Queen of the Night Time World

by Kristen Strassel

  I collapsed on the couch and buried my face in my hands. Lennon’s doubt had seeped into my soul. Without Rainey’s arsenal of herbs and crystals, I was out of options. Lennon was the only vampire I could trust with this mission, but she didn’t have enough of control over her powers to travel without the spell. I had to be the one to protect her from the sunlight.

  Either way, we were doomed.

  She sat next to me on the couch and gave me an awkward half-hug. “You can’t give up now. That’s what they want.”

  I picked up my head and looked at her. “I didn’t give up. I got beat fair and square. Rainey’s gone, our friends are missing or completely fucked up, and Rachel’s running the show. Someone was in my house. The only one who’s been invited here is Blade, and I don’t know where he is. Gabriel’s guys or Rachel must have forced him to bring them here, and it wouldn’t be for anything good. I’ve been trying to get Rainey back since the night she left and I get the door slammed in my face at every turn. I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Go to her. But I can’t come with you.” Lennon nodded as I gasped. “I’m not chickening out, but I’m a liability. You can’t waste time and energy worrying about me when Rainey is in danger. And before you tell me it’s too dangerous to go alone, you assured me no one would hurt me. Tell Rainey what’s happened, and she’ll decide what’s best to do. Listen to her, Holly. Even if you don’t get what you want. She wants what’s best for you.”

  I swallowed hard. I’d never been very good at managing my expectations. Being scared was like having stage fright—it made me realize I had room for improvement. I could be braver. But in this case, I didn’t know how. I was me. I had to stay true to myself or I’d really lost everything.

  “What if she doesn’t want me anymore?” I asked. I could’ve been one of the lucky people she sentenced to die. She had that kind of power now.

  Lennon shook her head. “Don’t worry about the what ifs. Find her and tell her absolutely everything. Even if you think it makes you look bad. She needs to know.”

  “Okay.” I had a dozen other questions that were all a variation of what if I fail? I knew the answers, but I wanted them to be different.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I always said I’d die without Rainey, but I meant to be dramatic. I never expected to drag the entire city down with me. But now, as I crawled onto my dresser to the mirror, I realized Rainey wasn’t the only one who had visions. My declaration had the possibility of being a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  The room smelled like her. Her perfume lingered on the clothes below me, with the sweet tang of sex as a top note. But no vibration. The worst punishment was I had to look at myself while I waited for something to happen.

  My long, red hair clashed with my surroundings as it fought for independence from the braid. Even though I wasn’t in peak condition after the fall, the cut of my muscles were visible against my skin. And my little dress was too flashy for all the impending funerals that would be on my dance card if I failed.

  I had no idea what happened when a vampire met with his true death. I’d been in bad shape when Cash was destroyed. He hadn’t come to Vegas to make friends, and I assumed little happened after some unlucky janitor cleaned him up with a mop.

  I had to face myself for the first time and consider the consequences of my actions. If it had really been worth it to become Holly Octane, the hottest girl in Sin City.

  Up to losing Rainey, it was. It hadn’t been easy, but I’d never been happier than the night The Afterlife opened. I had it all. I’d do anything to get that feeling back.

  I met Lennon’s gaze in the mirror, and her expression was identical to mine—eyes wide, lips parted. It wasn’t the realization that I brought all this on myself that was so shocking, it was the dull buzz of promise when I put my hands against the mirror. The vibration was subtle, but it was back. Like I’d made a confession and Rainey forgave my sins. But it wasn’t enough to erase what I’d done.

  But this was no time to celebrate. Lennon rubbed my back as I bowed my head. I almost told her to stop because I didn’t want anything to dull the buzzing that came from my reflection. Instead, it intensified with her touch. Lennon had magic inside her whether she was aware of it or not. I gasped when she disappeared, but it was only for a moment.

  “I grabbed a chunk of citrine,” she said when she returned. I pressed my lips together, but the cry still escaped in the form of a squeak when she held it up to my body. “It promotes success in relationships and business. It brings you happiness, enthusiasm, and power. As soon as the two of you get back from the other Realm, we need to have pendants made for the guys in the band. We’ve never needed help attracting energy before, but we’ve never had such a big hole to climb out of, either.”

  “I can feel her,” I whispered. I wanted to say stop talking, but if Rainey could hear us, she’d know we were coming for her. “The vibration got stronger with the stone.”

  “Go to her, Holly.” Lennon held the stone to my back, closest to my heart. “Show her that love is stronger than anything thrown in its way. It was your love for me that brought me to you. When she feels your vibration, there’s no way she can stay away.”

  I closed my eyes, and pictured Rainey wrapped in flames. The good kind the connection between her, Blade, and me sparked. A golden halo glowed around her hair and fire dripped from her curves as she moved. My love for her hadn’t faded while she’d been gone. But I wondered why she didn’t send the vibration anymore. If she was happier without me in her life.

  It faded after her last visit. It hadn’t felt like a goodbye, and I dug deep to figure out what had changed that night. My memory preferred fiction to fact, and I was regularly guilty of believing the version of the truth that made me look best. I had to push everything aside, all the ideas I used to convince myself I’d done the right thing. What was best for me and Rainey, and everyone that our lives touched. I forced myself to open my eyes and face myself.

  Nothing changed. Unlike the vampires, I didn’t turn into a monster when my wall came crashing down. But it didn’t absolve my guilt. Or change Rainey’s decision to walk away.

  The vibration had disappeared when I no longer believed I could get her back on my own. When I thought I needed outside help and trickery. When I stopped believing our love was enough to solve the problem.

  It was always enough. I’d lied to myself that I wasn’t.

  “You’re almost there, doll.” Lennon’s voice was barely audible over the vibration. I could only nod as the electricity buzzing from my fingertips over the surface of my skin intensified.

  In my vision, flames wrapped around Rainey like vines but she never took her gaze off me. She didn’t retreat. She was mine, all I had to do was fight for her.

  Glass turned to water as the vibration took over. Lennon’s scream dissolved as I fell from this Realm into the unknown. The vibration was replaced with gasps as I landed in a heap, surrounded by shards of glass reflecting broken pieces of me. I shook myself off, not surprised to see thin lines of blood forming on my arms. In this Realm, it wasn’t that much of a problem. Or so I hoped. Rachel’s grand plan of transporting bloodsuckers could backfire.

  Only a few people rushed toward me, and to my relief, they were fully dressed. “I’m fine,” I insisted, shaking myself off and rising to my feet. It was always disorientating to arrive someplace I didn’t belong.

  “You fell through the ceiling,” a woman said. “And you don’t look like part of a construction crew.”

  This was the nosiest Realm I’d ever visited. “Think of it as a free show.” None of them laughed. It usually cost a hundred bucks to see me perform. “What?”

  “The resort is closed,” a man said, and the woman with him tugged on his arm and shook her head like he shouldn’t have said anything. Like I wouldn’t figure it out. “The only people who are here were personally invited by Gabriel—”

  “No one knows that for sure.” The woman glared at him. “It
’s a rumor.”

  “Then what are you doing here?” I asked.

  “They allowed anyone who had time booked that was already here to finish their vacation, but it wasn’t much of one.” She frowned.

  “Why did the resort close?” It was possible the Realms mirrored each other, and this resort suffered from The Afterlife being dark. Things at the Alta Vista were slow, but as far as I knew, there was no threat of the resort closing. Advanced bookings stretched far past our current troubles. That was, as long as we could round up the band, and supply them with enough blood and good vibes to get them back on stage.

  It occurred to me I may have travelled to the future. Lennon had that effect on my travels. Then I remembered I wasn’t even supposed to have this power anymore. That bitch Rachel claimed she stole it. Nope. But I couldn’t get too excited, since she was running some grand experiment on the guys in the band. The consequences were too dire.

  The couple looked at one another; they were the only two of the original crowd who stuck around. That was a change from my first trip. No one would’ve left a stranger in need before. The vibe in here was different, almost flat. No one else passed as we stood in the long hallway leading to the main casino floor. No music, no groans of passion. Cleaning solution permeated the air, not the aroma of sex. Something was very wrong, and I wondered if I travelled to the right place.

  “What’s wrong?” Maybe if I rephrased my question, they’d be more comfortable giving me the answers I needed. A secret like this could not be kept.

  “The Dominia has come.” The woman’s voice shook. “The only people who remain are waiting to hear their fate.”

  Only I considered this good news. “Like Judgment Day?”

  “She chooses who can no longer stay,” the man said. He spoke in the same rhythm as Gabriel, and I wondered if he knew who I was. If I had anything to fear from the two who were brave enough to speak to me. “Those who have reason to worry have gone into hiding.”

  “I don’t fear her.” I love her, but that was too much information for these scared strangers. “Bring me to her.”

  THE COUPLE LED ME THROUGH the empty casino, arguing about something I couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to. The abandoned, unmade beds and the silence that smothered the giant room like a thick blanket distracted me. Something told me closing the resort hadn’t been part of the plan.

  “Hey,” I called to them. “What about Gabriel?”

  “What...about him?” The man looked to the woman. She gripped his arm like she didn’t want him to talk. Rainey had done it to me so many times. Never worked.

  “What does he think about this whole live-or-die scenario? Did he set it into action or did The Dominia start this?” Gabriel was their God. And he wasn’t the type of guy to sit idly by while his daughter ran the show.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” the woman muttered, and it was the man’s turn to grab her and shake his head. She shook away from him, a wild fear in her eyes. “There are rumors Gabriel’s been attacked. We hear he’s appointed The Dominia to punish those he thinks are responsible.”

  Goosebumps blossomed over my skin. I was definitely responsible. Rachel must have struck a significant blow for Gabriel to be rendered powerless. And her claim of working with him was a lie. He wanted revenge, and he started with Rainey.

  “Bring me to her,” I said again, in case they’d had second thoughts. “I have information about the attack that will help her and Gabriel.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Guards were all too ready to turn us away.

  “Who is she?” a guard asked, grabbing my arm and frowning when he realized I was bloody. But he didn’t loosen his grip.

  My escorts backed away from me. I’d been completely transparent with what I was here to do, yet they were too afraid to speak up for me. Depending on the purpose of this line, I couldn’t blame them. Guards in military-like gear surrounded me, and the only sounds in the room were the whispers of those who waited. A flash of optimism lit up the room, as if I had done something worse than them, possibly bad enough to save them. They were partially right.

  “I’m the one The Dominia was sent to destroy. Instead, she saved me.” These people desperately needed something to believe in, to smooth the blow they may be sentenced to eternal damnation. Instead, the hope turned to darkness, and those close enough to the end of the line to hear me made a run for it. But the guards were faster. Gabriel’s guys were always one step ahead, and there was no way out.

  A spark ignited as I struggled to get away from my captor. With the rest of the posse distracted, rounding up the people who were trying to escape—which was disturbing as fuck—it was my chance to make a break and get to Rainey. I wondered if she had as much security as those waiting for her judgment.

  The spark didn’t turn to smoke. Instead, it danced along the surface of my skin, like I was on the stage and every person in this room was screaming my name. This could be my most important performance ever.

  The guard fell to the ground—stop, drop, and roll, bitch. The good people of the Realm could check if he was okay. I made a run for it. I had better things to do, like find my girl and get the hell out of here. The fire engulfed my arm and spread to my body, terrifying me. There was no fire blanket, no chemical shower, nothing to stop the burning. I could die in this Realm, the same way I came into the world, in a ball of fire. My only hope was to see Rainey one more time before it happened.

  Everyone scattered—the line, the guards, no one remembered to protect The Dominia. They weren’t used to true crisis in this Realm. Good thing Rainey had dealt with it on a daily basis. That was the downside of falling in love with someone like me—but the upside was, she didn’t run.

  No one had to tell her I was coming. She Saw me. While the others ran away, she rushed toward the flames. She never touched me when I was fully engulfed before, and I wanted to scream at her to stop, to think of herself first, but Rainey would never do that. She cupped my face in her hands and leaned in for a kiss.

  My protest was a moan against her lips as the fire faded. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to kiss me—I risked my life for this—but I had so much to tell her, so much to do, and the kiss was indulgent. Selfish. And so, so amazing. But no one would dare tell us to stop. The future was as delicate as the movement of her lips against mine. Once the flames were nothing more than smoke, I snaked my blackened hand into her hair and pulled her closer to me.

  “I didn’t think you were coming for me,” she murmured against my cheek.

  “I didn’t think you needed me to.” That came out all wrong. “That’s not what I meant. After you came to the apartment, the vibration faded. I couldn’t travel. And I made a lot of stupid decisions and thought I needed other people...but I didn’t. All I needed was to believe I could have you back.”

  “It’s not quite that easy.” She looked away from me but didn’t let me go. “I’ll explain, but not here. We’re scaring everyone shitless. Follow me. No one will stop us.”

  Rainey led me through a maze of hallways so similar to backstage at Sin City Vampire Club I expected to see Tristan or Ryder or even the damned camera guy come around the corner at any moment. I clutched her arm, assuming we were safe to talk here. “Can you See vampires now?”

  “No. My powers haven’t changed. Gabriel was pissed I didn’t See Rachel before she arrived, but it’s his own fault for blocking the ability. Now I realize he wanted evil to blossom in that Realm, and his ego was too big to consider it would backfire.” She scoffed as she punched a code into a keypad. “Rachel stripped him of his immortality. It’s...not good. He’s frail and he can’t handle the fact he’s going to die. Soon.”

  I followed Rainey into the room. She’d clearly planned to stay a while, since she decorated it in bright colors and soft fabrics. All the same stuff she loved to buy for our place. It hurt my heart. “Rachel made it sound like she had a deal with Gabriel. Like a secret passage for the vampires she deemed w
orthy to come to this Realm. She told me she stripped me of my power to travel, which she can keep on believing, because I’m finally a step ahead of her.”

  Rainey swallowed hard as she collapsed into a chair. She looked exhausted. Thin. Like she was having a hard time dealing with the consequences of her actions. “I’m worried about Gabriel. I know you think he’s awful, but he’s my father. He’s been with me in some capacity for centuries. I’m not ready to lose him.”

  “Is that why you were sending people to our Realm? To help him?” I couldn’t imagine Rainey condemning anyone to death.

  The corners of her lips curled up but she didn’t commit to a full smile. “I’ve been sending the good people there, Holly. The ones that have a chance of saving that place from itself. I know, it’s a risky move, and it’s scaring the hell out of everyone. They don’t understand what they’ve done to deserve their punishment, but I’m doing them a favor. Once the people who are still here find out what bad shape Gabriel’s in, I expect mutiny.”

  “You’re not safe here.” I sunk to my knees in front of her and threaded my fingers through hers. I couldn’t stop touching her. She could disappear again at any moment. “The people who led me to you knew Gabriel had been attacked. Well, they heard rumors. They didn’t want to tell me, but now I understand why. Things are deteriorating fast in the other Realm. Tristan’s a strung-out mess. Callie can’t control him. Rachel’s drained the rest of the band, promising them passage to this Realm. And I have no fucking idea where Blade is. He got attacked by Gabriel’s guys once, and now he’s missing.”

  Rainey squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “They’re probably holding him responsible for what Rachel did to Gabriel. She’s too powerful now. They can’t touch her.”

  “She has to be stopped.” I rose to my feet. It was impossible to stay still.