Sin City Vampire Club

by Kristen Strassel

  “You practically choked to death on your own fire. Good thing I came with you. Who knows what would’ve happened to you with those two harpies staring down at you like they were waiting for you to die.” If Rainey had fire, she would’ve been breathing it.

  “I wanted to touch Tristan, to see he had the same effect on me as Blade after drinking my blood. At least then I would’ve known I had it.” I was warm enough to fog up the window next to me.

  “Not the night for experiments.” Rainey turned out of the parking garage, but quickly it became obvious she wasn’t bringing us home.

  “Did you have a vision or something?” The night had checked one of the boxes in the to-do list of the Vegas Armageddon. Tristan had already passed out, and without my fire, the show would be a certain failure. “Because you’re driving like a maniac and you’re headed for Embrace.”

  That was enough to get her to slow down. One near-death experience a night was more than enough. “Sort of. I got a message from Gabriel when you started your routine. All he said was, ‘she’s threatened by her, and she will lose.’” She imitated his deep, booming voice. “He disappeared before offering a full explanation.”

  “He’s kind of a dick like that.”

  She laughed. “You’re telling me.”

  Wait a minute. “You had a vision concerning a vampire?”

  I could only see the side of her face, and the corner of her mouth went up in a smile that said nothing but revenge. “I thought it concerned you.”

  “Oh.” As usual, Rainey’s contact with the otherworld raised more questions than it gave answers. “Am I the one who’s threatened and loses?”

  “I don’t think so.” She bit her lip. Only being able to see the side of her face made it so hot. I’d reach out and touch her, but I came so close to igniting. If the fire still burned inside me, we’d be in big trouble. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to take my eyes off you, but as your manager—”

  “I give you a title and it goes straight to your head.”

  “You better believe it. They’ll use you for everything you’ve got then send you packing. As long as I’m your manager, I won’t let them have the upper hand. That’s why I’m bringing you to Embrace.”

  “I don’t get the connection.” This I had to hear. One night with Blade and suddenly, she was on his side. It was more like she was on my side, or on any side but Rachel’s.

  “If Tristan hadn’t passed out the other night and you had a chance to perform, you would’ve burst into flames. No one else had the right kind of energy to revive him. You deserve another chance to prove them wrong. No blood donations this time, okay? Unless it’s Blade.”

  Evil was triumphing over good tonight, and Embrace’s parking lot was full. I held onto Rainey for dear life. Everything in my vision was coming together too quickly. I wondered how much longer the lights on the marquee would burn or the sun would shine. And worse, how much longer I had with Rainey.

  I tugged her away from the line at the door. “I’ll have to do more than let him suck my blood. There’s only so long we can tease him and expect him to help us.”

  Rainey sighed, looking at the line of people. Anywhere but me. “Do you want to do more than that?”

  “There’s no way I can answer that question and have it not sound bad,” I said. She crumbled in my grip. Shit. I never expected to be the one to lose in this arrangement. “He’s my darkness, and you’re my light. Together you balance me.”

  “Everything was fine before we met him.”

  “No it wasn’t. We were getting attacked by vampires and we had no recourse.” We still may not win, but we wouldn’t go down without a fight. “Now we have a chance. And you can’t bring me here and ask me questions like that. It’s not fair to any of us.”

  “I know.” She frowned as the bouncer waved us past the door. “But you can’t blame me for hoping the answer changes.”

  Rainey had changed since I drank her blood. She’d become more assertive, like someone flipped a switch. Blade had brought something out in her I never saw before. Fire.

  It didn’t surprise me that Gabriel had been much more vigilant of her in the last few months. Like me, he was probably afraid he’d lose her.

  Tonight, Rainey was her own woman. She tugged me through the burgeoning carnage of the club, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “If this is what the future looks like, I’m glad I can’t See it.”

  Vampires feasted on their donors. Their open wounds glistened in the spotlights that circled the room, but their eyes did not. They were endless black holes, a window to an abandoned soul. A few of them gazed longingly at Rainey as she passed. Her plump, perfect skin and her fluttering heart had to be nothing short of decadence to them. I’d kill any one of them that made a play for her. I never killed before, but keeping Rainey was worth any price.

  As we approached Blade’s office door, the overwhelming sense of déjà vu was dulled by the realization that I might have to take on Gabriel. So far, I was helpless to reverse the horror in my vision. The energy had yet to be sucked out of Las Vegas, but if I lost Rainey, I would be Team Dark Side, no questions asked. I wouldn’t bother dipping my toe in first. I’d embrace all the things my vampire side had to offer. And if I had my fire back, I’d have the energy that everyone craved. Blade promised me he could make me queen of this city.

  Rainey’s latest vision came together in a way that made my stomach turn. I was going to lose her. Before she had a chance to knock on Blade’s door, I pushed her up against the wall and kissed her. I needed to tattoo her light and goodness on my soul before someone snuffed its glow.

  Her head fell back and she gasped for air. “I’m not going anywhere.” Even over the trancelike soundtrack of the club, I didn’t miss the rasp in her voice.

  “I’ll never let you go.” I wedged my leg between hers, moaning when the heat from her apex seared my skin. Her hands were everywhere.

  I wanted her blood again. It tasted different than Blade’s. It had none of the smokiness.

  I couldn’t do that to her. I wouldn’t steal what made her special. But I had no problem flaunting the fact she was mine. The rest of the vampires could feast on the desperation and fear of their donors. I’d bask in Rainey’s blind hope.

  We didn’t have to knock on the office door. Blade leaned against the wall next to Rainey when I opened my eyes. His heavy-lidded gaze told me he was thinking about the very same thing that we were, whether he planned to act on it or not.

  “Just the person we came to see.” I grinned at him, but my hands were under Rainey’s shirt. I played with the lace at the edge of her bra, slipping my fingers inside. It wasn’t close to the most shocking thing taking place in the room, but it was by far the most sensual. Rainey squirmed under my touch. She wasn’t as much of an exhibitionist as I was.

  “I’ve been thinking about you two. A lot.” He moved closer but he didn’t touch either of us. It would’ve made the most sense for him to reach for Rainey, and that was strictly forbidden. Blade loved chaos, but he played by our rules.

  Now I understood what Rainey’s blood had given me. Power.

  Slipping my hand from Rainey’s top, I grabbed his open collar. Our tongues met in the middle. The heat rose inside me. Blade fought me for dominance, like he noticed a change. I’d never tell him what my secret weapon was. But there was a pretty good chance he already knew. Rainey grasped my ass, grinding against me. The push and pull would drive me insane. Intense red heat blurred my thoughts and all the things I wanted to say went up in smoke.

  At least we didn’t have to waste time with negotiations. Everyone knew what they wanted, as long as we remembered to respect each other’s limits.

  I didn’t have any. Without my fire, I was nothing.

  “I’m not doing this here.” Rainey stole me away from Blade, cupping my chin and guiding my lips to hers. If this was how the war between the two of them would be resolved, I’d died and gone to Heaven. All reports of gloom and doom for the
future had been greatly exaggerated. She rested her forehead against mine when she finished the kiss, but her attention slid to Blade. “Your office is disgusting.”

  “Clean freak,” I teased, pinching her nipple.

  “I had a housekeeper, but you can probably figure out what happened to her.” Blade’s smile was pure sin. “You’d be surprised how few complaints I get about how I keep my room.”

  Because he excelled in other areas, that made all his shortcomings disappear. I’d fallen victim to his ploy many times.

  Rainey gave him a look I thought was only reserved for me. Heat surged through my body, but I pushed it down. No premature igniting. Not when these two were willing to settle their differences over my naked, aching body.

  “I refuse to take my clothes off in there,” she said. “I already need to soak everything in bleach.”

  He mirrored her expression. Holy shit, this was so hot. “Where will you take your clothes off?”

  She considered her answer for a moment. “A hotel.”

  Blade shook his head. “You’d want to eat off the floor of this place compared to some of them.”

  “You’re right.” She laughed. “Okay. Come back to our place.”

  I grabbed his hand and kept Rainey pinned against the wall. The negotiations had been mostly between these two, but I had one request. “Can he stay all day?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Rainey didn’t understand what I was getting at. She’d make up Chez Closet for him, no questions asked. Pure lava flowed through my veins at the thought of her taking me against the door, and Blade on the other side, with his cock in his hand.

  “In our bed,” I clarified. “I want him to sleep with us.” Sleep was a time of healing, Rainey had told me that so many times. Her spell books contained many passages including putting herbs and crystals by a pillow to let the energy absorb into the body when its defenses were least resistant. I didn’t want to explain it in front of him, and I was aware that it could backfire. The two of us could rise the next evening more bloodthirsty than Blade.

  Rainey considered Blade carefully, and he didn’t shy away from her gaze. He had nothing to hide. Even with his horrible habits, and the bloodbath he created, he was the most honest vampire I’d ever met. It had to mean something.

  She sighed, and it felt like a concession. “I’m willing to try anything.”

  He cocked a brow. “Anything?”

  “Almost anything.” She rolled her eyes and pushed my shoulders. “Get me out of here.”

  No need to ask either of us twice. Blade drove his own car. He had a beautiful red Mustang that he restored when he was alive. I was glad he got it back. Losing everything had directly caused his anger. Although, I wasn’t sure if it would help him or hurt him to have something he loved so much as a human.

  He didn’t pull in behind us in our parking lot, but that was a good thing. Rainey went for the stack of books on the coffee table, straightening them. I stopped her before she had a chance to get to the pillows.

  “The last thing Blade cares about is how the house looks.” I gripped her wrists hard, so she wouldn’t slip away and keep cleaning.

  “I can control it.” She wouldn’t meet my gaze. “Everything else is out of my control.”

  “That’s not true.” I pressed a kiss against her forehead, in the place her third eye would be. Her skin was feverish. “Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

  Her body crumbled against mine. “I don’t want to lose you.” She only took a moment to feel sorry for herself. “There’s no good solution to this. If I don’t modify my principles, I lose you. If I compromise my principles, I’m taken from you.”

  “Wait. What?” She seemed to have a lot more information about the future than she divulged. Our three-way power exchange would only work if nobody withheld anything. It didn’t mean she had to step outside her comfort zone. But she had to tell us what those limits were so we could respect them. We also had to know the consequences of our actions so we could make the best decisions for all of us. As reckless as our actions seemed on the surface, this was a calculated strike.

  She frowned. “I thought I told you that.”

  “Told me what?” I panicked every time I saw headlights turn the corner in the parking lot. Rainey would shut down in Blade’s presence. “You’re leaving me?”

  It didn’t matter how it happened—if she was ripped away or walked out the door on her own volition. She’d be gone.

  “Not if I can help it.” She sighed and collapsed on the couch. “Gabriel’s been talking to me so much. It’s making me crazy, to be honest. I’m doubting every thought—wondering if it belongs to me or if he put it there. He wants me back, Holly. He claims that he’s been more than patient with me, and my time is up. I can’t figure out a way around it.”

  I slipped my arms around her and put my head on her shoulder. Her heart fluttered under the surface of her skin. I had to soak up the sensation while I could. Like hell I’d let her be taken from me. I’d fight with everything I had.

  “Then why are you willing to go through with this, helping someone you hate if you know you can’t win?”

  She knotted her fingers together in her lap. “Gabriel always told me that the light made the darkness go away. That was how he convinced me to keep fighting. I thought that only applied to you. I never considered vampires, because I couldn’t See them. I don’t know if he can See them, but it seems like he must be able to.”

  “Then why can’t you?” Speaking of full disclosure, it was time for Gabriel to pony up some answers.

  “I was only responsible for you. He didn’t want me to get distracted from my mission.” She smoothed a piece of hair away from my face. We were already filthy, the residue of my smoke show and the slime from Embrace coated our skin, but there was no telling what this night would do to our souls.

  I had one more question for her. “Sometimes you see me in your visions, and sometimes you don’t. What does that mean?”

  Her hands transferred to my legs. “It’s a gauge of how well I’m doing my job.”

  It hurt that she considered me a job. It wasn’t fair of me to hold that against her. Rainey loved me, or she would never have held on this long.

  “What do you See now?”

  She didn’t have a chance to answer before Blade knocked on the door.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  I PUT MY FINGER AGAINST her lips. I couldn’t handle the truth so close to what we planned to do with Blade. This was all about the fire, but I’d burn on my own terms.

  The short walk from the couch to the door was not enough time to regain my composure. “Thought you got lost.” I turned away from him and took my place next to Rainey.

  “Nope.” Blade sat on the other side of me. We’d left all the easy play at Embrace. On his turf. “I had a few things to take care of before I could spend the rest of the evening with my favorite ladies.”

  Rainey groaned.

  Blade was still full of that loving feeling, and he grabbed my braid hard enough so my head jerked back. “You’re filthy.”

  “Yeah.” I met his gaze. “I ignited.”

  He leaned in closer. “Are you sure about that?”

  Shit. He’d talked to Rachel. I wondered if she knew I ran to him when I misfired, or if she just called to gloat. The little bitch was a mole, and she wasn’t working for Blade, she was working for herself. Cash had two selfish daughters. “Things didn’t go exactly as planned. But I did ignite.”

  “Then what happened?” Heat rolled off his body like a tease.

  I hoped to absorb it all. “There were no flames. Only smoke.”

  “Is that the only reason you’ll call me now? Because you think I can give you your fire back?” He turned my chin toward him.

  “It was always about the fire.” The night had gone full circle, from me resenting that I was technically Rainey’s job, to Blade feeling the same way about providing a service for me.

  “Until it w
asn’t.” His kiss was the only way he could’ve punctuated that statement. I let Blade consume me, his tongue flicking against mine like wisps of flames. He cradled me in his arms, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe. I loved him. Even though it wasn’t the same as my love for Rainey, there was no denying it. The only thing that held me back was that I saw too much of myself in him. And it wasn’t the good stuff.

  Rainey slid her hands down my back, and then she was gone. The weight intensified where Blade held me. She put her hand over his. I broke the kiss to confirm it. Rainey was terrified—her brown eyes were huge and her mouth was open. If she would be taken from me, she’d want to know I was in good hands.

  Gabriel had never been forthcoming about what came next for Rainey, unless she knew and hadn’t told me. Once he had her where he wanted her, he could cut her off cold turkey, or he could let her watch over me. I wasn’t sure which one was crueler.

  She leaned in, taking her turn with the next kiss. The difference between the two of them, one right after the other, was shocking. Not only that they were doing it, but also that they worked together in such harmony.

  Blade was willing to share, and he loosened his grip on me. I turned into Rainey, who broke the kiss to look in my eyes. Being caught between the two of them was like being on a battlefield, and learning how to persevere while being riddled with bullets. The wounds weren’t fatal, but the cure might kill me.

  Rainey held onto my braid, which was the only place she touched me besides my lips. Blade clasped my shoulders to kiss my neck. My pussy pulsed, threatening to erupt like a volcano. The heat surged through my body, and I wasn’t surprised to see smoke when I opened my eyes. Everything felt the same as it used to when the fire came. I prayed that after this, I’d be able to open my palm and stare into the glow of the flame.

  “Are we doing this here, or in bed?” Rainey murmured. I took that to mean she was on board with Blade spending the day with us. We hadn’t gotten around to buying a new couch. The cushions were charred from our last tryst, and stuffing littered the floor.