by C. J. Pinard
“I’m harmless,” Beckett said, flashing him a megawatt smile.
“Liar,” Ryder hissed, narrowing his eyes at the vampire.
Beckett put his hands up in surrender. Then he looked at me and asked, “Have I tried to bite you or been a threat to you whatsoever?”
Trying to keep the peace, and ignoring what had happened at Moon Chasers, I told my boyfriend, “He has been a total gentleman.”
Ryder still looked enraged and said, “Yeah, because he wants to get in your pants. Then once he has you in bed, he’ll drain you.”
Both Beckett and I began to laugh.
Beckett said, “Silly wolf, she is not my type. You, however, are quite handsome.” He threw Ryder a wink.
Ryder’s eyes went big and he immediately shifted uncomfortably on his feet, from which I gained great satisfaction. Clearing his throat, he said, “Well, regardless, you’re a bloodsucker, and should not be consorting with wolves.”
“In my defense,” Beckett said, finishing the rest of his martini and then setting the glass on the coffee table, “I didn’t know she was a wolf when we met.”
Ryder raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you?”
He lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “Not sure, usually I’m good at picking up y’all’s repulsive scent.”
Ignoring Beckett’s rude comment, I mimicked, “In his defense, I sprayed about a gallon of pheromone perfume on before I went into the vampire bar to mask my scent—” I immediately clamped my hand over my mouth, realizing I’d said something I shouldn’t have.
“You went where?” Ryder roared, his face turning beet-red.
“Aaaand, that’s my cue to exit stage left,” Beckett said, giving us a weak salute before flying out my front door at vampire speed, even closing it behind him.
“Sit down,” Ryder said, pointing to the couch.
I reluctantly obeyed, glaring at him from my position. “What?”
“Have you lost your mind? Inviting a vampire into your house? He could have killed you!”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “First off, Dad, he was not trying to charm me into coming into my house. I let him come in. Vampires don’t need to be invited in, by the way.”
“I know,” Ryder gritted out, standing with his arms folded across his muscular chest, his handsome face a storm of anger and concern.
“Secondly, I am a badass, and no vampire is going to kill me, you jerk!” I was really pissed off now. I loved Ryder, but I wasn’t the type to let a guy tell me what to do, and who I could and could not invite into my home.
His features softened. “I’m sorry. I’m not bossing you around. I’m just worried about you.” He raked his fingers through his dark hair and blew out a breath as he looked around my apartment, then back to me. “Look, Ayla”—he began to pace—“you quit school, moved here, and are now living alone. How am I not supposed to be worried about you? Fuck, everyone is worried. Even your witch ex-roommate.”
Guilt pounded my insides, and I struggled to reel in my strength. “I can see why everyone is worried, but I can take care of myself. I got this.”
“No, you don’t,” Ryder said, looking me square in the eye. “I think your passion for vengeance is fueling your life. You aren’t the same person you were when we met.”
This ridiculous conversation was going nowhere. “Ryder, I’m about to turn twenty-one, of course I’m not. I was just a kid in high school. I’m older now. More mature. I know what I want, and that is to live my life. To find out who attacked me and…” I sucked in a deep breath, trying to fight the tears that wanted to flow. “I need to find the vampire who killed Austyn and get closure.”
Ryder came to sit next to me. “I understand that, and I want to find him, too. But something tells me that it won’t help. I do know that it won’t bring him back.”
A twinge of anger hit me, and I knew if I didn’t quell it—if I didn’t refrain from twisting off on my boyfriend about this—that I would lose it altogether. “I know it won’t bring Austyn back. I just need to know that I’ve rid the world of the evil who took my brother from me. I won’t sleep until then.”
“I understand,” Ryder said, putting his arm around me and pulling me to him. I laid my head on his shoulder, enjoying his warmth, the two of us sitting in silence. My mind did not stop spinning, though. I was happy I had made a vampire friend. I would use Beckett to help me find the ones who had ruined my life.
Chapter 20
Ryder stayed over at my apartment sometimes, on days he didn’t have to be at school early the next day. He made it clear that he did not like that I had befriended a vampire, despite me telling him why I had done so. I reminded him on a daily basis that I could take care of myself. I could see the relief on his face when he had learned that Beckett was gay, but that didn’t seem to quell his anxiety completely. Beckett was a vampire, and nothing about that was okay with him.
I tried to be empathetic. To tell myself that Ryder had grown up around wolves, was taught practically from birth that vampires were bad, that they were the enemy. I, however, had not. Thrusted into this supernatural world very recently, I was free to make up my mind about who I was and was not going to like. It became apparent that I would treat the supernaturals the same way I treated humans: If you were an asshole, I didn’t like you. If you were nice and decent, we could be friends. Just like I didn’t care what color or religion a human was, I did not care what species a paranormal being was. I had a witch for a college roommate, a wolf for a boyfriend, and now a new vampire friend.
I hated the creatures who had killed my brother and who had bit me—and the asshole who was my biological father—because they were bad people, not because of the type of creature they were.
It all made sense in my head, anyway.
I continued to work my miserable and mundane receptionist job, but every day, I looked forward to getting off and hunting for my enemies. The manager of the homebuilder I worked for was a complete dick, and the company as a whole treated their employees like crap, but I kept telling myself that I would one day be rid of this job, and wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore.
As I left my job on a particularly boring Thursday, I shot off a text to my new bestie Beckett: Meet me for drinks at Luigi’s at 6.
Less than a minute later, I received a reply: It’ll be closer to 7, but I’ll be there!
I forgot it was summer. Beckett would have to wait until the sun was mostly down before he could step foot outside. We had been hanging out here and there, and I learned that even if it wasn’t one-hundred percent dark, he could still come out, as long as there were no sunrays. On those days, I would be able to look at him in somewhat of a natural light, and he looked different in that light than he did in the dark. In the dark of night, he looked pale, brooding, and sometimes a little scary. But in that fading light of sunset, he sometimes looked boyish and handsome. His blond hair gave him an innocence, I guess. It just went to prove how different we all looked in the perspective of light versus dark.
Tonight he was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a red button-up shirt with a black jacket over it. His shoes were shiny and black, and as he approached Luigi’s, he smiled at me.
“Wow, don’t you look fancy. All that for me?” I asked, indicating his outfit.
He hugged me and said, “No, girl. I have a date later.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You double booked, seriously? I see how you are.”
He chuckled. “Friend dates don’t count as double booking, silly wolf.” He ushered us inside the bar where we made our way to a couple of empty stools. Then he looked down at my black dress and said, “You look like you’re going somewhere fancy later, too.”
“Just trying to lure in a certain vampire. Gotta look my best.”
Beckett leaned in and subtly sniffed me. “No wolf smell, either. Good job.”
I smiled in triumph as the bartender asked us what we wanted to drink.
“Gin and tonic,” I said.
“And for you?” he asked Beckett.
“Just a whiskey neat, thank you.”
The bartender went to make our drinks, so I asked, “Do you have any info for me about this Linden guy?”
His gaze darted around the bar, and he hissed, “Keep your voice down. Vampires have really good hearing.”
“Well, I don’t smell any vampires in here besides you, so we’re good.”
The bartender set our drinks down. I handed him my credit card and told him to start a tab.
“Let’s go on the patio and talk,” Beckett said, leading me by the elbow to the back of the bar where, through a door, lay a beautiful patio surrounded by trees strung with white lights and colorful flower bushes, a small half-iron gate surrounding the concrete patio littered with tables and chairs. The smell of honeysuckle filled the air, and it immediately reminded me of when I was little and Mom used to put honeysuckle flowers in my hair. We sat at a table in the corner and Beckett immediately started talking.
“Yes, I do have information for you. A guy who frequents Moon Chasers is one of his head security guys. His name is Kellan. I heard him and two other goons talking about Linden last night when I was there, so I eavesdropped—“
The glass in my hand fell to the ground and shattered into a million glittering pieces as a headache so painful and furious hit me so fast, all I could do was put my hands to the sides of my temples. The pain was quickly gone, and was replaced with a very clear, vivid image.
A tall male with hair as black as night and eyes as crystal blue as the sky suddenly appeared in my mind. He had a sharp, clean jawline, a fierce and frightening look on his face, and wore dark clothes which contrasted against his pale skin. I could see him come toward me, looking angry, his jaw ticking. I could not see myself in the vision, but it was more like I was viewing it from behind someone else’s eyes. I backed up until something hard hit my back. The man stalked toward me until we were less than inch apart, and he suddenly pressed his cold lips against my own. I had no reaction or even an instinct to pull away. All I wanted to do was wrap my hands around him as I hungrily kissed him back, my body heating up to scorching levels. But I couldn’t move my arms, he had grabbed them both and pinned them against the wall above my head.
As soon as the strange vision had hit me, it was gone. I opened my eyes, my hands still to my temples, and saw Beckett and a dozen other people in the courtyard staring at me in concern.
“What the hell just happened?” I asked, looking down at my shattered drink, my feet wet from the gin and tonic that had splashed them.
“You just freaked, Ayla. You screamed and then rocked back and forth. I thought you were having a seizure or something. God, you scared me! I almost called nine-one-one!”
“Well, I’m fine now,” I said, sitting up straighter and grabbing a napkin from the table and wiping off my feet and ankles before they got sticky.
The people in the courtyard went back to their murmuring conversations as Beckett continued to stare at me in horror.
“What? I’m okay. But I do have a question.”
He lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me. “What’s that?”
“This Kellan guy—is he tall, black hair, blue eyes, dresses in high-dollar dark clothes. Clean shaven?”
“What the fuck, Ayla? If you already knew who he was, why are you wasting my time asking me for leads?”
“Holy shit,” I said under my breath. “When I blacked out just now, I had some weird vision-dream thing about a guy matching that description. Except he was…”
“He was what?”
“Forget it. I must not be getting enough sleep or something.”
“You always this weird?” Beckett asked.
I nodded. “Yes, all the time. Weirdo, that’s me.”
He shook his head. “So now you’re psychic. Didn’t you tell me your parents are witches? Maybe they put some spell on you.”
“Yes, they are, but why would they do that? And are there even spells that do that?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I am not that familiar with witches. I was told to avoid them.”
I smirked. “I’ve heard that, too. I do have a witch friend, maybe I should ask her.”
Beckett pulled out his cell phone and said, “That’s a great idea. Call her now. This is just too weird.”
I laughed and shook my head, pulling out my own phone and shooting Sanja a text: I need some witchy help with something. You available?
I set the phone on the table and said, “Tell me more about Kellan.”
He glanced at the phone, and then back to me. “Well, like I said, he’s Linden’s first lieutenant.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It’s just bullshit vampire hierarchy. Like if”—he looked around and lowered his voice—“Linden was the president, Kellan would be his commander-in-chief. Head of security type crap.”
“He must be a badass,” I said, thinking out loud.
Beckett downed the rest of his drink and shrugged one shoulder. “He gets mad respect in the club.”
My phone buzzed and lit up. I looked down at Sanja’s text: Unless it’s an emergency, I’m swamped with finals. I can meet you on Thursday if that works for you.
I quickly replied: Yes, details later.
I set the phone back down and said, “So, if Kellan goes to that club a lot, does that mean Linden goes there?”
“I, personally, have never seen him there, but I think he’s visited a time or two.”
Something dawned on me just then. “Is it possible that asshole owns the club?”
“Huh, never thought about that. I’ll ask around. That’s a possibility, I guess.”
“Better yet, let’s just go there now. What time is your date?”
He laughed and stood up. “You’re crazy, that club doesn’t even open ‘til ten p.m., and even then it’s dead for hours. The damn thing is open all night for obvious reasons.”
I chewed my lip. “You have a point. I’ll go later.”
“I don’t know if I like that,” he said, looking worried. “At best, you will look like a single, vulnerable human, at worst, you will look—or smell—like a wolf in a vampire bar. Not safe.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him in the shoulder. “I can take care of myself. Have fun on your date.”
He looked at the time on his phone. “I guess I should get going.”
We walked inside, and I grabbed my card from the bartender, settled the tab, and we walked back out to the front.
“Next round is on me,” Beckett said, jutting his chin toward the credit card I was now dropping into my purse.
“Okay,” I said, laughing.
Giving me a kiss on the cheek, he murmured, “You be safe tonight, okay?”
“I could say the same to you,” I said, smiling up at him. “Who is this guy, anyway?”
A big smile broke out on his handsome face. “I met him in a coffee shop, can you believe that? Who drinks coffee at night?”
“Vampires,” I said dryly.
He wrinkled his nose. “I hate coffee. I just ordered a hot tea and surfed the Internet there.”
“And this guy just started talking to you while you’re on your computer?”
He looked a little embarrassed, and I was sure if he could blush, he would have. “No, he works there.”
I chuckled. “Nice. Human?”
“I think so. Not a vampire though, as he takes morning classes at the local community college.”
“Well, good luck. Text me and let me know how it went.”
“Will do, wolf girl. You do the same… ya know, with the text. I will worry ‘til I hear from you.”
“You got it,” I said, smiling.
Chapter 21
Two Red Bulls later, I was growing bored in this ridiculous vampire club. It was just a bunch of vampires, wannabe vampires, and dumb human blood whores looking for their next high. Meaning, a vampire’s bite to give them a high-like drunkenne
ss they craved. I cringed as I watched them get bitten, their bodies shuddering in delight at the bite, and then they fell slack in the vampire’s arms with a smile on their face. They were usually placed into a chair someplace and left alone.
I was approached so many times, and continually turned down every vampire who approached me. I was asked to dance by a few humans who were posing as vamps, and I did dance with them, as I knew they were no threat to me. I also didn’t want to look like I was there to spy—even though that was the reason I was there.
As I exited the dance floor, a shudder racked my entire body, and the hair on my arms and neck stood on end. A cold rush skated over the surface of my skin, and I turned to look toward the front of the club. There stood Kellan. I had no doubt it was him, and he was staring at me square in the eye. Excitement raced through me. Luck was on my side. I was one step closer to getting to Linden so I could kill him.
A wicked smile twisted up on my lips as I refused to break eye contact with him. He was flanked by two equally big and dangerous-looking men who I assumed were also vampires.
Kellan finally broke eye contact with me in order to say something to one of the men with him. The man nodded and took off into the club, disappearing into the dark. I went the bar to order another energy drink, as this was going to be a long night. The whole time, I did not take my eyes off Kellan.
It was then I noticed something about him that made goosebumps break out all over my skin; the outfit he was wearing was exactly as it had been in that weird vision-thing I had had earlier.
Thursday could not come soon enough; I needed to talk to Sanja. I just hoped that didn’t happen again, because that shit hurt my head.
Sipping my drink slowly, I watched Kellan’s every move. He said something to the bartender at the bar on the other side of the dance floor, and the bartender nodded in return. Then he and the other big, burly guy went to the DJ booth and said something to the DJ, and he, too, nodded. When Kellan moved to a part of the club where I couldn’t see him, I would move so he could continue to be in my line of sight.
