Adrenaline coursed through Sean’s body, despite his outward appearance of calm, the only hint to his unease, the tight set of his jaw. The next few hours would determine more than just the course of events for the here and now. What transpired could lay a foundation of accord between vampires and Weres everywhere.
Or not.
“Ladies first,” Sean said, pulling his hand from his pocket and steering Lily across the street.
“Where are they, exactly? I mean the vampires— they know we’re coming, right?” she asked, glancing crossways to the restaurant and then back at Sean.
“Oh, they know we’re coming.”
Flanking Lily on her other side, Jack gave his characteristic snort. “I bet they already know we’re here. In fact, I bet they’re watching us from tiny peep holes in the walls.”
“Jack…”
The younger Were just shrugged, but his face was wary, despite his humorous bravado. “Well, what do we do now? Do we just walk into the restaurant and tell the maître d’ we have a reservation with the master? I don’t want to get this wrong, Sean. You know how vampires are about protocol, and an angry, insulted fanger is never a good thing.”
“I’ve got it covered, Jack, just relax,” Sean said, taking his cell phone from his inside breast pocket. With one touch, the screen illuminated, and he scrolled through the choices until he found what he searched for. His phone beeped once, and immediately instructions were issued via the speaker in a foreign language.”
“What the hell kind of dialect was that?” Jack barked, clearly unnerved.
Sean held a finger to his lips, then punched a four digit code into his phone and hit send. The screen went dark, and he stuffed the cell back in his pocket. “Done.”
Agitated, Jack scuffed his heel against the curb. “Guess I was absent the day they taught Transylvanian secret code, huh?” Jack remarked, but before Sean could reply, an older gentleman stepped through the main doors of the eatery and beckoned them forward.
Lily squeezed Sean’s hand. It was show time.
Chapter Fourteen
Sean entered the building first, pausing for a fraction of a second before motioning for the others to follow. The three of them stood in a v-formation just inside the door, with Sean at the head. His eyes quickly scanned the lobby and the wide arc of the dining room, noting the emergency exits, before his gaze shifted to the mahogany reservation desk at the center of the reception area. It was manned by two pretty hostesses and flanked on either side by low curved couches where patrons waited for their tables to be readied. Drinks in hand, people also queued along the wide, red carpeted stairs that he assumed led down to the club. It was game on, and one look from Sean reminded both Lily and Jack each to keep their thoughts and their comments to themselves.
The gentlemen nodded for them to wait between the reservation desk and the coat check off to its left, while he had his ear pressed to the receiver of one of the house phones. It wasn’t hard to guess the subject of his one-sided conversation.
Jack gestured toward the chic, open-view kitchen centered at the back of the dining room. Tables hummed with conversation while patrons were treated to a full on view of white uniformed chefs working at a frenetic pace. The dining room was as sumptuous as the scent of the food they served, with its gorgeous trey ceiling and trompe l’oeil murals. It was Victoriana at its best, and the whole scene was a surreal counterpoint to the reality of whom and what controlled the place.
The man hung up the phone, firing off a string of orders to one of the women standing behind the reservation desk. The language he spoke sounded too similar to that of the instructions left on Sean’s phone for it to be coincidence, and both Lily and Jack exchanged glances. The woman’s eyes darted toward Sean before a guttural reprimand from the maître d’ made her jump. She bobbed her head, and then scooted behind him through a concealed door in the wall.
With a clap of his hands, his demeanor softened, and he turned his attention to Sean. “Welcome to The Red Veil,” he drawled, addressing Sean directly while his eyes swept the alpha’s big frame as if accessing his worth. The man inclined his head in an almost courtly manner, picking up a stack of reservation cards, and tapping them lightly on the desk. “May we take your coats?”
His facial pallor and the map of chalky blue veins ribboning his hands, wrists and throat made it clear he was a vampire. He held out a stark white hand, patiently waiting while Sean gathered everyone’s jackets. “I’m afraid you’re quite early. We weren’t expecting you until midnight.”
Sean ignored Lily’s mental I told you so, instead pasting a polite smile on his lips. “I’m aware of that… please convey my apologies. As we are unfamiliar with the ebb and flow of the city’s traffic, we didn’t want to risk being late.”
The man didn’t comment, but his smug expression spoke volumes, despite his outward courtesy. He made no pretext that Sean’s excuse was a complete fabrication. The alpha had given the devil his due, as was expected, so it was all good.
The gentleman took the jackets from Sean, and handed them off to the remaining hostess. “Natasha will have your coats ready for you here at the end of your visit. In the meantime, I have been instructed to give you the choice of either waiting at the bar…” he gestured to a sumptuous lounge visible through a set of double doors to the right, “…or you are invited to partake of the V.I.P. activities downstairs. Like Disney, The Red Veil offers our own version of extra magic hours for special guests.” The man’s tone made it clear ‘special’ was a relative term.
The maître d’ stood waiting for an answer, and though he stood quietly, his nostrils flared, and his tongue darted from his mouth to lick his lips. Sean felt Lily’s body stiffen in a wave of answering hostility through their shared mind path. He gave her a swift mental knuckle rap, warning her to relax. With a polite smile, he inclined his head toward the man mimicking his courtly style. “I think it’s best if we wait in the bar until summoned.”
The corner of the man’s lips twitched in truculent approval, giving them a swift hint of fang in the process. Now it was Sean’s turn to stiffen. Respect was a two way street. He was the Alpha of the Brethren, the Were equivalent of the vampire’s master, and he refused to be intimidated. It was way too early to play this game, and he certainly wasn’t playing it with a vamp lackey.
“Please tell your masters, that while I understand having to wait, due to our early arrival, as Alpha of the Brethren, I do not expect to be kept waiting past our agreed upon time.” Sean made sure his underlying censure was heard and understood, before turning on his heel and walking across the shiny marble floor toward the bar.
***
“Don’t just stand there like an idiot, Jack, follow him.” Lily’s voice was insistent as it floated across the common Were thread. For some reason, the younger wolf was bolted to the floor, and it took everything she had not to whack him upside the head. “Sean’s halfway to the bar, what’s the matter with you? Show of solidarity and governance, remember?”
With a quiet exhale, she brushed past Jack giving him a subtle elbow, finally waking him up.
“What the hell was that? Did the maître d’ glamor you or something?” she murmured under her breath, when they were far enough away from prying ears. Not that the vamp couldn’t hear them from the other side of the street, let alone the other side of the room.
The corners of Jack’s mouth pulled down, and he glanced back over his shoulder as they walked toward the bar. “No. Forget it.”
“Jack, we just got here. If you’re going to freeze up, maybe you’d better take off now before things get, well, however they may get.”
He grabbed her arm pulling her to a standstill, the differences in their height and body size making the move nothing short of intimidating. “Don’t forget whose bitch you are. You might be able to pull that crap with Sean, but not with me.” His tone was clipped and ugly, but now was neither the time nor the place to make a big deal out of it, and Lily just shot him a wa
rning look.
With a quiet sigh, he glanced up at the ceiling, and when his eyes met hers again, they were softer. “Look, joking around is one thing, but you forget I’m a full Were, and I’m a hunter. If I pause because I sense something, don’t interrupt me, and never assume I hesitate out of fear.”
A wash of guilt sent heat flooding into her cheeks. He was right. She shouldn’t have assumed. Lily put her hands on her hips, careful to keep her voice low. “Did you sense something?”
“Perhaps.”
She exhaled, her eyes taking in his face and eyes. He was being evasive again, but she wasn’t going to push the issue. “Something disturbed you back there, and it wasn’t just my mouth. I can feel it. If you don’t want to tell me, fine, but I think you’d better tell Sean.”
His mouth puckered. “I plan to, when I have more to tell him. In the meantime, remember what I said.” Jack pushed past and walked into the bar.
She trailed in after, skimming the room for Sean. The place was photo-shoot worthy, with its intimate booths and polished pub tables. Club chairs were situated in groups of two beneath the tall windows, the paned glass draped in translucent veils of varying shades of crimson. Flocking damask in the same cerise hues covered the chairs, their patterns harkening back more than a century, like the heavy dark woods and rich accents throughout the place.
Lily slid into the booth at the farthest back corner beside Sean, while Jack chose to belly up to the bar.
“Everything okay?” Sean asked, cocking his head suspiciously.
She nodded her answer, not trusting herself to open her mouth. Jack said he would tell Sean when he had more to say, and she’d take him at his word.
“You sure?”
She nodded again, drawing in a quick breath through her nose. “Yeah, I’m good. You know how I get when I have to wait.” She flashed him a quick smile, hoping it would be enough for him not to press the issue.
Sean picked up one of the menus from the table. “Hmmm,” he murmured, glancing at the specialty drinks on the cover. “You do know this is all about finesse and diplomacy, right?” He eyed her over the top of the laminated cardboard.
She nodded.
“Good. Just because I put the vamp behind the desk in his place doesn’t mean you have carte blanche to do the same.” He eyed her knowingly. “If the maître d’s elders learned of his blatant disrespect, he’d be...”
“…a very sorry vampire?” Lily interrupted.
Sean shook his head. “No. He’d be a very dead vampire. Jack was right when he said vamps are all about respect for hierarchy and protocol. The maître d’ needed to be reminded of that, and just the same way an apology was expected over us being early, a wrist slap was necessary to let him know I mean business. If I hadn’t done so, it would have been viewed as a weakness—in their eyes, anyway.”
Jack came back from the bar with three coronas and dish of sliced limes. “I figured we’d stick with what we started with earlier.”
Sean nodded. “One beer each acknowledges their hospitality, but any more compromises us in more than just the obvious way.”
The three of them clinked bottles then settled in to wait. The bar itself was packed four people deep, but there were still a few tables left open. A young waitress approached, carrying a half liter wine bottle and two long stemmed glasses on her tray. “I’ll be with you in a sec,” she said, as she passed to place the wine on the table next to theirs. Pad in hand, she turned on her heel, placing a bowl of fancy vegetable chips on their table along with a few napkins. “Are you guys all set, or can I get you something else from the bar?”
“We’re good for now, thanks,” Sean replied with a smile.
She nodded once. “Great. Just give me a shout if you want anything.” With a tip-worthy smile plastered on her face, she turned to head toward the bar.
A couple in their mid-twenties had just sat down at one of the high-top pub tables not far from their booth. The woman was a stunning brunette, with long silky hair swept back off her face and fastened with a glittering clip at the nape of her neck. Her black dress barely whispered across the top of her thighs and plunged to her navel at both the front and the back, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.
Her escort was what New York fashion magazines would call a metrosexual, a man with taste and chic style, who knows about fashion, art and culture. They were a typical A-list wannabe couple, as alien as two people could be, to the two Weres sitting at the booth with Lily.
The woman struck a pose, crossing her long bare legs. Jack’s eyes were glued to her, his beer poised halfway to his lips.
“Wipe your mouth, Jack.” Lily said, tapping the corner of her own. “You’ve got a little doggie drool going on there.”
Sean smirked, taking a sip from his corona, the little slice of lime bobbing up and down in the amber liquid as he tilted the bottle up to his mouth. “Can’t say as I blame him.”
“Ha. And I’ll lay dollars to donut she knows it too,” Lily added, taking a purple chip from the bowl at the center of the table.
Jack wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, glancing once more at the woman. “What can I say it’s been a long, dry week.” He tipped his bottle back, giving Lily a wink. All was forgiven between them, and she blew him a kiss.
Lily munched on what she could only guess was a taro chip. Not that she knew one vegetable from the next in this mix, but they had a salty crunch and were perfect with the beer. Condensation dripped down either side of her hand as she took a sip from her bottle, her thumb absently running up and down the blue and gold label.
Her hand was cold and wet, but an odd sensation crawled up her arm and settled in a weedy tingle at the back of her neck. She reached behind to rub at the spot, twisting her head back and forth, but it only worsened. Dull needles and pins pricked her skin, sending numb fingers stabbing across the base of her skull.
“What’s the matter?” Sean asked, watching her oddly.
“I don’t know. Just a weird feeling at the back of my neck.”
“Weird how? Like a pinched nerve?” Sean slid in closer, but Lily dropped her head backwards and arched her back as the prickling turned into a stabbing sensation. In her mind she heard someone chuckle, and then the feeling stopped.
“The wolf can’t protect you forever…”
Lily’s head snapped up, and she froze.
“You sought your revenge, now I wait for mine.”
A new wave of angry thought tore through her and she clenched her teeth, jamming her fingers into her temples. “Get out of my head!” she hissed low and fierce.
Grabbing her shoulders, Sean turned her around to face him. Without warning or permission he merged his mind with hers, and she whimpered at the assaultive sensation. “Who are you and what do you want?” His defensive presence snarled with menace along their breached mind path, but the voice just laughed.
“Be warned, wolf. Not all is as it seems, and I am waiting…”
At the oily feel of the voice in his own head, Sean’s eyes turned from blue to yellow and a savage snarl escaped his throat, turning heads in the bar.
Jack slipped around the table to flank Lily’s other side while he scanned the room, staring down the prying eyes.
Lily slumped forward, dropping her forehead into her hands. The voice and its evil chuckle faded, along with all trace of whoever it belonged to. Sean skimmed his hand across the center of her back, gently massaging the space between her shoulder blades.
“Can you tell me what the hell just happened? One minute she’s eating a chip next she looks like the chick from the exorcist,” Jack said out of the side of his mouth, while staring at people to mind their own business.
“Someone or something just invaded Lily’s mind. It threatened her. And me,” Sean answered, not taking his eyes or his hand from Lily.
Jack dropped back down into his seat across from them, and grabbed his beer, taking a long pull. “Jesus. Any idea who? What did they say, exactly?”
>
Lily took a ragged breath, leaning up on her elbows. “They said the wolves couldn’t protect me, and that they wanted revenge.”
“Revenge? For what?”
She pressed her fingers to her temples and rubbed in a gentle circular motion. “I don’t know. All I do know is that it wasn’t human. Terry warned me about my practice runs maybe whoever it was wanted retribution for someone I killed last fall.” She sat up, her gaze and her hands dropping to her lap. “It’s not like I’ve been keeping my presence here on the down low.”
Sean shook his head. “No. Whoever it was knows about us,” he said, gesturing to himself and Jack. “They know you’re under my protection, and that means this could be another of Parr’s tactics.”
She looked up, her eyes rising to meet Sean’s. “Could he be tracking us?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He’d never soil his own hands doing the work himself, but he’s certainly convinced enough Weres to follow him that anything’s possible. Plus, he’s skilled enough to cloak himself telepathically.”
“You said Parr was backing off. Why would he risk something so outright?” Jack asked, distractedly rolling the base of his bottle between his palms.
“Because it wasn’t outright. Parr could deny it, claiming it could be anyone connected to the trail of bodies Lily left in her wake before she even got to the Compound.”
Lily made a face. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a trail, and each one was popped while attacking a human.”
Sean slid his hand the rest of the way around her shoulders. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter. Still, whoever this is, made a huge miscalculation and all we need to do is tighten the hold. He thinks his threats will panic us, but all he’s done is put us on alert and ruined his chances at a surprise attack.”
“Gee thanks, that’s a comforting thought,” she hmphed. “Like we don’t have enough to worry about already.”
The Cursed by Blood Saga Page 38
