Of course I’d expected to see Tristan here eventually. He sat to the far left of the group. I could see him looking at me with amusement out of the corner of his eye but I did my best not to make eye contact with him. If I expected to finish my shift with any success, I had to avoid getting sucked into his vortex.
I passed the bottle of Patron over the four shot glasses, and then did the same with Venom. I pushed them all in front of the guys, stopping in front of Tristan, wordlessly acknowledging his existence. They toasted with the shot glasses and downed the tequila. Except Tristan, who put his down on the bar. He rose up on his stool, and quicker than my eyes or mind could process, he pulled me up on to the bar and sat me down on it.
“What are you doing?” I said through clenched teeth as he climbed up on the bar next to me. He smiled but said nothing as he pushed me down on my back in front of the rest of the band, who hooted and hollered in approval.
“Just shouting our relationship for the rooftops. Well, bartop.” He finally said before he poured the shot in a line from just below my belly button to my collarbone and licked it off of me.
I could only raise my head to protest. His hands held my shoulders firmly down on the bar and his feet hooked over my legs. I closed my eyes out of embarrassment of being on public display, and tried not to moan as his tongue worked along the inside of the perimeter of my bra top.
When he was satisfied, he pulled me up into sitting position and kissed me. I slapped him as much force as I could muster across the face, which got an amused rise out of the rest of the band. After the initial shock wore off, he seemed amused as well, which made me want to slap him again.
“What was that for?” he asked with a lazy smile.
“You’re going to get me fired!” I hissed at him and pushed my hands against his shoulders. He didn’t budge. I looked over his shoulder to see if Lennon had or anyone else reacted in any way to his stunt, but everyone else carried on like nothing had even happened.
This just made him laugh harder. He cupped my face in his hands, so gentle in contrast to what he had just done. “You’re in my world now, beautiful. The rules are different here.”
“I hate your rules.”
“You better start getting used to them.” He looked away from me for an instant, over the crowd. I followed his eyes to see what he was looking at as he started nuzzling my chest. My mouth dropped when I saw the crowd parting for Talis and her entourage with Blade, bound by his wrists and legs, his bruised face vacant and dark, being led behind her.
I pulled Tristan off of me by his hair.
“You like it rough, don’t you?” Desire swirled in his eyes. “You know, we could go into one of the back rooms here, or we can just continue right here. I’m sure everyone would enjoy the show.”
“Oh my God, shut up.” Did he not see what I just saw? “Did you know she was coming in just then? She’s got Blade. Get off of me!” I pushed him away, and this time he moved backwards.
“No, I didn’t. But she knows what I do. And you’re her employee. There are no secrets at Embrace.” He moved closer again. “But what happens at Embrace, stays at Embrace, if you know what I mean.”
I slid down off the bar, careful not to knock down any of the well bottles or nozzles on my way to the floor. I grabbed Lennon’s arm as she poured a drink, startling her.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
“Did you see Talis come in? She’s got Blade!” My heart pounded in my chest.
“I don’t think anyone saw anything but your little number with Tristan there.” She winked at me in approval.
“Well, I did. I need to go over there. I’ll be right back.” I must have a break of some sort coming to me.
“Callie! You can’t go in that room. It’s strict. They won’t let you in.” She called after me. I didn’t listen as I wove my way through the crowd, careful not to bump into any of the donors, their bodies slick with blood.
I ran headlong into Jack, who stood in front of the door in guard. “What’s up, Callie? Everything okay?”
Did I imagine seeing them? I couldn’t have. I wasn’t crazy, right? “I don’t know. Did Talis just come in here?”
“Yes. She doesn’t need anything. She has her own bar service. Don’t worry about her.” Jack smiled.
Did he think I was going for employee of the month?
“Blade’s in there with her!” I pleaded with him.
“I know he is, honey. And I know you want to see him, but if I let you in there, I can’t guarantee you’ll get out in one piece. I can’t let that happen to you.”
“But what about Blade?” I teetered on the brink of hysteria. Wasn’t he threatened with bodily harm, too?
“He looked good. Angry, but in good shape.” Jack put his hands on my shoulders. But Lennon’s words thundered in my brain. Talis didn’t take prisoners. If he wasn’t dead, did that mean she’d turned him into a vampire? “She’s toying with you, Callie. And it’s working. Just go back to work. You know he’s alive. We can all figure out our next move from there. There’s nothing you can do about this right now.” He turned me around by my shoulders, signaling the end of the conversation.
Dejected, I headed back to the bar. How was I supposed to take any solace in what I’d just seen? Blade was in one piece, but that didn’t comfort me at all. What were they doing to him in there?
My head swam so much I didn’t see Tristan’s arm extend to pull me into his lap. “Did you save the world?” He purred into my ear.
“What do you think?” I turned towards him, still making him keep me steady on his thigh.
He laughed. “You know, you don’t have to work here if it’s going to be too much for you.”
“I can handle it.”
“Are you sure? If you need money, Callie, I can give it to you. How much do you want?”
My body tingled with fury. “So we should just make it official? You want to pay me to be your whore?”
Tristan rolled his eyes and laughed as I slid down from his lap. “God, you can blow anything out of proportion. Stop being such a prude and live a little.”
“I’m trying to.”
“Why are you so mad at me?” He really looked confused.
My mouth opened in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I really wanted to help.”
“I need to get back to work.” I started pulling away from him. This wasn’t playtime. The bar was busy and Lennon needed help.
“When does your shift end?”
“Closing.”
“Shit, that won’t work. What about tomorrow? Do you work?”
“No.” I wished I’d told him yes. I knew I was about to get sucked in. Again.
“Come see me. I want to make this up to you, beautiful.” He ran his hand along my cheek before I turned away from him without answering.
Chapter Thirty Five
I had no idea where to find Tristan, so I headed to the side stage area. I figured he was getting dolled up for the concert. Every time I came here, Tristan distracted me to the point that everything else disappeared. It was nice to have a chance to really see what went on.
I climbed up on a road case, crossing my legs and playing with the hem on my skirt as I watched the roadies set up and the fans file in to the theater. Some of the burlesque dancers practiced their routine off to the side. Graceful, sensual, and confident. Their bodies, moving in a synchronized striptease like well oiled machines, amazed me.
No other girls loitered around the side stage area. Maybe they were with their respective band member of choice, wherever they primped for the show. Circus performers joined the burlesque dancers by the side of the stage, signaling the concert was about to begin.
“You look good enough to eat tonight. I should make you part of the show.” Tristan raised his eyebrows at me, his face painted as a gruesome skeleton. “You’ll upstage us all.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“We’ll talk after the show.” He squee
zed my bare knee and ran out on stage.
Still no girlfriends came to the side of the stage to watch the show. How strange. These were all good looking guys with a lot of money, any woman’s fantasy. Did they really keep the girls at bay? Would no one else put up with their behavior? Or did their shenanigans just bore them all, watching night after night?
A small group of girls materialized a few feet away from me. Their gestured wildly and hugged each other. Something told me they weren’t the other band member’s girlfriends. Some of the fans practically worshiped the band as if they were Gods who’d come to earth. It bordered on uncomfortable to watch.
My suspicions were confirmed during the drummer’s solo. The band members came off stage. I watched the singer and the bassist choose two of the girls, bend them backwards, and puncture their necks to draw blood.
Tristan wound his fingers through my hair, but I didn’t turn towards him. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the group of girls. He finally got my attention by putting his mouth up to my neck.
“Stop it.” I shooed him away playfully.
“The way you were staring at them, I thought that was what you wanted.”
“You know what I want.” I looped his hair around my fingers and pulled him towards me.
Cupping my face in his hands, he leaned in towards me. “You told me we couldn’t do that in public.” He looked out at the stage, which had fallen silent.
“Are they waiting for you?”
“Are you?”
All the muscles in my stomach clenched. “Go back to the show.” He backed away from me, out onto the stage for his solo. The others had chosen new drinking partners and made the most of their break. I grew uncomfortable watching them, so I let myself watch Tristan soak up the spotlight and the adoration of the crowd.
The concert passed in minutes after that, my eyes fixated back on Tristan. I followed him into the backstage area and waited. He had disappeared to rinse the makeup off, and reappeared in jeans and a sweatshirt, his hair tied back in a low ponytail.
“Who are you and what did you do with Tristan?” He never looked so normal.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I thought this was what you wanted. Come on, I have an adventure planned.”
Even though it excited me, I could only imagine what that mean as he took my hand and led me out of the room, pulling me past the logjam of hysterical fans in the hallway. They reached out to grope him, pull on his hair and clothes. Some declared their undying love in shrill hysteria. Others shouted obscenities at me. We barely had room to get through. They’d crush us if they could. Where was Tony, or any of the other security guards? These girls would eat the meat off our bones if given the chance. We pushed ourselves against the wall and made our way to the door.
Tristan led me out to a parking garage. Not what I expected. I hadn’t seen him outside of the Alta Vista since I’d come to Vegas, except that one night at The Bloody Heretic Hall. Maybe he’d gone out the wrong door to escape the vultures.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked.
“We’re going for a ride.” He swung my hand back and forth playfully, drunk with freedom. Hopefully only freedom if he planned on driving.
“You’re allowed to do that? Just go?” Somehow I considered him a caged exotic animal in this life. He didn’t seem to have much free will when someone had access to the inner workings of his mind.
We reached the back part of the garage. In every space sat a luxury vehicle, the likes of which I’d only seen in magazines and on TV.
“Who’s going to stop me?” He opened the passenger’s side door of a silver Viper and motioned for me to sit inside.
“I don’t know. Talis, maybe?”
“She doesn’t have to like it, but she can’t stop me.” My stomach lurched into my throat as Tristan pressed the accelerator to the floor, fishtailing around the corner of the garage and on to Paradise Road. Music blared from the speakers, matching the ferocity he drove with.
She’d kill us both, if Tristan didn’t beat her to the punch.
He wove through traffic like he planned to qualify for a race and took the onramp to Interstate 15 with alarming speed. My heart pounded in my chest and I clung to the door handle for dear life. “Drive like a normal person, please.”
“You’re no fun, have I ever told you that?”
“I’m plenty of fun. I just want to get wherever we are going in one piece.”
“And then we can have fun?” He smiled at me, not paying the least bit of attention to the road. The speedometer needle hovered around one hundred and ten miles per hour.
“Whatever. Just slow down.”
“I’ll go as slow as you want, beautiful.” He continued to neglect the brake, and the city passed by us in a terrifying blur.
“Where are we going, anyway?”
“You’ll see.” The sky grew darker as the buildings faded away. Nothing surrounded the city, and I doubted Tristan planned to drive all the way to Salt Lake, even at the speed he was going. He turned off the highway in a desolate spot. No one else but tractor trailers shared the two lane road with us.
He pulled on to a dirt road and after a few minutes driving on a bumpy stretch not meant for a luxury sports car, he cut the ignition. “We’re here.”
“This is it?” This was the middle of nowhere. Just us and outlines of Joshua trees against the night.
Tristan got out of the car and circled around to the trunk to grab a blanket. I opened my door, peeking out tentatively. “What are you waiting for? Come on.” He pulled me up off the seat into the blackness.
He jumped up on the hood of the car, and then patted the spot next to him for me to do the same.
I shook my head. “I’ll scratch the paint.”
“Someone will fix it.”
“Tristan, this car cost more money than I’ve made in my life.”
“Then someone will be very happy to fix it.” He patted the hood again, and I slid across it, cringing at the scratches I surely left in my wake. He wrapped the blanket around me and pulled me in between his legs.
“So how’s work?” He startled me, opening with such a normal question.
“Fine, as long as you don’t show up.”
“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad. I could do much worse.”
“I know. It’s just one place I don’t have to worry about my connection to you. I hate that people start staring and whispering the minute I walk in somewhere. I don’t like all that attention.” I looked down, even though it was impossible to see much in the dark. “Please don’t screw it up for me. I really need the money.”
“My offer stands. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wanted to help. It’s just money. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Says someone who’s never had to worry about money.”
“It doesn’t buy happiness, I can tell you that.” His tone flattened, like he tried to pry himself away from any emotion attached to his confession. I rested my body back against his chest, thankful to finally feel relaxed with him, since, well, forever. He didn’t say anything else, he wrapped his arms around me and leaned back against the windshield.
“So really, why did you bring me here?”
“Look up at the sky.”
Millions of stars sprinkled the black velvety blanket above us. The only clouds in sight drifted across a waxing moon. Tristan looped his hands around my waist and pulled me in closer as I stared wordlessly up at the sky.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You can’t see the stars in the city. All the bright lights obscure them,” Tristan explained. I’d never even thought about it. So much went on at street level in Las Vegas I never once thought to look up at the sky.
“So you just brought me out here to see the sky?”
“Yes and no.” Tristan’s tone stayed soft. “Since you’ve been here, you’ve just seemed so annoyed with me. When I first saw you again, I wanted to freak you out. Because I knew you’d hate all of this.
Hate me. But it didn’t work. I’m not saying that to be a dick, I know that humans get lured into fixating on people like me. And believe me, I’m not upset about that. At all. But sometimes I worry you really do hate me.”
Neither the cool desert night nor the cool radiating through Tristan’s sweatshirt had chilled me, but his confession made me shiver. I didn’t answer him right away. I needed to rehearse the words in my head to make sure they were the right ones.
“I could never hate you. I couldn’t stand not having you in my life. I thought your disappearance was just drugs at first. I prepared myself for that, for walking into a mess I knew I couldn’t clean up. I never prepared myself to deal with the afterlife, or the fact that you can’t make a move without half the world knowing about it. And honestly, I don’t know why the hell you’d want me, when you could have any girl —“
“Because,” he interrupted me, cupping my chin in his hand to turn my face towards him. I could only see his features in silhouette, even this close. Only his eyes caught the light from the moon. “Every single one of those girls wants something from me, or wants me because of who they think I am. You are the only one who’s ever cared about me. I could see it in your eyes even that first night you came back to my apartment. You were scared out of your mind, not just for you. You were scared for me, too.”
“I was.”
“It killed me. But I had to give you a chance not to get sucked in to this.”
“You were four years too late.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I hated getting you involved in this nightmare. But I gotta admit, I love watching you in action.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re the only girl I’ve ever met who has the balls to be herself. The rest of them are just sheep, they’re all the same. Good for one thing. I can’t stand it when they open their mouths. But you’ll stand up to anyone — your mother, all those fan girls that give you a hard time, Talis, me.” I could see the outline of his lips turn upward in a smile. “It’s kind of refreshing to have someone remind me what an asshole I am every once in a while.”
Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection) Page 17