Queen of the Night Time World

by Kristen Strassel

  “If she comes back, I’ll hire a housekeeper. I mean, when she comes back,” he added when I shot him a look. “Gabriel knows you have more power over her than he does. But she’s got a title there.” He sighed. “It makes me think she’s got a job to do.”

  “She’s supposed to make sure his wishes are carried out.” Leaving with me was a conflict of interest. Even if she did have a job to do, she could do it here. But Rainey had a habit of putting other people, like me, first. There, she could focus. “What are his guys doing here? Are they after me?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “But wouldn’t that go against Gabriel’s all-light-all-the-time policy? Are things at Embrace getting better or worse?”

  “Depends on who you talk to.” Blade had the same red glow in his eyes as the vampire that tried to attack me. But on him, it was sexy. He got like this just before he came, too. Just seeing it flipped all my switches into overdrive.

  “Why do you think they’re here?” I could ask questions all night long, but if they were the wrong ones, I wouldn’t get the answers I needed.

  “I think Gabriel’s scared shitless Rainey will leave him. Whatever he needs her for, it’s important. He’s got no defense against her magic. She’s too good, too powerful, but he can send his guys to bring her back.”

  “She’ll come back to me every time,” I said. Unless her role as Dominia was so enticing she loved it more than me. But that didn’t sound like Rainey. Everything about her was different in that Realm, but her goodness and her light would never fade.

  “Why doesn’t Rachel neutralize their powers and send them packing?” I knew the answer. She wasn’t strong or experienced enough to do it. “If she’s willing to go to his Realm and zap him, she could save herself the trip.”

  Blade ran his hand through his hair and sat at the edge of the bed. “Rachel has her own reasons for wanting to go with you.”

  No way they involved helping me. Things were coming together. “And they are?”

  “If she can neutralize Gabriel’s powers... She wins.” Blade wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

  Both Realms would plunge into total darkness. Rainey couldn’t survive without light, no matter where she was. “Is that what you want?” I asked.

  He met my gaze. The red was gone, and he couldn’t hide behind his rage. Just blue. “Not anymore.”

  WAS GETTING RAINEY back worth starting a war between the Realms? Damn straight it was.

  I didn’t believe it would actually come to blows. Because I believed in something no one else did—balance. Rainey and I had been together for over two hundred years. There had been wars and bad times, but the sun rose every single day. There was order to the universe. So I was going forward with the plan.

  The crowds at Sin City Vampire Club were oblivious to the impending war. Every night they filled the seats, chanting my name at the beginning of every one of my numbers. It was addictive, and I closed my eyes and let it wash over me as I waited for my cue. I performed to four songs a night. The opening number, two in the middle, one with silks and one with the lyra. Those two were just Tristan and me. The last song of the main set was when I ignited.

  “I’m trying something different tonight.” Tristan snapped my concentration, and I opened my eyes to see him waggling his eyebrows at me. He also gave zero fucks about the end being near, or nobody had bothered to tell him. And he was drunk off the energy of the crowd—his skin glowed and the reflection of the stage lights twinkled in his dark eyes. It was almost like he was alive. Almost.

  “Don’t you think we should’ve practiced first?” My rehearsed performance was merely plan A. Tristan, the crowd, and my body dictated what actually happened. I didn’t get freaked out about it anymore. Live music was an organic thing with a heartbeat—even if the person who played it didn’t have one.

  “Fuck that.” He grinned. “You know the song, the only thing that’s different is I’m playing it on the piano.”

  I pushed his shoulder. “We definitely should’ve practiced first. You should have a big entrance with your piano because it’s something new. Then I’ll come in after a few bars. Down the stairs like I do for the opening number.”

  “Perfect. Told you we didn’t have to practice.” He winked at me as I rolled my eyes and headed to the stairs. It was impossible get mad at him. Blade obviously had a special place in my heart, but Tristan was my favorite of all the vampires. Not because he was the only one who always had my back, but because he was so unapologetically himself, whether he was a hot mess or totally on point, he owned it. There was a lot to be said for that.

  It didn’t matter what was happening at Embrace. Good energy thrived here. I could get drunk off it. Until I ran into Rachel.

  That wiped the smile right off my face. But for once, she didn’t fill me with dread. Annoyance, but not dread. The positive energy was stronger than whatever gloom and doom clung to her from Embrace. It gave me sense of security that was probably a lie.

  “I take it you got things under control?” I didn’t break my stride as I asked her. I had to get to the top of that staircase before Tristan got too far in the song.

  “Of course I did.”

  I didn’t give her a chance to explain. She might not have been able to out-evil the excitement in the theater, but she preoccupied my thoughts as Tristan played the opening notes on the piano. It had a completely different meaning played this way and I was glad I suggested not coming out right away. Rachel hadn’t knocked me off my game, but I couldn’t stop thinking about why darkness was winning the battle inside her.

  And why no one was doing anything about it.

  Maybe that was Callie’s strategy with Embrace, to let Rachel take care of Blade. If she hurt him, I’d go after her as hard as I went after Gabriel.

  I walked down the stairs slowly, and the theater was dark except for a single spotlight trained on Tristan’s white piano. His dark hair and leather jacket were in stark contrast. He looked like a fallen angel.

  For a moment, I wondered if he had any connection to Gabriel. Tristan was so responsive to the excitement and adoration of the crowd, and despondent without it. He looked up at me when I reached the stage, like he knew I was thinking about him, and winked at me. I blew him a kiss, and the crowd went wild when fire roared from my fingertips.

  It was impossible that Tristan had come from Gabriel’s Realm. He was born human. Or was he? Rainey was immortal, but there was no evidence that she was an angel until Gabriel paid us a visit. But as I grabbed the lyra and floated up to the ceiling, the similarities between Tristan and Gabriel kept coming to me. He’d spent his entire time as a vampire in the Alta Vista, where the Sahara had stood. The energy thing. And the pure sex appeal. It dripped from his fingertips with every note he played, no matter what the instrument. And I’d been drawn to him the first time I met him, because he’d treated me better than any other vampire. Even Blade, in a way. Blade was only in my life because he wanted something from me. He stuck around for other reasons, but I couldn’t forget what brought us together.

  The song was beautiful played on the piano, and I was sad when Tristan picked up the guitar for the next one. Business as usual–the lyra disappeared and the silks fell from the ceiling. Maybe someday we could do an entire set of him playing piano, and me on the lyra. I laughed as I tangled myself in the fabric for the next number.

  If only we had a future.

  Rachel didn’t say a word as I passed her on my way back to my dressing room. She knew what I wanted. I wouldn’t beg her to travel with me. In fact, I hoped she changed her mind. At this point, I’d rather handle it on my own.

  My fire was hotter than I ever remembered that night, burning through the fire blanket. The fire marshal, who stood by the side of the stage every performance, had to spray me with the extinguisher once I got out of the view of the audience. The foam stung my skin and I couldn’t wait to take a shower. The fumes gave me a headache.

  I expected the knock on my
door. Someone was bound to want to know if I was all right—a producer or the guy who put out the fire. I missed Rainey in every facet of my life, but especially when I needed to tell someone to get the fuck away from my dressing room. She pretended to be my manager, and she was so good at talking to the people I didn’t want to. But tonight, I had to deal with it.

  “You’re a mess,” Rachel said when I opened the door.

  “No shit.” I only kept it open enough that she could see my face, and not enough that she thought she was invited in. “What do you want?”

  “Tonight’s the night we go get Rainey.”

  I opened the door wider, so she could see my blackened blanket and charred skin. “I’m not ready.”

  “I am.” She shrugged past me and pushed into my dressing room. Uninvited. I pulled the smoldering blanket tighter around my shoulders. Rage racked my weak body, and Rachel smiled as she raked her gaze over me. “You want her back? Right?”

  I underestimated Rachel. Figuring the mess at Embrace would keep her busy for at least a couple weeks, I expected time to do some recon at Chez Gabriel. Show up with clothes on and take a better look around. The vibration possibly worked both ways, because Rainey found me. Next trip, I’d stick around long enough to talk to her and make sure she came home with me.

  Mission complete, Rachel-free.

  “Tonight’s not the best night.” I headed toward the door, hoping Rachel would get the hint.

  “It’s tonight or never.” She crossed her arms, steeling herself in the middle of my world. “I’m a busy woman. Without Cash, things have fallen into chaos.”

  “You killed him.” Maybe not with her own hands, but she was in on the fix. “And Cash was never a player in the city clans. You mean without Talis, things have fallen into chaos. Does your new best friend know what you’re up to?”

  Rachel raised an eyebrow. She looked so satisfied, like she had all the answers. I wished I could slap the smirk off her face, but I was weakened. And I’d have to drop the blanket to do it. There was a difference between going on stage in sparkly pasties and being exposed in front of my enemy. “She does. And I’d keep my voice down, if I were you.”

  “Why?” I hadn’t shut the door behind me and there was commotion in the hallway. Not unusual. Producers, crew, even a fan sometimes got this far, which was why I kept the door closed and didn’t answer it until I was ready for prime time again. Curiosity got the best of me, and I poked my head out the door.

  “Beautiful, it’s a bad idea.” Tristan held onto Callie’s arm, but she was trying to get away. It didn’t appear to be a nasty fight, but she clearly wasn’t listening to him.

  “What’s a bad idea?” I asked, and they both jumped. It could’ve been the sound of my voice, but that couldn’t have been that alarming that I’d come out of my dressing room. Oh, right. I hadn’t healed yet. I didn’t make a habit of looking at myself after I burned.

  “Callie’s coming with us,” Rachel said, and it wasn’t a question.

  “You don’t know what you’re messing with,” Tristan muttered, letting go of her arm.

  “It’s not a party. The invitation wasn’t open-ended.” What the hell was going on? Callie was probably going to pull her baby pit bull thing where she threatened to take the show away. Let her try it. It wasn’t that little bitch’s name the crowd chanted every night. It was mine. And she wasn’t coming with us to Gabriel’s Realm.

  “We need her.” Rachel was back in the hallway—more familiar turf, with people she at least appeared to like. “I neutralize powers, but she can absorb other people’s powers and use them.”

  “You have a use for everyone, don’t you? We don’t need Gabriel’s powers.” I didn’t, anyway. I only needed Rainey. There was no telling what Rachel would do to Callie once she outlived her usefulness. “What the hell are you two up to?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ugh, these two pissed me off. Callie and Rachel shared a glance like they weren’t sure who should do the heavy lifting.

  Tristan leaned against the wall, still in his stage clothes, including his stage makeup. Heavy black lines were drawn under his eyes, and they’d been smudged during the show. He looked like he’d just come back from battle. “Just because the Realm is filled with light, doesn’t mean it’s all good.”

  “Have you been there?” I knew there was a connection between him and Gabriel. I didn’t feel a vibration around Tristan, but always had an overwhelming sense that everything would be okay.

  “Yeah. Gabriel came around a lot in the beginning of Immortal Dilemma. He worked with Talis,” Tristan said. Talis was the former clan leader. I never met her, but there were many stories of her ruling with a tiny, iron fist. Blade killed her, but female vampires were automatically promoted to the head of the clan. Next up, Callie. “Gabriel warned us about attracting the right kind of energy. He brought us to his world, showed us what was possible. Basically, that we could create our own fantasy world and invite whomever we wanted in.”

  Sex, blood, and rock n’ roll. Immortal Dilemma’s old slogan. And they took it to heart. The concerts, the after parties, and the sex. Backstage had an ever-present tang of arousal in the air.

  “Did he ever talk about balance?” I asked.

  Tristan shrugged. “He could have. I don’t know. All I cared about was getting laid.”

  I took a deep breath, reminding myself how charming I thought his candor was when Rainey’s life wasn’t at stake. “Is it possible he was pissed about the way Immortal Dilemma closed their show?”

  For the final bow, the band slit their throats with knives and dropped to the floor as the curtain closed. Wouldn’t have been that big of a problem for a bunch of vampires, until The Mistress ordered her lackeys to drain them completely and let them die. For real.

  Callie wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions. Her eyes widened as she glanced at Tristan. “You never told me any of this.”

  “I just tried to, but you wouldn’t listen.” He kissed her cheek, like it was no big deal their stunt may have been the reason Gabriel took Rainey.

  But there was so much more to it than that. He’d been whispering sweet nothings in her ear long before we came to Vegas. Rainey and I had been brought here as vampire bait, to lure the vampires to their destruction. On paper, we were doing a damn good job.

  “We need to call the plan off.” There was no way we could travel tonight after Tristan dropped that bomb on me. And if Gabriel had a vendetta against Callie, there was no telling what would happen on his turf. He’d already sent thugs to Embrace to play defense. Or even worse, offense. “It’s not safe for you to go,” I said.

  Tristan motioned to me, nodding like I was the only one actually listening to him.

  “We need the energy,” Callie said. “Advance ticket sales are way down, and Immortal Forever is up for renewal. They’ve been playing hardball with the contracts. I told you to be nice to them, Holly.”

  “Don’t you dare try to blame this on me. You should’ve been up front about the reality show when you presented the stage show contract.” Unbelievable. I would’ve stood firm on everything—business only, nothing personal on the show—even if they hadn’t sprung it on me at the very last second with a camera in my face. Baring all on stage was different than baring all to a television camera.

  “If the show dies out, you know what happens without the energy from the crowd. We starve to death.”

  I motioned for everyone to come into my dressing room. “What the hell are you two up to?” I growled at Callie. “You’re so concerned with good energy, and Rachel is all about the shitshow at Embrace. So explain to me how you’re working together and how the hell it’s going to get Rainey back.”

  I wouldn’t let them use me for their own agenda. They’d ruin Gabriel’s Realm and leave me there to rot.

  “The two forces will always exist,” Rachel said. “Good and evil. But Gabriel’s trying to syphon the good energy into his Realm, away from us. So if we can bring
it back here, there’s no need for two Realms.”

  “So you want to destroy that Realm, but bring all the good parts of it back with you?” It didn’t make any sense.

  Rachel and Callie looked at each other, shrugging and nodding.

  “You guys are way fucking off.” Tristan sat on the couch, his long legs stretched out in front of him like we weren’t discussing the actual end of the world as we knew it. “Gabriel’s been angling for this Realm all along. He’s all about the good times, but it won’t hold up forever in his world. People don’t have anything to run from. They don’t need an escape. He’s already scoping out Embrace, and he sees that none of us know what the hell we’re doing. If he can appeal to people’s deepest, darkest desires and make it okay to want those things, he wins.”

  He needed the bad things to be okay. Like Blade, Rachel, Callie, and Tristan. Even me. I’d been accused many times of being selfish, and Sin City Vampire Club gave me the perfect outlet for my vice.

  Gabriel had been right all along. Balance was a lie. Nothing could be equal parts good and evil. To have any appeal, it had to be more of one than the other.

  Which one was I?

  Without Rainey, I expected to check the evil box without a second thought. Instead, I was fighting it with everything I had. I saw what happened when the light disappeared. I did not want that.

  “So what you’re saying is Gabriel needs the darkness more than we need the light?” I asked.

  “Pretty much.” Tristan ran his hand through his hair. “He told us, the wilder the better. Because people are scared to explore their darkness. To satisfy themselves. Self-sacrifice is a true sin, he said.”

  “He always did talk in riddles.” And it was no less infuriating.

  “It’s not a riddle. If people don’t need an escape from their shitty lives, they won’t come see The Afterlife. That’s how I wound up here.” Callie swallowed hard, revealing much more about herself than I expected her to. “I wanted more than I was going to get out of my life if I stayed with my family. They held me back. But if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have wanted more. The darkness is where dreams are born.”