by Cameron Dean
Something else he was no doubt hoping I would pass along.
“So you’ll help me get the word out?” I said.
He nodded. “You go on inside. Have a good time.”
I moved toward the doors that would take me into the interior of the club, the words the vampire hadn’t spoken ringing in my ears.
While you still can. My good-time opportunities were likely to run out if I got on the wrong side of Sloane.
The interior of the Majestic was a seething cauldron of bodies and pounding sounds. Disco music blared from 360-degree speakers. An immense, revolving mirrored ball cast reflections in every direction, and two DJs were spinning discs in perfect sync.
The best thing about the Majestic is that the bar rings the entire dance floor, which means that, even when the place is packed, you can almost always find a spot. I chose one with a view of the door and ordered my standard mineral water and lime. I wriggled my butt up onto a tall stool, crossed my legs, and kept my eyes open.
So far, so good. I was in. I had put the word out for Sloane. Now all I had to do was sit tight and hope the chance to get at Ash via me was an offer Sloane couldn’t refuse.
“Candace?” I suddenly heard a voice inquire. I turned to discover that Blanchard Gray had materialized at my side. Until several months ago, Blanchard had functioned as my eyes and ears in the vampire underground. The events of New Year’s Eve, the threat of a major showdown between rival vampire factions, had caused him to leave town. I hadn’t seen him since, hadn’t even known he was back in Vegas.
“Hello, Blanchard,” I said. “It’s nice to see you. You’re looking well.”
Blanchard’s eyes widened as he took in my attire. Under the lights in the club his bleached-blond hair seemed to almost glow. Blanchard and I share an unusual bond. We met the night a vampire attacked him. I killed the vampire feeding on him then offered him my own blood, allowing him to become one of the undead. It was either that or watch him die in agony.
“It really is you,” he said, sliding up onto the empty stool beside me. “I wasn’t sure at first. You’re…” He cocked his head. “Different somehow. Though it could just be that dress, of course. Hardly your usual style. So what brings you to the Majestic?”
“The usual reason,” I said. “I’m looking for someone. This is the place to come if you want to get the word out. You taught me that, yourself.”
“And you paid attention. That is so sweet,” he said. He flashed the bartender a devastating smile.
“Please tell me you’re not going to order a Bloody Mary,” I said.
He gave a shudder. “Perish the thought,” he said. And ordered a Lemon Drop. “So, who are you looking for?” he asked as the bartender moved off.
“New guy in town,” I said shortly. And I sincerely hope you don’t know him. “His name is Sloane.”
Blanchard hissed out an alarmed sound through his perfect white teeth. “Candace, angel, far be it from me to tell you your business, but have you by any chance gone completely nuts? I’ve been back in town all of three days and even I know to steer clear of that one.”
“I’m just doing what I have to, Blanchard,” I said. “You know how that goes.”
The waiter brought his drink then, sparing him the need to reply. He took a sip, his eyes on the dance floor.
“Can I ask you something, Blanchard?” I suddenly said.
“About anything but my love life,” he replied. “Not that I wouldn’t be happy to discuss it, if I weren’t going through a dry spell, you understand.”
“You are so full of crap,” I said.
He smiled. “I know. What’s the question?”
“Do you hate me?” I asked. “For what happened that night?”
“Why should I hate you?” Blanchard asked at once. I could tell the question had surprised him. It surprised me, too. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted to ask it until the words were actually coming out of my mouth.
“You weren’t the one who took away my life,” Blanchard went on. “Without you, I would have no existence at all. What I have may not be perfect, but it’s a damn sight better than nothing.”
“And you really mean that?” I said.
“Of course I do,” Blanchard answered. “Candace, what is this about? Are you afraid Sloane’s going to put the bite on you? If so, why the hell are you waiting around?”
“Actually,” I said, “it’s a little more complicated than that. Believe me when I say you don’t want to know. You might not even want to be seen with me, in fact.”
“Oh, great!” Blanchard exclaimed. “Now you tell me.”
“Candace Steele.” A voice I recognized all too well slid through the sound pulsing through the bar. “What a lovely surprise. And looking so lovely, too. I’m surprised Ash let you out of his sight.”
And there he was, standing on the edge of the dance floor like a slice of night. If I didn’t know what a cold-blooded killer he was, Sloane would have looked dangerous and romantic, his dark clothing only serving to highlight his pale skin, dark hair and eyes. The scar I had given him ran like a fault line down the right side of his face.
To me, he just looked dangerous. Dangerous as hell.
I took a sip of mineral water. It’s difficult to bandy words when your throat is dry as dust.
“Ash doesn’t run me,” I replied. “He just thinks he does.”
“Don’t tell me. And you let him go right on thinking that,” Sloane answered, his tone delighted. “This just gets better by the minute, doesn’t it?”
His eyes cut to Blanchard, who was watching the exchange between us with the same sort of fascination a deer gives to oncoming headlights.
“You snuck away from Ash to meet some Nancy boy?”
“I snuck away from Ash to meet you,” I said. “Nancy just happens to be taking up adjacent space.” Best for all concerned if Sloane thought Blanchard and I didn’t know one another. He grinned then, and Blanchard blinked as if snapping out of a trance.
“Not for very much longer,” Sloane said.
Without a word, Blanchard slid off the stool and disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor, leaving his unfinished drink behind on the bar. Sloane took his place on the stool, his eyes on the dancers.
“I hear you want to see me.”
“You hear right.”
“Flattered as I am, I can’t imagine what for.”
“Simple,” I said. “Ash wants to arrange a meet, but he thought you might…misunderstand if he came himself. He sent me as his emissary.”
“Oh, really. Why the hell should I want to meet with Ash?” Sloane inquired. “Why shouldn’t I just hunt him down and destroy him?”
“You think the two are mutually exclusive?”
Sloane’s head turned toward me as if pulled by a string. I definitely had his full attention now.
“So he’s told you,” he said. “I wondered if he had.”
I managed a laugh though my stomach had abruptly knotted up, tight.
Sloane cocked his head, his dark eyes holding mine. I could tell he was trying to figure all the angles. He slid his hand across the bar top to run his fingers down my bare arm. I felt myself jolt.
“You know,” he said quietly, and I heard both syllables, every nuance within them, even over the noise of the club. “I always wondered how Ash could give up so much just for a woman. I think I’m beginning to see the point.”
“You know what they say about flattery, don’t you?” I replied.
Sloane laughed then, sliding off the stool, pulling me with him. “Come dance with me, Candace,” he said. “I suddenly discover I have the need to feel you in my arms.”
Every instinct in my body was screaming like a wild thing, telling me to pull back, pull away. Every cell of my body conscious of the excruciating pain that had come the last time Sloane held me in his arms. I clamped down, hard, with my mind. Forced myself to stand still. I was not ruled by instinct. Not entirely, not just yet.
“I came to talk,” I said. “Not to socialize.”
“You think the two are mutually exclusive?” Sloane inquired, parroting my words with a wicked smile. “You could put up a fight, of course. That might be fun, too.”
“You are such an obvious bastard,” I said.
Sloane smiled sweetly. “I’m so glad you noticed.”
He pulled me out onto the dance floor.
Dancing with Sloane was sort of like undergoing torture. You can see trouble coming straight at you, and there’s nothing you can do to avoid it. Not only that, you have no idea how long it’s going to go on. Even as I felt his arms slide around me to bring me in close, I told myself that I could take it. I wasn’t the quarry Sloane wanted. This was just his way of showing who was in control.
He held me right up against him, full-body contact. One hand wrapped tight around my rib cage, pressing my breasts against his chest. The other wandered, working its way slowly but surely toward my ass, as if he actually believed I might find that exciting. For one split second, I considered playing along, then abandoned the idea. That good an actress I’m not. Sloane’s touch filled me with nothing but loathing, and he knew it. He bent his head, his lips at the base of my throat, then trailing up the side of my neck to tease my ear.
“I remember how you taste, Candace,” he murmured. “Very, very sweet.”
I turned my head, pressed my own lips to the scar that marred the right side of his otherwise perfect face.
“You aren’t the only one who remembers things, Sloane.”
I felt his body stiffen, knew I had won a battle, though hardly the whole war. His hands stopped moving, and his hold loosened, ever so slightly.
“So what the hell does Mr. Ashford Donahue the third think he has to offer me that I can’t just come and take myself?”
“The possibility of a partnership, for one thing,” I replied. “A genuine one, rather than the somewhat lopsided arrangement you’re involved in now. He said you once suggested such a course of action in San Francisco. All he’s looking to do is to follow up.”
Sloane gave a short laugh. “Oh, is that all,” he mocked. “Ash never does anything halfway, Candace. You of all people ought to know that.” He leaned back then, studying my face once more. “Then again, maybe you don’t.”
Don’t let him play you. Don’t get sidetracked, I chanted to myself.
“You do a nice imitation of the pot calling the kettle black,” I replied, knowing it was time to play my final card. “I’m under the impression that you lost something in San Francisco during a meeting with Ash. An item he still has in his possession. A fact your masters may not be aware of. Ash is simply trying to offer you the opportunity to discuss the situation—for old time’s sake—before he takes any steps to set the record straight and return the item to its rightful owners.
“I imagine they’ll be very grateful to finally know the truth, don’t you? But if you’re not interested, all you have to do is say so.”
I felt his hand seize the back of my hair, pulling my head back in a painful grip, one that exposed my throat.
“You little bitch,” he said. “You know where it is, don’t you? You’re going to tell me. Right now.”
“I really don’t think you understand,” I said, fighting to keep the pain from my voice. “I’m just the messenger and nothing more. You want to talk more, know more, you have to see Ash, up close and personal. He picks the place and time. Those are odds you ought to be able to understand, Sloane. They’re the same ones you yourself would offer.”
He released me with a suddenness that left my head flopping on my shoulders.
“You think you’re so smart, both of you. Tell me something, Candace, do you like your new existence? I have to say it wouldn’t appeal much to me, being neither one thing nor the other. But that’s where Ash is clever, isn’t he? Giving you a taste of the good life, letting you experience firsthand what it has to offer. He’s betting there’ll be no way you’ll want to return to being human after that. Particularly since the only way to accomplish it would be to kill him.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, the words out before I could stop them.
“It’s really very simple,” Sloane replied, and I could hear the satisfaction in his voice. “So simple, Ash really should have mentioned it long before now. You want to be human again, truly human? Then take Ash out. If he doesn’t exist as a vampire, neither do your ties to him. You’ll go back to being a living, breathing human being.”
I felt the shock of Sloane’s words ripple through my body. No, it isn’t true. It can’t be true, I thought. I didn’t speak aloud, but my reaction was impossible to miss, or to misunderstand.
“I know just how you feel.” Sloane’s voice was suddenly murmuring in my ear. “It’s so terrible to be betrayed by the one you trust the most. But that’s the beauty of the present situation, Candace. Don’t you see? You have the chance to turn the tables now. You can betray Ash and he’ll never see it coming.”
“I can’t think. I need to think,” I gasped, pulling backward. “Just let me go to the ladies’ room,” I said. Oldest trick in the book. When in doubt, head for the loo.
I took several stumbling steps away. Sloane stayed right with me. When we reached the edge of the dance floor, he grasped one arm to hold me back.
“You wouldn’t be thinking of trying anything foolish, like sneaking out on me, would you?” he asked.
I jerked my arm away. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped. “What I want is a few moments of peace so I can decide whether I want you to roast Ash over a slow fire or boil him in oil. And I better have some say in the matter, Sloane.”
He gave a full-bodied laugh that told me I had pleased and surprised him. I took a step away, but Sloane reached out once more, jerked me back with enough force to show who was in charge.
“I wouldn’t get too accustomed to giving orders.”
I leaned my head back, looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t intend to become accustomed to anything to do with vampires. You think I’m too stupid to figure out why you shared Ash’s dirty little secret? Think again. You want me to hand him over, to help you get back the thing you stole.
“And I just might be willing to do it, on one condition. I get the same ultimate benefit you do: immortality.”
Sloane’s eyebrows shot sky high. “That’s a pretty steep price.”
I kept my gaze and my voice steady. “Bet the Chairman wouldn’t think so,” I replied. “He gets what may be the third Emblem of Thoth and an end to the only vampire to ever successfully defy him. In fact, I think I just became the Board’s best and newest asset. But if you don’t see it that way, I can always go to the Chairman myself.”
“You cocky little bitch,” he snarled. “How about I just rip your throat out right here and now?”
“Now who’s being stupid?” I replied. “You’ve just turned me into the perfect weapon, and we both know it. You destroy me now and you walk out the door the same way you came in: one Emblem short. You agree to my deal, I give you the possibility of giving the Chairman what he’s spent his entire existence searching for. I imagine he’d be very grateful, don’t you?”
I jerked free of his grasp, stepped back.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Sloane barked.
“To the ladies’ room,” I said, opening my eyes wide and innocent. “Assuming I still have your permission.”
“Go on, go powder your nose,” he said. “But when you come back out, you better be prepared to take me to Ash.”
You have no idea just how prepared I’ll be, I thought.
Miraculously, the ladies’ room was empty. The music from the dance floor was piped in but turned down low. Here, the original opulence of the Majestic’s movie house days still held sway. The floor was marble, as was the long makeup counter at the far end of the room. I walked to it, sank down onto one of the velvet-cushioned seats that dotted its length. Then I leaned my arms on th
e counter and dropped my head down onto them. Grateful, so grateful to be alone.
Sonofabitch, I thought. Sonofafuckingbitch. Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Ash? What have you done?
All this time he had watched me struggle with the two options before me: drink living blood and become a true vampire, or truly die. And never once had he so much as hinted there was a door number three, a way that I could return to being fully human once more.
Wait a minute, Candace, I thought.
I lifted my head, then gazed at the place in the mirror where my reflection should be. Hadn’t Ash begged me not to come after him if he was taken, if something went horribly wrong with our plan to use Sloane to get to the Board? Because he’d known that the end of his existence would set me free. He’d known all along, and he never wanted me to know.
“Ask anything else you want of me,” Ash had begged the night of Sloane’s attack. “I will do anything else you want, but do not make me watch you die.”
And now he had given me the same gift, concealing from me the only way that I might be free, the only way I could return to the world of sun, reclaim the life that I had lost. The price of my ticket back into the human world was steep but simple. It was nothing less than Ash himself.
No! I thought. I will not pay it. Not now. Not ever. Such a price was way too high. I had let Ash make me what I was not simply because I was afraid of dying, but because I wanted him, wanted to spend eternity in his arms. Not because of fear, but because of love.
You are clever, Sloane, I thought. But not quite clever enough. It would never occur to him that I could come to view Ash’s sin of omission not as a sin, a betrayal, but as an act of love, the ultimate sacrifice.
And it’s up to me to make sure he doesn’t have to make it, I thought. There was just one way to do that: by stopping the Board.
Much as everything in me cried out against putting Ash in danger, we had both come too far to turn back now. Forward was the only option open to us, the only direction left.
Steadier now, I sat up straight, gazing in the mirror at the place where my reflection would have been if I were truly alive. I could no longer see who I had been. I could only feel who I was now. I am Candace Steele, I thought, and I am a vampire. No doubts, no regrets, no second guesses. If I was going to help defeat the Board, this is how I would do it. Not as a human, but as a vampire. Sloane had actually handed me a stronger weapon to get at him. He would believe his little secret had turned me against Ash because anger and resentment are what Sloane is made of.