He finally handed the application back, “Tell her to leave the taser at home.” Nick eyed his brother for a moment before adding, “Kat said the guy she tasered was her boyfriend and the guy who hauled him off in handcuffs was her brother.”
“That boyfriend of hers had a gun. I could smell it.” Devon shrugged, even as his eyes narrowed, “Maybe he wasn’t so good of a boyfriend.”
“You might want to be careful around that one.” Nick shook his head, as even more interest flared within his brother's eyes. “If you want her, then you’re in charge of controlling her while she’s here.” Nick gritted his teeth when he caught a whiff of vampire. Without another word, he took off back up the stairs.
Envy glanced around nervously and saw an elevator she hadn’t noticed before. She raised a delicate eyebrow seeing it had a keypad instead of a simple button. She tapped the pen on the desk wondering how long she should wait. She still needed to find out if Chad really arrested Trevor or just made him leave the club.
She glanced around the desk to try to get her mind off it for a moment. She was a born investigator just like her brother, though Chad tried to hide that fact. Truth was, Chad would make a great detective. He told everyone he was just a beat cop but that wasn’t anywhere near true. He was the leader of the SWAT team.
She finally looked down at the paper she'd absentmindedly picked up. It was a supply receipt. Her gaze trailed across the billing information to see the name at the bottom. She slammed the piece of paper back down on the desk. Devon Santos… damn him. He was one of the freaking owners and had let her think he was just a dancer.
At that moment the office door opened and Devon stepped back in. “When do you want to start?”
*****
Nick rushed across the dance floor and up the stairway leading to the entrance. He pushed open the door with more force than necessary and glared at the man trying to get past security. Since most of the bouncers were shifters, they could smell a vampire even when there were no outward signs.
The fashion sense of a normal vampire around the city seemed to stem from the Goth crowd. In the last few months, however, about ten wearing business suits or just regular club clothes had attempted to get in. That’s the reason they relied so much on scent now rather than appearance. Rule number one… no vampires were to pass without one of the owner’s permission.
“What’s your business here?” Nick asked, trying to sound professional because of their human audience. The man tilted his head to the side and gave a wicked smile that made Nick’s stomach churn.
“I’d like to go in.” Raven said, as his pupils enlarged, using his powers to enthrall anyone that was capable of falling under the vampires compulsion spell.
Nick eyed him up and down. The guy had black hair with dyed neon pink ends that hung low over his face. He was young; probably not even twenty-five, with very pale skin and heavy eyeliner around his eyes. His lips were done up with black lipstick, even his nails were painted black.
“Sorry mister…” Nick stood very still watching the vampire’s every movement. No matter the size or age, vampires were dangerous and not to be underestimated.
“Raven, call me Raven,” the man answered, wondering just how far you could push a jaguar.
“Sorry Raven, we’re at capacity.” Nick explained, as he wrapped his fingers around his two shot derringer, that was deep within the pocket of his leather jacket. It had hollowed-out silver bullets filled with holy water. The corner of his lip hinted at a sadistic smile, as he felt the wooden blade of the bone handle knife attached to his forearm.
“Then why are these people all still standing in line?” Raven asked, seeing the golden tint start to override the jaguar’s irises.
Nick smiled but it felt like he was gnashing his teeth. “They have reservations.”
Raven’s eyes shone in the dim light for a moment looking like they were glowing ominously with inner fire. Nick descended the three steps to street level and placed himself between Raven and the crowd of humans, then he leaned close to Raven’s ear.
“Leave now, vampire,” he whispered with cold calm, as he pressed the point of the wooden dagger against Raven’s ribs where no one would see it. “You’re not getting in.”
Nick straightened up and folded his arms in front of him so it would be but a quick jerk to stab him with the dagger. “I’m sorry sir, have a good evening.”
Raven smiled again, this time almost pleasantly, “Oh, I plan to.”
He turned away from the door and started walking down the street with his hands buried in the pockets of his black jeans and whistling an ominous-sounding tune. When the jaguar leaned down to whisper in his ear, Raven had seen his master slip past them and into the club. He hadn’t seen Kane for some time. In fact, this was the first time in several weeks, even though he’d felt his sire’s eyes on him many times.
What surprised Raven was that Kane would willingly walk into the den of his enemies. The Master had told him the story of being buried alive by the leader of this jaguar clan. Did his master have a plan of his own?
‘They framed you my master, but this time I’m making sure the blood is on their hands.’ Raven whispered to himself before blending in with the shadows. He knew he wouldn’t have to wait long. He could still smell the blood of his latest victim as the scent floated on the breeze toward Moon Dance.
*****
Kat watched as Chad and Jason helped the unfortunate boyfriend out of the club… in handcuffs. They always said curiosity killed the cat, but she just had to find out what they planned on doing with him. If nothing else, just to keep her from wondering about it for the rest of the night.
Going out one of the side doors, she stayed in the shadows as she followed them. With her heightened senses, she didn’t have to be all that close to hear what they were saying.
Chad and Jason blocked Trevor in between his car and the cop car so the jilted boyfriend couldn’t stomp back into the club after Envy. Chad removed the handcuffs knowing he really couldn’t arrest him without a legit reason… that is unless Trevor pushed him.
“I bet it was you who told her I was here!” Trevor growled at Jason. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the hard on you carry for her. Just couldn’t keep your nose out of it, could you?”
Chad threw his arm out when Jason took a threatening step forward. “Jason, I’ve got it from here. Why don’t you go back in and see if you can find Envy? I don’t want her out here until Trevor's gone.”
“You can’t stop me from going back in there. I’m working!” Trevor hissed without thinking.
“Yeah, we saw what the hell you were working on,” Jason’s hands fisted at his sides, but with a pointed look from Chad, he knew he’d best go inside before Trevor wasn’t the only one in cuffs tonight. Spinning on his heels, he tossed one more remark over his shoulder for Trevor's benefit, “You’ll find us on the dance floor… wrapped around each other.”
Trevor shot forward but Chad shoved him back against his car. To Chad’s surprise, Trevor was a lot stronger than he looked and it was a struggle. “I warned you not to be screwing my sister unless you told her who you really were and the real reason you are always hanging out at the clubs. Hell man, Envy thinks you're nothing but a damn frat boy. If you wanted to impress her, then you should have told her the truth. One thing she’s never been able to stomach is a liar. Especially if they are lying to her.”
Kat narrowed