Quiet, still suburbia flashed past as we drove.
I spent most of the ride fighting with myself. I wanted to look composed when I pulled up. I had to own it. I had done it once, so I could easily pull off the vampire thing again, right?
Right??
Next question was, what was I going to do once I found these vampires? Talk to them? Ask them about their latest conquest in some sort of bizarre paranormal small talk?
No, maybe not even that. This would only be a quick visit—just recon. In and out, and then I was going to leave. Easy, right?
I was insane.
The club was in an inconspicuous brick building in an old part of town. Normally, I would have gone right by the place, thinking it was some old factory or something. Several stories tall, the windows were blacked out, and the fire escape looked dangerously unstable.
Once out of the car, I could hear the dull rhythmic thud of bass.
A crowd of people, or maybe vampires, were gathered in front of the only door. Everyone was easily two or three years older than I was, some even more. They were all dressed for the club; short skirts and low-cut tops, tight jeans and bright colors.
I stepped up to the crowd and fell into the line leading to the door. A couple of glances were all I was spared before people returned to their barely paused conversations. Good—I wanted to stay very much on the down-low here, at least as much as was possible. Carefully, I studied those nearest me. Even up close like this, I couldn’t tell who was a vamp and who was a regular human. Maybe, if I was lucky, the only vampires here would be the ones I came to see.
Taking my phone out, I double-checked the vamp’s profile. He’d added another photo, just five minutes ago. Now the ringleader girl vampire was here, too, hanging on his arm.
Another tag for Zen. They were inside. And suddenly I didn’t want to be here.
But I had reached the front of the line. I looked up at the bouncer who didn’t even look at me as he waved me inside. No questions, no ID check, nothing—which was good, because in my haste to act, I hadn’t exactly considered how I’d get in, seeing as I was underage. Probably my pass was my chest—which should either be met by a burst of righteous indignation or relief that I’d been allowed in so easily. Or both. But with vampires perhaps all around me, that issue was the least of my concerns right now. I walked through a long hallway, bathed in blue light. The music had doubled in volume, a throbbing bass thudding through my bones. Every pulse of it flooded my veins with a deep sense of fear, danger—and just a little thrill of exhilaration, sickening and morbid and addictive all at once.
I followed the hall to a narrow staircase leading up. At the top, there was a glass door.
The music hit me like a tidal wave as I pushed it open. Blinded by neon lights in every color, I stepped through.
Chapter 14
If the first vampire party I attended was all goth and glamour, this one was all punk and pandemonium. The air was hot and thick, like an early August afternoon, but nowhere near as pleasant. Silhouettes of bodies pressed together filled the room.
The room itself wasn’t all that big but was seemingly endless in the dark. The bar at the opposite end of the room was lit with a tube of blue neon snaking around the top of it, and tables were scattered along the wall on either side, with people standing, sipping brightly colored or glowing drinks.
Not for the first time, I wondered if I had found my calling as I stalked about the room like a secret agent. Who knows; maybe there was some sort of secret government supernatural task force. Maybe I could get hired just based on experience.
I stayed close to the outer wall in the shadows, and as I drew closer to the bar area, I saw the ghostly pale skin and silvery blond hair that belonged to vamp I had seen on Instaphoto. It was long on top, styled like a wave in the surf. When he turned his head, it held its shape perfectly.
I rolled my eyes. He had more product in his hair than I did at prom last year in New York.
He was standing with a few other vamps, all of whom looked as if they stepped out of a teen style magazine.
The girl had perfect hair, flawless makeup, and stilettos that could double as a weapon. Roxy, was it?
Another male there was as gorgeous as Byron had been; long, flowing locks, laidback demeanor, an attractive smile.
The last one looked like he was Italian, with dark hair and features. He was built like a linebacker with rippling muscles and a strong jaw.
They wore wry smiles, and danger flashed in their eyes.
I froze, suddenly realizing that I had literally no idea what I was going to say to them. I mean, was I insane?
Oof. How many times in the past few months had I asked that question?
Scanning the room again, I found the sign for the restroom. I needed a minute, just a minute, to figure out what the heck I was going to say to these creatures.
I pushed the door open and was grateful when I found the sleek, modern restroom empty. I slipped into a stall and locked the door behind me, leaning back against it.
“You are an absolute idiot, Howell. A real class act.”
Well, at the very least the vamps weren’t bothering Laura right now. The longer I could keep them here, maybe find out a little bit about them, the longer she was safe.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened a message to Laura, whose number I had because she had given it to me months ago when she’d done her whole welcoming me to the school gig. No, I’d never called it before, or texted her, because … well, at the time, I kinda thought after she’d peeled off from her intro that there was no way she could have been sincere when she said, “Hey, if you ever need anything, or just want to talk, call me, text me, whatever?”
That was Laura.
Hey, I need you to listen to me, okay? I sent. Stay in your house tonight. Don’t go out anywhere. And especially don’t let anyone inside. I’ll be in touch.
Who was I, Iona? That text sounded way too much like her.
With Laura out of the firing line right now, I at least wanted to figure out what this motley crew wanted with her.
Unfortunately for me, that probably meant a conversation, since eavesdropping wasn’t going to cut it—people didn’t just spill things like, “Hey, that girl we’re vampire stalking? Let’s talk about our motives and plans for her!” casually, in public, for people like me to hear.
Mind made up (and stomach unhappy with the decision), I stepped out of the stall and up to the long mirror stretched over the marble sinks.
It was time to bring Elizabeth back out of hiding.
“You did this once, and Draven believed you,” I told my reflection. “You can totally fool these eternal Teen Cosmo-reading losers. You are Elizabeth, a vampire, and you have every right to be hanging out at a super cool place like this and just happen to run into some other vampires.”
I brushed a curl from my forehead back up into my bun.
“Own it, girl,” I whispered, and then made my way back out of the bathroom. I sounded confident, but like everything else that had brought me to this point in my life … it was a big, fat lie.
The music was even louder than I remembered it, pushing in on my ear drums like I was twelve feet underwater. I spotted the vamps again, grateful that they hadn’t made their exit while I was in the bathroom. I pasted on a cocksure smirk and kept it there as I walked across the dark room to the bar area, and the table where they all stood. The scent of alcohol clung to it like a cloud, its edges diffuse, mixing with the musky cocktail of too much cologne—or just too much Axe, which made me concerned for the number of men who hadn’t realized it wasn’t a crowd-pleaser when they were fourteen.
“Can you believe him?” the blond male was saying derisively. “It’s not like he’s my dad or anything.”
“It’s really all the rules that suck,” the silvery-haired girl said, shaking her head, her waist-length curls swirling. “He just can’t let us have any fun, can he?”
“Total buzz kill,” t
he dark-skinned linebacker replied. “He’s just a tyrant.”
The long-haired male laughed. “Wouldn’t it be nice to just hit him where it hurts?”
“Yeah, but how?”
That was my cue. I stepped up to the table—to the surprise of all the vamps there.
All of their eyes on me almost made me lose my cool, but I leaned on the table between them all.
“You want to get Draven mad at you?”
I looked at each of them in turn. It was obvious I was an unexpected, maybe unwelcome visitor to the party. But I definitely had their attention. And that meant that I had the control in the situation.
Be bold, be confident. Most importantly, be cool. The vampires will listen.
Their gazes were dark, considering.
I allowed myself a low, short chuckle.
“Just do what I did—go to one of his parties …” I paused for extra effect. It worked. Their eyes were fixed on me. “… And kill one of his loyal subjects.”
Chapter 15
Take a breath, Cassie. That went as well as a line from a movie.
My words hit this group of forever-teens like a bomb. The girl, Roxy, stared at me through slit eyes, her jaw working. Her blood red fingernail rapped against the tabletop.
Her trio of male hangers-on watched me cautiously. The handsome one almost seemed amused, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. The linebacker’s eyebrows were up near his hairline.
The blond, however, scoffed at me, an eyebrow arched, skepticism etched on his features.
But I held my ground. How could I top what I just said, really? So I just watched and waited, overconfident smirk plastered on my lips, my gaze firmly on theirs.
I was owning it. I had to keep owning it.
Finally, after an excruciatingly long moment, or century, I wasn’t sure, the long-haired Lothario type at the opposite side of the table grinned, showing his fangs.
“I heard about that,” he said appreciatively.
Now I understood. The silence wasn’t really because they knew I was a human girl walking into a club like a lamb to slaughter. No.
They were impressed.
Well, all except the girl with hair like moonlight who had now crossed her arms and pursed her lips.
But that didn’t matter. I had them, had their attention.
The males all moved closer together, making room for me at the table.
“That was you?” the swarthy vamp asked. His accent bore a faintly Italian lilt.
My smile widened. The best lies you don’t even have to speak.
Wait. I actually did kill someone at Draven’s party. Whatever. The lie was that I was a vampire, blending in with vampires.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of something like that happening right under Draven’s nose,” the blond male said, running his fingers through his styled hair. “Everybody was talking about it.”
“I heard he was uber pissed,” the linebacker added. “Theo was like a nephew to him or something.”
“What is this, The Godfather?” I said before I could stop myself.
To my great surprise and relief, they laughed. Even the girl smirked a little, her eyes never leaving my face, some of her ice beginning, very slightly, to thaw.
“So, what did it feel like?” the Italian one asked.
“What, you never killed a vamp?” I asked. I nearly choked on my tongue. Definitely should have said “another vamp.”
They all exchanged glances, shaking their heads.
“It’s not exactly an easy thing to do,” the blond male said.
“And it’s kind of taboo,” the linebacker added. His eyes were big, but he was clearly trying to pretend that he was cool enough to handle taboo stuff. A real push-the-limits guy here.
Ha. Taboo among vampires. Wait until I told Xandra.
I cleared my throat. Another human thing, I reprimanded myself. But I grinned. “I got him alone. He didn’t even know it was coming, Draven’s little pet,” I said, my voice as smooth as velvet, almost purring.
But my stomach was churning as the images flashed across my memory from that night—the images that had filled my nightmares for months: Theo launching at me, his arm wrapping about me as he pinned me to him, grip so powerful it was near unbreakable … the sight of his fangs, mere inches from embedding in my neck, draining me … and the panicked, flailing way I’d fought back, managing by luck more than anything else to push the stake through his heart. Even the way he had seemed to dissolve into a tar-like pool of black goo had haunted me, the stale, rancid, bloody smell of it—
“He thought that he would be a gentleman,” I said, “helping out a girl like me, new to town. He made it too easy, really. I played coy, timid, the little mouse. I could tell that he thought he was some big–city hot shot. Made all these grand statements, trying to impress me.”
I dropped my voice.
“I saw right through him. He started asking questions that he had no business asking—” the male vampires’ eyes grew wide. Apparently, privacy was important to them “—and when he asked me to step outside with him, I knew what he was—a direct pipeline to Draven. A perfect chance to strike the Lord right in the teeth.”
They all flinched. Mental note: apparently vamps took their teeth seriously. Maybe there were vampire dentists dedicated to this cause.
“What did Draven do to you?” the blond vamp asked hesitantly.
“You really want to know?” I replied. I think I was enjoying this a little too much. “He killed my lover of seventy-two years.” Low hisses. Their awed looks softened.
“So this was super personal?” the Italian one asked gently.
“You have no idea,” I replied. “An eye for an eye, that sort of thing.
“So, here we are, out on the balcony with all of Tampa stretched out below us. Theo was careless. He let his guard down. He turns to me, all smooth and handsome, trying to put a move—
“And then,” I said, considering taking the stake out of my hair but deciding against it, wanting to keep that as my secret weapon secret a little longer, “I stabbed him through the heart with a broken chair leg.”
Always good to sprinkle some truth in … even if that was Byron who caught the chair leg, not Theo.
“Whoa,” the linebacker murmured.
“Tough luck for him. Wrong place, wrong time, you know.” I waved my hand dismissively. “I stepped back inside, had a few drinks, laughed with some friends, and then ran into Draven before I left. Of course, he thought I was trying to sneak away without him seeing.”
I smiled. “He did exactly what I expected him to. You hear the stories about his ego. That he likes to project the image that nothing happens without his say so, that he notices everything in his territory.” Or so Iona had suggested, at least as related to vampire activity. “I kept up the coy new-girl act.” I grinned. “And then I looked Draven in the eye and we laughed like old friends before I walked right out the front door … after killing one of his dear ones under his nose.”
There was dead silence as I wrapped up my story. Seconds passed where their faces were all unchanged; baffled and in awe.
And then, all at once, they all started cheering and slapping the table and laughing heartily.
“Wonderful!”
“Stunning!”
“Five stars!”
They clapped for me. Clapped.
“Well done,” the Italian one said, his impressed smile still on his face. “You are one brassy dame … what’s your name?”
“Elizabeth,” I replied automatically. It came so naturally, it was as if it had been my real name all my life instead of just my middle name, forgotten except when I was filling out paperwork that required it. Where the male vamps praised me, though, I noticed now—Roxy hadn’t shifted much at all. She was unreadable, impossible for me to penetrate … yet as I turned my gaze to meet hers, the frostiness emanating from her was tangible.
Guess that little smile earlier hadn’t be
en the first signs of her thawing after all.
I had seen her acting in Laura’s backyard. She was the alpha. That was why she was studying me as closely as she was. I could tell in the way that the males glanced at her, in the way they carried themselves around her. She was the queen, and these were her worker bees.
The males, I had won over. But Roxy … she wasn’t going to allow a competitor into the pack this easily.
“Hey, Elizabeth, you should come with us,” the linebacker said, elbowing me in the arm.
“Yeah, you should!” the blond one said.
Roxy rolled her eyes.
“We were just about to … go do something more fun.”
Oh crap. That was probably vampire talk for probably go kill someone. Especially since they hated Draven, who was all about keeping things on the down low.
I hoped that the color disappearing from my face went unnoticed.
“Oh, yeah?” I said. “Where are you going?”
Roxy was the one who replied, with a flick of curls over her shoulder. “You’ll see. Come on.”
And they just left their empty glasses and walked away from the table, through the writhing crowd of bodies.
The blond male stopped just outside the crowd, his face bathed in red light.
“Come on, Elizabeth.”
I followed, of course, because … this was the point. But …
I had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well.
Chapter 16
It turned out that we were heading to a limo. And it was no ordinary limo, no.
It was leather-lined, LED-lit, and hand detailed. Real wood inlays and crystal glasses and a dark green bottle full of something I had no desire to know anything about. Compared to this, the limo Iona had sent for me looked like a thirty-year-old pickup truck. Under other circumstances, I could get really excited about taking a ride in this thing.
Not when I was taking a cruise with a bunch of hell-raising bloodsuckers, though.
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