Anger sparked inside of me, giving me a false bravado, and I wondered if I would regret my actions in the morning, but I knew he didn’t need the wristband to know her age. Watching him was like watching a fighter waiting for his moment to throw the first punch; it was difficult to know what he was going to do, but if you knew what to look for, you’d know when they were going to strike. Like muscles coiling before the fighter sprang into action, I felt him start to shift the energy around him and lift the compulsion to not notice him. Just as the girl’s brow furrowed, I threw up a shield between them, making a thick wall of energy slap him in the face as he started to lean towards her.
I felt the reverberation shake through me when he hit the wall and had a cold sort of comfort as he lifted a hand to his cheek and rubbed it. The crease in the girl’s brow smoothed again before she slid her empty glass away from her and stood, pushing and elbowing into the crowd behind her to get closer to the stage. Her small form was swallowed by the crowd as her hips found the beat of the music. My stomach settled back into its normal place before I looked back at the jilted vampire. My throat nearly closed. He was angry.
It took more courage than I realized I possessed to remain sitting exactly where I was and even more courage not to scream for help as he started to make his way towards me. There were no empty stools around me, but I knew that could always change if he wanted it to. I swirled my straw in my glass, trying to look as casual as possible, glancing up to catch Giovanni’s eye and smiling at him. He nodded at me, reassuring me that I wasn’t forgotten. Good, I thought to myself, then at least if things get a little too uncomfortable, maybe he could help.
A few moments passed since the vampire blended into the crowd on his way over to me and he hadn’t appeared at my side. The lump in my throat slid down, making it a little easier to breathe. Maybe I was going to be okay. Maybe he’d just leave and move on to a different watering hole for the night. Maybe the bastard had snuck up on me. Feeling like the girl in a B horror movie, I turned my head slowly to look over my right shoulder and jolted in shock as my nose nearly brushed his – that was how close the asshole had gotten to me.
“Sunnovabitch!” I swore quickly, my words running into each other as my hand jumped to my chest. He smirked at me as I caught my breath and settled back into my seat. He had one hand on the back of my chair and one on the bar top, surrounding me on three sides. I didn’t like that.
“Do you mind?” Placing one hand on his chest, I pushed harder than I would need to on a regular man, but he let me move him back a half a foot. I was unsurprised to see that he was heart stopping gorgeous. I was starting to get the feeling that immortality was reserved for the insanely beautiful; it probably added to their cache of weapons against humans.
“Oh, am I bothering you?” His voice was sarcastic, so I waited. “It’s not like I just snatched your dinner out of your mouth, but don’t mind me.”
“Don’t give me that crap,” I nearly spat at him, my fear making me angry and giving me a little bit of strength. “You knew better than me that she was a minor.”
“She was hardly a child,” he countered.
“Still not an adult, asshole,” I shot back, and he actually smiled a little.
“Ah, I see.” He leaned a little into me, still invading my personal space. “So if she were an adult…”
“Still depends on your intentions.” I glared into his eyes, probably daring him to try any of his mind control on me, knowing he couldn’t.
“Care to find out for yourself?” A tremor of excitement shot through me, but I beat it down, careful to control my heart rate lest he hear it.
“Thanks, but no, never fancied myself a main course on anyone’s menu.” I looked away from him, not wanting him to think I was afraid to take my eyes off of him. I sipped at my drink before saying, “Look, I know you gotta live, I get that, but if you kill someone in my town, you’ll be answering to me, got it?” Was I really saying these things? I still felt like I was stuck in that B horror flick.
“If that’s a threat, then it’s a tempting one. I just might have to call your bluff.” I couldn’t help but turn my face back to his, and he smiled at me in a way I had only seen inside the bedroom. It was all too intimate for him to be looking at me like that. But what bothered me more was that I realized I was enjoying the teasing and the attention. I hated myself a little bit just then.
“Don’t mistake my age for innocence.” I let my power fill my voice as it traveled the short distance between us, swelling with magic and intent. “If you kill for anything other than self-defense, I’ll end you.” He considered me, really considered me and my words then. Looking past the makeup, hair, and boobs, he realized I was no more a child in this world than he was. We both radiated power and threat. We both knew he had more experience with pain and blood than I may ever, at least I hoped. But I had killed other living creatures and come out the other side of that blade with my sanity. I could do it again.
I felt a heavy weight settle between my shoulder blades, and for one terrifying moment, I thought my wings had appeared without their usual crippling pain. But their sheer size would have cleared the crowd behind me and no one had moved or screamed, so I knew it was just the possibility of them rather than the reality. His eyes glanced up and behind me, widening in shock. He could see the shadow of my wings and that, more than my words, more than the power surrounding and filling me, scared him, making him take pause.
“Do we have an understanding?”
He stared at me for a long moment before he spoke. “I believe, now, we do.” His voice was barely a whisper, but I heard him clearly. His voice was like velvet in my ears, and I realized he was trying to pull some magic because he was suddenly afraid of me. I’m sure it was a strange feeling to a natural predator after so many years of forgetting what it was like to be afraid, and if his aura told me anything, he wasn’t a day under a century.
“Good.” I nodded briefly, not wanting to leave this on bad terms should I run into him again in a dark alley someday. With that in mind, I asked, “So, how long do you think you’ll be in town?”
“Want to keep tabs on me, do you?” His voice was light again just like that, and I was aware that the weight on my back was gone. I felt his muscles ease as he too realized the shadow of wings no longer hung over him. Suddenly the man sitting on the stool behind him decided to get up and leave in mid-sentence, leaving his friend blinking after him. The vampire never took his eyes off of me as he hooked his foot into one of the rungs of the stool and pulled it closer to him so he could slide into the seat.
“Something like that.” I couldn’t help my smile; we had an understanding between us and now that the dominance game was settled, a strange comfortable feeling was left in its wake.
“I hadn’t intended to invade anyone’s territory, I hope you understand. But seeing as we don’t feed on humans in the same way, we shouldn’t step on each other’s toes.” That made me choke on my soda.
“Whoa, I am not a-” I caught myself and checked the level of my voice and whispered, “a vampire.”
“Well, I know you’re not like me per say, but I can feel you feeding off of the crowd nonetheless, but with the wings and your heartbeat… Now that’s a confusing bundle of tricks you’ve got going.”
“I am not feeding off the crowd,” I snarled. “Yes, other people’s emotions affect me, but I’m not feeding off of them.” I had a flash of memory: Jensen accusing me of being some sort of emotional vampire as well.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself, love.” He shrugged at me and signaled the female bartender for a drink. I was probably the only one who noticed that she brought him a scotch on the rocks without him speaking his order.
“I am not like you,” I said again, letting my powers have sway with my voice.
“Of course not. But let me ask you something,” he finally said after sipping at his drink and recovering from the push of my powers. “Do you find it hard to be away from people for
long periods of time?”
I started to open my mouth to answer him immediately, but he quirked an eyebrow at me and I paused to really think about it. Yes, I could be away from people, and I would often go out of the city to recharge my elemental powers, but if Jodi and Steven weren’t with me – which was rare – I always ended up calling them immediately. Even alone in my room, my house wasn’t empty, and we lived in the middle of a city, not out in the wilderness. Did I ever really let myself be alone?
“Okay, now that I’ve got that thought in your head, let me ask you this. I see you have your shields up and tight against this crowd, but do you ever totally block out the world?”
“That’s a safety thing,” I said, shaking my head. “If I totally blocked out the world, anyone and anything could sneak up on me.”
“Oh, sure, sure,” he said quickly, swirling the ice in his tumbler. I watched as the melting cubes slipped in a circle while I tried to ignore his mocking tone.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” I managed to look him in the eye as I spoke to him now, ignoring the churning in my stomach. This had started out as such a nice night.
“Of course not,” he said simply, “just make sure you know what you are. It’s a lot easier if you can accept it.” He wasn’t trying to use any of his powers of persuasion on me and that probably disappointed me more than anything in this conversation. He really believed I was some new hybrid of vampire, and wouldn’t a vampire know his own kind better than anyone else? Every passing day, I was reminded in some way that I was slipping farther and farther away from being human. Not even Jodi and Steven had as much to deal with as I did.
“But in answer to your question, I wasn’t planning on leaving or staying.” His confusing words brought me back to the bar and the deafening music still thundering in the background and the press of bodies all around.
“What?” I blinked at him, sure I had misheard him.
“That is to say, I don’t make plans.” He took a piece of ice into his mouth and crunched it between his teeth. I half expected to see his canines pointing and sharp, but they looked like normal teeth as he broke through the ice.
“Fine.” I turned in my chair to face him again. “But I meant what I said. I don’t control this town, but it’s still mine. Don’t over step your bounds.”
“Ugh, I heard you the first time.” He rolled his eyes at me in a very modern gesture before he picked up his glass and downed the rest of his drink in one swallow. Setting the glass back on the bar, he slid from his seat and started to turn away from me. In a surge of panic, I reached out and touched his arm, stopping him from leaving just yet.
“Hey, I don’t know your name.” I felt the butterflies erupt in my stomach again and a heat flare in my cheeks. I found myself chewing on my bottom lip; the simple act of touching his arm had made me nervous and a little giddy.
“Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine,” he teased, sensing the effect touching him had on me, but we had established our pecking order and I felt like I’d be giving him ground if I gave up my name first.
“I asked you first.” He looked at me, the gray of his eyes turning to quicksilver as I watched, swirling in a most inhuman and fascinating way.
“Liam,” he whispered and looked at me as if we were lying in bed again. My heart thumped loudly in my ears, making him smile.
“Shayna.” He took my hand away from his arm and pressed his cool lips to the back of it before slipping away into the crowd. I knew he had left the theater all together when a knot in my stomach loosened and I felt like I could breathe normally again.
“Thought maybe I had some competition.” Giovanni’s voice brought me back to my senses and I turned in my seat to see him leaning against the bar on his forearms, trying to be closer to me. I managed a half smile and shook my head.
“Don’t worry your pretty head about him.”
“Can I get you anything, dollface?”
“Yeah, how about something stronger than a Coke?”
He grinned at me and shook his head. We both knew he couldn’t do it even if he wanted to; the regulations and fines in California weren’t something to be tested. I pushed my empty glass forward with two fingers towards him for a refill. Giovanni reached for the soda gun again, but stopped before pressing the button for Coke.
“Actually, I’m going on break.” He lifted his eyes to meet mine, making my cheeks flush with the heat hidden in their honey depths. “Want to join me?”
The question hung in the air between us, the other, unasked, question practically visible. My stomach flipped with nerves, still a little on edge from my brief encounter with Liam. As part of their cache of weapons, vamps were able to induce arousal and desire in an almost hypnotic way and I worried that Liam had been trying to do that to me. Was my judgment clouded now because of the vamp? Did I really care?
“Sure,” I finally managed to say, glad to hear my voice was light and casual despite the sudden thundering of my pulse. Luckily, Giovanni couldn’t hear it like Liam could, so I was spared some dignity.
“Awesome.” His lips broke into another eager grin as he set the soda gun and my empty glass back down. Turning away from me, he caught the female bartender by the waist and spoke close to her ear to be heard over the still pounding music. She nodded briefly and I watched as she fingered a button on a black cord that snaked up to her ear and she spoke into a tiny microphone on the cord. In another minute, Giovanni was ducking under the bar and a different guy in a simple black t-shirt and jeans took his place.
I turned away from the bar and slid off of the stool, realizing a little too late that I should’ve told Jodi or Steven where I was going so they didn’t get worried if they didn’t see me at the bar. There were far too many people with too many wild emotions filling the room for me to reach out to them telepathically. I could see Jodi’s blonde hair bobbing in and out of the crowd and saw Steven and Anthony, who had finally arrived, dancing with her. I debated going to them and telling them I’d be right back, but just as I started to take a step towards the mass of dancers, Giovanni’s warm fingers touched my arm, immediately drawing my attention away from my friends. The skin under his fingers flamed with heat.
“Don’t worry about your friends,” Giovanni spoke into my hair as he leaned his body close to mine. His breath washed against me smelling like cinnamon and cloves. It was faint and pleasant, but part of me hoped he didn’t plan on smoking a clove while I was around; it was too strong a smell for me. I realized I must be nervous as my mind bounced from one random thought to another.
“I should tell them where I’ll be.” I started to turn away from him again, but his fingers gripped my arm a little tighter, stopping me. I turned my head to look into his face, almost expecting to see something I didn’t want to see, but he just gave me a sly look, making the butterflies swarm in my stomach.
“We’re not gonna leave the building, don’t worry,” he assured me, loosening his fingers almost immediately.
“Don’t worry, huh?” I quirked an eyebrow at him, shifting my weight to the hip he was nearly touching and pushing it into his thigh in a burst of confidence. “Famous last words.”
He chuckled low in his throat again, making chills break out on my arms. “I promise, it’ll be okay.” He slipped his fingers down my arm until he caught my hand and urged me to follow him. My legs moved slowly at first, pulling against my better judgment as I started to lose sight of my friends, but a second – more powerful – feeling of excitement and abandonment helped move me to follow him.
“If I’m gone too long, they’ll notice,” I insisted, glad to hear a little worry in my voice, hoping he’d get my meaning.
“My break’s only ten minutes, doll,” he said lightly as we made our way to a door in the wall. When it was opened, I saw that it led to a long dim hallway that ran the length of the theater and I realized it must lead to backstage. That eased a knot of worry in my chest; if it led to backstage, then a few dozen people were nea
rby. But we didn’t walk that way; Giovanni turned right and I saw a set of winding metal stairs that led up to the balcony section of the theater.
“I thought the balcony was closed?”
“To the public,” Giovanni nodded as we started up the stairs, holding hands all the while. With every step up, my excitement grew and my worry was pushed to the back of my mind. Finally, at the top, he pulled out a key ring from his deep pocket and unlocked the door at the top of the stairs, pushing it open and holding it for me to walk in first. We were, in fact, in the balcony with about ten rows of empty seats. I had only been up here once for a concert and knew it had been at least a decade since the management had bothered with any repairs or upgrades as most of the chairs squeaked, wobbled, or were just plain broken.
“See, now you can see your friends.” He had followed me in and came up behind me, slipping his hands to my hips and pulling me against him in a very familiar way. I glanced over the edge of the balcony and, sure enough, I could see Jodi, Steven, and Anthony easier than I could from the bar. It was that simple and all my worry vanished. I wasn’t physically afraid of anything happening because I had proven that I could defend against a larger foe and Giovanni didn’t have any magical abilities with which to attack me. I was just worried about the possibility that I would have to use magic, but as I let that finger of awareness I had attached to him blossom, I knew what his intentions were and, if I was being honest with myself, I had no problem with them.
“Um.” I wasn’t sure what to say or really what to do; sneaking away with a stranger into some dark corner with illicit thoughts racing through my mind wasn’t like me. I turned around, his hands never leaving my hips as I faced him. I felt them slide around me as I moved, sending pleasant chills up my back. But he saved me from the embarrassment of speaking intelligently by walking me backwards until my back hit the closed door. He raised one arm up over my head and braced his forearm against the wall, making him lean into me. His other hand remained at my hip, his thumb under the hem of my shirt, stroking my hipbone slowly.
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