Authors: Karice Bolton
“It was the right thing to do. That’s all,” I replied flatly.
“I know, my dear. But not everyone would have been strong enough to make that decision,” she sighed. “The consequences of that decision were heavy. The easy way would have been to turn your own set of mortals. You see?”
“Well, I appreciate your confidence in my ability, but I think most would have chosen the same,” I whispered.
“I know you do,” Tom said.
Unsure of what to say, I uneasily moved my hand up and down my leg. The fidgeting was next, if Athen didn’t get me out of here. Too much certainty was being placed on me, and I knew exactly how weak I was.
Athen still smiling, remembered to bring up a very important question that we both had thought about the night before.
“We ran into a little girl who had been turned,” Athen began.
Both Tom and Becky cringed, which seemed to be the normal reaction.
“We were able to locate her parents, but we weren’t able to change them,” I said.
“We were able to change her, though. She’s at a home up north, but we need to find a place for her that isn’t necessarily with our kind…” his voice trailed off.
“I see,” Tom said.
“Do you know of anyone who might be able to help?” I asked.
Becky came over to me, and placed her hand on my knee, smiling.
“I think we do, my dear,” Becky told me. ‘It just might take a little finessing.”
“Oh, thank you!” I exclaimed, looking over at Athen.
“We’ll be in touch on that,” Becky said.
We learned what we needed to know. Azazel was working with only one other Master, and I had to watch my back. These were important pieces of information.
Athen stood up from the couch, thanking them for their time. Becky scurried off to the kitchen returning with a Tupperware container full of cookies.
“Thank you, Becky,” I said laughing. “I must’ve had it written all over my face.”
“You did,” she giggled.
Following Becky and Tom back to the foyer, I felt a renewed sense of hope. If Azazel wasn’t being viewed in his own world as a victor just yet, then there was no reason why I should see him like that either. If nothing else, this trip gave me the last nudge of confidence I needed.
Turning to Becky, her blue eyes filled with the same expression of hope that I had seen from many others. Hugging her good-bye, she whispered, “Believe in yourself, but don’t get caught up in your chase for Lilith.”
Athen placed his hand my shoulder, and I slowly let my embrace of Becky go.
“Thanks again for the cookies,” I mumbled, sheepishly. “And putting things in perspective,” I said shaking my head.
“Thanks again, you two. You’ve done wonders,” Athen quipped as he opened the front door.
We walked outside, and I felt like paradise was just around the corner, as long as I could lead us to victory. The sun sprayed down over the beautiful hills, accentuating the loveliness of the northwest. The greenness of everything sparkled with lushness that only the northwest rainfall could provide. It was a lovely sight. Stepping back into our Jeep with Matilda, I realized a piece of the heaviness had finally evaporated.
As we pulled back on the main road, headed to our home, I absorbed the surrounding beauty of the glistening sound that led us where we needed to be. Matilda was already snoring lightly on the backseat, and I let my mind wander to what a wonderful time it would be, when we no longer had these looming battles ahead.
“Now’s as good a time as any,” Athen sighed.
“For what?” I asked.
“Cyril and Arie wanted to hit a club in Seattle that apparently is a hang out for the newly-turned and a possible recruitment center,” he replied.
“Sounds beyond strange.” I said.
“Arie was hoping we would go, turn a few individuals, and call in the backup. She thought if we could get a swarm of our type in there, we could turn most of them,” he chuckled. “I think she’s really getting into this.”
“I have a feeling that I have no say in this, so just fill me in on the plan and let’s go for it,” I said, watching the scenery pass me by, wishing I could have stayed in my earlier state of happiness.
“You know what you’re wearing?” Arie’s voice hollered down the hallway.
My head was stuck in the closet as far as it would go, as I went through piles and piles of clothes that I had thrown everywhere in my frenzy to find the right club attire. Since I enjoyed jeans and sweaters the most, it was going to be a difficult challenge.
“I think I’m on to something.” My voice muffled by the clothes spread everywhere. I knew it would only be a matter of seconds before Arie appeared to help with, what she would consider, an emergency.
Spinning around holding a black knit dress with cutouts on the sleeves, I was certain this would be acceptable. Smiling, Arie grabbed the skimpy dress and shook her head.
“Not gonna happen, my dear,” she said grinning. “Come with me. I’ve got the perfect thing!”
“What’s wrong with that one? It’s a tight black dress, for crying out loud,” I whined, knowing Arie loved the challenge.
“It’s not very…” She stopped herself.
“What?” I stomped my foot, spraying t-shirts into the air.
“It makes you look like an old lady trying to be cool,” she said grimacing.
“Great. Do you know how many times I’ve worn that out?” I picked up the nearest piece of clothing and threw it at her. “Guess that would’ve had more impact if it weren’t cashmere I was throwing at you,” I pouted.
She grabbed my hand and dragged me down the hallway to what she considered the gateway to style.
Opening up her closet doors, I was in awe. I had never really stopped to look in her closet before, and it was pretty impressive. Everything had been color coordinated, and there was so much of it. I finally saw where all of those shopping bags she’s brought back landed. There was an entire wall of purses, one wall full of shoes, and that didn’t even begin to cover the huge chest she had in the middle of the closet with everything inside of it. It made my small mountains of clothing spread out on my closet floor seem really miniscule.
“Wow, Arie. This is pretty massive. I don’t think you need to go shopping ever again,” I said, shaking my head in amazement.
“Very funny! Now, let’s see…” she said, walking straight to her red section. My insides started turning, as I realized my plan to blend in and go unnoticed was quickly dissipating into thin air.
“I’d say this one will work perfect!” she exclaimed so joyfully. I knew there was no swaying her. As she shoved the deep crimson dress into my hands, I didn’t have a chance to see what made it so special.
“Alright! I get it!” I huffed, and before I even got back out of the closet, she threw a clear plastic box to me, holding the shoes she wanted me to sport as well.
“There! Now you’re set!” she said.
“Gotcha. I’ll go get dressed,” I said smiling. Only for Arie would I do this. Her happiness is infectious, and I never want to let her down once she is in project mode.
Getting back to my room, I hoped I could get dressed before Athen arrived. Throwing the dress on the bed, I had to admire the beauty of it. The dress was definitely going to be tight fitting, and the plunging neckline wasn’t going to help me in the ‘trying to stay discreet’ scenario either. There was ruching along the sides, and truthfully, it was really beautiful. Slipping my sweater over my head, I grabbed the dress and slithered it over my body, feeling the softness of the material as I got situated. Kicking off my boots, I reached for the shoebox she had tossed me, only to let out a chuckle - a pair of Jimmy Choos.
Slipping my foot into the last shoe, I heard Athen’s voice ring down the hallway, and immediately, my cheeks began to flush. I hadn’t been this over the top in so long, but I had no idea why the embarrassment began to flood me. Looking up as he turned into our room told me everything I needed to know. His jaw dropped to the floor, and a smile spread across his lips signaling that Arie was right.
“Nice,” he whispered, as he came over to me. “This came from your closet?” He glanced at the avalanche of clothing I had created.
“Nope,” I replied, sheepishly.
“Well, my angel… You are absolutely stunning.” His grin was wider than I had seen for quite some time, and I secretly thanked Arie. His arms wrapped around my waist, as he pulled me towards him.
“You like it, huh?” I giggled.
“More than you know,” he whispered into my ear. “Maybe we don’t have to go out tonight?” His hands began sliding down the back of my dress, as he gently began kissing my neck.
“There’s a possibility that we.” His lips interrupted my words, as I felt his mouth meeting mine. Wrapping my arms around his neck, he picked me up and moved me to our bed.
“You’re the only one I’d let get away with this, you know,” I muttered, teasing.
“I better be.” His lips tracing my throat so gently I almost forgot why it was we were going to the club tonight.
Feeling my fingertips graze his shoulders, I pulled his head down to mine. Staring into his brilliant green eyes sent shivers up my body, as his eyes filled with the desire we’d both been doing so well at squelching.
“Guys! Come on!” Arie’s voice rang out.
“Wow, some things never change,” I said laughing, pretending to push him off. His head collapsed on me. Feeling his breath spread lightly over my skin, created a pull almost impossible to resist.
“Tell me about it.” He gave me one quick kiss and rolled off. “We’ve got a big night ahead of us.”
“Club Sinister, here we come,” I said sighing. “Not my idea of a fun time.”
“Especially compared to what we were just doing!” Athen’s voice was so sexy it was hard to focus on the task at hand, and it was a pretty serious one at that.
***
Club Sinister was in the middle of downtown Seattle, and the building it was housed in matched the name. The concrete block building seemed to be the most imposing structure on the street. It was painted black and had red spattered lettering that spelled out SINISTER. The line of people wrapping around the building made my heart sink. Not only did I not want to be here tonight, I didn’t want to have to wait in a line. I could already feel that Arie’s hunch about this club was correct. There was a mix of mortals and dark ones in there. It seemed to be a hot bed of dark demon activity. Most of the clubs in Seattle were a fun mix of dancing and socializing, but this one just had a different vibe.
Athen was paying for parking at the credit card station, and my nerves slowly began making their way through my body. The longer I stared at the incredibly huge line of eager club goers, the more I wanted to go back home.
“Hey, Ana! Snap out of it. We don’t have to wait in line. We’ve got a VIP booth,” Cyril said, proud of his accomplishment. “I knew I’d never hear the end of it if we dragged you guys here and didn’t have some sort of a positive out of it.”
“I’m that transparent? Thanks, Cy. You have no idea the thoughts that were going through my mind,” I replied.
Suddenly, I realized that things were very breezy behind me. Then to my horror, Athen came up behind me and pulled my dress down.
“You forgot to pull it down when you got out of the car,” Athen said laughing.
“Are you serious? And you guys didn’t say anything?” Mortified didn’t even begin to cover the emotion that I was feeling.
“I didn’t see! I swear!” Arie was laughing too hard for me to be mad at her or any of them.
“Well my goal for the evening, besides scoping out potential scum, is keeping my dress over my rear. That should be yours too, people. I need all the help I can get, apparently,” I said, grinning. “I can’t believe that happened.”
We were at the crosswalk, heading over to the entrance to the night’s festivities, when I got the first chill. With every step closer to the door, the music became louder and the thump of the bass echoed through the atmosphere. As we made it to the bouncer, Athen reached for my hand and squeezed it. I looked up into the bouncer’s eyes only to see death looking back at me. To distract myself, I quickly steadied my glance at the concrete walkway that had been covered up with a shoddy black carpet.
“We’re on the list, under Bezda.” Cyril acted as if this was his regular weekend routine. I was grateful he had his stuff together because, as of now, I didn’t know what to expect at a place like this. This club was literally crawling with dark demons. The humans mixed in, created more of a complication for our night’s activities, but it was still possible. I reminded myself we were only supposed to scope things out and call in the other white demons to get the majority of turns completed.
The bouncer opened up the velvet ropes, and we were escorted through the doors, leaving behind a booing crowd since we skirted having to wait in line. The large black doors opened up to another sea of black. The only light source was the red and purple lasers bouncing off the mirrored walls. The music was deafening but definitely resonating with the crowd. Every beat of the bass was like a direct line to the living, creating a dazed state for many of the dancers. Athen held my hand and started inserting his thoughts since none of us could hear each other.
“
Let’s follow Cy and Arie before we start sniffing around. I think this place is hopping with far more demons than any of us realized.”
Nodding, I let go of Athen’s hand and followed closely to Arie as she made her way to the booth in the corner near the dance floor. There was a silver bucket of champagne waiting for us that I did my best not to run into, as I scooted into the booth next to Arie. Cyril and Athen landed with a thud in the booth. Their eyes were dancing around the club as if they were expecting the second coming.