
He pulled me to my feet. “How about this? I see a dance with a dark, handsome stranger in your future.”
I smiled as I leaned into him. “You may be strange, but you’re no stranger.”
He slipped his arms around me, drawing me close. A jolt of excitement shot through me as our bodies aligned. With his strong hands on me, the world suddenly felt solid beneath my feet and I knew, as long as I lived, either as a human or a vampire, no one would ever make me feel as alive as he did.
He gazed into my eyes with an intensity that left me undone. “Piper, whatever comes, I want you to know you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I held him close, wanting this moment to last, and knowing, sadly, that it was fleeting.
“You know, I was about to say the same thing. Now, how about that dance?”
Chapter Nineteen
After a single dance, Levi slipped out, and I went in search of True and Coco to try to salvage this girls’ night. My time with him had alleviated most of my guilt, and I realized he was right—in the grand scheme of things, using compulsion to skip a club line really wasn’t that bad. I didn’t need to beat myself up over it, but I would remember this and use more caution in the future.
Using powers to get what you wanted was a slippery slope.
My friends were dancing together in the middle of the floor, hands raised and booties shaking. As I watched from the edge of the crowd, one daring guy sidled up behind True. Grabbing her hips, he ground his pelvis against her ass aggressively. She tried to pull out of his grasp, and he jerked her back, his fingers digging into her flesh.
Anger flowed through me, but before I could charge forward, Coco practically picked the dude up and shoved him away. I saw a quick flash of fang before True wrapped her fingers around Coco’s forearms and whispered furiously in her ear. Coco visibly calmed and nodded at True’s words before they separated and began dancing again.
Shit, that was close. We hadn’t really discussed the repercussions of bringing a fairly new vampire to a club full of hot, sweaty humans.
Coco had seemed… well, like Coco. It was so easy to forget what her reality was now, and that she could easily succumb to violent and bloodthirsty urges. Especially against aggressive, horny assholes who tried to dry hump her friends without consent.
I rushed forward, leaning toward her as I moved my hips to the beat.
“Are you okay?” I shouted over the music.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding emphatically. “I almost lost it there for a sec. You know I can’t stomach douchebags like that.”
“She’s my hero,” True shouted, leaning in to join the conversation.
Coco raised her arm and flexed an incredibly toned bicep before leaning in to kiss it. A laugh exploded through my lips, and I felt a hundred-pound weight lift from my shoulders.
This was what tonight was about. No worries. No fear. No guilt. No responsibilities. Just me and my girls shaking our asses off and having fun. One night of freedom from evil vampires and dark witches. From spells, and compulsion, and fighting, and people who were, quite literally, a pain in my neck.
Suddenly, Coco froze and lifted onto her toes in an attempt to see over the crowd.
“What is it?” I asked, continuing to move to the music.
She shook her head but didn’t meet my eyes, and my movements stopped. Something wasn’t right. Finally, Coco looked at me, her face filled with a negative emotion I had no desire to see—it was dread.
“There’s another vampire here, and it’s not Levi or Desmond.”
True must’ve heard her words, because she stopped dancing and moved closer. We gathered into a tight circle, bending our heads together.
“Did you spot him? Or her?” True asked.
“No,” Coco said. “At first, the scent came from the back, then the front, then from every corner, like the vampire knows what I am and is trying to confuse my senses.”
Suddenly, the music stopped. We pulled away from each other to look around with awe and horror. Every person in the club stood completely still with wild, rolling eyes, like they’d been instantly frozen in place—petrified in both senses of the word.
The lights clicked on, and I squinted against the brightness as a body weaved through the suspended clubbers, moving in a graceful and melodic motion toward us. Coco and True stepped in close on either side of me, determined to present a united front to—whoever this was.
As my eyes finally adjusted to the light, they nearly bugged out of my head when I got a good look at the vampire. At first glance, she appeared to be a young girl. Maybe ten years old with curly blonde pigtails and bright blue eyes.
She giggled at our expressions, but the humor didn’t reach her eyes. Those blue orbs were hard and calculating, like she was sizing us up to determine the biggest threat.
“Who are you?” True demanded. “And what do you want?”
“You dare to question me?” the girl asked, her voice sounding somehow childish and ancient at the same time.
It was very confusing… and terrifying.
My first thought was What in all that is holy, is this? My second thought was And where the hell are Levi and Desmond?
The girl’s gaze locked on me, and I fought the urge to flinch away. Something about
this was wrong. So wrong, on so many levels.
“Piper Williams, I presume?” she asked, smiling widely to show off small white baby teeth while I started at her use of my name.
I stiffened my spine and said, “Who’s asking?” with more bravado than I felt.
“I am Astrid” she said as she cocked her head, “Let’s pretend I’m Princess of Moldova. Say it with me, girls. Mol. Do. Va. Not Moldo-via. If you’re going to lie, you should make sure you know what you’re talking about.”
“What do you want?” I asked ignoring her jab while silently freaking out that she’d obviously been watching us since the moment we arrived, and Levi and Desmond had no idea.
What was she?
“I want to eat all these people while you watch, unable to help a single one of them,” she said maliciously, her tiny fangs extending to poke between her strawberry-colored lips.
“We can take her,” True said, cracking her knuckles as she looked back at Astrid. “Back off, Minnie Mouse.”
“Where are Levi and Desmond?” Coco whispered.
“Oh, your heroes are… indisposed,” Astrid called out, zeroing in on Coco’s words while ignoring True’s.
“What did you do to them?” I demanded, terror turning my blood to ice as I imagined all kinds of awful things.
This was like some horror movie where the beautiful china doll turns out to be possessed by some demon that controls it and makes it move on its own and kills everybody in the house.
I hated those movies, and I hated china dolls.
“They’ll recover,” Astrid said, waving a hand in the air nonchalantly. “I wanted them out of the way, but I also wanted them to survive. Watching their faces as they search through all these dead bodies to find yours will be quite satisfying. Almost… orgasmic.”
“Okay, never say that word again, little girl,” True ordered, shivering in revulsion.
“True,” I hissed.
“What?” she snapped back.
“Don’t.”
“Why not?” she said, turning her eyes back to Astrid. “It’s three against one, and she’s a tiny little thing.”
I shook my head vigorously, and True rolled her eyes. I needed her to stop antagonizing the vampire. She might look like a child, but something about her reeked of age and history. Somehow, I knew she’d been frozen in that state for much longer than any of us could fathom—which made her very dangerous. Plus, she’d frozen all these people. How had she managed that?
“We’re going to shut her up,” True said, readying herself.
“Go ahead and try, you foolish girl,” Astrid said calmly, cocking her head to let one pigtail trail down a slim shoulder.
“True, she took out Levi and Desmond. Think about that for a minute,” I said in a rush. It was all happening so fast. I needed to think.
“Sit down and don’t move,” Astrid ordered in a firm voice, and Coco plopped onto her butt.
True and I both gawked at her with open mouths before turning our eyes back to Astrid. She grinned at us as she twirled a pigtail around one finger. Then she grabbed the nearest person, jerked her down to her level, and savagely bit into her neck. The young woman didn’t struggle, but her face was a mask of pain and terror.
“No!” True and I screamed, but it was too late. The blood spurted all over as Astrid slurped hungrily.
When she was done drinking, Astrid threw her victim to the floor and poked her tongue out to lick the blood from her lips sensually. It was revolting, seeing this small child act like that… which was obviously why she did it. She enjoyed shocking people with her brazen behavior. It was a weapon.
“Ignore her theatrics,” True said as if she read my thoughts before mumbling a spell under her breath. The woman took a deep breath, then blew it out before relaxing into what appeared to be a gentle sleep. The bleeding seemed to slow, as well. True’s spell was helping her.
Then True linked her fingers through mine, presenting a united front. I felt her strength through our connection, and suddenly, I was less afraid. I stood a little taller, breathing slower as my heart rate evened out.
“Oh, the little witches have some balls, after all, eh?” Astrid said, her tone mocking as she ambled closer. “What are you going to do, little witches? Give me the old abra-cadabra?”
“It’s avada kedavra, bitch,” True said as she quoted the killing curse from Harry Potter with a wave of her free hand.
The hand that still held mine squeezed three times in quick succession, as if to tell me she was stalling. We needed a plan if we were going to survive this. And we needed one, quick.
“I have no knowledge of that spell,” Astrid said, “but it will not work. I am one of the ancients, and you will find I do not succumb to witch magic as easily as most.”
Ancients? What the hell?
“Who sent you here?” I asked, hoping to stall a little longer. “Someone obviously set this up, since you know my name.”
“I think you know who,” she said, grinning.
“Warren,” I muttered, and her smile grew. “How did he know we’d be here?”
“Mm,” she hummed, “a little birdy told him.”
Shit. There really was a spy. It wasn’t just my phone, as we’d thought.
“Enough of this,” Astrid said, cutting off my thoughts. “I’m bored, and I want to play.”
As she prepared to launch forward, True’s grip on my hand tightened. She chanted words in a low, melodic voice. I followed along, assuming she’d memorized the spell from her family’s grimoire.
“Frossen, rhewi, rigor mortis, congelé.”
Rigor mortis? Okay, I know that word.
Knowing the spell’s intention made it easier to focus on the words and power building up between True and me. It felt… different. Stronger. More influential. Dominant.
A heady feeling washed over me, and I tightened my grip on True’s hand. Astrid stopped moving, her eyes flying wide with disbelief. True and I repeated the chant three more times, though, just to be sure.
“Who you calling little now, beeyotch?” True spouted off as she tried to disentangle her hand from mine.
I squeezed tighter, saying, “Don’t. Our connection made the spell stronger. Didn’t you feel it?”
True stilled, her eyes searching mine for a moment before she nodded. “You’re right. The magic came so easily, and it felt… absolute. Like nothing could stop it.”
I nodded in agreement, my excitement building to a near-unbearable degree.
“We have to get all these people out of here, but we can’t release her to break her compulsion,” I said. “I think if we combine our power like we just did, it might work.”
“Okay, let’s try it,” she agreed, closing her eyes.
I fell still, keeping my gaze on Astrid as her eyes rolled wildly in their sockets. She was struggling to break free of our spell, but failing. She couldn’t move her pinky, much less run away or attack us. Focusing, I traced her aura in my mind’s eye. A dark purple, smoky looking cord appeared, and grasping it was as easy as taking a breath. True’s magic rushed into me through our clasped hands.
I gave the cord a mental tug, then raised my voice, saying, “Everyone, look at me,” while mentally eliminating True, Coco, and Astrid from the order. “You’ve had a fun night dancing, and that’s all you remember. The club has to close early because of a water main leak, so you have to leave. Right now.”
The room seemed to exhale as the frozen bodies moved as one. Grabbing bags and jackets from tables and chairs, they all headed toward the exit, mumbling about busted pipes and ruined evenings.
Once the building was empty save for the four of us, I looked down at Coco.
“You are free from Astrid’s compulsion.”
Coco shot to her feet with a growl. Her fangs elongated and appeared between her snarling lips, and I used my free hand to grasp her elbow.
“Hey, are you good?” I asked.
My voice seemed to break through her haze of r
age, and she shook her head before meeting my eyes. She nodded slightly, then looked back at Astrid.
“Not so smug now, are you?” Coco mocked, though her stance was still rigid as if she expected the vampire to attack at any moment.
“Coco,” I said, “I can’t let go of True’s hand, or Astrid might break free. I need you to go outside and find Levi and Desmond. See if they’re okay, and get them in here, if you can.”
“On it,” she replied, then zipped from the room in a blur.
“Can we modify the spell to unfreeze her mouth?” I asked True.
“Why would we do that? Do you want her to bite you?”
“No, smartass,” I said, “but we need her to be able to talk. We need to find out who Warren’s informant is and why he sent her here instead of coming himself.”
“That’s an easy one,” True quipped. “He’s a coward.”
Astrid’s eyes narrowed at True’s insult. If looks could kill…
“You’re in love with him?” I guessed, my voice flabbergasted.
“Ugh, that’s gross,” True said, shivering. “You’re like, what? Nine? Ten?”
“I don’t think so, True. She might’ve been a child when she was turned, but I’m guessing she’s been this age for a long, long time.”
Astrid’s eyes returned to their normal size, filling with triumph. Yep, I was right. She was ancient, just as she’d said.
“Well, whatever. It’s still gross. No wonder she wants you dead. It must kill her, knowing Warren wants you and not her.”
Astrid’s eyes filled with venom once more, and I had a feeling True was right on the nose with this one. I tilted my head, staring at her intently.
“He didn’t send you here to kill me, did he?”
Nope. Such expressive eyes in that child’s face.
“She would’ve, though,” True spat, “then claimed it was an accident.”