Queen of the Night Time World

by Kristen Strassel

  Rainey snickered. “There’s no such thing as feeling too good. Unless it’s something bad. But all I’m projecting is love and excitement. Fuck having the audience wait for you and the band to screw up—that’s negative energy, having them think, oh, I can do that too. Nope, not anymore. Now you’re going to be so good, so decadent that the people in the crowd will strive to be like you.”

  I turned around, my war paint ready for battle. My mouth watered “You’re a genius.”

  “No, I’m not.” She shrugged with a grin. “Just an angel.”

  “One of these nights, I’m bringing you out on stage so you can reap the reward of this spell.” I held my arm out, and she stood to strap on my wings one at a time. “Then you’ll understand what it feels like.”

  “Not tonight.” She kissed the crook of my neck and goosebumps flourished over my mostly bare body. She opened the door a crack, and the most beautiful sound in the world—five thousand people chanting my name in unison—flooded me with love and awe that I had that effect on people. I would never take this feeling for granted.

  Rainey beamed with pride, adoration, and most of all, love. Without love, none of this was possible. “They’re calling for you.”

  THE AFTERLIFE AFTERPARTY had always been a risk for all involved. The fans battled their way backstage by sexing up the security guards and gatekeepers, with hopes of getting closer to the band. Once they did, it was anything goes. Sex, blood, and rock n’ roll. I didn’t always score an invite to the parties, which was fine with me because I’d been too busy trying to find my girlfriend. Priorities. But tonight’s party was more important than ever. After an amazing show where my fire burned so close to my skin through my first three numbers I might have had to let out a flame over Tristan’s piano, and Tristan finally coming back to life from the waves and love and lust radiating from the crowd, we desperately needed to keep the good times going.

  I wasn’t naïve enough to believe all our problems had been fixed because I was in charge of the clan. Don’t call me The Mistress, I warned the guys. Tristan laughed at me and said Callie had been uncomfortable with the title, too, and she grew into it. I had a feeling it fit her better once she killed Cash. I had my first kill under my belt, too—Rachel, but all it did was remind me how fragile my own position was. That power was earned, and having it wasn’t permanent.

  “This is a terrible idea.” Rainey sighed as we walked through the parking lot to Embrace. Throngs of fans mobbed the entrance, and someone had thought to put a red carpet out in front of the club, complete with velvet ropes. They had plenty of time to get here while I healed enough to join them.

  “No it’s not,” I said, not convinced I was right, but we could not have the party at Tristan’s penthouse. We had yet to evict the ghosts that still lived there. “Listen.”

  The crowd had broken into a chant. “Holly! Holly! Holly!”

  I did something I hardly ever did. I broke away from Rainey, pushed through the guards, and went to the crowd. We actually travelled with security now, that took some getting used to, and they formed a circle around us. The fans wouldn’t hurt me—the adoration was so overwhelming I had to stop and hold it in my hand. My name dissolved into shrieks. I signed autographs and posed for pictures until the guards dragged me back to Rainey. At first I thought I was in trouble with The Dominia, but her eyes shone with unshed tears. Pure pride. This was what we always wanted.

  “What’s gotten into you?” She had to shout when we entered the club. The trippy trance music had been replaced by Tristan’s guitar and I could barely hear myself think.

  I pushed her up against the bar, winking to Lennon, who was back to work. “Was this what it was like in the other Realm?” I asked.

  “It was good there, but people were bored. They didn’t understand loss.” Rainey shook her head and looked away from me. “They do now.”

  “That’s not your fault. You would’ve saved Gabriel if you could’ve.” If I hadn’t burned his stolen energy when I killed Rachel. I put my finger on Rainey’s chin and tipped her gaze back to mine. “They’re better off here, with you.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I know so. Look over there.” I motioned to the end of the bar, where Tristan sat with his guitar, taking requests from the screaming crowd and anyone who’d bring him another shot of Venom. “It’s our job to show them the best and the worst of what humanity has to offer and trust them to make the right decisions.”

  Rainey’s hand slipped up my thigh, under my skirt. “Stop making sin look so good.”

  “It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.” I leaned in for the kiss. I didn’t care if she stripped the dress from my body in the middle of the room. I wanted everyone at Embrace to know I belonged to her.

  A cool hand on my bare back startled me away from her, and Rainey glared at whoever interrupted us, but she couldn’t hold the mean mug. I didn’t have to turn around to know Blade was behind me. I leaned back into his chest. “Thanks for hosting the party tonight.”

  “My pleasure. It’s been a long time since this place has been full like this.”

  Blade tried to have a rival show, with the vampire donors, but it dissolved into a feeding frenzy when the vampires of the city couldn’t get enough good energy. “It doesn’t stink anymore, either.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.” Rainey laughed. “We’d get everyone here and all they’d be able to talk about is what’s that smell?”

  “I kicked those guys out. Told them they were no longer welcome here. The problem isn’t solved, but with the change in leadership, and the better energy, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about it anymore.” Blade’s hands followed the path that Rainey’s had made up my thighs. I needed to wear this dress more often. His lips were against my ear. I grabbed Rainey, desperate to be sandwiched between them.

  “Ready for a private celebration?” he asked.

  Rainey and I looked at each other.

  “I’m having fun. I don’t want to go home yet,” I said. We just moved into our new apartment on the twenty-fifth floor of the Alta Vista. It was a three-bedroom with a gorgeous view of the Strip and the Red Rock mountains. Each of us—Rainey, Blade, and I—had our own sanctuary, but my bed had quickly become everyone’s favorite.

  Blade turned me around. He dressed up for the occasion, and he always looked irresistible when he did that. All he needed was a jacket over a button-down shirt to make me want to eat him with a spoon. “I don’t want to go home, either. I was thinking the office.”

  “The office?” Rainey mouthed, wincing. I shrugged and grabbed her hand as Blade led us through the crowd. The party reminded me of the first time I went backstage at an Immortal Dilemma show, and a little bit of the other Realm. Naked people everywhere, swarming around the guys in the band. Blood had been spilled, but not against anyone’s will. Adam and Tommy were tag teaming one girl as someone from the crowd licked the blood that ran between her breasts to her stomach.

  I couldn’t wait for that to be me. In a more intimate setting, of course.

  “Holy shit,” Rainey said when he opened the door. “It’s clean in here.”

  “Fuck yeah, it is. I knew I’d never get you to take your clothes off if I didn’t clean it up.” Blade hooked his finger under the strap of my dress. “Speaking of...”

  He didn’t even have to finish the question to get me to pull the damn thing over my head. “Remember the first night you stayed at our old apartment? And Rainey fisted me up against the closet door with you on the other side?”

  Blade’s mouth hung open. “Fisted? Holy fuck. I thought there was some toy action but...”

  He whistled low and Rainey winked at him. I cleared my throat because the attention was supposed to be on me.

  “While you were gone, Blade expressed interest in some closet shenanigans. We never got to do it, since the Realm was rapidly becoming a dumpster fire, and then the apartment burned down for real. So, how about the two of you recreate th
at night, but you’re both on the same side of the door?”

  “How does she do that?” Blade turned to Rainey, and let out a low groan when she reached for him and unbuttoned his shirt. Holy shit, that was hot. They hadn’t broken their no touching anyone but Holly rule. Yet. Her fingers only skimmed the buttons. That was all it took. I didn’t know how I would react if they’d touched each other, or more than that.

  I burned with jealousy. “Do what?”

  He sank to his knees. “I had big plans for you in here, and just like that, you flipped the script on me.”

  Rainey joined him, kneeling on the other side of him, working together to slide my thong down my thighs. Breaths came in gulps, and I forced myself to keep my eyes open and watch them work together. It was a dance in its own right, how Blade would bite my thigh as Rainey circled my clit. Finally, we had the thing that Gabriel said was a lie. Balance. Not believing it could be achieved was his downfall.

  And tonight, we would change vampire history.

  Thank you!

  It’s always a relief and gives me a sense of accomplishment to type The End on any story, but it’s also bittersweet. While I’m writing a story, I have to live closely enough with the characters that they’re comfortable getting totally naked in front me. They have to feel comfortable telling me their fears, their deepest, desires, and things they never have told another soul. During the creation of the book, I am those characters’ soulmates. I laugh and cry along with them and feel fear and excitement when they do. There are times, armed with my trusty plot, I’m determined to lead them down one path, and the character will NOT let me do it. I’ve learned to trust my characters, even if they’re only figments of my imagination, to lead themselves down the right path. They know what will make them happy better than anyone else, especially me. My only hope is that they bring me along on their journey so I can share it with you, and so far, they haven’t let me down.

  Typing The End on Queen of the Night Time World was especially bittersweet. Maybe Cirque Macabre is the first series you’ve read by me. Or maybe you’ve been with me from the very beginning, when I was in the query trenches with a story called Immortal Dilemma. These characters, this story, was the catalyst that set my writing career in motion. About fifteen years ago, I had a dream so vivid about a girl trying to make her way in Vegas I couldn’t ignore it. It was meant to be a book, I knew it. I always wanted to write a book, but I had no idea how. I only had scraps of a college education and a whole lot of fear holding me back. But I did it—I moved away from everything I ever knew and went to Las Vegas. The book didn’t come right away. I still didn’t know how to do that. But because of that dream, I learned how to live. I didn’t travel much as a kid, and it’s easy to forget that the rest of the world isn’t what you know. That there are amazing things out there, as well as pitfalls disguised as amazing things. I learned how to take chances and not settle for mediocre. Before I had that dream, I’d come to terms with the reality that my dreams wouldn’t come true. I’ll remember that day as long as I live. The sadness that came with accepting that fate.

  It was bullshit. Never accept that fate. Your dreams can come true. It will take a lot of hard work and you might piss some people off. Do the thing that makes your heart sing and skin tingle with excitement. Do the thing that scares you. It’s worth it. I promise.

  My best friend through all phases of my life, partner in weird crime, and self-proclaimed heterosexual life partner Julie Hutchings had gone through her own personal revolution, walking away from the safe thing that made her miserable. One night, she told me she was working on a book. I’d been back from Vegas for about five years, and the book still wasn’t written. I tried a couple times, but I didn’t know how to bring a story to a breaking point and make it better. She suggested that we work together, and we’d figure it out. And we did. We stuck with it.

  Callie, Tristan, Lennon, and Blade were my very first characters, but they’re so much more than that. I made ALL my mistakes with them. It’s no surprise they’re so good at making bad decisions and coming out smelling like roses...except for Callie...poor Callie. The Night Songs Collection went through many public transformations until I finally was able to tell the story the characters deserved. It wasn’t just that I had no idea what I was doing. Art is hard. I was discouraged from doing art because it wasn’t stable—I’d never get into college doing art, and I’d never get a job. Stupid, right? But that’s what I was told. I believed it, and I spent a decade struggling being a person someone else thought I should be, and then every year after that learning who I really was. A lot of that, I can thank that dream for. And the rest I can chalk up to writing. Making the art. The more I revealed who I really was, the more I found my tribe, and the happier I became.

  Not writing these characters anymore will be a new chapter in my career. I owe them everything. Many of you have asked if there will be more vampires, or more in this world. Right now, I’m not sure. Tristan has been whispering in my ear quite a bit lately. He doesn’t want me to leave him alone. But we’ll see.

  (Man, when I put it like that, it makes me sound like an AWFUL person not to listen to him!)

  So this book is for you. Everyone who followed me from book one of a series to the end. Everyone who’s reached out to say that one of my books meant something to you. And everyone who pitched in to make my stories better. I need to give a shout out to Tammy Farrell—who read Because the Night in the very beginning and fell in love with the story even before it reached its full potential—for championing Night Songs and Cirque Macabre.

  I hope we have many more adventures together. Let’s keep in touch:

  Facebook

  Instagram

  Kristen’s Backstage Pass—Facebook Reader Group

  Newsletter

  Bookbub

  If you haven’t read Because the Night, I’ve included the first chapter of the book so you can see where it all began.

  Because the Night

  Everywhere I looked along the Las Vegas Strip, Tristan’s eyes smoldered back at me. On billboards, taxi toppers, and the T-shirts of fans headed to Sin City Vampire Club to see him play in Immortal Dilemma. All those women hoped to get a little closer to him to fulfill their fantasies.

  Seeing Tristan like this, larger than life, made it too easy to forget he’d walked out of my life two years ago. We’d been a couple once. He was my first love. Distance made us friends, but it hadn’t changed my feelings for him. I didn’t realize anything was wrong between us until my texts and calls went unanswered.

  Tonight I was determined to find out what the hell happened.

  I was so out of my league. It took everything I had to not grab my cousin Keisha’s arm and run out of the Alta Vista hotel as soon as we walked in. It was so much bigger than the band’s TV show, Immortal Forever, made it look. The sleek silver and purple lobby buzzed with anticipation. Groups of fans decked out in black baby doll dresses and combat boots filled the massive room, giggling and screaming. I had to remind myself we weren’t here for the same reason.

  Venomtini bars and Immortal Dilemma slot machines dotted the walkway leading to Sin City Vampire Club. Keisha and I held hands so we didn’t get separated in the crowd.

  “Callie!” Keisha barked, like she’d been talking to me and I hadn’t answered. She rolled her eyes when I jumped. Her main goal on this mission was to keep my head out of the clouds. Easier said than done. “What’s the first thing you’re going to say when you see Tristan? You better not let him off easy.”

  Before I decided on a proper punishment for Tristan, I had to figure out his crime. There could be a perfectly good reason Tristan had stopped talking to me. He’d always had trouble with drinking and drugs, and that was what worried me. I wasn’t here to play the woman scorned card. Making sure he wasn’t killing himself was a higher priority.

  He had cast the same spell on me that he had on all the women who wore T-shirts branded with his face. The ones on the TV show who’d do a
nything to get closer to him. And that scared me.

  “Let’s concentrate on if we talk to him first. Look at this place! The show doesn’t make it seem this big.”

  I considered every day Tristan didn’t die a good day. I could’ve waited for the news in the comfort of my own home. Right. That wasn’t how I rolled.

  Keisha sighed. “I thought you had that part figured out.” She was my best friend because she played it straight. She reluctantly agreed to babysit me on this trip when it was the only way my mother would let me leave Martha’s Vineyard. I was eighteen years old, and Mom hadn’t warmed up to the freedom aspect of my adulthood.

  I thought I had it all figured out, too. That was usually what got me in trouble. “The plan’s changed,” I said. She could make all the faces she wanted, but it didn’t change the fact we’d spend the next week in Las Vegas. A lot could happen in a week. “Trust me.”

  The ticket line was endless. My heart plummeted into my stomach. I never considered we may not get tickets. Stupid me thought Tristan would finally respond to my text message that said I’m here. It might not even be his number anymore. My message could’ve freaked some random person out, but it definitely didn’t score us seats to tonight’s Immortal Dilemma show.

  The crowd roared inside the theater, taunting me as we finally reached the ticket window. “Two tickets, for tonight, please.” My hopes were at an all-time low, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

  “Sorry, this window is for online orders only. Tonight’s show is sold out. All the shows sell out weeks in advance,” the woman behind the window said.

  “Can you check to see if my name is on the list? Callie Chabot?”

  She checked a box full of envelopes. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing under that name.”