Then the tone in her voice struck him, the caring, concerned note threading through the honeyed timbre. He looked up to find her closer and stiffened at the buzz of power emanating from her. The wrongness he always felt in the presence of a vampire brushed against his skin. Unlike before, though, this didn’t feel too bad. Just different, like the zip of electricity in the air before a storm, but not the sick to the stomach feeling he normally got.
Focus, he told himself as his c*ck twitched. Getting a hard-on with an unconscious girl in his arms was just crass, even if she wasn’t the object of interest. It wouldn’t make any difference; the guys -- and Misty -- on the door crew would still give him shit over it.
His brows snapped together into a frown, and he took his frustration out on the only available target. “What do you care? Or do you get attached? Sort of like keeping a pet pig to fatten up for Christmas?”
The tension in the alley mounted as he stared into deep, chocolate brown eyes.
Flecks of gold danced in their depths and the tiny lines in the corners -- she must have gotten those before she was turned, he mused absently -- indicated she smiled a lot. Not at him though. For him her eyes were cold, and her anger swirled around her like a cloak. “I don’t play with my food. I’m strictly a takeout sort of girl.” Head held high, she stalked out of the alley.
* * *
The image of her autumnal curls bouncing across her shoulders, her straight back and the siren’s curve of her ass -- oh, God, what an ass -- stayed with Tiny all evening. The girl was quickly seen to, checked out behind the top bar by Jac, a siren with healer training, then bundled off to the nearest emergency room to comply with human regulations the club had to abide by to keep their license.
It was one of the ways humanity tried to put a leash on the Night Races; the only way they could. Force wouldn’t work, and there was the saying the pen was mightier than the sword. If that was the case then bureaucracy was a Challenger tank.
Tiny stood behind the main desk for a while and watched the stragglers wander in. There were always a few who decided late in the evening that a night in Moonlight & Magic was what the doctor ordered. This meant someone had to be on the door to make sure nothing… undesirable snuck in under the radar.
On a normal night Tiny didn’t mind. It was indoors and out of the cold, always a bonus as far as the demon was concerned. Tonight though, he was edgy and fractious, and he didn’t know why.
A sigh escaped him as he admitted the lie. That vamp chick had messed up his karma today, what with her attitude, mouth-watering figure and not sitting nicely in the little box he’d mentally put her in.
Vamps needed to stay the bad guy, not start beating up other -- admittedly a**hole -- vampires and being someone he could get to like. They were the enemy.
Demons and vampires didn’t get on. Ever. There was an enmity between the two races that had been running so long no one questioned it anymore.
He didn’t need to get soft and start seeing vamps as people. That way led to madness and somebody getting killed, something his conscience wouldn’t allow.
Especially if it was him. No, vamps were the bad guys and he couldn’t let his guard slip because of a pretty face, or a hot body. Bloody women, trouble whatever their species, Tiny grumbled to himself and pushed off from the heater. Perhaps a patrol outside would help settle him down…
The doors next to him burst open and Misty piled through. “Tiny!” Relief flashed stark across her face. “We need you on the floor. Knuckles is on the warpath. We got a vamp inside somewhere.”
A vampire. In the club.
“Crap! How the f**k did she get in…” It had to be her. He didn’t know any other vampire who had the ability to get past the door controls. Certainly none he’d seen recently could, but this one… She walked and talked human, too human. Most people, even paranormals, would have taken her to be mortal.
He flicked a glance at Janie, the girl on the desk. “Ring up and get someone on the door,” he ordered and followed Misty back into the club.
“She?” Misty asked, as they made their way through the crowded club to the top bar where head bouncer Knuckles was pacing. Tiny took one look at him and grimaced.
Knuckles was furious, the Gargoyle’s rage all but setting the air around him ablaze.
“Yeah, caught a vamp hunter dealing with a bloodsucker in an alley earlier.” His voice low, he guided her around a group of clubbers, his hand settling in the small of her back in a protective gesture. As she flicked her hair over her shoulder, she looked up into his face, a wry smile of amusement on her face.
Tiny winced. Of all the women in the club, Misty was one of the few who didn’t need protection. From anything. “Sorry, force of habit. My mother did try and instill some manners in me.”
“Not a problem…” Her tone was dismissive. “Tell me about the vamp. She took out another vampire? I thought only their warrior caste were allowed to do that.”
Tiny’s shoulder lifted in a small shrug. “Didn’t see the huge-ass tats those guys normally have so guess not. I’m no expert on vamps. Listen…” He glanced at Knuckles wearing a groove in the floor behind the top bar. “Head the big guy off for me, would you? I want to catch this chick and get her out of here. She might be a vamp, but she did us a favor by taking out that bloodsucker, and I’d rather not explain why we had to clean a hunter’s blood off the walls.”
Surprise flickered in Misty’s eyes. Hunters were one of the few “police” forces in the paranormal world, and very much creatures of urban myth. Most people went all their lives without seeing one, but everyone knew someone who’d had dealings with one. They seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.
“Yeah, sure,” she sighed. “Make it snappy though, because he’ll see through me in about three minutes flat, okay?”
One of the few men in the place tall enough, Tiny dropped a kiss on the Valkyrie’s temple. “Misty, you’re a star, love you to bits.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever…” She flicked her fingers in dismissal, but he could see the pleasure in her eyes as he turned to disappear into the crowd.
* * *
They were a couple, had to be. Cassia watched the little interchange between the demon bouncer she’d seen earlier and a woman, also one of the security team, from the other side of the club.
Not just a woman though. Cass recognized a Valkyrie when she saw one. Which meant tall, dark and demony was spoken for and, interesting as he might be, Cass was not pissing about with a Valkyrie’s property. Her lifespan may have been extended until she was virtually immortal, but unlike a true immortal, Cass was still allergic to having her head ripped off.
Doomed is the kyn who ever fell under the lying demon’s spell…
The old chant running through her mind, Cass sipped her drink, secure in the darkness of her booth. A minor aversion charm dangled from the bracelet around her wrist, the soft lavender light telling her it was active and keeping the cattle away as she watched the goings-on. She didn’t want to be bothered, and the way she was dressed --
knee-high black boots, mid-thigh black leather skirt and a black leather top under her fitted black leather jacket -- would gather too much attention.
The outfit wasn’t intended to be alluring. The boots were sensible heels, not stilettos. The skirt was slightly flared in case she had to run, and the jacket only there to conceal she was packing heat.
“Maybe someone threw a lust spell in the water or something,” she mused, studying the bar with interest as yet another guy paused for a second to look at her. She ignored him, watching the bar staff to see if she could spot any charms or spells being slipped into the drinks. A girl never knew her luck; she might be able to pick up more than the bounty on the three vamps if she could uncover an establishment like this breaking the law.
Snagging one of the cards off the table, she checked the name… Moonlight & Magic. She’d heard of this place. Something about a club for paranormals run by paranormals, but mainstream rather than the usual seedy dives warded six ways to Sunday to keep the humans out. No, this place actively encouraged humans, allowed them to see the Night Races up close and personal…
Everything but vampires. Cassia’s memory kicked in and provided the little detail which had been tugging at the back of her mind, trying like hell to get her attention. This place didn’t allow vampires in any way, shape or form. Cass swallowed, feeling a chill go up her spine. Not only that, they were reputed to enforce their rules with violence.
“Crap.” Tipping her head back, Cass drained the last of her drink and shivered as the whiskey burned all the way down. There was something about a good whiskey she couldn’t give up, even though she couldn’t get drunk anymore, which was a pain in the ass -- some days she’d kill to be able to get completely plastered and forget her woes for a night. She’d even welcome the bloody hangover afterwards. Vampires didn’t get drunk on human alcohol, and even though she could get the same effect drinking Fae blood, Cass didn’t think trying to cadge a meal in here would go down well.
No, discretion was the better part of valor, Cass told herself as she slid off her seat and stood. Her hands automatically smoothed down the back of the skirt to make sure she wasn’t flashing her panties. The aversion charm was good, but not that good.
Out of nowhere a hand clamped on her wrist and twisted that same charm. A silent pop pressed against Cassia’s skin, telling her it had just gone dormant. “Hey!” She started to turn but her movement was cut off, and she was hauled back into a hard, male body instead.
“If you want to keep your pretty little head attached to your body, I suggest you shut up and do exactly as you’re told.”
It was him. Cass didn’t need to turn around and see his face; his voice was instantly recognizable. Everything female in her woke up and took notice. A shiver ran down her spine and blood raced to her cheeks as her p**sy clenched in anticipation.
Her body was getting itself ready for his, and all he’d done was growl a warning in her ear. Jeez, what the f**k was wrong with her?
Cass gritted her teeth. She didn’t know much about demons other than the “kyn good, demon bad” thing, but she sure hoped they didn’t have the same keen sense of smell as vampires did. Otherwise he would be able to smell her interest, and that would be embarrassing.
No such luck. A very male sound of surprise and appreciation rumbled through the big chest behind her, and a chuckle sounded in her ear. “Baiting the tiger there, doll, or should I say baiting the demon… And believe me, you don’t want to do either.”
She didn’t, she really didn’t. Vamps and demons didn’t mix. No way, no how.
Cass knew that, but her body wasn’t getting the message and clenched tight with yearning. Instinct told her he would be an excellent lover. Something about him said he knew how to please a woman. Cass tilted her head back against his shoulder to look up, her eyes heavy-lidded and sultry. “Perhaps I do…”
Heat flared in his eyes for a second. Heat and something else, something dark and dangerous, which made the fluttering in Cass’s stomach a hundred times worse.