Bloody Freak (A Bloody Series Book #1) (4 page)

    "Yeah but it's not likely. They stick to 1st if they can help it. You don't want to risk shifting half way through over time do you?" She laughed at her own joke.

    "You had better tell me if he does turn out to be Other. I don't care if he's a Were Slug. I'm just worried about you getting caught." Same old, same old.

    "You ready? I'm stressed and I want to get to this party. Is Joseph meeting us there?" Joseph
was Brena squeeze at the moment. He was a Were but she wouldn't hold that against him. He was an alright guy.

    "No." That was all she said.

    "So he's out in the car, or what?"

    "No, were not together anymore." She turned and started walking out t
he door.

    "Wait, you guys broke up? When? Why didn't you tell me?"

    "It happened today. I was too caught up in the attack to mention it." They left the apartment and walked to her car parked on the street.

    "What happened? I thought you liked him.
You guys had the whole peace rally thing going on."

    "We got into an argument at the meeting and he made me look like a fool in front of everybody. I told him to kiss my ass and I left." They drove to the club in silence; both caught up in the days eve
nts. It was so full at the club, they almost got turned away at the door but Brena worked some magic on the bouncer and he waved them in.

    "Wish I could do that," Alex muttered.

    "The price is high, love." Brena walked them to the bar and ordered t
wo shots of Jagermeister. Alex slammed them both and they turned to find a table. Bren made a pair of clowns and a priest vacate their seats. Sitting in silence for a bit, they just watched the people mingle and dance. The Jager was settling into her syst
e
m and it felt good. She felt bad for Bren, who couldn't drink anything other than blood. Vampires digestive tracks shut down eventually after years of inactive use.

    She jumped up. "I want to dance," she yelled. They hopped up, leaving their belongings
in the dark and made their way through the crowd.

    The first guy to approach her was dressed as a poor imitation of Count Dracula. But he could dance, so she let him saddle up to her. Brena was approached by a guy dressed as a cowboy. At about 5' 5" he
was comically shorter than her but good looking and an okay dancer. Bren met her eyes over the large cowboy hat and they shared a laugh.

   As she was spinning around the floor, she spotted a pair of eyes staring from the other side of the room. She look
ed again but lost them. She maneuvered her partner closer to the wall to get a better look. They were gone.  She decided to ignore it, trying to concentrate on the music. Until she saw them again. Blue, like the sky on a summer day. A face attached this t
i
me too. She stared until he disappeared again. It was a him. Very much so. She turned to her partner.

    "I'm thirsty. Could you grab me a drink?"

    "Sure, what would you like? Let me guess? Pina Colada." He looked pretty sure of himself.

    "How did
you know?" She patted his arm, mentally rolling her eyes.

    "I'm good like that," he said and winked. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

    "Wouldn't dream of it." She spun and took off as soon as he left to grab the offending drink. She looked a
round the club for the eyes and the face with the body attached. Brena looked at her questioningly when they made eye contact. She shrugged, unwilling to explain. She felt crazy for searching for a pair of eyeballs. She wasn't that drunk. Almost willing t
o
give up, she turned to sit back down at the table when she smacked into a solid wall that hadn't been there a second ago. She looked up at the wall. It was the eyes, and the face, and the body. Of a God.

   Ethan stared down at Alexandria. She was perfec
tion. He already knew that of course, not only because he had been watching her all night, but because he had been watching her whole life. He had loved her almost as long. As soon as he realized her Lab was responsible for overseeing the attack that occu
r
red today, he knew it spelled danger. When the King had asked him to come and take charge of the investigation, he could either refuse, which he would never do, or dive head first into oblivion. Which now stared up at him through emerald green eyes.  Admi
r
ing, if he read her correctly. It made him warm to think she liked the way he looked. He puffed up a bit and held his hand out to signify the dance floor. She took it and led the way. It was the second time he had touched her skin. As soft as the first. W
h
ich served to remind him why he shouldn't be touching her at all. But it was All Hallows Eve. Nobody was themselves tonight. He took advantage of that by pulling her close and swaying to the music. The poor excuse of a vampire she had been dancing with pr
e
viously walked up, holding a drink in his hand.

    "Baby, what the hell?" He yelled over the music. Ethan pushed him to leave without a backward glance. She didn
’
t even notice. She was still staring up at him. Her black hair fell in waves  down around he
r shoulders and she wore a red dress he could only describe as scandalous. The hooded red cape gave away her costume. Red Riding Hood. She must have noticed his assessment of her attire. She blushed prettily and he sucked in a breath.

    "Naughty Red Rid
ing Hood," she exclaimed.

    "Yes. I see," he said, and she grinned.

    "What are you supposed to be?" She looked him up and down as they danced.

He hadn't actually dressed for this trip. He came on a whim as soon as he realized she was near. Even thoug
h she registered as human to his kind, he could find her anywhere, he knew.

    "Um, Sexy Biker?" He was wearing a leather jacket.

    "Yes. I see it now." She sounded like that was the first thing she had seen. He was reaching a dangerous level of happiness.

    "You come here often?" He cringed. That was pathetic, but it made her laugh so he decided it was a good thing.

    "Every
chance I can get actually. I love to dance." She sure did. It showed in her tight form and her graceful moves.

    "I see." It was all he could come up with. She spun away, showing him a tempting view of her backside. He was so dead. It was getting harder
to remember why he wasn
’
t supposed to be here.

    "So, since I've never seen you here before, I take it you
’
re from out of town." She swayed.

    "Yes. Just got in today actually. I'm starting a new job." He dared put a hand to her waist. She drew closer.

    "So you'll be here awhile?"

    "Forever if you want." He whispered unthinkingly, as he bent to catch a whiff of her hair.

    "What?" She turned.

    "Oh, I mean…
Shit." He was such a tool. But she just grinned. It seemed she liked it when he said s
omething asinine. He could wax poetic all night if she wanted.

    "You
’
re really cute. You wanna grab a seat and a few drinks and chat?" She turned to look around for something. Brena probably. Nurse maid, curse her. If she spotted him it was all over.

“
W
hy don
’
t we just keep dancing for now?”

“
Sure. I could dance all night.”
She spun around him. He barely had time to keep up with her. They continued dancing and chatting through the next song, when he spotted Brena searching for Alex among the crowd.

   
"Shit. I have to go.”

    “
Now? We just got started,”
she pouted prettily. He hesitated but looked up to see Brena closing in.

     “
I
’
m sorry. I would like to see you again. Maybe later tonight? I
’
ll be free in a few hours."

    "Sure, what time? I'll be
up till dawn." She smiled at her private joke. He smiled too.

    "3 o
’
clock sound fine?" That would give her time to ditch Brena hopefully.

    "Yeah, I'll just come back if we end up leaving. See you then." She ran her hand down the side of his face. T
hen she turned and walked back to the bar. He watched as she ordered two more shots of Jagermeister before fleeing out the side door into the night.

Alex downed the shots and was wiping her face when Brena found her.

    "Where the hell have you been?" Sh
e asked.

    "Me? You were MIA too." She walked back to the table.

    "I was making out with the cowboy, till I got a crick in my neck, so I stopped. I couldn't find you and I got scared."

    "You worry too much about me. Christ, Bren, I'm fourty-eight
years old. I'm quite capable of dancing on my own." She crossed her arms, until she realized she looked like a pouting teenager.

    "Yes, I'm aware of your age. I mean I really couldn
’
t find you. Like you were not in the building. I looked and smelled and
listened. You were gone." She stared as if she was trying to get Alex to see how serious she was.

    "Well, maybe you
’
re getting old too." She stuck her tongue out. Then giggled. It worked, Brena smiled. Thank god she didn't ask what she had been up to.
She had been dancing and making small talk with her future husband.
Sigh. 
He was just her type too. Beautiful and rugged at the same time. Tall, dark and handsome. And those blue eyes.

    "What's wrong with you? You trashed already?" Brena put her hand
to Alex
’
s forehead. She smacked at her.

    "Quit that. I'm buzzed. That
’
s all. Why, you jealous?" Brena couldn
’
t get drunk like she could.

    "Maybe." She smiled. "So I can Jedi mind trick and you can get drunk. Fair enough I guess." They laughed over their amazing attributes. Until it occurred to Alex that she couldn't marry Mister Blue Eyes. For one, she didn
’
t know his name. Two, she did
n
’
t know what he was. He didn't know what she was. Shit.

    "What are we going to do, Alex?"

    "About what?!" Alex panicked.

    "About the attack today. If we get outted this way, it will be all over for us. No more clubbing. No more 2nd shift job at t
he Lab. No more peace rallies. We'll be on the run. Or dead. Staked by the first Buffy wannabe that comes into our apartments at noon."

    “
Why? I
’
m not trapped in my house at noon,”
she pointed out.

    “
You work 2
nd
shift. They could come in at eight in
the morning and get you. You wouldn
’
t even notice.”

    "Wow. You
’
re a fucking downer. I'm not partying with you anymore." Talk about depressing.

    "It's the truth. This is bad. Wait till they start analyzing the footage. They'll see it
’
s for real. I gi
ve it a week before shit hits the fan. Then we'll have to run, whether you like it or not." She stared off into the crowd.

    "Whatever." Now she knew she was sleeping with Mister Blue Eyes tonight. After that speech she needed a pallet cleanser. Some was
h board abs would do the trick. She checked her cell in the basket. It was only one o
’
clock. "I'm getting more liquor. You want something?"

    "Yeah, get me a pina colada." She flipped Alex off for the pointless offer.

    Ethan sat in his car a block fr
om the club. He could have gone back to his apartment but he wanted to be closer to her. He hoped she got away from Brena and he prayed she didn't. He wasn
’
t supposed to cavort with her. Saints, she would hate him come tomorrow when she found out he was h
e
r new boss. He knew she was close with her current boss, Ken Farley. Maybe really close. He wasn
’
t sure, but the suspicion was enough to make him glad the man had been fired to make room for him. He smiled at the thought. No competition. Damn it! He wasn
’
t
competing over Alex with a mortal. She was off limits.
Yeah, tell it to my dick.
Why did she have to be Naughty Red Riding Hood? Why not a banana costume or a giant bottle of ketchup? He waited until he saw Alex and Brena leaving the club with a cowboy in
tow between them. His disappointment was strong but he told himself it was for the best she hadn
’
t lost her guardian. Then Alex leaned in and kissed Brena on the cheek, and she left, dragging the cowboy with her. Alex stayed, waiting by the door.
Uh oh. N
ow what?