The Fire Dancer

by Kristen Strassel

  “That guy near the door picks the best girls in the room to go to the real party.” Amanda wiggled her fingers at him, so he knew we were talking about him. He nodded, raising an eyebrow. “But first we have to show him we know what we’re doing.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Amanda knew what she was doing. A couple of redheads kissing on the couch trumped the woman too old to be here offering the security guard a blow job to level up to the Immortal Dilemma party.

  “Ready for a good time?” Amanda asked, her body curving against mine as we stood up. She was tall and thin, built sort of like me, but she definitely had a boob job. I was pretty sure I was going to find out later whether they were real or not.

  “Yeah.” I blushed then smiled with as much confidence as I could muster as we followed the small group into another room.

  “Good.” Amanda slid her arm around my waist. “Because Tristan’s going to love you.”

  She hadn’t been kidding when she said the other room was a warm-up for the real party. The security guards led us to a room fogged with dry ice, pulsing music, and the girls who arrived before us had already gone to work. Most of them were topless, a couple of them had blood, the real kind, running from their neck down between their breasts. Some of them were dancing, others gathered around the guys in the band. Now it was their turn to watch the show. One of girls was on her knees in front of the singer, her head bobbing his lap, showing her appreciation.

  Amanda scanned the room, her hand growing clammy in mine. No sign of Tristan.

  “When was the last time you came to one of these parties?” I asked. This was still a mission, even if I was making out with a hot Goth chick. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

  “It’s been a little while.” She bit her lip, but this time, she wasn’t trying to be sexy. She looked lost. “And the last time didn’t go so smoothly. I should probably let you know.”

  “Like how?” Shit. Another dead end. I totally alienated Rainey for nothing. Again. Why did she let me do this? This time, I was sure to get burned. And so far, no sign of any of the female vamps. We hadn’t even been here five minutes yet. I held out hope that things could still dramatically improve.

  The confident smile was back, and Amanda moved in closer to me, so anyone who was watching us thought we might kiss. “I don’t know if you saw it or not, but I was in one of those sex tapes.” She scanned the room again, but Tristan still wasn’t here. “They asked me to be on the show. It was a setup, a scene with him and Callie watching the video. I walked on set, and Callie flipped her shit.”

  My mouth fell open, I couldn’t hide my shock. “What happened?”

  “Oh, she threatened to kill me.” Amanda brushed it off, rolling her eyes. “What’s she going to do, choke me with glitter? Put some sort of hippie mojo on me?”

  “You should probably take her a little more seriously.” I gulped, not sure how much I wanted to tell Amanda. I met her an hour ago, and I already let her put her tongue in my mouth, but I didn’t want to explain my family tree yet.

  “You’re not afraid of the vampires, are you?” Amanda tipped her head, teasing me. “It’s a little freaky, right before they bite you, but girl, it’s so worth it.”

  “No.” I almost said I know that, but again, it was bordering into the TMI category, and I wanted to keep my noob reputation intact. “But I know, I mean, I’ve heard the vampires in this city can be pretty ruthless.”

  “Okay.” Amanda wasn’t buying it. “It’s not my problem that she can’t keep her man satisfied. If she’s got a problem with that, instead of blaming me, she should be looking in the mirror.”

  How could Callie handle this, if Tristan drank from a different girl every night? The vision of him with Lennon brought her to her knees, and that didn’t even happen.

  “How did you wind up on the show?” I changed the subject because I so didn’t agree, but the last thing I wanted to argue about was ethics. And I wasn’t acting much better than she was right now. I liked to think the end would justify the means.

  Amanda’s smile turned sinister, and she took one more look around the room for Tristan before bringing her lips to my ear so I wouldn’t miss a word. The room had filled in, and the volume had risen to ear splitting. She laid her hand over my breast. “They had the footage on tape anyway. But one of the producers called me about the part they were putting on Immortal Forever, she said she got my name from, get this, Callie’s ex.”

  “Blade?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  “Yeah. Blade. You know him?” Her forehead was practically resting against mine. “He’s a vampire now too. You know that, right?”

  “He’s in jail.” I nodded at Amanda’s shock. “Callie put him there. That’s why I’m saying don’t mess with her.”

  “It will never last.” She shook her head. “He’ll kill her when he gets out.”

  So Amanda wasn’t up on her vampire current events, but still, she got me back here, and I needed to make the most of it.

  “There he is,” Amanda gasped, clutching my arm much more like a fan girl than someone’s friend with benefits. Her tone completely changed, words coming quick. “Okay, so he doesn’t like to be bothered right away. The girls who swarm him when he first comes in never get anywhere. We’ll wait a couple minutes, then go talk to him.”

  I tried not to be obvious while I watched him settle into the room, the girls drawn in like he pulled them with a string. He hadn’t changed out of those pants; they looked wet they were so shiny, showing everything, but he put on a black T-shirt with some sort of pattern on it. It stretched tightly across his chest, showing his muscles. Tristan didn’t seem the type of guy who ever set foot in a gym, but his body said otherwise. I took a good look at his tattoos. He had one arm done in a complete sleeve. Amanda was right, he looked annoyed as he poured his first drink and sat down. One girl tried to whisper in his ear, but he frowned and shook his head.

  “I need to know right now what your hard limits are because if we go with him things can get out of control pretty fast.” Amanda could hardly keep her eyes off Tristan now that he was here. “If you’re not into the blood, or if you don’t do guys, he will totally respect that.”

  I looked back at Tristan, who warmed up to the next prospect a little, then to Amanda. I was pretty close to having a heart attack. How far was I willing to go to get what I wanted?

  Without my fire, I had nothing.

  She smiled, biting her lip and taking my free hand in hers, squeezing it. Somewhere along the line a waitress had brought me another Venomtini and everything was getting hazy. I downed the rest of the drink and gave Amanda a quick kiss. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tristan watching our every move. “Nope. I’m good.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  To make sure Tristan didn’t forget about us while he finished talking to the other woman, Amanda kissed me again. It worked. His gaze was fixed on her hand clutching my ass.

  Amanda leaned down to talk to him once it was our turn. I stood behind her, wringing my hands together. I had to keep my hands off her. I really didn’t want to have sex with Tristan and Amanda. Well, not tonight anyway. I forced myself to think clearly, to not let myself get caught up in the moment. Vegas had a way of doing this to people, even if you’d been here for a while. I always went home to Rainey, then spent time with Blade, but I heard so many versions of this story that was unfolding tonight when I was backstage at Macabre. It wasn’t special, it was just my turn.

  Her hand was on Tristan’s arm, and her cleavage in his face as she tipped her head back and laughed loudly. Tristan looked past her at me, his mouth slightly open. He tipped her chin so he could say something in her ear, then looked back at me.

  Amanda stood up and gave me a quick kiss, looking back at Tristan. “He wants to talk to you.”

  I stepped forward, my body numb from the alcohol. Crouching down so I was at his seated level, I steadied myself against the arm of the chair.
/>   “Hi.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Come here,” Tristan said with his trademark smirk. I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, I couldn’t get much closer to him. He leaned forward, pulling me into his lap. Amanda squealed, but I concentrated on breathing. I hadn’t expected to get so close to him so soon. I breathed his scent in, vanilla and copper; he fed already. “Now I can talk to you.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” Being this close to Tristan was so intimidating. His cool hands were on my waist. I tried to relax and think of anything besides the reason I was here, and what his lips would feel like against my skin. I had goosebumps.

  “You’re the Fire Dancer.” He caught me totally off guard.

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure where this was going. “I was.”

  “Cash didn’t hurt you, did he?” Tristan blinked as I jumped back. He was genuinely concerned.

  “No, he didn’t.” I didn’t know if I should thank him for his concern, or just go for broke. I was never going to get more of an audience than this. “How’s Lennon?”

  Tristan’s eyes lit up. “Really good.”

  Amanda reached over and started playing with my hair, obviously growing bored with our conversation.

  Tristan watched her then leaned in, so his lips moved against my ear. “You know you look just like her.”

  He didn’t move away, so I nodded. Amanda’s hands fell to my shoulders, kneading the tense muscles at the base of my neck. I closed my eyes, if I didn’t concentrate these two would have me flat on my back in no time at all.

  “Do you know where I can find her?” It was hard to speak, Tristan still had his hands on my waist, and Amanda’s hands had moved to my collarbones and were dipping down to my cleavage. “I think I might be able to answer some questions for her.”

  “Yeah, I can bring you to her now.” Tristan sat back, lifting me off his lap so he could stand.

  Amanda squeezed my shoulders. “You’re amazing,” she whispered and fell into step as I followed Tristan.

  “No.” He stopped and turned around. “Just Holly.”

  “Tristan, that’s not fair.” Amanda pouted, and he shook his head. Once she realized her charms weren’t working on him tonight, she turned to me. “Come on. I thought we were in this together. It’s not fair if you go and I don’t.”

  “It’s not what you think,” I blurted out and Amanda looked between the two of us, confused.

  “Well, then I should be able to come.” She leaned in to kiss me, not giving up. “We can make it what I think.”

  Tristan put his hands on her shoulders, stopping her before she reached my lips. “Just Holly.”

  “Fine, whatever.” Amanda turned away, arms crossed. As we started to walk away, she grabbed my arm. “Way to use me, Holly. I thought we were going to be friends.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Tristan put his arm around my waist and led me away from her. I looked back, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “I feel bad,” I said as we waited for the elevator. Tristan still had his arm around me, like he was afraid I’d run away if he let go. He watched the numbers as the elevator descended.

  “You shouldn’t be hanging around with trash like her.” He turned to me as my mouth dropped. “She’s trouble.”

  He was right about that.

  “You slept with her.” I almost did walk away from him. He pissed me off. “The whole world saw it.”

  The elevator door opened, and he motioned for me to step in. What a gentleman.

  “What do you know about vampires?” he asked as the doors closed, taking his hand away from my waist.

  I tried to think of anything other than how I walked into the world’s biggest trap. Again. Tristan smiled, he could probably hear my thoughts like a radio broadcast.

  “I’m learning more every day.”

  He chuckled, liking that answer. “Our needs are different than humans’.”

  “So I’ve heard.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Good. So you understand.” He was still smiling. “Anyway, I don’t do that anymore.”

  “Do what?”

  “Feed from the Vultures.”

  I gave him a puzzled look.

  “That’s what we call the girls who come to the parties.”

  “Classy.” This was going well so far. “Why the change of heart?”

  “I don’t want to do it anymore,” he said as the elevator doors opened. “Things happened and I realized what I really wanted.”

  Neither of us had moved to get off the elevator yet. “You were burned,” I said.

  He nodded. “It was some scary shit.”

  If I could take comfort in anything that happened that horrible night when Lennon was captured and Cash was destroyed, at least it seemed to make Tristan get his head on straight.

  Tristan motioned for me to step off the elevator, and all the alcohol wore off as nerves set in. I had no idea who was here tonight. My head swam, my brain swirling between walking in with Tristan and the last time I was here, with Callie’s death grip on my arm. I took a deep breath and followed him into the living room.

  Callie and Lennon sat on the couch, under blankets in their pajamas, watching a movie. I almost laughed, it looked more like a junior high sleepover than a vampire clan leader and the two-hundred-fiftyish year-old reincarnation of my mother hanging out. But I was too terrified to make a sound. They hadn’t noticed me yet.

  Tristan walked over to the couch, leaning over it to kiss Callie. “Hey, beautiful,” he said as she tipped her head back to meet his lips.

  “How was your show?” she asked. Tristan’s hair hid her face, falling around her shoulders and chest. Watching them, after the scene downstairs, I felt horrible for Callie. I was glad things hadn’t gone further. And I felt even worse for Rainey.

  “Good.” He leaned in for another kiss. Callie reached up, her hands tangled in his hair, pulling him in closer.

  “Oh, you two are so disgustingly cute.” Lennon rolled her eyes and turned away from the TV, her mouth falling when her gaze landed on me. “Holly, what are you doing here?”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “What the hell is she doing here?” Callie pulled away from Tristan, whipping around to face me, fangs out, eyes glowing red. She didn’t seem so scary anymore, with her hair in a braid and a pink polka dot tank top. But the little bitch killed my father, and she could probably obliterate me and not even miss the end of her movie. I couldn’t even fight fire with fire anymore.

  Vampires really pissed me off.

  “She wanted to talk to Lennon.” Tristan glanced back at me, his arms still on the couch, genuinely confused. “She’s the Fire Dancer.”

  “I know who she is. She helped Cash capture Lennon that night. She’s probably here to finish the job.”

  “You did?” Lennon’s face fell.

  “That’s what I’m here about, but not like that.” I glared at Callie, then turned back to Lennon. The look on her face broke my heart. She was scared of me. “I thought maybe you’d want to know what happened.”

  “She knows what happened. It happened to her.” Callie wouldn’t shut up. “So unless you’re going to add anything to this situation, go back to Circus Circus.”

  I ignored her, and turned to Lennon. “I thought maybe you’d want to know why.”

  “I want to talk to her, doll.” Lennon stood up. She was wearing leopard print satin pajamas. “I have some questions only Holly could answer.”

  Nobody protested as we left the living room. I followed Lennon to the same bedroom that Callie had brought me to, the one where Cash projected the vision of Lennon and Tristan together. It looked so different now, decorated with a patchwork comforter, scarves over the lamps, and Lennon actually here. So far, I hadn’t had any visions of Lana or Bethlem. I didn’t know if I was relieved or disappointed. I didn’t want that to be a lie.

  “Thanks for giving me a chance.” I waited for Lennon to sit on the bed. She motioned for me to do
the same. “I know it sounds crazy, but I was trying to help you that night. I lost control over the situation.”

  “Tell me about it I blacked out after I went back to my apartment until I woke up like this. I know Cash intended to kill me.” Her last two words lost volume, and she had to take a deep breath before continuing. She traced her fingers along the seam of the comforter, then looked back up at me. “And I was a mess when the girls found me. It took me a long time to heal, even as a vampire. I don’t want to know anything about that. I think for my own sanity, my brain made me forget.”

  I hadn’t expected her to want to talk, much less be so candid with me. The way Cash must have left her, after seeing that room, gave me shivers.

  “I tried to get to you, I really did.” Not hard enough, and I’d always regret that. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to know what Cash had told you about his past.”

  She bit her lip as she thought about it, her new fangs protruding slightly. Even in her jammies, she still had her lipstick on and her hair twisted up. “It’s hard to remember everything clearly. Everything that happened when I was human is filtered now, like it has static. Callie and some of my coworkers from the bar have been filling me in on stuff, but they wouldn’t be able to help me much with Cash, because we were alone most of the time.”

  “Did he ever mention a hospital to you? A place called Bethlem?”

  Lennon’s eyes widened. “The hospital, yeah. He talked about being committed to a place that sounded awful, and he thanked me for making things better for him. I always thought he meant that I was making things better for him now, but then he’d reference stuff I had no clue about, and when I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, he’d get frustrated and say that it happened at the hospital. Like I should have known.”

  “He thought you were a nurse who helped him there,” I said. Lennon squinted, so I tried to clarify. “That you were the reincarnation of someone who was very special to him.”