Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 08]

by Surviving theDarkness (epub)

  She was meant for him. Now all he had to do was make her see that.

  Scampering off, he took one last look behind him before he headed back home.

  ***

  This place didn’t seem so scary now, Deborah decided as she took her usual spot at the end of the bar. Sure the creatures were everywhere and some of them were rather gruesome to look at but they seemed decent enough. And there hadn’t been one single brawl in all the times she’d been to the Demon’s Lair. Zach really did have a nice bar, respectable even if the patrons drank blood and looked as if they could rip a person’s head off with their little finger. She’d even had a decent conversation with a female vampire named Delilah. She worked as a night receptionist at the hospital. Go figure. From what she was learning, vampires, demons, shape shifters and werewolves all held down reasonable jobs in the city of Jacob’s Cove these days.

  “I need two gin and tonics, neat, three lagers and a blood ball. Man, is it hopping tonight.” Resting her hip on the stool beside Deborah, Ginny took a long breath. “How’s it going with you? Doing okay?”

  “I’m fine, Ginny. Stop worrying about me.”

  “Can’t. I love you so of course I’ll worry. You call Zach and let him know Deb’s here to see him, Wade?”

  “Called, said he’d be up as soon as he was finished with his call.” Wade set the drinks on Ginny’s tray. “I think the squirt’s in trouble again.”

  “Man,” Ginny shook her head as she hoisted the tray onto her hand. “Someone needs to chain that kid down. You need me, Deb. You know where to find me.”

  “Stop worrying about me,” Deborah called out as Ginny headed to her table. “She worries too much.”

  “And you’d worry for her just as much if the tables were turned.”

  Wade was right; she would.

  “This place is nuts tonight.” Simone slid up to the bar, dropping her tray loud enough to make Deborah flinch. “Is it a full moon out tonight or what? I need three Coors, and a tequila paralyzer, no ice. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Simone.”

  Deborah gave her a sideways look. “We met a few days ago. I’m Deborah, Ginny’s friend.” She didn’t understand how the woman could forget when they’d had several conversations since meeting.

  “Right. Right. You play piano. I like piano music. It’s so intense yet soothing. Come on, Wade, what’s the hold up.”

  “No hold up, Simone. You feeling all right?” Wade set the bottles on her tray then began preparing the paralyzer.

  “I couldn’t feel better. Chop chop, Wade. People are thirsty tonight.” The instant he set the drink on her tray she scooped it up, nearly spilling the milky contents of the paralyzer as she hurried off.

  Wade pulled a cell phone from his pants pocket and turning his back, spoke. Deborah had no idea who he was calling but he certainly looked intense, even when he turned back to her, tucking the phone back into his pocket. Moments later she spotted Zach stepping out of his elevator. Fully expecting him to come to her to escort her to his suite for their next session, she was surprised when he walked to Simone, placing a hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure what he said to her, but whatever it was, Simone didn’t seem pleased.

  ***

  Zach kept silent as he led Simone to the waitresses’ lounge. Still saying nothing, he locked them inside then turned to Simone, holding back the disappointment he felt inside. “Wanna tell me why you’re so jittery and full of energy?”

  She fisted her hands on her hips, tapped her left foot impatiently as she glared at him. “Can’t a girl be in a good mood without being persecuted?”

  “I’m not persecuting you. It was only a question.” Her blood shot eyes spoke volumes.

  “I had too much caffeine before starting my shift, which I really should get back to since we’re short-handed tonight and man is this place hopping. I swear it’s a full moon out there.” But as she headed back to the door, Zach stopped her.

  “Don’t do this, Simone.”

  “Do what?” Pulling her arm free of his hold, she stepped back and once again, started tapping her foot. “I need to get back out there, Zach.”

  “You need to go home. I’ll have Charlie take you.”

  She jerked her arm free when he reached out for it. “I am not going home. There’s no reason for me to go home. God, Zach. Lighten up.”

  They’d both worked so hard to keep her sober and now it was back to square one. “Where is the coke?”

  She snorted, throwing a hand in the air. “I don’t have any coke.”

  “Please, Simone, don’t lie to me, of all people. Where is it?”

  She drew in a deep breath, her eyes beginning to shine as she stared at him. “My locker,” she relented, dropping her shoulders.

  It was hard for him to hide his disappointment. “Why?”

  “Why not? Oh, Zach. Don’t look at me like that. Please. I slipped up, okay? I needed something to take the edge off, to make me forget those ugly memories that keep popping up. It’s no biggie. It was only one time.”

  He’d worried she might relapse after her ordeal with the grabby blonde, but Zach had so hoped Simone would be strong enough to face it. Apparently, she wasn’t yet. “I’m going to take you home and I want you to take the next week off—”

  “What? A week? No way.”

  “Simone,” he sighed, touching her cheek with his fingers. “You brought drugs into my establishment. You came to work high. You say you just needed to take the edge off this time, but what about tomorrow, or the next day? Can you look at me and honestly say this will be the last time?”

  She looked down.

  He lifted her chin in his fingers, wiped the stray tears from her cheeks. “I’m going to take you home, and you’re going to go straight to bed. I’ll come by tomorrow and we can figure out where we go from here.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Taking her in his arms, he stroked her hair as she wept. “Every road has detours. It’s not always easy to know which one is the right one to take. Come on,” Pulling the handkerchief from his lapel pocket he wiped her face. “I’ll buy you a burger on the way home.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Things were starting to get ugly, Deborah thought as she watched Ginny frantically try to keep up with the tables in the house. She felt sorry for her friend and wondered why it was Zach had pulled Simone from her shift. All Wade had told her was that Zach had to take Simone home and would be back in an hour to start on their training.

  Ginny had been the one to freak out and Deborah could understand why. There had to be at least three hundred patrons in the bar and only three waitresses and one was taking care of the Carnal Desires area at the back. She’d never been near there and though she was curious, she had no intention of checking it out.

  “I can’t do this anymore, Wade.” Plopping down on the bar stool, Ginny blew out a long breath. “When’s Kat coming in?”

  “Couldn’t get a hold of Kat so I called J.J. in. It’ll take her about an hour to get here.”

  “No way? Where the hell is she?”

  “Trenton. She was visiting her mom. An hour’s not so bad.”

  “Says the man who isn’t wearing spiked heels. Deb,” Ginny burst out, startling her friend. “You used to waitress back before you were a big wig. Why don’t you lend a gal a hand and serve some drinks.”

  Dumbfounded, Deborah stuttered. “I…oh…well… that was a long time ago.”

  “It’s like riding a bike. You never forget. Please, pretty please with sugar and honey on it? I promise if you do this for me I will owe you big time.”

  How could she say no to her best friend when she was begging her with such a sappy look on her face? “I…uh…guess I could help out for a bit.”

  “Yes! I love you.”

  Deb
orah laughed when Ginny grabbed her in a bear hug and kissed her on the cheek.

  “You take tables ten through twenty and I’ll manage the rest.”

  What had she gotten herself into? “Okay, which tables are those?”

  “It’s all very easy. Zach’s made it easy for us. Tables ten through twenty have red table cloths. See how each section of ten has different color table cloths?” She pointed to the rows of tables in red, white, green, blue, and gold, and those were only the closest ones in her sight. “We’re each assigned a color. Think you can handle it?”

  She was having serious doubts now. “I don’t know, Ginny.” All those people near her, possibly touching her and any one of them could be her abductor…and she really needed to stop focusing on it before she hyperventilated.

  “You’ll do fine.” Giving Deborah a quick hug, Ginny darted off.

  Feeling helpless, Deborah turned to Wade.

  “I know it seems daunting, but it’s not so bad once you get started and if you can’t handle it, no prob. We’ll manage without you.” He slid a small black fanny pack across the bar to her. “Inside is a pad, pen and Debit machine. We don’t take cash. Everything is through credit or debit cards so that should ease things up for you.”

  She stared at the fanny pack like it was lethal. Why had she agreed to do this? She couldn’t do this. There were too many people, too many hands and—

  “Table seven is signaling for refills.”

  She blinked out of her thoughts; swallowed hard then took the fanny pack. With a great deal of uneasiness, she clipped it around her waist then turned around. She saw the scrawny guy waving his arms in the air and felt her knees shake.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  Deborah wished she had Wade’s confidence. As she took her first step toward the table she felt the bile rise in her chest. She was about to turn and run when she saw Ginny frantically trying to deal with the rest of the tables. She couldn’t leave her friend high and dry. Swallowing, hard, she continued forward.

  She stepped up to the table which was overcrowded with demons and vampires.

  “About damn time! Hey, you’re not one of the usuals.”

  “I’m filling in temporarily.” She pulled the pad from her pack, her hand shaking as she poised to write. “What can I get for you?”

  “Two tainted lagers and one vodka on the rocks.”

  Jotting it down, she nodded then quickly headed to the bar. That wasn’t so bad.

  “See, piece of cake.”

  She returned Wade’s smile as she placed her order. “Two tainted lagers and a vodka rocks. What’s a tainted lager?”

  Smiling at her, Wade filled her order. “You know how some people like tomato juice with their beer? Well, instead of tomato juice, vamps like a shot of blood in their beer.”

  “Oh ick!”

  “Not for the vamps. Here you go, sweetie.”

  To each his own, she supposed. She took it back to the table, handed the gentleman the debit machine and waited for him to punch in his code. As she thanked him for his order, she turned and saw a woman waving her hand in the air.

  One down…she thought as she took the next order.

  Thirty five minutes later her legs were no longer shaking but the butterflies in her belly hadn’t found a different home.

  “You’re doing great, kid. A natural.”

  “Thanks, Wade.”

  “Say, can you do me a favor?”

  “I suppose.”

  “Can you take these two bottles of gin to the back? Derek called, they’re running low.”

  “To the back…as in the Carnal Desire’s room?” Where vampires drank from humans and God knew what else.

  “One and the same.” He set two bottles on the counter. “Just go to the back, ask for Derek, give him the bottles. I really appreciate this, Deb.”

  “Yeah…sure.” With a heavy breath, she took the bottles and swallowing the lump in her throat, started for the back. Heading down the corridor that was dimly lit, she came to a black silk curtain. Unsure of what to do, she cautiously shifted it aside and stepped through. It took her to another corridor with rooms on either side. She heard soft music, something oriental it seemed, and curious, looked into the room it came from.

  A woman in a Geisha outfit sat on the lap of a man with yellow eyes and fangs. She gathered he was a vampire, but it didn’t look as if the woman was because her eyes were brown. The man had his mouth on her arm and she could see the trickle of blood as it slid down her wrist.

  His other hand was under her dress, busy stroking her.

  The woman seemed to be enjoying it from the look of desire on her face. It was fascinating to watch and yet at the same time, it repulsed her. How could anyone allow that to be done to them?

  “It’s not polite to stare.”

  Deborah spun around to see Zach standing behind her with a smile wide on his face. “I was…Wade asked me to bring these back here and I had no idea where to take them. I wasn’t…I didn’t mean to—”

  “You were curious. Nothing wrong with that. I can take this from you now. Derek,” he called out as he moved down the long dark hallway.

  Feeling like a complete fool, Deborah turned away from the erotic scene behind her and tried to regain some semblance of normalcy as she caught up with Zach. She hoped the darkened hallway hid her red cheeks.

  “Would you like a tour?” he asked after returning from the back.

  “No,” she said abruptly.

  He simply held his hand out to the left and waited for her to lead the way.

  “Vampires like the taste of human blood and humans often get off on having it taken from their veins. Especially during sex.”

  She just couldn’t imagine how it would be arousing. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

  He held the curtain for her. “Every room here is monitored by cameras. The patrons know their limits and most of the time, abide by the rules.”

  “Most of the time?” she asked, giving him a sly glance over her shoulder.

  “Most of the time.” He stopped them at the elevators. “I heard you helped my girls out. You’ll have to let me know how you would like to be compensated.”

  “I did it as a favor. They were short-handed.”

  “They’ve four other hands now, but your help was very appreciated. Did you manage it well?”

  “Do you mean did I freak out? No, I didn’t, but I felt like throwing up.”

  “The fact that you did neither is a good sign. I need to talk to Wade for a moment. Wait for me here. I won’t be long.”

  She did as he asked and waited while he talked with Wade. She had done well helping out, and though she’d been terrified out of her skin, a small part of her had enjoyed it. She’d felt so…ordinary.

  “Are you ready to get started?” Zach asked, coming up beside her and pressing the down button on the elevator.

  After her night, she felt ready for almost anything. “You bet.” She stepped into the elevator, Zach beside her as the doors closed.

  “Perfect. Did you bring a change of clothing?”

  “Oh shoot, I did but I left it upstairs in the bar.” She reached out to stop the elevator and change its route when Zach stopped her with his hand.

  “Not a problem. I went shopping today and found something I think will fit you perfectly.”

  They stepped out of the elevator and headed to his suite. “You bought me something?”

  He let them in, flicking the lights on as he entered. “I did indeed.”

  He walked to the sofa and held up a pair of red and black spandex exercise shorts and tank top. “That way you’ll always have something here. I hope you like it.”

  She looked from him to the exercise outfit, frowning. “You shouldn’t have bought me
this.”

  “I like to shop. I’ll take my room, you can change in the guest room.”

  Handing her the outfit, he headed to his room. Pursing her lips, she took the clothes and went to her room. Again, she stopped at the entrance, glad the door was open but still…cautious. An open door didn’t mean someone wasn’t still hiding behind it. With a quick snap of her hand, she flicked the light on to her right then taking a deep breath, took the first step over the threshold. Her heart hammering, she peered around the door and let out a long heavy sigh at seeing no one behind it.

  She hated this.

  Stripping out of her slacks and blouse, she slipped into the tight spandex. It fit perfectly, and examining herself in the mirror over the dresser she was actually impressed that it looked good on her.

  She’d left her running shoes upstairs as well.

  Frowning at her bare feet, she had no other choice but to leave the room as she was. It wasn’t as if she could wear her heels to workout in. Her bare feet were soon forgotten when she stepped into the living room and saw someone standing there wearing some sort of…rubber suit. Even his head was encased in what looked like a helmet made from rubber.

  She stood where she was, staring at him. Frozen to her spot. Was it her abductor? Had he found her?

  “I thought it would fit.”

  She let out a long breath, told herself to calm down. It was only Zach. Then she frowned. “What are you wearing?”

  “A protective suit. We’re going to simulate some attacks.”

  “Come again?”

  “I want to see you in action, know what you’ve got or what you can do but I also value my…well, valuables, so this suit will protect me from any blow you hand me. Ready?”

  “You look…ridiculous.” Biting her lip she tried not to grin.

  “Be that as it may, I’m protected. Turn your back to me and walk away.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do as I ask.”

  With a heavy sigh, she did as he asked and began walking away. She screamed when he came up behind her, grabbing her arm. Pinning it behind her he pushed her against the wall. Planting his body against hers, he held her in place.