Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“Where is everyone?”
Lucien parked half on the sand. Coming around, he opened my door, curling his hand over mine. “Let me show you.”
Lucien and I crossed the parking lot into a charming open-air beach club called Damu. A tiki hut-style bar surrounded by white marble tabletops, plush cocoon chairs, and cabanas proved you had to get further away from Regalia to leave luxury behind. It was stunning, and completely empty. There wasn’t a soul behind the bar, and from the silence, they weren’t knocking around in the back either.
“Lucien, they’re closed. Is it okay that we’re here?”
“More than okay.” Lucien led us around the bar, hand secured in mine. My confusion grew as we entered the kitchen, heading straight for the freezer.
“This is around the time you start dropping more hints.”
“Here’s one.” Lucien pointed behind us. “The real walk-in freezer is over there.”
“Wait, what—?”
Whipping open the metal door, a long black curtain greeted us.
“Um, did you convince me to skip class, so you could drive me out of town and take me to your kill spot in an empty bar?”
The curtains swallowed him. “Come find out,” floated through.
Parting the fabric, I slipped inside, foot coming down on the top stair. Scant light from the black-tinted wall sconces led way to... where?
Lucien climbed down with assured steps, stopping before a velvet-covered door. A keypad beeped under his fingers, drawing me closer—though a part of me was screaming time to leave. Reaching up, his hand sought mine. I grasped it without thinking—without giving my jangling nerves another thought.
I was here with Lucien. There was nothing to be afraid of.
A soft click sounded and we went inside. I gasped.
Black and red swirling patterned carpet clung to my shoes and spread around the long black columns, red leather couches, black ottomans, and dance floor. More velvet blanketed the walls and black crystal chandeliers worked half-heartedly to light the dim space. Gazing around the occupants, dark was exactly how they wanted it.
Lucien, Lucien, and Lucien as far as the eye could see. Men in Victorian dress, women in tight corset tops, chokers, pale skin, glasses of gleaming red liquid, and sharpened canines. They mingled by the bar, swayed on the dancefloor, and greeted Lucien with nods and raised glasses.
It was a club. A vampire club.
“I never said I was the only one.” Lucien grazed the small of my back. “What do you think?”
“I don’t understand.” I flitted about trying to take in everything at once. “You said you hated these underground vampire clubs. What happened to those fools mock and exaggerate the torment of true nightstalkers,” I mimicked. “Their silly little games are nothing more than foreplay for slightly taboo, but still bland, sex.”
I no sooner finished the sentence that we rounded a couch and fell on a man with long, curly white hair spilling his drink down a woman’s chest. She tore her dress, breasts springing free, and arched her back as the man licked every drop off her. I ran into Lucien beating a retreat.
Chuckling, he wrapped me in his arms, leading me to the dance floor. “All those things are true. In those clubs they mock us and they don’t do it well.” A soft, bluesy tune flowed from the speakers, calling us to a gentle sway. Lucien pulled me close, tucking me under his chin as we gave in. “So many things you’ve seen and heard aren’t true.”
“Like what?” I asked, resting my head on his chin.
“We don’t chase virgins through the streets, sinking our fangs in their necks. At least, we don’t anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Same reason you get your meat from a supermarket rather than tromping through the woods with a rifle. With time comes modern conveniences—we call them blood banks. We also aren’t bats in undead human form. We still prefer to sleep at night and wake during the day. For those without shaman-blessed talismans, they gather in places like this to escape the sunlight and be with our kind. And if we’re all going to be here, we might as well drink, dance, and have a little fun.”
I avoided looking at a couch in the back where a couple was having a lot of fun. “How often do you come?”
“Once a week, sometimes more. Just to hang out with friends,” he said. “No need to be jealous.”
“I’m not,” I protested, though I relaxed in his hold. “You go every week but you’ve never mentioned this place. If this is something you keep just for yourself, why did you bring me?”
“Because you haven’t stopped and taken a breath in five months, Luna.” I blinked up into his eyes. “I know you don’t think past crossing the names off your list. Your life stops after you’ve satisfied your vengeance, so why shouldn’t it stop now? Why laugh, or love, or care?”
I pulled away. “Lucien, I don’t expect you to under—”