I heard many variations of “Congratulations” and “It looks wonderful in here”.
I thanked them all and welcomed them to the studio, offering them a free class.
Once Lily’s promo machinations had worked to good effect, she said, “I’m going to head out, okay?”
“Of course. I owe you dinner and drinks tonight,” I said.
“I hope you don’t want it to end there,” she said. “I thought we’d go out tonight to celebrate.”
“As long as I don’t crash,” I replied. “I’ll be pooped after this!”
“I’m getting you a latte to keep you going,” she said with a grin. “With all that caffeine and the excitement of the day, trust me, you’re going to want to burn off some of the excess energy so you’ll even be able to sleep tonight.”
“Where to? Go into Boston? Cambridge?”
“Why drive in there when we have such a great club nearby?”
“Vamps?” My eyes widened with amusement. “Wow, that place has really grown on you. I remember you sulking the first time I took you there.”
“Since you took me there, my life has changed significantly.” Lily’s eyes took on that sparkle whenever she spoke of Nico.
“Where you met a dashing computer geek masquerading as a rock star.”
She laughed. “Who doesn’t love a sexy nerd?” My face must have dropped. When she saw my face, she said. “Sorry, did I hit a nerve? Make you think of him?”
“It’s just—well—with all the help he did,” I waved my hand around the studio, stopping at my office as I tried to formulate the feelings into words. “He should be here. Know what I mean?”
“Want me to call him?” Lily pulled out her phone.
“No!” I reached for the phone to stop her. “It’s too late.”
She put her phone away. “It’s never too late.” She studied me. “But I’m wondering—what do you want from him? Just to thank him out of feeling obligated? Or is it something more?”
I sighed. “I think I made a huge mistake.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mike
Vamps was closed for a couple of nights and I didn’t know any other way to find Danton. My online searches yielded nothing—not that I thought Googling “Danton blond gargoyle” would yield anything of value. I headed to Vamps when it finally reopened on the weekend and searched for him. With his head of long blond hair towering over the crowd, he’d be easy to spot. He didn’t appear to be at the club, but it was still early, maybe he’d show later.
“What can I get you?” The pink-haired bartender was wearing a tight black corset that showed generous cleavage. She’d told me her name in the past, but I couldn’t remember it as usual. I’d tried to get in her pants, but she’d blown me off.
“How about a Rusty Nail.”
After she brought my drink, I sat on a stool and waited, scanning the club. Scantily clad bodies dressed mostly in black writhed to a pounding mix the DJ created with Halestorm’s Freak Like Me chorus blended in. That song fit. This club was a total freak magnet. Not that I ever minded the view—women revealing pale skin in their skin-tight black outfits or fetish wear. You wouldn’t hear many guys complaining about the scenery. My acute sense of smell picked up the distinct scents of bodies warmed up from dancing as well as various scents of alcohol and fruity drinks.
We’d played Vamps many times before and the gargoyles perched around the club were one of the key features that made it stand out in my mind. Now I studied them in more detail. It had to be more than a coincidence that I met Danton in a club with gargoyle statues, when he himself was one.
After twenty minutes, I began to pace, my boots sticking to beer-sloshed areas on the floor. I started to doubt whether this guy would ever show.
“Do you know Danton?” I asked the busty bartender. “I think he’s a bouncer here.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want with him?”
“I want to talk to him about something he brought up earlier.”
She continued to eye me with suspicion. “You’re Chee Keydood. From the Velvet Cocks, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll let him know you’re looking for him.”
She pulled out her phone and began texting.
“He might know me as Mike.”
She glanced up at me from over her phone and smiled. “He’ll be glad to hear from you.”
She appeared to know more about Danton—and me—than she’d let on.
Danton arrived as I finished my drink. He wore all black as usual, as did most of the crowd tonight.
“Mike.” He nodded and sat next to me at the bar.
“Thanks for coming to talk to me,” I said. “Can I get you a drink?”
“I’ve got it already,” the bartender said. She put down a glass filled with dark amber liquid on ice.
“Merci, cherie,” he said.
“I wanted to ask you about that night backstage,” I said. “When I saw the women kissing and you told me to get the blonde, Allana, out of there.”
“Yes?” His eyebrows rose in question.
“That woman. I think you called her Nike. I never remember names, but hers stood out. You know, sneakers.”
Danton stared at me. “Sneakers?” he questioned. “Nike is the goddess of victory.”
My reference clearly went over his head. “Anyway,” I continued. “She bit Allana. I saw the blood. I thought they were just into freaky vampire-play shit, but what my grandfather said made me think otherwise.”
“What did he say?” His eyes shined with curiosity while his face remained impassive. Similar to what I’d seen in Papa.
“That vampires exist.”
“Ah.” He tapped his fingers on the glass. “Yes. They do,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“So is Nike a vampire?”
Danton ran his hands over his chin. “Not exactly. She was attacked by a nightwalker and has experienced an unusual reaction.”
“But she was trying to drink Allana’s blood.”
“So it seemed. That’s why I told you to get Allana out of there.”
My heart pounded against my chest as my fears became realized. “Is Allana in danger?”
He studied me. “What do you think?”
I thought about it, gauging my thoughts. Intuition told me she was. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like she is.”
Danton nodded and took a sip, glancing out into the club. I gathered he was focusing on the gargoyle statues and made a mental note to ask him about that later. “That makes sense.”
He was so cryptic it was starting to get old. “How?” My voice revealed an edge of annoyance.
“Let’s get back to that. Have you thought at all about what I told you I suspected about your family?”
“Yes. I met with my family.” I kept my voice low so only he would hear, although I doubted anyone else could over the music pounding around us. Freakshow by the Cure. “My grandfather is what you are. You were right. I have that blood.”
He nodded at me “I’ve looked into your family history. You descend from an old family.”
“What does this mean about me? I’m only one-quarter,” I leaned in and whispered, “gargoyle.”
“Fractions don’t matter. It can have a stronger presence in some over others. But what you have to your advantage is you possess many of the abilities without any restrictions.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re not bound in stone until you’re needed to protect someone.”
“What do you mean? You’re not stone right now and you’re not protecting anyone.”
“I was. Until I bonded with a human and took the gargoyle oath.” He glanced at the bartender and smiled. She couldn’t hear what we were saying over the volume of the music, but she winked back at him.
“The what?”
“We’ll get back to that. While I was a boy, I was free to change from one form to another. But once gargoyles come into manh
ood, they take on the role of a watcher.”
“My grandfather mentioned something like that.”
“We watch over others, protecting them. When our protection is needed, we can transform into human form. If during that time, we take an oath with a soul mate, more powerful magic streams into us. We are able to transform at will and become gatekeepers between the gargoyle and human worlds.”
“You were once in stone?”
“I watched this club as stone for many years until I had to protect the woman I loved.”
Following his gaze to the woman behind the bar he couldn’t keep his eyes off, I had an inkling who he meant.
His mention of protecting a woman reminded me of the odd compulsion I felt about Allana. “You remember Allana, the woman Nike bit backstage?”
Dante’s eyes fixed on mine. “Yes.”
“What you said about protecting your girl reminds me of her. Sometimes I’m consumed wondering about her. If she’s happy, if she’s safe. If she’s in trouble and I should be protecting her. When I’m not around her, all I do is think about her.” I ran my hand over the growth on my chin. “It’s driving me insane. Like an obsession.”
Dante lowered his voice. “Gargoyles are designed to protect others, especially humans. Sometimes one human in particular.”
“But what does that mean?” I questioned. “My feelings for her are because I have gargoyle blood flowing in my veins so I’m programmed in some way? Or is it more? I was falling for her, or at least I thought I was. Now I don’t know what to feel. If my feelings are even my own.”
Dante nodded as if he understood, which gave me some assurance I wasn’t losing my damn mind. He took a sip of his drink before he continued. “The connection between a human and a gargoyle is powerful. As powerful as true, lasting love. And they are often intertwined.”
I was starting to feel like a clueless young apprentice being schooled by a master. “But how do I know if it’s love or just an infatuation?”
“Ah, the mysteries of love,” Danton said with a slight smile. “How can anyone truly know? Part of the mystery is having faith in what you feel.”
“If there’s ever been a point where I’d doubt my feelings, it would be now,” I replied. “Since I met her, I’ve felt different. I’m wound up so tight, about to spring like a coil at any moment. To kill anyone who hurts her.”
“That is consistent with our nature, yes, to protect those we love.” He ended his statement with a question, the way Papa did. “What else have you discovered?”
I contemplated the recent changes I’d noticed. Ones I’d been aware of, but now took greater prominence. “I’m stronger, faster. My vision and hearing have always been better than others, but now they are even more acute.”
Danton’s gaze flickered over me for a long moment. Whether he was sizing me up or deciding what to tell me, I didn’t know.
“When gargoyles take on the call to protect someone, it is a magical experience,” he said, emphasizing the last phrase. “I’m wondering if a sort of switch was flipped on inside you when I asked you to take care of Allana.” I stared at him without answering, trying to take it all in. “When I took the gargoyle oath with my love,” he continued, “it awakened powers I never would have imagined while in stone form.”
“What is this oath?” I asked.
“Gargoyles are able to take a sacred oath that binds them to one person, to love and protect for all their days.”
I thought about that, thought about the idea of doing that with Allana. “I don’t know who I am anymore. I’m not stone like you and I’m not the human I thought I was.”
Danton peered at me intently. “You are more than you ever thought you could be.” He stood up and nodded. “You have much to process. We can talk again, if you wish to learn more.”
I watched Danton as he walked away, sinking into the shadows of the crowd until only his blond hair showed. My phone buzzed. When I read the text, it was from Nico.
Meet me at Vamps?
Weird. I texted back. I’m already here.
Doing what? Never mind. Stay there.
Allana
“Cheers,” Lily raised her glass. “To wild success for you and the studio, where you will change lives—and net a nice income.”
I clinked her Fruits of Temptation cocktail with my Anything Goes. “Thanks. I hope so.”
We took a sip and then I glanced around the club from my vantage point at the bar. Tonight’s theme was Wicked Freaky. The DJ played a number of songs with “freak” in the title or any song that would encourage the masses to dance like freaks. I Walk the Line by Alien Sex Fiend struck a chord with the crowd. A lot of pale skin and black clothing. Some wore tight vinyl or fetish-wear, and they danced like, well, freaks. In a good way. They were tightly packed on the dance floor but nobody seemed to mind.
“We were celebrating your success not too long ago,” I pointed out. The first night I dragged Lily here for a night of dancing to celebrate a promotion at the company she no longer worked at, the Velvet Cocks played.
“I remember that night well,” she said. “When I met Nico.” She gazed off into the crowd, lost in her memory.
I envied her at the moment. She was happy, head over heels with the man she loved. What did I keep doing wrong to end up alone? I ran from risks in my romantic life, as guarded as a maximum security prison.
Was I causing my own heartache by closing myself off and not taking chances?
Just as I was about to descend to wallowing in self-pity, I Fink You Freeky by Die Antwood came on. I jumped off my stool. “I love this song. Come on, let’s dance.”
Mike
“What’s up, Nico? Why did you want to meet up here?”
John arrived too. I wondered what was going on.
“Do I need a reason to meet up with my bros for a drink?” Nico sported a mischievous grin.
“Dude, I see you all the time. We share an office. We’re in a band together. You’re always telling me how you’re sick of seeing my ugly mug.”
“Ah, you know I’m just ribbing you.” He grabbed John’s and my shoulders. “You blokes are my best buds.”
I raised my eyebrow to indicate my skepticism. Sure we were bros, but we gave each other shit on a routine basis. That’s what bros did.
John added wryly, “Thanks for dragging me out. As if I don’t spend enough time in clubs. On a night off, I want to sit home and chill.”
“You can watch the SyFy channel later,” Nico replied. “I have some news. Let’s get some drinks first.”
After we ordered a few Sam Adams beers, we leaned back at the bar and watched the crowd. They were dancing as if they were nuts, singing along and jumping around. I watched with amusement and glanced up at the gargoyles perched on the wall. Danton said he’d watched this club in stone for many years. Now I was sure there was something behind those hard gray eyes. Something alive.
“Pack your bags. The tour is on,” Nico announced.
“What?” John’s mouth dropped.
“Toxic Fox Records is going forward with a three-week tour on the West Coast!”
“Holy shit,” I said.
“For real?” John asked.
Nico nodded. “Sometime this spring. Not cramped in the van. A tour bus and everything.”
We toasted each other and chattered on about what this meant for us. What it meant for the Velvet Cocks. Our record company believed in us to put up this investment. We’d had short tours on the East Coast, but nothing like this.
Although a tour like this was something I’d dreamed about since I was a teenage boy picking up a guitar to emulate my rock idols, something was missing. I realized how much I wanted to share this news with someone. One woman in particular.
We finished our beers and I moved my gaze to the dancers.
The DJ Mistress Mona announced, “How are all my freaks tonight?” When the crowd cheered in reply, she said, “You’re all beautiful. This is for you.”
The o
pening sounds of Marilyn Manson’s The Beautiful People boomed from the speakers and bodies erupted into a conflagration of movement. I caught sight of a blonde through a break of dancers. Could it be? No, it had to be wishful thinking. Her back was facing me, so I couldn’t be sure, but the way hair swished around her petite body in a black tank top and plaid schoolgirl skirt as she danced reminded me of the way her body moved. Could it be her? My heart throbbed with expectation.
When I caught sight of her dance partner, Lily, I knew my hopes had been answered.
I strained to catch more of her through the crowd, of her body bouncing and swaying with the music. She turned partly my way and I saw her sporting a wide grin. She sang along with the song. She appeared happy.
The song ended and she and Lily maneuvered through the crowd to the bar.
I turned to Nico and elbowed him. “Did you know about this?
He had a hangdog expression but didn’t reply. “Lily, Ally,” Nico greeted them. “Fancy seeing you lovely ladies here. What a surprise.”
Allana’s eyes caught mine and I froze. So much was said in a moment without any words spoken. The spark in our locked gaze confirmed my thoughts. Whatever was between us was real. A lasting connection. She was the one and I’d do anything to protect her. To love her.
“What luck,” Lily added with a smirk. “I didn’t know you were coming here tonight.”
Snapping back to face Nico and then Lily, I said, “Oh come on, I’ve seen better acting in porn.”
Allana giggled, a musical sound that made my heart flutter.
“If you’re trying to get us together, you need to work on the false surprise lilt,” I added.
“Ah well, you caught us.” Nico patted my back. “You might as well have a chat while I take my lovely woman out for a dance.” He turned to Lily. “Shall we?”
RockMySenses Page 16
