Time froze for a split second until the sound of clapping brought me back to the present.
Selene walked over to my side. “Nice going, Aurora. This one’s a sweet talker, but I see his wily ways didn’t work on you.” She slipped her arm around mine, and this time I felt nothing but gratitude for her touch.
“This one’s spoken for,” Selene informed Henry.
Henry’s eyes narrowed. “A word of warning, Selene. She only looks innocent. I wouldn’t take my eyes off of her if I were you.”
Selene’s eyes sparkled. “I don’t plan to.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Foster entered the room, a tight frown on his face. He came in alone and headed straight for us.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked.
Beside us, the bartender began mopping up liquid that had splashed off Henry’s face and onto the counter.
“Relax, Foster,” Selene said. “Henry simply tried to hit on my friend here while her boyfriend’s upstairs. I think we can all agree she made her point.” She smiled sweetly.
Foster’s face didn’t relax for a second. He turned his eyes to me.
“Are you all right, Miss?”
I lifted my head. “Perfectly.” I turned to the bartender. “Sorry about the mess.”
He gave a slight nod and continued wiping the counter.
“I apologize for any distress this man may have caused you,” Foster said.
“I’m fine. Really.” The last thing I wanted was to make a scene. No doubt about it, I sucked at undercover work. Here I was, throwing a drink in a vamp’s face. Now the butler was involved, and people were watching and beginning to whisper.
“Now that I’ve made myself clear, I’m sure Henry won’t bother me again.”
Selene smirked.
Foster straightened his spine. “Nevertheless, Henry will need to answer for this disturbance. Diederick would like to see him at once.”
My heart dropped. Just what I needed, Henry arousing suspicion with the host of this grand affair.
Henry pushed away from the bar, but not before glowering at me. “I will get the truth out of you, Aurora Sky.”
Selene kept her arm around mine as she steered me toward the opening of the rec room.
“Pay no attention to that old grump,” she said. “He’s actually quite charming when he wants to be, but when things don’t go his way, he can be as petulant as a three-year-old. Men are so full of contradiction. I don’t even try to understand them.”
I only half-listened. At least her voice had a lulling effect that gave me a false sense of safety.
“Why did you come back?” I asked.
Talk about good timing. I hadn’t expected to see Selene and Valerie for at least an hour.
Selene leaned her shoulder into mine. “I wanted to check on you. Your friend said this was your first tasting. Diederick runs a tight ship, but that doesn’t always stop the cheapskates from trying to get a free taste below deck.”
“I’m glad you stepped in,” I admitted.
Selene gave my arm a pat with her free hand. “I’m afraid the pleasure is all mine.”
She led me to a pool table in the next room. Valerie was waiting, fingers wrapped around a pool cue. “You decided to join us after all.”
I had no desire to join their game. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Maybe Foster could go upstairs and find Dante.
“There was a vamp giving her trouble,” Selene said.
Valerie’s fingers tightened around the stick in her hand. “Which vamp?”
“It’s nothing.” I pulled my arm out of Selene’s and waved it in the air. “It was Henry.”
“Henry? What did The Great Gatsby want? Don’t tell me! He wanted to taste you. Not your blood. Your essence. Trust me, I’ve heard it before. Henry really needs to update his lines.” She lifted her chin at Selene. “It’s your shot.”
Selene glanced at me. “Why don’t you take it?”
I shook my head. “I’ll watch.”
Valerie folded her arms as Selene picked up her pool stick and circled the table before settling on a spot across from me. She studied the table for a moment. Her head lifted slowly, and she winked at me before lowering it again and slamming her cue tip against the cue ball. It cracked against a blue striped ten, sending the table into a temporary chaos of flashing colors that smacked against the edges of the table. Two striped balls dropped into corner pockets.
“Show off,” Valerie muttered with a grumble.
Good thing I hadn’t taken Selene’s shot.
I kept to the far wall, watching the game, but not really seeing it. My eyes kept flicking over to the opening of the rec room, expecting to see Henry storm through at any moment.
“That’s game,” Selene said. “Want to play again?”
Valerie huffed. “You’ve probably been playing for five decades. Like that’s fair.”
“Maybe you and your friend should play,” Selene suggested.
“What do you say, Aurora? Think you can take me on?” Valerie asked.
“What?” I tore my eyes from a couple leaving the rec room and looked at Valerie. “Sure.” I needed something to keep myself busy.
Selene handed me her pool stick while Valerie tossed the balls into a triangular rack on the table. Valerie took the first shot, breaking up the balls with a smack.
“I’m stripes, you’re solids,” she called.
On my first turn, I attempted to hit the orange five into a pocket, only to end up sending it bouncing aimlessly around the table.
Valerie slinked her way up to the table and got a striped green into a pocket right away. She moved to the corner and took her next shot. The cue ball bounced across the table two times before smacking the striped red eleven into a pocket.
Valerie smiled smugly. “This is more like it.”
She wasn’t successful with her third shot.
I approached the table and took a long look around. Even if I were halfway decent at pool, I wouldn’t be on my game tonight after the interrogation from Henry.
As I leaned into position, I felt a body press against my backside, and an arm slide over mine.
“Lean down more,” Selene said softly in my ear. “Hold the cue closer to the tip.” She guided my fingers as she spoke. “Guide the ball with your eyes. Focus on the spots you want it to strike.”
Valerie’s eyebrows rose across the table.
When Selene pulled back, cool air caressed my back. I focused on the table, the solid white, and the orange five I’d failed to hit earlier. I pushed my arm forward and struck.
The cue ball struck the orange, which hit the side of the table, bounced off, and rolled into a pocket.
“Yes!” I said, fist pumping the air.
“No fair,” Valerie said. “You got pointers.”
I squared my shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. I took the shot.”
Selene gave me an approving grin.
“Fine. Let’s see if you can do that again.”
Despite Selene’s personalized instructions, I missed the next shot… and the next. Valerie won. I didn’t care. About fifteen minutes into our game, Henry stormed past. I made sure to concentrate on the table when he went by. Now that he’d gone, I felt considerably more relaxed.
Selene encouraged Valerie and me to start up another game. “I’ll get us liquid refreshments,” she announced.
“I’m not drinking,” I said.
“And I’m the designated driver,” Valerie noted with an eye roll.
Selene smiled. “I’ll have him make us virgins.” With that she disappeared into the rec room.
Valerie came around the table and nudged me in the ribcage. “You two make a cute couple.”
“She’s nice,” I said, not taking the bait.
“Maybe Dante will get lucky and score some simultaneous loving after all.”
I tossed a hand up at the ceiling. “Dante is getting plenty of loving already. Ho
w long does it take to make the rounds and get some quick samples?”
Valerie grinned deviously. “Maybe he’s doing more than sampling.”
I glared at her. “You can be a real bitch sometimes.”
“Like you aren’t wondering the same thing.”
Actually I wasn’t. I had bigger worries, like being a suspect in Marcus’ murder. Henry had every right to be suspicious. This wasn’t anything like the mystery surrounding Agent Crist’s death, though I was sure Jared was responsible. I knew exactly who killed Marcus. Me.
What I really wondered was if I’d seen the last of Fane. He said he’d only been helping Noel out. He said he should have stuck by my side, that he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. That was before Dante showed up and staked his claim. Would Fane give up now? Had he meant what he said?
I’d told him it was too late. I was tired of being strung around. Dante did everything straight up. He wanted me plain and simple, but was that enough?
Valerie must have taken my hesitation to mean something else.
“Relax,” she said. “At least you know you’re getting laid tonight. All that blood and sucking is going to make Dante horny as hell.”
And she expected this information to help me relax? Sometimes I forgot Valerie and I were polar opposites.
“He might be human, but he’s still a close cousin of vampires,” Valerie whispered beside my ear. “I bet he could do it all night long.”
There was no way I’d sleep with Dante tonight. Our first time, if there ever was one, wouldn’t follow on the coattails of his suck fest.
My first time had been hasty, awkward, and about as pleasant as a root canal. The next experience needed to be loving. No jumping in during the heat of the moment. Ripping off clothing and being ravished worked well in romances, but I wanted something meaningful.
10
Blood Rush
Selene swept into the pool room with two drinks. Her movements were graceful as she handed a pink drink to Valerie.
“I got a Shirley Temple for Valerie.”
“Ha, ha,” Valerie said, taking the cherry-topped drink from Selene.
Selene moved over to me and held out the second drink.
“And a sparkling apple cider for Aurora.”
“Thanks. What about you?”
“I’m fine for now.” Selene’s teeth glinted when she smiled. “Unless you want to share.”
“Sure.” I wasn’t really that thirsty, and it wasn’t not like I could catch anything from Selene. Nope, I had all the diseases covered. I might not live forever, but there was a certain sense of invincibility knowing I couldn’t get sick.
I took a sip of cider and handed the glass to Selene. I felt a lot more comfortable around the female vamp after she stepped in with Henry. Something about her presence gave me a sense of safety. So much of my time had been spent with male vampires that Selene was something of a novelty.
“Are you here with anyone?” I asked after she passed the cider back to me.
Selene looked away as though my question embarrassed her. “Kind of.”
“And you know Henry?” I didn’t recognize Selene from any of Marcus’ parties. Then again, I’d only been to four. And I’d been a bit preoccupied when those visits ended in abduction, stalking, and suspension from a ceiling. I didn’t exactly take time out to stop and stare at the guests closely during my forays into the palace. The only remotely normal experience I had at Marcus’ house was when I had a few too many and asked Fane to drive me home.
Selene touched my arm. I blinked the fog of thoughts away.
“Are you okay?” Selene asked.
No, not really. I thought boot camp had prepared me for jumping back into the field. I also thought six months would be enough distance between me and what happened at Marcus’ party. Standing in a room full of vampires again only brought it all back. I didn’t want to be here. I needed more time. I felt trapped.
I shook my head.
“What is it?” Valerie demanded.
Selene frowned at her.
I took a deep breath. “Nothing.”
Valerie set her drink beside the empty glasses on a tall square table. “This game is getting old,” she announced. “Maybe Selene can introduce us to some of her friends.”
Selene looked at me, one smooth eyebrow raised. “Is that what you’d like to do, Aurora?”
I glanced toward the rec room. I didn’t like it in there. The space felt way too walled in. But Valerie had a job to do. She couldn’t compile much of a guest list spending the evening with me and Selene at the pool table.
Good thing it was up to Valerie to remember names as Selene made introductions because I was in Aurora land for the rest of the party. The harpist wasn’t helping. I swore the music put me into a trance.
I listened in when a well groomed man in his early twenties kissed Selene on the cheeks and asked, “How was California?”
Selene didn’t answer immediately. She looked at the guy like he’d just asked how she was holding up after losing her favorite dog. Selene’s lips formed a grim line.
“It was lovely, as usual,” she replied.
“And your family is well?”
Selene did the stare thing again before turning to me. “Paul, allow me to present my new friends Aurora and Valerie.”
“Charmed,” Paul said. “Are you human or vampire?”
“Human,” Valerie answered, shooting Paul a sultry smile.
Paul looked her up and down and said, “In that case, will you permit me to fetch you a drink?”
“I’ll come with you,” Valerie said.
She took Paul’s arm when he offered it and they headed to the bar. That drink better be virgin, or Valerie better sip it slowly. I wondered if cab companies would come all the way up the mountain.
Selene’s mouth drooped with concern when she looked at me.
“Would you like to sit in the living room upstairs?”
“Are we allowed?”
“You can go wherever you want except for the third floor. Follow me.”
Relief washed over me with each step I took away from the party. I’d never considered myself claustrophobic, but tonight all the walls felt like they were squeezing me in. The stairway seemed as though it had narrowed since I walked down. It wasn’t until we entered the wide open living space with the high ceiling that I felt like I could breathe normally again.
“Is this better?” Selene asked.
“Yes, thank you,” I said.
She sat on a forest-green couch. I took the armchair in front of her.
“These gatherings can be overwhelming, especially when it’s your first time,” Selene said. “Male vamps forget that sometimes.”
“How many women are up there?”
“A dozen.”
I leaned forward. “There are twelve bedrooms upstairs?”
“Eight,” Selene said. “Some women have to share a room.”
My fists clenched.
“Does it bother you that your boyfriend is up there?” Selene asked.
“Yes,” I answered truthfully.
Why did Dante have to get this assignment? How could I not think about him sucking blood hickeys off twelve different women in one night? The whole thing made me nauseous.
Dating him was a bad idea, especially with missions like this.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Selene said softly.
I looked at her in surprise.
“It’s one of the few rushes we get.”
“Blood,” I said, stating the obvious.
Selene nodded. She looked off into a dark corner of the living room, not meeting my eye as she spoke.
“There’s not much sense living forever if you don’t feel alive.”
I took it she spoke from experience.
“How long have you been around?” I asked.
“Sixty years, give or take.”
“You’re… young.” I didn’t know why the words came out sounding so s
tunned. Sixty in human years was getting up there, but in vamp years it didn’t sound long at all. Selene hadn’t even been around for a century.
“Thank you,” she said, her thick lashes fluttering.
“You’re from California?”
“That’s correct,” Selene said.
“So you decided to take a break from the sun?”
“I decided to give my family space.”
I tilted my head. “Your real family?”
Wouldn’t they notice Selene wasn’t aging? Maybe she meant a vamp family like the Morrel’s.
Before Selene could answer, a slightly overweight thirty-something man with thinning brown hair and metal rimmed glasses stepped into the living room. Rough lines appeared over his face when he frowned. He barely glanced at me, choosing instead to focus on Selene.
“There you are, Selene. Hitting on a human again?”
Selene straightened. “Making polite conversation, Randal. Perhaps you should try it sometime.” Her tone lost its musical quality.
“I don’t come to these things to make conversation.”
Randal walked directly behind Selene. His hands shot forward. He began massaging her shoulders, but from the way her neck hunched, his grip looked too rough. She leaned forward out of his grasp and rose regally.
“Aurora, it was very lovely to meet you.”
“You, too,” I said, looking from Selene to Randal.
“Come along, Selene. You’ve had enough for tonight.”
Selene was a good four inches taller than Randall, not to mention a hundred times more attractive. What was she doing with the control geek? Looks didn’t matter, but in that short exchange it was clear Randal lacked in personality as much as physical attributes.
She followed Randal out of the living room without another word. Long after they’d left, I stared in the direction I’d last seen the odd pair.
I was confused. Had Selene been hitting on me because I was a woman or because I was human? Or both?
What was she doing with a guy like Randal?
I looked around the empty living room.
I felt starved for friendship. I wondered what Donna, Michelle, Amber, and the other girls from boot camp were doing right now. Did any of them have a weekend mission to complete or were they at the movies with a bag of popcorn in their laps?
Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) Page 12