Authors: Trina M Lee
Arys pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I don’t want to talk about it here. Later. I promise. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be right back.”
I was dying to know what had Arys so worried, and patience was not a virtue that I possessed. However, if I could just get through the rest of the night without any further incident, I’d consider it a successful evening.
No sooner had I formed that thought than a loud crash drew my attention to a fight on the dance floor. I couldn’t even pretend to be surprised. Since taking over The Kiss, I’d seen just about everything.
Two women were throwing punches at each other. I had to roll my eyes. What could possibly be worth fighting about here? Shaz cast a glance my way. He seemed reluctant to get involved. With a sigh, I waved a hand in their direction and flung them apart. Jerking my thumb towards the door, I made it clear to Shaz that I’d like them tossed out. I wasn’t in the mood for this crap.
I’d wanted control of the notorious nightclub because it had such a shady reputation. Paranormal creatures and the stupid humans who sought to be close to them filled The Kiss. I’d assumed I could change the place, but really, it was changing me and not in a good way.
Josh was busy behind the bar so I headed back and helped myself. I caught myself looking between the whiskey bottle and a glass, wondering if the glass was worth the bother. The Kiss was going to turn me into a raging drunk in no time. I considered drinking from the bottle but poured the glass a little too full instead.
Time seemed to crawl by as I found an empty table and waited for Arys to return. Despite the hard liquor in my hand, my current reality was very sobering.
I sensed a strange vampire’s approach before he touched me. I sat up a little straighter in my chair, ready for him to reach for me. Without looking behind me, I grabbed his wrist before his hand could fall on my shoulder. My maneuver soon had him flat on his back blinking up at me in shock.
“What the hell do you want?” I glared down at him. The last thing I needed tonight was another vampire who felt he had something to prove.
His face contorted with pain as I twisted his arm. “Just looking for a playmate. Fuck! Let go of me!”
“Are you new or something? I don’t play here. I’m off-limits. All the time.” I released him, ready to kick his ass if he tried anything.
I analyzed his energy and decided he wasn’t a threat, just a ballsy vampire that thought I was on the menu. It didn’t happen so often now that most of them knew me.
“Alright, I got it.” He held his hands up in surrender as he backed away. “A simple ‘no thanks’ would have sufficed, you know.”
With a shrug, I waved him off. I had nothing more to say. I was anxious about what was up with Arys. Sitting still was almost impossible. I was restless. After finishing my drink, I took a slow walk around the inside of the building.
Shaz was in the front lobby with Arys. They were speaking quietly to one another, their heads close together. That set off a red flag for me. Arys caught me watching them. He held up a finger in that universal ‘one moment’ gesture before disappearing outside. I looked expectantly at Shaz, but he revealed nothing.
Now that I was tuned into it, something didn’t feel right. It wasn’t just the strange way Arys was loitering around The Kiss. The atmosphere within the nightclub felt off-balance, as if something were out of place. My senses honed in on that wariness, focusing until I could feel that vibration that didn’t fit in.
I hadn’t noticed it before. The metaphysical mojo in the building amounted to psychic noise. Something about the vibe was familiar, and I needed to pinpoint where or who it was. I followed the sensation.
It grew stronger as I drew closer to the doorway that led to the back rooms. It was probably coming from a vampire blood party that would give me the creeps, but I had to know for sure.
The vibe came from the room that Kale claimed as his own. I recognized Kale’s energy, but it felt residual as if he were no longer present. I didn’t want to acknowledge my suspicions, but I had to see.
Slowly, I approached the door. As I passed other rooms along the way, I shuddered when my senses picked up creepy, vampiric sounds, smells and sensations. A scream rang out, causing me to jump. Thankfully, it dissolved into a series of pleasurable moans.
My senses were on fire. I fought back the intrigue that surfaced within me. I couldn’t allow someone else’s blood- and sex-fest to distract me.
I stared at Kale’s door, knowing he wasn’t in there but certain that something was.
I moved fast, before I could chicken out. Trying the handle, I found it unlocked. I gave the door a shove and watched it swing open while I remained in the hallway. The strange mix of Kale’s high-strung energy and death greeted me with a slap in the face.
The bedside lamp was on, illuminating two bodies sprawled on the bed, a blonde and a brunette. Each was clad in next to nothing, and both had bloodied throats.
They hadn’t been dead long.
My stomach dropped, and I felt sick. Reality crushed the breath from me. Kale had been here recently. And, he was killing again.
Chapter Three
“Don’t look for Kale.” I barely let Jez get a word out. My hand shook as I gripped my cell phone tightly. “If you see him, you might want to be on your guard.”
“What’s going on?”
I leaned heavily against the door-frame of Kale’s room, staring at the corner of the bloodstained sheets. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the faces of Kale’s victims again.
“I’m not sure. All I know is that I’m staring at two dead women in his bed right now. He isn’t here.”
Jez’ voice held a note of fear. “Kale’s been killing? Oh … that’s not good.”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
“I’ll stay alert, but it’ll be sunrise in a few hours. I imagine wherever he is, he’ll be heading home soon.”
I swallowed hard and glanced up and down the empty hallway. “Unless he comes back here.”
“Maybe you should leave, Lex. You know how he gets around you. If he’s all fucked up, he’ll be unpredictable and dangerous.”
“Call me if you see him. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I turned quickly when I felt Arys approach. He wore a frown and hummed with an anxious energy. His attention was immediately drawn to Kale’s room, and I cringed.
“You must be so impressed.” He grinned. “Isn’t this exactly the kind of thing you told me I couldn’t do here?”
“Laugh it up.” I gave him my best fake, bitter laugh.
Arys surveyed the interior of the room with a nonchalance that only increased my discomfort. “So Kale’s acting like a vampire again. It’s about time. But, you should tell him not to leave his dead whores lying around like this. It’s bad for business.”
“I know how much you must love this, but please, let me deal with it before you rub it in my face. I get it, ok? I made a huge mistake thinking I could change anything around here. Ha fucking ha!”
“Lighten up, Alexa. Don’t be so uptight about this place. It is what it is.” His voice dropped, and he pulled me close. “Look, I want you to take off right away. Go home. Shaz, too. I’ll meet you there in an hour or so.”
The sudden change in his tone and mood scared me. “Why? Where are you going to be?”
“I will explain everything when I get to your place. Just go. And, please don’t decide to be stubborn right now.” The worry in his eyes was the only thing that kept me from protesting.
“Alright. I’ll head home right away. But, you’d better have a damn good reason for pulling the stubborn card.”
“I do.” Emotion filled his tender kiss. With a gentle touch, he stroked a hand down the side of my face, and I knew from that gesture more than any other that something awful was happening.
I watched him retreat back down the hall and through the doorway into the front of the club. I hated having to wait for answers. But, I trusted Arys so I’d do my best to be patient. In the meantime, I would head on home.
I was contemplating what to do about Kale’s leftovers when the rear entry at the far end of the hall opened and in strode the vampire himself. I turned to face him with a glare, hoping it didn’t waver when a wave of his dark energy washed over me. Worse than touching a live-wire, the jolt that went through me felt like I’d just been hit by lightning.
As Kale drew closer I could see that his eyes were solid black. His pupils were so enlarged it was impossible to see that his eyes were really two different colors from heterochromia iridium. He was soaring high alright; no doubt about that. The rush of the kill had many effects. I wasn’t eager to see it on a vampire who had kept himself on a short leash until now.
I was relieved when Kale stopped several feet away. I had a feeling he did it more for his benefit than mine. I tried to shield against the pull I sensed from him, but my nature yearned to respond to it. I wanted to taste it, to feel it glide over me like a metaphysical second skin. Kale and I shared the same weakness: each other. My power always wanted him.
“Does ‘What in the fuck?’ cover it?” I stared into his dark, glassy eyes, hoping to see some semblance of sanity in them. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“You can’t?” Kale tilted his head to the side and looked me up and down. “I’m not an amateur. I was going to get rid of the mess.”
Dressed all in black with his leather duster cloaking him, Kale looked as good as he always did, but I was more lured by the flow of power surrounding him. I knew how good it would feel.
“When did you start killing again?” I focused on my irritation, ignoring the honey sweet, coercive vibe that called my power to him.
“Does it matter?” Crossing his arms, he leaned back, against the wall opposite me. The weight of his gaze unnerved me.
“There’s no point in talking to you right now, is there? I have to get going anyway. I’m going home.”
“Already? But, I just got here.” His smile was more than a little evil. The last time he’d looked at me like that, the bastard had bit me.
I regarded him warily. “I’ve tried calling your phone for hours. Now I see why you were ignoring me. What you do is your business, Kale. I can’t stop you. But, this stuff shouldn’t be happening in here. You’re fucking looped, and you know it. We should talk when you come down off this high. Not now.”
“I can tell you right now those two dead hookers are likely among the tamest things you’d find in here tonight if you could see behind every closed door.”
I wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Hey, it’s your club. You own it, and you can do whatever the hell you want here. I’m sure you want to deal with this before sunrise so I’ll just leave you to it.”
“What’s the rush?” Kale stepped away from the wall, blocking my way past him. “You know I won’t hurt you.”
“I know you want to. Have you forgotten that I’ve heard this before?”
He reached a hand out towards me as he pulled on my nervous energy. “I won’t hurt you. Not unless you beg me to.”
The memory his words conjured up brought a flaming hot blush to my cheeks. Not so long ago, the intoxicating allure of power had led me and Kale into an unplanned intimate encounter. He’d taken my blood, and I’d all but begged him to bang me on the desk in my office. It hadn’t happened, thanks to Jez’ interruption, but it had come damn close.
He chuckled and took a step that brought him into my personal space. “You’re adorable when you blush.”
I refused to let him intimidate me. The heady wave of energy that surrounded him like an intoxicating perfume teased my senses. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was doing it on purpose, trying to force me to react to him. That wasn’t going to happen. To react would be dangerous, and he knew it as well as I did.
I was tongue-tied as I tried to muster a response. “I got nothin’.”
He was quiet for a minute, regarding me with that dark gaze. His power called to me, reminding me of why Kale and I were rarely alone together anymore. It was dangerous. Forbidden fruit always was so much sweeter. I hated how I reacted to him. Combining our power resembled the worst chemistry experiment possible; our uninhibited impulses exploded as my sensuality made me weak.
Nope. Not happening. If I gave in to the luscious way our power felt, even for a moment, I’d find myself begging Kale to bleed me … and Lord knows what else.
“You don’t trust me, Alexa?”