by Amie Gibbons
“No, for big events like this, the place we use gets temps from a general party planner staffing agency. Most of the caterers in this area will bid, get the project, and staff out of these agencies for the night instead of keeping people on payroll when they don’t know when they’ll need them,” Quil said.
“Oh.”
“But the rest are already here and showing up late looks bad, so where are they?”
“Right here,” a cold voice said from behind.
I didn’t need to turn or see over people to know that was Grant in the doorway.
“Everyone, out in the hall,” Grant said.
The FBI personnel shuffled out.
The vamps didn’t.
“Remember what I said at the office, everyone has their cameras on at all times,” Grant said. “That means you, Ryder.”
Now why did he have to say that? My face could not possibly heat up more.
“I am going to enjoy being your boss for the evening, Special Agent Grant,” Quil said over my head.
Oh dear.
“You’re going to remember this is work, and you’re going to behave with my agent. You may kiss her like all of you do, but there will be no groping, and especially no going off by yourselves,” Grant said.
“Don’t speak to me that way, Grant. This is not my first operation, or my hundredth. I am not a rookie, and if you will remember, I have a few centuries on you.”
“You’re right, you’re not a rookie, but you are the intended victim. We’re here to protect you as much as to support her. Protocols tonight are in place specifically for the safety of both of you.”
I didn’t turn to see Quil’s face but I could feel the tension meltin’ away.
“Thank you, Grant,” Quil said. “I appreciate that, and I will try to keep that in mind. But I can’t stop investigating.”
“I wouldn’t either. But neither of you goes anywhere without a third, just in case.”
“I can live with that.”
“That’s the point.”
I smiled at Grant but he didn’t look at me, eyes fixed firmly behind me on Quil.
“The others will be here soon, and the visiting leaders soon after that,” Quil said. “Which one did you say would be playing Cocktail for the night?”
“Dan.”
“Does he know how to mix drinks?”
“Oh yeah,” I said before Grant could.
He may be a jerk sometimes, but he paid for college by workin’ as a bartender for a fancy speakeasy up in New York.
The man knew his mixed drinks.
“Fantastic,” Quil said.
Grant handed out earbuds, even to Quil and Len, and we put them in.
The guys left for the kitchen and those of us playin’ guests followed Quil and Len into the main part of the club.
The vamps stayed on the side since the sun was still lighting the sky and coming through the holes.
“We doing anything about that?” I asked, pointing to the roof.
Len shrugged. “They have plastic over it and will fix it in a few days. Soonest I could get it going.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “It’s just… this is my club, my baby, and to have her injured like this, it hurts.”
“I hate to say this, Len, but I think she’s gonna get a few more bruises tonight.”
He rubbed my arm. “I’m afraid you’re right, darling. Just hope it’s not worse than that, but I got a bad feeling about tonight.”
“How bad?”
“I may not be psychic like you, but vamps, we got a sixth sense all our own. I haven’t felt this queasy since I was down in New Orleans.”
“What happened?” I asked.
He gave me a look. “Hurricane Katrina.”
Chapter eighTEEN
“Blanche!” Len said to the queen of Charlotte so loud I jumped.
The party was in full swing and I greeted people at the door with Quil and Len, getting handshakes and kisses, drinkin’ in visions so fast my brains were near boiled by ten.
“Lenny, it’s been too long.”
They gave each other a quick kiss as he led her by the hand to me and Quil.
She was as short as me, and her long red hair was curled into perfect ringlets that bounced around like they thought they were in a shampoo ad. She had bright green eyes, a pert freckled nose, and looked like a model in her stylish green wrap dress and matching strappy stilettos.
“Blanche, my dear, you get lovelier every time I see you,” Quil said, kissin’ her hello.
She wrapped her long fingers around his arms and pulled him in, trying to deepen it.
Ohhhhhhhhh, no honey. Nobody pulls that with my man.
I clenched my hands into fists, grinned big and bright and stepped so close to Quil’s side I would’ve bumped her if she didn’t back off in the last second.
“And this is Ariana.” Quil held out a hand for me.
I took it and the only thing keepin’ me from meeting her eyes was some semblance of sense that said she’d know something was off about me if I did.
“She’s yours?” Blanche asked with what could only be described as a kittenish look as Quil kissed my knuckles.
“She is,” Quil said.
“Ariana Finn.” I held out my hand and she looked at it.
So far, the only ones who didn’t shake my hands were the ones who went straight for a kiss.
If she refused to touch me at all, we’d have suspect number one.
“She’s so cute!” Blanche said, leaning forward and plantin’ a kiss on my lips.
I got a quick flash of her being made, so weak I couldn’t even see the scene around it, and focused on her as the vision cut off and she pulled back.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I said, taking her hand and shakin’ it.
She blinked, obviously surprised, but just smiled as I stared at her.
Nothing.
Huh.
Some people were just harder to get stuff off of than others, and I was gettin’ tired.
And drunk.
“My lady,” Crowley said, appearin’ next to me with another of the giant Cumberland Rivers Dan had mixed up with some help from Dave. Before things got going, Quil hypnotized the real servers so they’d stay in the kitchen and let our guys circulate the food and drinks until the party part of the night started.
Crowley had a tray of the signature drink and some champagne flutes and gave me a look as Blanche took a drink.
“Too many?” Crowley mouthed at me.
I shook my head, mouthin’, “Third, but needed.”
But then again, if it was helpin’, why was my vision off of Blanche so weak?
“What are these?” Blanche asked.
“Cumberland Rivers,” Quil said. “Special concoction by our bartender. He’s helping out the caterers tonight.”
“Make sure to keep these coming,” she said to Crowley, slippin’ him some cash. “Thank you.”
My opinion of her went up about ten points.
You can tell a lot about someone by how they treat “the help.”
Speaking of. Marie, one of the queens, and an iced one at that, came up. She kissed Blanche and Quil, gave me a sniff, and grabbed one of the drinks.
“Darling, how are you,” Marie said, light accent makin’ her sound even colder.
Blanche and Marie wandered off and I leaned into Quil. “That everyone?”
Blanche’s crew came in first, a lot of the leaders did that, sort of like someone to announce them or something.
“All except Jade,” Quil said.
“You think she’s coming?”
“She has to. It will look weak if she doesn’t.”
We had maybe a hundred vamps in the club, really not that many, and a handful of humans who were dates of the few nest members invited.
“Do you think it’s one of these guys, or someone in the nest?” I asked.
“If I had to bet on someone coming after me, it’d be
Jade. But like this? By making it look like an attack against the nest?” Quil shook his head. “It hurts her too, makes her look weak.”
“Why is that so bad?”
“In our world, if you look weak, another vampire might move in on your territory.”
“Even if it’s not your fault?” I asked. “I mean, everyone seems to be being pretty nice about this. Rushin’ here and everything. Doesn’t seem like they think y’all are weak.”
“No, them rushing here shows exactly that. They want to see for themselves what’s going on. They want to help, maybe, but they are vultures circling, seeing if they could replace the queen with a second who is strong enough, or enough of a threat to their power, for them to want another throne.”
“It’s like countries back in medieval Europe.”
“Not a bad way to see it. We have rulers of cities or city-states, all trying to protect their power and expand their territory.”
“If leaders sometimes overthrow another territory to put a powerful second in charge, has Jade tried doin’ that with you?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“But aren’t you a threat to her?”
“Yes, but they put in threats when they’re powerful enough to be restless, but can be controlled by family ties. Jade can’t control me anymore, and she knows it.”
“Control? Like influence or like magic?”
“Closer to the second. Your maker has power over you, until you are powerful enough to resist. Jade has not been able to compel me for a very long time. And there is no affection to keep me tied either. No, she most certainly does not want me in my own city. My beliefs are too different from hers. With my own city, I’d be more of a threat.”
Quil put a few guards on the front door with instructions that no one but Nashville’s queen was to get in without them grabbing Quil and me to check them out first, and he led me over to our table near the front.
“I want to talk to people about the attacks,” Quil said as we sat, “but I can’t start without Jade.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“It would be an insult to her. This is a meeting between the leaders and this is her nest under attack. This is technically her party. I was just the one setting it up.”
“And the one who had the idea and actually cares and, oh yeah, isn’t a suspect.”
He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t think it’s Jade. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, I want it to be her. She… bugs me.”
He smiled for real this time. “Are you always this feisty when you drink?”
“Lil’ bit.” I kissed him and for a moment, just a moment, things were okay.
“Everyone here, Quil?”
I jerked away from Quil so fast I think I bit his lip.
Speak of the devil.
Jade stood next to us, the timin’ so perfect she had to have planned it.
Quil stood, bendin’ over her hand like a gentleman, and pulled out the chair next to his.
She was gonna sit with us?
I must’ve made a face cuz she smirked at me as she sat.
“Hey, Jade.” I held out my hand for her.
She stared at it and I shrugged and pulled it back.
She couldn’t avoid touchin’ me all night.
Quil stayed standin’ and held his hands up as Len handed him a microphone.
“Now that we’re all here,” Quil said, “we need to talk about these attacks. We’ve already had federal agents search our club and dig into our finances. The attacks are calling attention to our nest, and that means they’re calling attention to all of us. Whoever is behind these attacks has summoned not one, but two demons. The first violated and murdered three of our humans, the second almost killed me. As I already told you over the phone, this meeting is meant as a trap for the demon. We are ready for it, and when it comes, we are going to capture it and interrogate it.”
Wait, he told them about that part?
Grant was not gonna be happy.
“So we’re just supposed to sit here and play bait?” Blanche asked. “When I said I would help, I thought it would include more action.”
“Yes,” Quil said. “With all of us here, we can take one demon. We just need to find it. It can look like anyone, but it has a distinctive smell our tracker will be able to spot. Since all of you came in packs, and all of us and our humans have been together since before nightfall, we know it’s not any of us right now.”
I wasn’t too sure about that. Jade came in alone far as I could tell.
“But once we start the party and dancing,” Quil said, “the demon can, and hopefully will, slip in. Our guards will tell us of anyone coming in, and we will check that person out. If it smells like the demon, we’ll make it talk until it tells us who sent it.”
“What do we do if it doesn’t show?” one of the other vamp leaders whose name I couldn’t remember if you paid me asked.
“Or if there’s more than one?” another one asked.
“It takes immense power to control just one demon,” Quil said. “More than one, and even a group wouldn’t be able to control both. It is most likely just one. But we also expect the summoner to be here as backup.”
No, we expected them to be here cuz it was personal. Was Quil holdin’ back info for a specific plan or just to hold back info?
With that, the vamps got up and the party officially got started.
The music started and the place was hoppin’ so fast, no one just showing up would ever suspect they were all plotting twenty seconds before.
Quil pulled me onto the floor and we danced a Venetian Waltz. Which of course made me think of Irish.
Hope he’s okay in the back room.
The difference in our heights made the dance a bit more difficult than it was when I practiced with Irish, and I thought for half a second I should’ve worn heels.
Which was dumb. Have you ever tried to fight in heels? It’s not like it is on TV. If you try to fight in heels, you’re more likely to break one of your ankles than anyone’s head.
The floor filled around us pretty skippy and soon we were surrounded by people, the crowd thick enough I couldn’t see the door.
We have people at the doors, no one will get in without them knowing, which will seem perfectly normal since this is a private party so people have to be on the list.
So why was my stomach in knots?
The song ended and Quil bowed, makin’ me giggle.
“May I cut in?” a voice asked behind us.
I turned to see a beautiful man with dark wavy hair, a dominant nose the only flaw on his face, somehow makin’ him prettier. And he most certainly did not come in earlier. One of our guards stood close behind him.
“Sir, ma’am,” the guard said. “May I present Milo of Miami.”
“Milo,” Quil said, voice so cheery I looked up at him to see if the eyes matched.
They didn’t.
“No need to sound so put out, Quil,” Milo said. “My brother did say I was coming, didn’t he?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Oh well, must’ve slipped his mind. You know how he is.”
“Yes, I do.”
Was I missin’ something?
“Hi.” I help my hand out. “I’m Ariana.”
Milo bent over my hand and took it to lift to his lips.
Flash.
He was so small, too small to work yet.
They should have known that. He struggled to keep the water bucket up. It was his job to take it around to the other slaves.
He tripped, his feet not used to the rough sand yet, and he fell, spilling water over the parched earth.
Someone yelled at him and he scrambled to his feet.
The world was hazy except for the boy. The whip came out of the clouds and he dodged.
More yelling and a bigger boy popped into view, holding the whip around a man’s neck, eyes fierce and muscles bulging as he squeezed the whip until the man stop
ped struggling. He let the man fall and took the boy’s hand.
The small boy blinked. He didn’t need to be older to know his big brother was going to be in big trouble for stopping the man from beating him.
I jerked out of the vision just long enough to see Milo give me the same blank look I was giving him. He licked his lips and grasped my hand tighter, then...
Flash.
The two boys, young men now, danced in the middle of an arena, decked out like gladiators.
They twirled and sliced as one, and the vision expanded to show teeth going at Milo’s neck.
His brother leapt in and sliced at the tiger’s face, slashing through its snout with a warrior’s scream. Milo slammed his stout sword into the beast’s neck. It still didn’t fall.
His brother sliced at its legs and the two front paws went flying. The beast fell with a roar, and the brother slammed his sword into the already bleeding neck. The tiger thrashed on the ground and then lay very, very still.
Together, the brothers threw their arms in the air, and the crowds screamed with them in triumph.
Flash.
A woman, tall and regal with her dark brown hair, golden skin, and beautiful large brown eyes, grinned as she tossed one of the young men into a tree in the woods.
He fell to the ground with a moan, bleeding heavily from his head.
Milo. Had to be because the other brother was bigger, his features less delicate than his brother’s.
The brother grabbed her around the waist and she broke his hold and threw him to the ground.
He said something harsh as she straddled him and Milo pushed to his feet, so woozy he almost went down again.
His brother stared the woman down, gold eyes hard and stubborn.
The woman bit his brother in the neck, fast as a snake.
Milo grabbed a branch and lunged forward, swinging at her. Didn’t she know who they were?
She caught the branch without even looking and used it to pull Milo towards her. She jumped on him and bit into his neck.
Pleasure took him as he blacked out.
The vision darkened and then came back on.
It was night and all Milo knew as he woke up was he was starving.
He smelled blood and sat up as the woman pulled two freshly dead bodies. Sure enough, his brother was blinking awake next to him.