by S. Young
The hotel was only ten minutes from the historical center of the city and Thea reluctantly stepped out into the world the next day in search of work. Instead of finding work, however, she bought clothes she wouldn’t be able to afford if she didn’t find a job soon. But clothes were now a necessity, since Conall had dragged her out of Kraków with only the clothes on her back.
Buying two pairs of jeans and a few shirts was easy.
Finding a job was not.
Wearily, Thea returned to the hotel after a day of searching, anxious about paying for another night but doing so for her safety. The next morning, however, she checked out, realizing she’d just have to risk a cheaper place for fear of running out of funds. Thea was betting on the fact that both her pursuers would guess she’d get the hell out of Europe, or at least travel farther than the Czech Republic.
Having bought an inexpensive backpack the day before, Thea put the little she owned into it and checked out of the hotel. It was a warm spring day; the sun beat down on her face. She longed for her sunglasses and baseball cap she’d left behind in her shitty apartment in Kraków.
At least Prague was beautiful. She hadn’t stayed long during her previous visit. The historical center and its mishmash of architectural styles charmed her. There was Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neoclassicism, all mixing in with art nouveau, cubism, functionalism, and the stern, gray, concrete architecture of the Communist era. Thea would walk past a neoclassical building and standing right next to it would be the modern prefab, glass-walled buildings that went up in the latter half of the twentieth century.
The only reason she knew anything about architecture was because every city she stayed in, she’d roamed the libraries, spending any spare time she had educating herself on subjects she missed out on growing up, and then some.
Like all the cities she’d spent time in in Europe, Thea was drawn to the old towns with their cobbled or brick-paved streets, trams and the bustle of tourism. It wasn’t just that she loved the centuries of life those places had witnessed—it was being able to disappear among the crowds. To feel like a normal young woman. A number among many.
Instead of what she was.
As the day wore on, a ceiling of clouds blew in over the city, and Thea grew more concerned. She’d asked at a lot of bars and restaurants, but she couldn’t find someone to hire her who didn’t need all the legal crap. Thea had snacked as she walked but she was still ravenous. Perhaps it was the excitement of the last few days. She’d probably expelled more energy than she’d thought. Deciding it was maybe time to give up and find a hostel and somewhere she could buy cheap vendor food, Thea walked down a busy street as night fell.
The booming bass of music and the chatter of partygoers outside a building in the middle of the shopping area drew her attention. Thea slowed to a stop in front of the place and looked up. It was a building she’d visited yesterday and many times during her last stay in the city. Called Lucerna Palace, it was an art nouveau building designed for a former president. It was now a shopping mall of sorts, and housed a cinema, shops, restaurants, bars, and cafés. And she knew from her wanderings inside it seemed to be particularly famous for its music bar. It was the one place she hadn’t asked if they were looking for a bartender.
Her eyes drifted over the people walking in, some dressed to the nines, but most casual in jeans and shirts. A lot of English language tourists passed her by, which meant the Lucerna Music Bar was more than likely keen on English language bartenders.
What the hell, Thea thought, ignoring her grumbling belly. She might as well check it out.
Following people as they followed the music, Thea’s boots echoed across the checkered floor, the sound muffled by the bass in the distance. She passed a statue suspended from the ceiling of a guy riding an upside-down, dead horse. Every time she’d seen it, she’d wondered at its significance and so eventually looked it up. It was supposed to be a satirical version of the statue of King Wenceslas on Wenceslas Square.
Continuing down the hall, the bass led everyone to the left.
At the coat check, Thea risked her worldly belongings and checked her backpack. She took off her shirt and stuffed it into her bag, leaving her dressed in a pair of the new, dark blue jeans she’d bought and a dark green T-shirt. The shirt had a V-neck and showed off her generous cleavage. As wrong and sexist as it was, she found she always got further on the job hunt if she showed a little skin.
Fuck my life, she griped to herself, wondering when it would change. Thea pulled her long hair into a ponytail and handed her bag over at coat check, pocketing her ticket.
She supposed she could use her gifts to live in the lap of luxury and never have to worry about being sexually objectified again, but it would mean hurting people more than she already had.
And Thea was pretty sure she’d filled her quota on that.
Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me” filtered out from the music hall and she overheard two English girls saying it was eighties night. Great.
Thea raised an eyebrow as she walked into the dark, smoky room and turned around, looking up. Above was a galleria where more people congregated. The dancing crowd surrounded the stage as the band played a cover. It was smaller than she’d expected. And claustrophobic. Thea stealthily made her way through the crowd, heading toward to the bar when out of nowhere, someone grabbed her wrist.
“What the—” Thea huffed as a young woman hauled her close in the swarming, hot darkness. The stage lights suspended on the ceiling flickered over the girl’s stunning elfin face.
Round, penetrating eyes stared intensely into Thea’s and the air filled with static. The hair on Thea’s neck and arms rose, and she froze in unexpected stillness.
“You don’t fear him because there’s nothing to fear,” the woman shouted in accented English over the music, her expression earnest and almost … frantic.
Goosebumps pricked Thea’s skin. “Excuse me?”
The woman’s hold on her tightened. And then to Thea’s utter disbelief, she heard the woman’s voice in her head. In. Her. Head.
Her rich Irish brogue filled Thea’s mind as they stared wordlessly at each other. He’s important. His future affects your future. He’s important, Thea.
Shocked to her core, Thea pulled against the young woman’s grip, but she was strong.
Too strong.
Foreboding and incredulity ran cold through her. “Who the hell are you? How do you know me? How are you doing this?”
Concern brightened the woman’s eyes. Her voice filled Thea’s head again. You should leave. Night children run this place and they’re waiting for you.
Suddenly a tall, dark-haired man jerked the woman away from Thea. He seemed to berate the girl in a language she couldn’t pinpoint. Irish, maybe?
What the hell?
Thea’s heart pounded hard in her chest as the woman peered past the man. A connection unlike anything she’d ever felt before soared through Thea. What was this woman? Who was she?
Was this a trick and Ashforth had found her?
But then how did the woman speak into her mind like that? What kind of supernatural could do that?
Thea bulldozed the man out of the way and grabbed the young woman’s arm. “Who the hell are you? How do you know me?”
She pressed a reassuring hand to Thea’s face and a sense of calm flooded her. “I’m not your enemy.” Her voice was low, yet Thea could hear every word. “And neither is the wolf.”
“What?”
The man pushed Thea away, towering over her. “You leave her alone.”
“Hey, dipshit, she grabbed me.” She looked past him at the woman who was already disappearing through the crowd. “How does she know me?”
The man glared at her, but she saw the flicker of something like worry in his eyes and she realized they were the same eyes as the woman. Brother, perhaps? “She knows things she should not know. She means no harm. You leave her alone.”
Before Thea
could argue, he turned and pushed through the heaving bodies of dancing clubbers.
“What the goddamn hell was that?” she muttered, stunned.
And a little freaked out.
Determined to find out more, Thea moved to pursue the woman and her protector when the warning tingle burned the back of her neck, her stomach filling with dread.
Oh shit.
She turned, searching the crowds, feeling the humans out.
Which one of these is not like the other? she thought, exhausted by the mere idea of fighting.
There.
A good-looking guy stood in the middle of the dancing bodies staring at her.
Thea felt the surrounding air just as he turned his head. The light caught the mercury of his eyes and she froze.
Night children run this place and they’re waiting for you.
Double oh shit.
Thea waited as the smirking vampire strolled casually toward her.
Vamps had been a growing problem for Thea over the years. She preferred to stick to cities, but so did they. She preferred Europe, but so did they, it seemed. When she first escaped, it was months before she had an encounter with a vamp but as time wore on, Thea seemed to bump into one every other month. Mostly she escaped a skirmish because she was fast and good at avoiding them. But sometimes she had to fight because whatever she was made them curious about her.
And all blood-lusty for her too.
Maybe it was time to move. Perhaps northern Alaska where there was constant daylight and a hundred percent chance of no vamps.
Pretending not to know what he was, Thea gave the vampire a flirty smirk as he circled her, dragging his eyes all over her in curiosity. He was feeling her out. Wondering what she was. Or, if the girl was right, he already knew she was something different. He’d been expecting her.
But how?
Taking hold of her hand, he leaned in to whisper in her ear, his words musical with a European lilt, “Dance with me.”
Contrary to popular belief, vampires weren’t dead. They were immortal. Their hearts beat and they had a breath. Although from what she’d gathered, humans could sense they were different, and there was no way of knowing just how deadly they were. That “different” meant they were a predator and humans were their prey.
Thea let the vampire pull her into a dance, her mind racing. If she’d refused, his curiosity would only compel him to hunt. She needed to lull him into a false sense of security so she could escape.
Discomfort flooded her as he rested his hands on her hips and rocked his against hers. She forced herself to gyrate with him, when all the while it felt like little ants crawling all over her skin. It had been a while since anyone had held her this close but when she let the deepest, darkest parts of her mind imagine how it would feel again, it was nothing like this.
Her stalwart control meant she relaxed into the vampire’s embrace and met his penetrating stare. He bent his head toward her neck, and it took everything within her not to tense. The bastard nuzzled her, sniffing. “You smell amazing.” His words were guttural.
Hungry.
Fuck.
If she kneed him in the balls and ran for it, she could probably get out of there, but then she would leave behind her bag and it had all her worldly possessions in it.
And there was the matter of the strange young woman.
Thea huffed to herself. The girl had made no sense. And yet, Thea still fought the urge to go after her. There was something familiar about her. As though they’d met before. More than that … her presence was comforting. When she’d cupped Thea’s face in motherly reassurance, it was the first time in years Thea had felt safe.
Horrified to realize there were tears burning in her eyes, Thea blinked and looked down at the clasp of the vampire’s body against hers. She was being ridiculous about the woman. Childish even.
Focus, Thea.
“Have you been to the theater yet?” The vampire’s lips brushed against her ears.
She shivered in distaste but the tightening grip of his hands on her hips suggested he’d confused the shiver for desire. “No.”
“It’s closed tonight. Would you like a private tour?”
Considering this, Thea decided ultimately it was best to get him away from the crowds. She didn’t want to kill the vampire, but she would disable him if he attacked first.
Thea nodded, and he smirked in satisfaction, releasing her hips to take her hand in his. She let him lead her out of the music hall and then tugged on his hand. “I need my stuff.” She gestured to the cloakroom.
He frowned. “Get it after.”
She stroked her thumb over the top of his hand and smiled prettily. “It’ll take two seconds.”
The vampire scowled. “Fine.”
The young woman working the coat check handed over her backpack, her eyes wide on Thea’s companion. She’d gone pale as soon as she’d seen him and had given Thea a look of pity.
Hmm.
Her telepathic friend from earlier had said the “night children” ran this place. As she let the vampire take her hand, she wondered how big his coven was, how far up the hierarchy he was, and if killing him would lead to a shitstorm for her here in Prague.
Seriously, fuck my life.
The theater-turned-cinema wasn’t huge either, lights blaring to life to reveal the ornately carved galleria that wrapped around the central seating facing the old stage and screen. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured, coming to a stop beside him.
The vampire gestured for her to go ahead but there was no way she was turning her back to him. She stared at the rows of dark peach velvet seats and then turned around so her back was facing them and not him. Thea took a few steps away from him.
They were alone.
There was no need to pretend anymore.
She dropped her smile. “What do you want, bloodsucker?”
Surprise slackened his features. “Clever girl.” He took a step toward her. “So, you know what I am? But I still don’t know what you are.”
“I’ll tell you what I am … a bad investment of your time. You should have chosen a weaker victim.”
“You don’t look so tough.” He bared his teeth and his incisors lengthened.
Thea widened her legs, hands on her hips. “Was that supposed to scare me? Because I’ve seen bigger.”
His lips nearly vibrated with his answering snarl. “I’m supposed to keep you alive, but I won’t if you piss me off, little girl. Instead, I’ll rip into that pretty fucking throat and drink you dry.”
Alert, Thea cocked her head. “Who asked you to keep me alive?”
“Someone you don’t say no to. That someone asked me to watch out for your arrival.”
Was it Conall? Did he have vampire connections? Or was it the mysterious person behind the humans who’d shot at them?
Thea supposed it didn’t matter. It looked like it was kill or be killed because she would be no one’s captive. Ever. Fucking. Again.
The vampire shot across the space toward her, a streak of movement shockingly fast.
She was faster.
She ducked him, a lightning-quick shadow, and moved across the room toward the door.
Which was barred by two new vampires.
Shit.
She backed down the aisle toward the stage.
Her attacker watched her in consternation. “How do you move that fast? What are you?”
All the hair on Thea’s neck rose, and she looked up.
Two more vampires stood above on the galleria, teeth bared, incisors out.
Five vampires.
A knot of worry tightened in her gut, but she forced herself to ignore it. She was strong enough to fight all five.
She had to be.
“I’ll tell you what I’m not. I’m not your prisoner or your walking blood bank.” Relying on the element of surprise, she dashed behind one of the thick pillars holding up the galleria, and was nothing but wind under the balconies as she headed past the v
amps toward the entrance.
Suddenly, however, someone grabbed her throat and slammed her hard against the wall, the impact of which would have knocked out a lesser being. Instead Thea shook off the confusion and glared into the face of the vampire she’d been dancing with. Her neck was clasped in his strong hand as he held her suspended above the ground.
The son of a bitch was fast and strong. He had to be pretty freaking old to rip her out of her top running speed.
Goodie for me, she huffed.
His grip tightened around her neck and although uncomfortable, it didn’t elicit the panic he was hoping for. Instead Thea grabbed his wrist and twisted with all her might, the answering crack extremely satisfying.
The vampire dropped her with a roar, and she darted by him only to encounter his companions. They were on her before she could run. Ducking and diving their punches and kicks, Thea blocked where she could and swiped one off his feet. As much as she was holding her own against the bastards, they were pushing her farther and farther away from the entrance.
Finding a gap in their attack, she dove between two of them and tumbled into a roll, shooting up onto her feet and into a run, eyes to the door—
His leg came out of nowhere.
A roundhouse kick to her chest.
She heard something crack, she couldn’t breathe, and it wasn’t because she was soaring through the air like a fucking bird. Pain cracked up her spine and her neck rolled before she was grounded again.
As quickly as she hadn’t been able to breathe, air flooded her lungs, and the pain dissipated. She got to her feet on shaky legs, realizing the vampire she’d danced with had kicked her as if she were merely a football, and she’d hurtled through the air and slammed into the edge of the stage.
Outraged by his show of strength, unnerved even, Thea fell into a defensive stance, glaring at him as he moved through his vampire friends. She’d picked up most of what she knew about other supernaturals during her time with Ashforth, since the man was obsessed with the paranormal. She’d met her first vampire at Ashforth’s and from him, she’d learned that the older a vampire was, the stronger they were.