by Chloe Adler
"Why then?" His dark eyes peered down at me.
"It's the only quiet place in the club to talk. Like I said, I'm not trying to mislead you." He put his hand to his mouth, running his lips back and forth over the tops of his knuckles. I shivered. I did not want to be alone with this vampire in a sex room. That did not sound like a good idea.
The beaded curtains framing one of the doorways rustled and a girl giggled as she and two men slipped out. Flaming-red hair.
"Sadie?" Why was I surprised?
"Chrys?" She straightened, looking between her two consorts. Ryder, her gorgeous black boyfriend, and a very tall ginger. Ryder was six foot one and the ginger looked to be at least six three. Neither of them was wearing a shirt, their torsos covered in a thin layer of sweat or something else. I did not want to think about what. Their muscles glistened and moved as each put an arm around Sadie's waist.
"What are you doing here?" Sadie asked me. "In the club? In this area?" She almost sounded like Mom.
"I'm older than you, Sadie. I can be wherever I please."
"It's not that . . ." She looked from one gorgeous specimen of man to the other. "Boys, I'll meet you on the dance floor in a minute."
Ryder nodded, bent to kiss her cheek and then reached for the ginger's hand.
"Try not to have too much fun without me," Sadie called as they trotted off. Neither looked back.
"Carter," Sadie said politely and nodded at him.
Carter's mouth formed a very thin line. A semblance of a smile.
"Do you mind?" Sadie asked him.
Carter looked past her to me. "Do you want me to go?"
"I'll just be a minute."
He gave me a slow nod, then Sadie a curt one, and walked back down the hallway to the bar. At the entrance he looked back, holding my gaze for a second before moving on.
Sadie immediately grabbed my hand, pulling me into the room that her orgy had just vacated.
Ugh. The room smelled like sex. It was bad enough knowing untold depravity had just occurred here, but even worse was knowing my sister had been involved. The smells lingered, cloying and sharp, stabbing the back of my throat. Breathing through my mouth was worse; I could taste it. So gross. Sadie seemed oblivious as she led me to a modern brushed-metal chair in the corner. Motioning for me to sit, she placed herself on top of the bed. It was covered in vinyl, and an antiseptic spray bottle sat on the small table next to it. I wanted to grab it and spray myself.
"What are you doing here, Chrys?" Sadie asked, dropping any semblance of small talk.
"Burgundy invited me." I met her tough love with my own. We had a long history of not getting along, though six months ago, when we'd defeated the Scrim together, it had seemed like we could patch up our differences.
"Why? And what exactly . . . is going on with your hair, makeup and clothing?"
I liked that she didn't mince words, but I couldn't help touching my hair tentatively.
"I like it," she said, offering me one of her lopsided smiles.
My hand dropped. Sadie tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. Waiting.
I sucked in a breath. "Jared did it," I said, bugging out my eyes and flicking my hand down my body, then back up.
Sadie nodded slowly. "He did an amazing job. I always knew there was a gorgeous woman hiding in there." Her eyes softened for a moment. "But I still don't understand why you're here. And why were you with Carter, heading toward a sex room? Is there something I should know?"
"How do you do that?" I asked her.
"Do what?" Her voice lilted up at the end, trying to sound innocent. Sadie was anything but.
"You act like my older sister, like the one who knows more, but I'm the oldest." I stood up, my hands on my hips.
Sadie remained seated on the bed. She crossed her legs and leaned her body over them, resting her chin on her palms. Letting out a deep sigh, she shook her head.
"You may be older in age but we both know I am older in experience."
"Maybe sexual experience," I said, spitting the words out, trying to hurt her.
"Well, that is what we're talking about here." She sat up and motioned around the room. "Or did you forget where you are?"
"As if I could. It stinks of sweat and nastiness in here."
Ignoring my comment, she made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. "Do you think that vampire was offering you love?"
She didn't. Flicker.
Holding up her hands, palms out she continued, "I'm asking because I care. I don't want to see you get hurt."
I snorted. "That's ripe, coming from you, the sister who flaunted her sexuality even when she knew it made me uncomfortable."
My sister's breath whooshed out through her nostrils. "You know that my sexuality is part of who I am."
I cracked my knuckles, glaring at her. "Much like my choice to abstain is part of who I am."
She rolled her eyes. "It's not the same thing."
"Why are you always minimizing what you don't understand? I get it. You're a sex witch. Believe me, we all get it. But so what? Hiding behind that label does not make my choices any less valid."
She snorted. "You're the one who's been hiding, not me. I'm the one you and Aurelia berated my entire life for being promiscuous."
"And you don't see how you treated me for my entire life? As though there was something wrong with me because I didn't choose promiscuity?"
"More like you chose to be a nun."
I shook my hands next to my face. "You're doing it right now. They're my choices, Sadie. I get to make them."
She changed tactics, speaking at a lower volume. "Look, I care about you and I'm trying to help. Can't you see that a vampire like Carter is not capable of love? And even if he were, why would he choose you? He can have anyone." She giggled then, and a sly smile spread across her mouth. "And he has."
"Do you hate me?" I held my tone even, which was unrepresentative of my true emotions. I pushed the chair back and stood.
She blinked, crinkling her nose. "Of course I don't hate you, you're my sister."
Taking a deep breath, I took one step toward her. She stood up suddenly, alarmed, as if she'd finally processed the look on my face. She was wearing four-inch combat boots, but bless Jared for putting me in heels because I could still look down on her. "So, after two decades, you've finally decided to show me how much you care by calling the man I'm interested in a slut and me too ugly to entice him?"
Her sigh was deep and audible. "I didn't say any of that."
"Oh yes. You did."
"Why won't you listen to me? I'm the one with the experience here. Why would you want to learn these lessons the hard way? There are just some things that I'm better at. This is one of them. If I wanted to learn how to paint, I'd come to you."
Spark.
She stood there, her green eyes flashing, waiting. Waiting for me to give in. To shut down like always. Suddenly, the makeup on my face felt caked on and heavy, the skin on my face too loose. The gorgeously styled curls that had taken Jared hours to perfect were drooping into my eyes, their volume spent. I wiggled my aching toes in the heels that moments ago had made me feel ten feet tall. Stupid, uptight, awkward Chrys never, ever fought back.
Not this time. "You sound exactly like Aurelia."
Her mouth popped open in outrage, but I kept going.
"Everyone else knows what's best for Chrys because Chrys is far too naive to figure anything out on her own. And you're the one who's going to help me navigate sex? Because you've spent so much time getting to know me. Because you listen to me so well. Do you even listen to yourself?"
Sadie's mouth opened again, but I wasn't done.
"I really don't give a flying shit what you think is best for me."
A small surge, like I'd stuck my finger into an electrical outlet, rocketed through me. The recessed lights overhead flickered, giving off an eerie pink glow.
Oh crap, where was my amulet?
Sadie's mouth formed a
tiny O as the metal chair flew across the room. Hard. Barely missing her head, it embedded itself into the wall behind her. Sadie fled toward the door, which surprised me. Her magic was much stronger than mine and though she could only use it to its full extent after orgasming, hadn't she just done that before I arrived?
Before she could reach the door, it flew open and Jared stood there, clutching my amulet in one hand. I couldn't hear his voice above a low roar. It grew louder and louder. Searing pain stabbed at the backs of my eyes, blinding me. The sound escalated, piercing my brain. I fell to the ground, my hands covering my ears, screaming.
Chapter Nine
The pain in my head was unbearable. A pounding, burning sensation that I could only equate to being stabbed repeatedly in the skull with a dull knife. Other people were screaming too. Had a bomb exploded?
"Grab her," a male voice rang out and suddenly I was being held, my hands pried away from my ears, which is when I realized the sound had stopped. My head still rang and I looked around, dazed. Sadie was on the floor as well but starting to sit up. Blood dribbled from her ears and the look she gave me clenched at my heart.
My hands were wrenched behind my back and tied there, tightly. I couldn't see who was holding me, and before I could look around again, I was slammed face-first into the wall.
"What's going on? What happened?" I tried to ask.
"Oh no, no, no. You do not get to ask the questions here, missy," came a gruff voice with a British accent at my back.
"She didn't know," said another voice I recognized as Carter's.
"The hell she didn't," said the British man. "She's inside the club, isn't she?"
"It was my fault," Jared said. "I'm the one who brought her here and I didn't tell her the rules."
"She's from out of town?" asked the Brit.
"She's my sister," said Sadie, "but they're telling the truth. She didn't know. She never comes here. Please, Benedict . . ."
Her voice trailed off, which made me nervous. Sadie never pleaded with anyone.
"What's going on?" I recognized Burgundy's voice. "Who is that?"
"It's Chrys," Sadie said.
"What? That?" asked Burgundy. "Benedict, can you turn her around please so I can see for myself?"
The man behind me spun me around. I almost fell on my face. I was not used to wearing heels, let alone being manhandled in them.
"Wow," Burgundy said. "Chrys? Wow."
She was one to talk. That stripper outfit barely covered anything. And even in my haze I finally understood the immense amount of time it took to make wearing so little look so good.
"You know her?" asked Benedict.
"She's my roommate," said Burgundy. "Harmless."
"Do you see that chair in the wall? That's not harmless. Plus, she broke the rules and you know what happens to witches who break the rules."
"Benedict, please," said Carter, stepping forward. "We can all vouch for her. She didn't know."
"What the hell do you care?" asked Sadie, her voice laced with anger. "Since when is my sister's well-being any of your concern?"
"Sadie," I spat at her.
"Whatever," she shrugged. "You all seem to have this under control, I'm going to clean off my ears." She shot me an angry look and stormed out just as Ryder came running in. He put his arms around her and the two were off like a blank canvas and gesso.
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" I asked, looking between Burgundy, Jared and Carter.
"Benedict." Burgundy placed her hand on his arm. "We've got this."
"I'm your boss, Burgundy. I've got this." Benedict spun me toward the door. "March," he said as he pushed me out in front of him.
"Please don't hurt her," Jared said. "We're your three best employees and we're all vouching for her."
"Yeah, all that says to me is that you're all in this together, trying to protect a guilty witch," spat Benedict as he pushed me down the narrow hallway toward the main room.
People were staring, and the music had stopped. Some people were bleeding from their ears and giving me dirty looks. I recognized most of them. Witches.
"Who the hell is that?" a hushed whisper filtered through. More voices, even louder. "Did she do this?" "Who is it?" "I don't think I've ever seen her before. Have you?"
I rolled my eyes. Was I that unrecognizable? I'd grown up here. I'd gone to school with these people, or one of my sisters had.
I should have been embarrassed or afraid but I wasn't, and I wasn't sure why. I held my head up, walking in front of Benedict, keeping my eyes neutral, not looking at anyone directly. I hoped that my friends were following us.
Less than an hour later, I'd been escorted out of The V and banished for an indeterminate amount of time, even with my friends fighting for me. The night air cooled my sizzling anger. Jared ran out after me, which was good since he was my ride.
"Well, that was unexpected," I said, still wobbly on my heels.
"I'll say. Sorry we couldn't help."
"At least you advocated for me. That meant a lot."
Jared nodded. "Now what?" A tight, disingenuous smile was plastered across his lovely features.
"Now we raise hell."
He quirked his head up quizzically. "Really?"
"Nah," I said, pursing my lips. "Let's just get out of here."
"I have a better idea," said Carter in a thick voice. I hadn't heard him come out of the door. Damn vampire stealth. I smiled slowly, relief flooding my system. He'd followed me out. He did not have to do that.
Jared and I both turned toward him. He placed a hand on Jared's shoulder and leaned into his ear. "Cover my shift tonight?"
Jared nodded, offered me a wan smile and walked back inside.
"Jared," I called after him but Carter cocked his head toward the parking lot.
"I understand your anger, disgust even, but that was dangerous."
"Are you calling me stupid?"
"No. Of course not. I want to help, but only if you'll let me?" His sigh was heavy and deep.
My gaze floated down to his biceps, which seemed to bulge out of his black T-shirt. His standard fare. Didn't he own any other clothes? "I don't trust you," I stated flatly.
"Why not? Have I done anything to elicit that response?"
"Well . . ." I started, shaking my head to clear the distraction of--him. "Look, Carter, I know you want to have sex with me, that part is obvious. What I don't get is why, and all I can come up with is that you see me as a conquest. Something to be broken in, like a horse."
A glimmer of something passed over those golden-brown, sun-kissed eyes. Was it hurt? Then he laughed, which pricked my hide.
"You don't want to make me mad," I stated flatly.
"I find you so refreshing. May I?" He opened his arms and took a hesitant step toward me.
"Yes." How could this man switch me from angry to turned on in a mere fraction of an instant? I angled my face up toward his, placed my arms around his waist and pulled him into me. His lips were so soft when they met mine. The skin around his mouth was shaved and smooth. My body pressed forward, pulling him impossibly closer, nestling my entire form against his.
After a minute, when I'd just resigned myself to the fact that I wanted the kiss to last forever, he broke it and leaned toward my ear. His breath was hot, his voice husky, laced with lust. "Let me take you home. Let me make you feel good."
I pulled back, a flush of heat spreading across my cheeks. "No, I'm . . . not interested in that. I thought I was making myself clear."
He laughed again, those teeth flashing along with his eyes. "I'm not talking about intercourse, Chrys. There's more to life and relationships than sex."
He was starting to confuse me. A breeze picked up and the wind rushed by. Living on the coast often brought strange weather patterns. Mist hung, opaque above us as if a blanket of powdered snow had been dusted across the sky. The clouds overhead burst open, and fat droplets of rain descended, spiraling downward.
"Let's ge
t to my car, you're getting wet." His tongue shot out to lick my ear.
"Bastard," I whispered. My voice was husky too, betraying me.
I let him lead me to his stunning white 1960 Cadillac Coupe DeVille convertible. What was it with men and their hot classic cars?
Ever the gentleman, he opened the door for me and motioned me in. We drove to Casa Mañana in silence but every few minutes he would look over at me. I tried to decode the stare. Hunger? For my blood or my body, I didn't know. Vampires only had to feed once a week and had plenty of willing victims--devotees, they called themselves. I called them lunch. Vampire bites released oxytocin as they penetrated the skin, evoking euphoria. Hordes of humans and shifters were available for the taking. Vampires could feed from anyone but each other and they rarely killed their food; it was part of the vampire code of ethics, which was what allowed Signum and humans to give vampires free rein in Distant Edge and soon, elsewhere.
"What are you thinking about?" Carter asked me.
"Wondering about the newest enclaves for Signum."
"Like the one in Sedona?"
I nodded. "I'm grateful that Distant Edge was built as a safe haven for all of us, but . . ."
"But?" He glanced over at me. Those dark eyes, a drug. I felt giddy every time he looked at me.
"Do you think we'll ever be accepted? By the humans? By each other?"
Rain splattered against the windshield as he turned the wipers on. A chill winter rain, not common, but a good thing for the drought. "I don't know." He took his time answering, giving it real thought. "There are at least three others now. We must be doing something right."
"Yeah." I turned to look out the window. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to move away from the Edge?"
"I do," he said, his voice thick. A larger splat fell on the glass, followed by bigger, thicker droplets. My hand found its way across the seat and onto his knee. He looked down at it for a few seconds before covering my smaller hand with his larger one. It was warm and comforting, so at odds with his desolate gaze.
Chapter Ten
The rain continued to stream down as we stood together under the overhang next to my open front door.
