by R. E. Butler
“All right,” he said. He had nothing else better to do anyway, and with his work completed, there was no reason to stay in his office save for busy work to avoid being alone in his chamber.
They left the offices and walked down the hall toward the club entrance. As they passed the coat check, his nerves kicked up even though he knew she wasn’t there.
Sweet, beautiful Avery.
The human he couldn’t get out of his mind.
She had the prettiest, golden hair and bright blue eyes. She’d been working for the club since February and had the most infectious smile. She always said hello to him. Not that she never greeted anyone else. It was how her voice dropped a little and her eyes darkened when she spoke to him. He was certain she was attracted to him, but he was always a bundle of nerves and tongue-tied whenever he saw her.
“Traz?”
He looked at Brone. “Sorry, what?”
“You’re coming, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You just stopped walking.”
The male’s eyes glittered with humor.
Traz looked around and realized with chagrin that he’d stopped right in front of the coat check. He inhaled and picked up Avery’s fading scent. She didn’t work on Sundays, so he hadn’t expected to see her.
“Hey, Traz.” The feminine voice belonged to Vivian, a coven member, who worked the coat check when Avery wasn’t there. She purred at him and tugged down her too tight corset to make her breasts plump up further. She looked like she was a deep breath away from splitting the seams.
“Vivian,” Traz said.
“I’m off in a bit. Want to get a drink?”
He resisted the urge to bare his fangs at her. She was forever hitting on him, but he didn’t take it personally. She wanted to be part of the family and made it a practice to flirt with all the unmated males.
“No thanks.”
He strode away, discreetly rearranging the hard-on that thinking about Avery had instantly given him.
Brone said nothing as they made their way through the club and up the private stairs to the family’s glass-enclosed room. Traz grabbed a bottle of chilled SyBl from the bartender and plopped on one of the couches after greeting everyone.
Brone whispered something to Arissa and she smiled, giving Traz a quick glance.
“All right, what the hell is it?” Traz asked, taking a drink.
“My beloved was just telling me how head-over-heels you are for a certain human coat check girl,” Arissa said, batting her eyes sweetly.
“Damn it,” Traz said.
“It’s no secret,” Temple said. “We’ve all seen you moon-eyed over her.”
He narrowed his eyes. Had he really been so transparent? Did that mean Avery knew he watched her?
Suddenly feeling like a perv, he looked around at his family and said, “You all know?”
“It would be hard to miss,” Ven said, arching a dark brow.
Traz would not argue that he hadn’t been watching Avery, that he hadn’t been drawn by her scent from the moment she came into the office to interview for the job with Cella. He also didn’t want to admit that he had no idea how to approach her. He was over three hundred years old. He’d been on dates. But this was different.
Avery was different.
“Oh my gosh, you love her,” Cella said.
“I don’t know her,” Traz said.
“But you want to,” Cyrus added.
Traz nodded. “I never know what to say around her. I end up sounding like an idiot.”
“That’s love for you,” Rage said. “Makes your brain go fuzzy.”
Angie grinned. “It sure does.”
“Listen, I just got her to fill in that damn job. So I need you to be sure you want to get involved with her. If you’re looking for a quick lay, find someone else. I don’t want her to quit because you broke her heart,” Cella warned.
“I’m very serious,” Traz said. In fact... he was certain she was his truemate. He thought perhaps she might even be his beloved, that when they mated and shared blood, they’d be bound together tightly, sharing memories. She’d be immortal without being changed, their lives linked for eternity.
Cella nodded and smiled. “Good. How about I invite her up here for drinks tomorrow night during her break? You could be here already, and I could make an excuse to leave, give you two the room.” She looked thoughtful. “I’ll even volunteer to take the rest of her shift if she wants to spend more time with you, how’s that?”
Traz was awed at his friend’s willingness to help. “That would be wonderful, thank you.”
“Then it’s all set,” Cella said, her eyes gleaming.
“Thank you,” he said.
“That’s what family does for each other.”
Nodding, he took another drink and swallowed the lump of emotion in his throat. He didn’t have a biological family any longer; the coven was all he had. If it weren’t for Mishka and the family, who knew where he’d be?
Not anticipating getting Avery alone so he could talk to her, that’s for sure.
Smiling to himself, he settled back into the couch and listened to his friends as they talked. The topics ranged from the restaurant to the club and a coven visiting at the end of May. The coven from Tennessee was interesting because they’d allied themselves to a trio of polar bears, a shifter group uncommon to the Midwest.
But honestly, Traz didn’t even really care about any of that. He was solely focused on Avery.
He couldn’t wait for Monday night.
Chapter Three
Monday night, Avery woke two hours before sunset. She turned off the alarm on her phone and checked her messages. Jasper still hadn’t called. She wasn’t sure what it meant—since she’d broken up with him, he’d been unrelenting in his pursuit. She didn’t think Daria yelling at him would work, but maybe it had. At least for a little while. If it gave her some relief from his incessant attention, she’d take it.
As she showered, using unscented products because Cella had told her that vampires didn’t like artificial scents—she thought about the job. When she’d lost her previous position, she didn’t think she had a shot in hell at working at the prestigious club. But Cella had hired her on the spot. It wasn’t a difficult job, she was basically a human coat hanger-upper, but it made her feel glamorous.
There weren’t a lot of jobs that a human could do at the club other than being food. She had no desire to walk around the club, availing herself to be fed from. Avery was content to sit on her little stool, hand out tickets, and hang up expensive furs and coats. The music was good, the people were always beautiful, and most importantly it gave her the opportunity to see Traz.
One of these days, she’d work up the nerve to talk to him. At least more than saying hello when he walked by.
Sometimes he wore leather pants.
She especially liked those nights.
Chuckling at her wayward thoughts, she turned off the shower and wrapped her hair up in a drying turban before toweling off. One club employee perk was the free clothing. Mishka liked the women who worked there to dress sexy. Avery had never been to the club before her interview, and she’d dressed modestly in a skirt and blouse. She’d felt like a dowdy spinster when she met the gorgeous Cella who wore a tight skirt and low-cut top, looking alluring and professional at the same time. When she’d accepted the job, Cella had sent her on two errands: one to get a full-body wax at a local salon, so she didn’t accidentally nick herself shaving, and two to get fitted for clothing at a boutique clothier. She’d gone home that night with aching, tender skin bare in ways she’d never experienced, and an armful of expensive, sexy clothes.
Tonight, she chose a strapless mini dress and paired it with heeled sandals. She loved to get manis and pedis regularly, enjoying changing up her polish colors to fit her mood. Her nails were a deep, glittery burgundy, and the tiny toe ring sparkled.
After fixing some sparkly bangles on her wrist, she put on her smartwatch,
then dried her hair and applied makeup. There was so much she’d never done before she worked for the vampires and buying high-end makeup and learning how to put it on was one of them. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, then left the bathroom. Grabbing her phone and wallet from the dresser, she left her apartment, locking the door behind her and headed to the stairs. The building was secured, with a main front door that required a code to enter. It was one of the few secured buildings in Cleveland that Avery had been able to afford.
It was a beautiful spring night; the birds were singing in the trees as the sun began its descent. She liked this twilight time, when the daytime was disappearing, and the night was just starting.
Once she reached downtown, she parked in the employee lot and walked to the check-in room. When she started working at the club, she’d only had to tell her name to the man behind the computer at the desk in the little room. He’d check her into the system, and she’d go on her merry way. But something had happened a couple weeks earlier, and now everyone had to show a picture ID. She waited behind a young man wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, which showcased a red ribbon on one wrist.
People who were paid to provide their blood to vampires could let them feed from their neck or wrist. They wore red ribbons to indicate which place they preferred. She’d asked one girl about the preference for neck over wrist once, and she said that the wrist wasn’t as intimate as the neck. Avery had never fed a vampire before, but she could see the appeal of keeping a stranger’s fangs away from the throat area. Especially since vampires were faster and stronger than humans.
But Avery would definitely let Traz feed from her neck.
The idea sent a riot of shivers down her spine.
“Hi,” she said as she stepped up to the desk and handed over her ID, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind.
“How are ya?” Denny asked.
“Good. You?”
“Not bad. Have a good one,” he said as he handed back her ID.
She put it in her wallet and left the room. Following a long hall past the big room where some coven members lived in what amounted to cubicles, Avery passed the feeding area and walked past the coven’s offices. Two guards stood at the glass doors that led into the reception area and she smiled at them as she hurried by.
Avery moved behind the counter of the coat check and stashed her wallet and phone in a small cabinet. She turned on the overhead lights and set up for the night, a stack of tickets ready to go. It was a warm night, so she didn’t anticipate a lot of coats, but sometimes restaurant customers came to the club after a meal and the men often wore suits to the fancy establishment, so she might hang up a jacket or two. She never minded whether or not she was busy, she enjoyed her job. And the pay was fantastic. She wished she’d known the club paid so well. She would have happily applied for a job sooner.
By the time it was close to her break time, she was disappointed she hadn’t seen Traz. Usually she got a chance to ogle him as he walked by at one point or another in the evening, but not tonight.
Cella walked up to the counter. “Hi, Avery.”
“Hi! Wow, I like your outfit.”
Cella wore a long, flowing skirt and an embroidered top.
“Thank you. I was wondering... where’s Vivian? Isn’t it time for your break?”
Vivian was the ultra-prissy vampire who’d been forced to work at the coat check until Avery’s hire. Cella had made Vivian show Avery the ropes of the job, but once Cella had left them alone, she’d snarled every time Avery asked her a question. She wasn’t sure if Vivian hated all humans or just her. Or if she just didn’t like working the coat check. It was a relief when Vivian stopped sitting all night with her. The only time the woman smiled was when one of the vampires from the office came out. Then she was all smiles and sugar-sweet words.
It secretly pleased Avery that none of the guys ever reacted to Vivian with anything but disdain.
“I haven’t seen her. But that’s not unusual.”
“What do you mean?” Cella’s brow arched.
“Sometimes she doesn’t come to relieve me for an hour or more. When I call to remind her, she either ignores me or yells at me.” Avery shrugged.
“You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
“But it’s part of her job to relieve you. It’s the least she could do.”
Letting out a disgruntled snarl, Cella stepped away and lifted her phone to her ear. Even though she spoke softly, Avery could still tell that Cella was angry with Vivian. Cella ended the call with a huff and then returned to the counter.
“I’m sorry that you have to deal with her,” Cella said.
“It’s just during break. I’m glad she’s not here all the time.”
“Well, I will have a talk with her, and if she doesn’t start showing up when she’s supposed to, I’ll bring her to Mishka.”
Avery’s brows rose. “That sounds serious.”
“It is. Mishka’s the coven master, he can add and remove members as he wishes. She’d lose everything if he kicked her out of the coven and forced her to join another one.”
“I didn’t know masters did that.”
“He can do what he wants,” Cella said with a smile. “Fortunately for all of us, he’s a great male and doesn’t abuse his power.”
The sound of heels clicking on the tile grew louder, and Avery would have to have been blind to not see the scathing look on Vivian’s face.
“Move!” the tall blonde said, nearly scaring Avery out of her skin.
She grabbed her phone and hurried from behind the counter, her heart pounding.
Cella smiled at Avery. “I wanted to invite you to join me in the family room for a drink. I gave your name to the guards at the bottom of the stairs, so you can go ahead and wait for me.”
“Wow, really?” Avery was floored. Only members of Mishka’s inner circle and their mates were allowed up in the glass-enclosed room.
“You bet. Grab a drink from the bartender. He can make you anything you like and also order food for you from the chef. I’ll be up shortly.”
“Hey, why does she get to go up to the family room?” Vivian screeched. “I’ve been part of the coven for over a year and I’ve never been invited up there.”
“You have to earn the right to go to the family room,” Cella said. “And you’ve done nothing of the sort.”
“So you’ll hang out with a puny human, but not me? You’re just jealous.”
“Excuse me?” Cella spoke softly, but there was no mistaking the deadly tone. If Vivian didn’t realize she was on thin ice, then she was an idiot.
Avery was too curious about the family room to stay and watch Vivian get raked over the coals, so despite wanting to cheer Cella on from the sidelines, she hurried away. What would she find at the top of the stairs in the secret family-only room?
She couldn’t wait to find out.
Chapter Four
Traz paced in the family room, feeling like he would twitch out of his skin. He’d never been so nervous, and considering how old he was, that was saying something. He didn’t want to mess up the chance to get to know Avery better. If what he believed was true, and she was his mate, then he needed to get to wooing her so he didn’t have to spend any more lonely nights without her in his arms.
He barely stifled a full body shudder at the thought of her in his arms.
The door opened with a soft creak and he turned to see Avery step timidly into the room.
“Cella invited me up here,” Avery said.
“For me.”
“What?” Avery’s head tilted.
Clearing his throat, Traz said, “I asked her to invite you up here so I could talk to you.”
“You couldn’t ask me yourself?”
He suddenly felt like an idiot.
“I should have. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” She stepped into the room fully and the
door closed behind her, sending a wave of her heady, sweet scent his direction. His fangs throbbed in his mouth.
“Would you like to join me?”
“Sure.”
She walked with him to the bar where a vampire male stood expectantly. “What would you like?” Traz asked her.
“Just a soda, please.”
The male nodded and looked at Traz. “SyBl, chilled.”
In moments, he and Avery were sitting on a couch, drinks in hand.
“SyBl isn’t real blood, right? I’ve heard some vampires talking about it.”
“No, it’s not real, it’s made in a lab from synthetic materials. It provides a daily sustenance for us, so we only need to drink real blood once a week.”
She hummed with a smile, her gaze sliding from the glass of SyBl to his lips.
“I don’t really know much about vampires, to be honest. I think what I know from TV and books is probably mostly wrong or exaggerated. If I say something that offends you, please don’t take it personally. I sometimes put my foot in my mouth.”
He chuckled. “I won’t be offended. You can ask me anything, I’m an open book.”
“Are you?” Her voice dropped low.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He opened his mouth to say what was on the tip of his tongue—that he believed she was his truemate. But she had just admitted she knew nothing about vampires, so what would she think if he said that to her? That it was a line? That he was just trying to get into her pants?
“You’re so serious,” she said with a chuckle. “I think you’re thinking too much.”
“As much as you said you didn’t want to offend me, I don’t want to offend you.”
“There isn’t much of anything that offends me.” She took a drink of cola and set it on a glass coffee table. “Let me ask you something.”
He nodded, his gaze tracking the way she licked her lips.
“Do you use the food people down in the club to drink from?”
It was difficult to not look at her throat, but he managed to look into her eyes. “Yes, but we also have blood banks where people can donate blood for us specifically and get paid for it, if they don’t want to be paid food. Sometimes I don’t want to feed from a person, so I’ll use bagged blood instead.”