Midnight Dream Girls 2: The Scent of Revenge

by Savanah Madanelle

  With nothing left to pull against, Morgan found herself lying back on her elbows. In the sudden silence that followed, she heard everyone’s harsh gasps for breath and the terrified whimpers from Bianca and Emily, who huddled in a crouch together against the saloon’s brick wall.

  “It’s over. He’s finally gone,” Jonathan said, obviously more than a little stunned.

  “Damn. And I didn’t even get to use this.” Steven held up a wooden stake, which looked like the sort used to display political yard posters.

  “It’s really over?” Brianna sobbed out. Then she collapsed in a heap and cried. Steven dropped his stake with a clatter and hurried over to hold her in a tight embrace.

  Seeing the tough redhead lose her composure helped Morgan understand that killing Kilo wasn’t just about her, or Jonathan and the loss of his sister, or Pamela, or any one person there in that alley. It was for all of them—and for all the innocents yet to fall victim to the dead vampire.

  “Baby, it’s done,” Jonathan said, wrapping his free arm around her.

  “My knight in shining armor,” she teased, hugging him back. Although she still felt numb with shock. Could they be absolutely sure Kilo was dead?

  “Well, I didn’t use a glinting, bladed sword—” Jonathan looked at the rusty machete, tossed it to the ground, then lifted her up against him in a hard embrace. She was surprised to feel his body shaking. Apparently, heroes could be scared, too.

  They kissed, then smiled at each other, and Morgan suddenly realized the alleyway was very quiet. Looking around, they discovered four MDGs staring at them and Brianna and Steven, who had the same idea in mind. But why wasn’t there any sound of terrified whimpering?

  Morgan glanced behind her to the brick wall, and discovered that Bianca and Emily and passed out.

  “Uh Brianna, I hate to interrupt you two,” she called out, gaining Brianna’s attention before gesturing toward the unconscious dancers.

  Brianna hurriedly wiped her face while walking over to the two innocent MDGs, put her fists on her hips, and studied them while shaking her head. “Well, this should help with planting the fictional dream in their minds. We’ll have to be sure and tell them just how ‘drunk’ they got, though.”

  The MDG vamps nodded in agreement. Steven and Jonathan each threw a passed out dancer over their broad shoulders in a fireman’s carry, waited and huffed while Brianna found the key in her pocket to unlock the padlock on the gate at the end of the alley, then dumped their sleeping loads into Steven’s four door car to sleep the night off in front of Brianna’s house.

  “Brianna, what’ll we do with this stuff?” Pamela waved a hand at the pile of Kilo’s ashes, which was starting to scatter in the light breeze.

  Brianna’s chin jutted forward a bit and her chin lifted a notch. “Leave it. Let it be a sign to any other vampire who thinks he wants to use this place as his feeding ground.”

  Morgan liked the sound of that.

  * * * * *

  Brianna had to give Bianca and Emily two days off to recover from their night of “revelry”.

  “Geez, Bri, did you maybe overdo the mental charm thing just a tad?” Pamela teased her on Saturday during their second night of absence as the MDG vamps prepared the Midnight Saloon for the last night of business for the week.

  Brianna made a comical expression, stretching out her bottom lip as if to say “whoops”, shrugging her shoulders, and lifting her hands, palms up. “What can I say? I’ve got skills.”

  Morgan snorted at her and checked the fridge to see what types of beer needed restocking for the night. Aside from Bianca and Emily being gone for two days, it was back to work as usual for the Midnight Dream Girls and the saloon staff.

  Later that night, though, she got the oddest sensation that she was being watched. A quick glance at Jonathan in the crowd and her fellow MDG vamps showed that none of them were staring at her. It had to be someone else in the crowd.

  The odd feeling continued to intensify, making Morgan jittery enough to actually drop a beer bottle. Brianna crouched on the floor beside her to help her clean up the mess.

  “Brianna,” Morgan said, her throat closing off with fear.

  “I know. I feel it too. Shit, it feels like—” Brianna bit her lower lip, clearly not wanting to continue.

  “Like Kilo’s back,” Morgan finished for her.

  They looked at each other, nodded, and stood up at the same time. Then they both hurried to the back exit leading to the alleyway.

  To their relief, his ashes were still there, or at least some of them. Could he be alive somehow, despite the remaining proof that they had set him on fire and cut off his head?

  “I don’t know,” Brianna replied, apparently having read Morgan’s mind. But Morgan didn’t mind the new telepathic link that had formed between the vampire MDGs. In a way, Brianna had become the older sister she’d always wanted. And the other MDG vamps were fast becoming her closest friends. The link simply reinforced this growing bond.

  Hands trembling, Morgan followed Brianna back into the bar, where the eerie sensation seemed magnified tenfold.

  Just keep your eye out, Brianna’s voice whispered through Morgan’s mind, making her jump then grin nervously.

  During the final MDG routine of the night, Morgan peered out over the crowd in the flashing strobe lights every chance she could. Then she spotted them.

  As the lights flashed, it appeared to reflect back in the animal-like shine in the eyes of several members of the crowd. Morgan tried to count the pairs of eyes which had this reflective quality, and her best count came to nine.

  If she were right, that would make nine unknown vampires in the Midnight Saloon tonight.

  She told Brianna and Jonathan about it as soon as she got the chance after the performance. Breathless with anxiety, she didn’t know what to do. Should she run and hide? No, that wouldn’t work. If the vamps were here to exact revenge for their murdering Kilo, they’d simply hunt her down eventually, no matter how far away she ran. And she didn’t want to live her life like that. She had plans to go get Joey tomorrow, and Jonathan had stated that he was coming along for the journey. She wouldn’t put either of them in jeopardy by running from the executioners, if that was what the strange vampires were here for.

  Still, her hands shook the rest of the night. The other MDG vamps seemed to feel the fear too, occasionally dropping drinks, spilling ice, and even bumping into each other.

  “Damn, ladies, it’s like amateur night at the bar tonight,” Brianna grumbled as she passed two of them cleaning up yet another dropped drink. But Morgan saw that the redhead’s face was creased with worry, too.

  Morgan didn’t know whether she wanted the night to end more, or to slow time down somehow. She wanted to face her fate, but at the same time she wanted more time for all the things she’d planned.

  “I’m staying after closing,” Jonathan told her, his jaw clenched. She noticed him repeatedly flexing and closing his hands into fists at his sides.

  “No, you can’t protect me from this,” Morgan argued. She was the one who was supposed to have the supernatural strength of ten men. Why in the world was he still trying to be the protector?

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s you and me, babe, no matter what comes.” He glanced around the room grimly, then looked down at her. “I guess now’s not the greatest time to ask you to marry me, is it?”

  “Wh-what?” Morgan breathed, sure she’d misunderstood him. The sound of her boss talking to the crowd from the bar top stage faded away.

  “Yeah. I…I was thinking. I really love you and Joey, too. And…” He pulled out a black velvet jewelry box from his jeans pocket, opened it, and held it out. “I’d really like you to be my wife.”

  Morgan frowned, all thoughts of the vampire strangers in the crowd fleeing her mind. “Are you sure? You know, I can’t change what I’ve become. It’s a life sentence.”

  Jonathan chewed on his bottom lip, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m really sure. I�
��ve never loved anyone like I love you. And Joey’s the perfect kid, you know? I want to take you two on trips around the world. Well, the non-vampire parts, at least. And I want to see Joey grow up, to teach him some football if he’s interested. When he gets older, of course.” Jonathan hastily added. One corner of his mouth lifted slightly, along with his eyebrows. “So…will you marry me?”

  Morgan stared at the ring. If she accepted, she might someday see him grow old and die while she lived on for eternity. Then again, he was sure to at least keep her life interesting for the next several decades. She considered what her life would be like if she said no, and the stark bleakness of that future made it hard for her to breathe.

  She looked up at him, smiled, and lifted the ring from the box.

  “Is that a yes?” Jonathan asked, searching her face. “Come on, woman, you’re killing me here.”

  “Yes, that’s a ‘yes, I’ll marry you’.” That is, if I don’t die at the hands of the unknown vampires in a few minutes, she mentally added.

  He slipped the ring on her finger, grabbed her for a hug and one fierce kiss, then pushed a path for them to the bar and Brianna’s feet.

  “Hey,” he yelled at her boss. “I’ve got an announcement to make.”

  With a perplexed look, Brianna handed him the microphone.

  “Hey everyone, Morgan Fremont just agreed to marry me!” he yelled, his voice amplified through the speakers, making Morgan wince with a smile.

  The bar erupted in cheers, but he wasn’t finished.

  “The drinks are on me!” he added with a grin, then handed the microphone and his wallet to Brianna.

  “Morgan, if you don’t marry that man, I will!” Brianna said into the mike, obviously thrilled to death as she peered into his black leather wallet and withdrew several platinum credit cards.

  “Oh my lord, Jonathan. Are you out of your mind?” Morgan shrieked. “Do you have any idea how much—”

  “Hey, I told you I was rich,” Jonathan said with a mischievous grin before crushing her lips with his own.

  Thankfully there was only an hour left before alcohol cutoff time, or else the MDGs tending bar might’ve murdered Jonathan for creating such a run on drinks. After the cutoff, it took another hour just to get every drunk out the door and poured into either cabs or cars with sober drivers.

  The bar appeared empty except for the MDG vamps and Jonathan. Yet while Morgan helped throw away beer bottles and disposable drink cups, she still felt that pervading sense of being watched by something old and powerful. When the front door of the bar suddenly slammed open, all five MDGs gasped in fear, some half ducking down behind the bar. Morgan instinctively reached for Jonathan’s forearm across the bar.

  But it was only Steven.

  “Steven, what are you doing here?” Brianna yelled. “You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Make that us,” Pamela added in a growl.

  “Got a phone call from a buddy of mine who said I might be needed,” Steven said with a grim smile and nod towards Jonathan. Then he climbed up on the brass foot rail of the bar so he could lean over and give Brianna a kiss.

  “Depending on your answers to our questions,” a voice echoed from the shadows at the back of the room. “That may or may not be true.”

  The MDGs pulled close as a group and turned to face the far end of the bar. How had they missed the nine men and women standing there? But of course, Morgan thought, we didn’t miss them. Those guys probably had some ability to appear and disappear at will. No telling what other skills they might have too.

  “You would be right, young one,” an older man said, stepping forward in the light to glare at her. “We materialized just now. I can tell that none of you are able to do this yet.”

  Brianna stepped forward, taking the lead stance for the MDGs. “And just how would you know that?”

  The older man glided forward rapidly, his silver hair and beard barely ruffling despite his rapid approach, startling everyone around Morgan, including herself. “Because of your smell. Interesting, the things one can tell about how a vampire smells. For instance, I can tell that you, redheaded one, are the oldest of your group. And you were all turned by the vampire known as Kilo. Yet the smell of his death lingers on each of you, including your humans.”

  The other eight vampires glided forward as well. Suddenly their movements didn’t look scary at all to Morgan, merely theatrical.

  “If you’re done with the theatrics,” Brianna said, revealing that either she’d had the same thought or had picked up Morgan’s, “Would you care to sit down and have a civilized discussion? Or does your kind of vampire do this sort of thing?”

  The man with the silver hair chuckled, sounding very human. “Yes, ‘our kind’ usually prefers the civilized method of conversing. Shall we?” He gestured to a few nearby tables.

  Brianna studied him for a moment, then nodded. Morgan helped her and Pamela move three of the tables end to end and arrange chairs around them. Morgan was tempted to send up a quick prayer that this discussion would go well, but didn’t want it to be overheard and possibly misunderstood by the strangers.

  They all took seats, the strangers on one side of the tables, with the silver haired gentleman at one end, and the MDGs, Jonathan, and Steven on the other side, with Brianna at the opposite end.

  “I’m sorry, I forgot my manners,” Brianna said once they’d all settled into their chairs with a chorus of squeaking, groaning wood. “Why don’t we all have a drink?”

  The silver haired gentleman tilted his head, studied Brianna’s face, then smiled slowly and nodded. “That would be good.”

  The MDGs rose, took everyone’s drink request, and filled them at the bar. Once everyone had been served and the MDGs were again seated, the gentleman lifted his glass. “A toast, then. To…” He looked at each face around the table as if taking each vampire and human’s measure, then smiled enigmatically and said, “The future.”

  Author Bio

  Savannah Madanelle is the pen name for the author of the Midnight Dream Girls Series, as well as many additional erotic romance novellas and novels. She is ecstatically married to her true soul mate, who constantly inspires her with ideas for new romance stories, and is the proud mother of two wonderful children. She has an eclectic list of hobbies, one of which is a lifelong love of dance. Her formal years of dance training provide the wellspring from which many of her erotic romances emerge. You can read more about this author, the next title in the Midnight Dream Girls Series, as well contests and more fun stuff for readers at www.SavannahMadanelle.com.

  Also Available from Savanah Madanelle

  Midnight Dream Girls: The Scent of Evil

  www.cobblestone-press.com