"You okay?" He nodded. Getting knocked on your ass wouldn't hurt a vampire, but I still asked. I turned around and looked behind me. Of course it had to be the Abercrombie vamps. Every last one of them was laughing and high fiving each other like little boys. Maybe they did all belong to the same fraternity. I sighed, stood, and walked over to the one I'd dumped on his ass earlier. Before he even turned to acknowledge me, Vic slipped up behind me like my shadow. "Is there a problem here guys?" I tried to sound bored, but I think it came out a little waspishly. Oh, well.
"No problem, girlie. Funny fangs over there tripped," he replied, closing his eyes halfway in annoyance.
I looked down at his brown loafers and then let my gaze travel upward to just above his eyes. He stood while I gave him my visual sweep and he towered over me by a good foot and a half. I still avoided eye contact. I really didn't want this creep in my head, even accidentally. I knew he was full of shit, but I really didn't want to get into a fight. Vic and I had planned on a nice evening out without work, without fighting, and I wanted to keep it that way.
"Drago," I called over my shoulder, "did you trip?"
"Yes, Miss," he replied, but I could hear the hesitation in his voice.
"Are you sure, Drago?"
"What's it to you, girlie?" Abercrombie looked at me like I'd grown an extra head.
"It's my job." I reached for the badge that I'd left in the hotel.
Bad FBI agent, no cookie for me.
I realized I'd seriously screwed up and vowed to get one of those neck thingies. I never carried a purse and without jacket pockets, I hadn't even thought about taking my ID with me.
"Sure, beautiful. Why don't you go back to your own table and mind your own fucking business." With each word he stepped closer to me and finally bent over until his face hung a few inches from mine. He stood close enough that I could smell him without the scents of all his friends overwhelming him. I took a tentative whiff and tasted the anise in the air.
"What's your name?"
He blinked in confusion and sneered before giving me a hissed, "Lord Steve."
I fought really, really hard not to laugh. Victoria didn't fare so well and I heard her musical giggle behind me. That pissed Steve off and he glared at her over my shoulder. "Who's your master, Stevie?" He shifted his glare back to me. The rest of his seated crew stood and closed the distance between us, fanning out behind their leader.
Steve laughed. If anything, it was higher than Vic's laugh, but instead of having a musical quality, it grated on my nerves, like talons on a chalkboard. "Nobody is my master! Can't you feel it you stupid bitch? We're free! We're all free!" Steve's speech started to take on a maniacal sound and it worried me. I thought about backing up, but figured that would have been bad, very bad.
"Steve, you need to listen to me, you need to calm down and leave. Go home, Steve."
"Fuck you," he spat and lunged.
The world slowed. As he brought his hands up to grasp my throat, I reached up and grabbed his. I squeezed hard. I watched as his face went from pure anger to pure anguish as I crushed his neck. I felt the tiny little pops as my talons pierced his skin, and I could smell his blood as it started to flow free. I could feel Steve's strength in my hand and it didn't impress me. I could have ripped his head off, torn it free with one swift jerk of my hand, but I didn't want to. He didn't disgust me anymore, I pitied him.
"Take him home and so help me gods, if I catch any of you in here again, I will kill you," I spat over Steve's shoulder to his friends. They all stared at Steve's dangling form in my hand. I'm inhumanly strong, but lifting someone who's six feet tall when you're only five feet tall is damn awkward. I heaved Steve backward to his friends who caught him and scrambled for the exit. I thanked the gods it hadn't escalated to a full-blown brawl.
I turned and a smiling Vic nodded at me. Drago still stood next to her, and the mysterious Viktor had joined them. He had a hard look on his peculiar face, and I don't think he wanted to thank me for bouncing the Abercrombie vampires out of the club. Some people are just way too serious, and for some reason I think Viktor fell into that category, head first.
"Sorry about that," I said to him and walked over to my seat.
"There is nothing to be sorry for, it is I who should be thanking you, warrior," Viktor said and bowed a little. I guess he wasn't as angry as he seemed. I still got the "I don't like you" vibe from him, but hopefully I wasn't right about that either.
"It's my job," I told him, trying not to make a big deal out of it.
"You are a protector?" He sat down at our table. I watched Vic slide gracefully into the seat next to him and Drago scampered off toward the back of the club.
"You could say that," Vic supplied and gave me another of her smiles that warmed me as well as a few other things I'd rather not mention.
"I'm afraid things are going to get worse. Apparently the master of Sacramento ended up dead last night. Nobody controls the lesser vampires now, and they seem to be taking advantage of their new freedoms," Viktor answered. I sat in shock. Everyone who had done any sort of publication on the mysterious nosferatu painted them as unintelligent monsters whose hungers needed to be controlled by others. The conversation I found myself having with Viktor left me a little bewildered. I could see the intelligence in his eyes, and his mannerisms were straight out of eighteenth century Europe.
"What about you, Viktor?" I opened my mouth without thinking.
I saw his spine straighten as he stiffened in his seat. "I am nosferatu. We do not answer to the self-proclaimed masters of your cities. We have our own king and we answer to him," he answered somewhat condescendingly. I realized the term "racist" seemed a little too apropos at the moment. I saw Vic's face darken at the mood at the table and I realized I'd fucked up, royally.
"Viktor," I started contritely, "I'm sorry and I hope you will forgive my ignorance. I am very young and the amount of information about nosferatu is very limited at best." I felt extremely small and I meant my apology whole-heartedly.
He stared at me before nodding and I felt the tension leave him. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "I apologize as well. Most modern vampires care little for our kind. I assumed you to be the same," he said. "I must ask though, who is your creator to give you such unusual eyes and hands?"
"My master didn't survive, so I don't know if he passed on the trait or if I'm some sort of anomaly." I answered his question without batting an eyelash. It amazed me how easily the lie flew from my lips. Maybe I wouldn't always be a horrible liar.
"Interesting, and now the beautiful Victoria has your eyes," Viktor said and stood. "Ladies, I apologize I must leave. The club will be closing soon, as sunrise approaches. I bid you both good day." Before he walked away, he bent and took Vic's hand in his and gently kissed it. I found myself staring and blushed when he nodded at me before walking away.
"Enough fun for one night?" I suddenly had an urge to go home and crawl into bed.
"Yes, master," Vic said with a smile and led the way.
Chapter 13
Again I found myself in another limo. I'd ridden in more limousines in the past week than I had in my entire life. I wasn't getting used to it either. I sat back in the grey leather seat and kept my hands folded in my lap to stop me from pushing buttons, rooting through the mini bar, and playing with the sunroof. I didn't even pay attention to the Hollywood skyline as it zipped by the limo window.
Thompson had the gas pedal of the limo floored. We didn't want to miss the governor's first stop in the city of Los Angeles, a worldwide movie premier. The stars of the movie already made their way down the red carpet during the waning sunlight hours of the day. Since a variety of celebrity vampires would also be in attendance, the premier had been scheduled right at the brink, allowing the human guests to arrive first and the vampires after the sun settled in the western sky. Governor Greer ranked among the celebrity vampires.
I wanted to walk down another red carpet, paraded in front of the press, like I wanted to spend a sunrise on the beach. It wouldn't kill me, but it wouldn't be the most comfortable of experiences either. It made me wish I would be spending the next few days back at the hotel in Sacramento with Marcel and Victoria. A stabbing pang of jealousy surged through my chest. The fact was that I trusted Marcel with Vic more than I trusted Vic with Marcel. Maybe spending a few days away from her would help me get my head back on a little straighter.
"Put your happy faces on. We're almost there," Thompson called from the driver's seat.
I sighed resignedly, and Greer laughed a little at my discomfort as the limo slowed and pulled over to the side of the road. I looked outside the window at the sea of people standing around and gawking at the line of limo's parked waiting for their chance to drop off their cargo at the famed red carpet. I fought really hard not to cry.
"I'm surprised Strozzini didn't want to accompany us to Los Angeles. I'd hoped to procure his services in smoothing things over with Claude," Greer said to me while our limo waited in queue.
"Claude?" I made the name a question.
"Claude Wagner, the master of Los Angles. Or Vahgner as he prefers," he said and made a dismissive motion with his fingertips.
"I take it he's not too happy with you being in his territory."
"He's not my biggest fan, that's for sure." Greer looked out the window toward the line in front of us. "Being a vampire governor in a state full of territorial master vampires often makes my job a little difficult. Santiago's murder isn't making things any easier either. Nobody has come forward to take his place so I'm acting as interim master until the council can approve a replacement."
I nodded and shifted in my seat in what I hoped wasn't a nervous gesture. I turned to see how much longer we had to wait. The conversation wasn't going well and I didn't want it to continue any longer.
"We're next," Thompson said and looked me in the eye through the rearview mirror. I nodded my thanks and scooted closer to the door. I wasn't going to take any chances with Greer's safety tonight. I would go out first and block the door until I felt it would be safe for the governor to come out behind me. I wasn't dressed for combat, but my skirt and suit jacket were made of silk and a little classier than my normal fare. I wanted to go for classy and dangerous.
"Wait for my signal." I grabbed the door handle as the limo pulled forward to the cordoned off red carpet.
As soon as the car stopped and I opened the door the flashes from the paparazzi camera's started. I stood and blocked the door while I scanned the crowd. Time didn't slow as I let my eyes roam from face to face and then up over the top of the theater entrance. Reporters started calling my name and shouting, "Verminator," over and over. I let them fade into the background. A few faces caught my eye. I could feel their power even from a distance. There was a chance they were reporters who happened to be lycanthropes, too. Even though it would make my job easier, I couldn't just go around swatting every supernatural being in the area.
I reached behind me and motioned the governor to come out. We agreed he wouldn't move to my side until we safely reached the inside of the theater. I felt him slip out of the limo and I let out a little sigh when he stuck with the plan. I don't know why, but I expected him to move ahead of me and start waving to the crowd. I walked forward and sensed him moving along with me, never closing or opening the three-foot space between us. Good governor, he gets a cookie.
Between the lights of the camera flashes and the cacophony of questions being shouted at us, I couldn't detect anyone who might be a threat. I scanned the crowd and saw the eager faces of photographers as they glanced down at the velvet rope wondering if they dare cross it. On a whim, I bared my fangs. I didn't mean it as a hostile gesture; rather parted my lips and exposed them, reminding the photographers what I could be capable of. I saw more than a few take large gulps of air and step back; opening the pathway the governor and I strode on just that much more.
I tried to close my ears to the raging sounds around us and continued up the carpeted pathway to the rear of the line. Twenty or so people stood in line in front of us having close up snapshots taken for the national news and being interviewed by entertainment shows from around the world. My stomach settled somewhere around my larynx. I didn't like the press, and to date, my experiences with them had been pretty crappy. Oh well, I could ignore them as long as they ignored me. I continued to scan the crowd as the governor left his place behind me and settled on my left. So much for following instructions.
"Do you see anything?"
"Not yet."
"I think you can relax, Ashlyn. We're safe in the crowd now."
I didn't even dignify it with a response. The line shifted forward as the B-listers in front of us made their way through the press gate with a modicum of questions. "Your last movie actually lost money, how do you feel about that?" I tried not to laugh. We still had a few minutes before we would be safely inside, and I promised myself not to let my guard down. I
really
didn't want to screw this up. Having a nice, uneventful night would really make my day. Okay, maybe week.
One of the interviewers noticed the governor and I standing in line a few couples down from their current interviewee. I didn't recognize anybody in front of us as being famous, and I don't think she did either. She actually halted the human-looking man mid sentence and ushered him and the remainder of the people ahead of us through. The other reporters and cameramen looked at her like she'd lost her mind, until they saw us (actually I prayed it was the governor) and formed a semi circle around the entrance. Cameras pointed at us as we strode forward.
"Governor Greer, Ashlyn, are you excited to see the premier of
BloodLust
?" The first question came before we even made it to the entrance. I didn't even know the name of the movie, so I let the governor answer the question while I turned my back and looked for bad people pointing weapons at us.