Angel of Darkness (The Fallen #1)(20)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Nicole eased off the motorcycle. “Thanks for—”

He turned toward her with his eyes glittering. “We get weapons here.”

Weapons? They were in front of a bar, not—

“Weapons,” his gaze swept her, “and clothes for you.” He left the motorcycle, not glancing back, and caught her hand as they pushed through the crowd. No standing in line for her angel. Just a determined stride forward.

The bouncer at the door was too smart to try and stop him, or maybe the guy saw the hint of fang she flashed.

But then they were inside. Music blared. Smoke drifted in the air and the scent of—

Blood.

Nicole froze. The scent of blood was everywhere. She hadn’t smelled so much as a drop outside, but in the bar—everywhere.

“What? Haven’t you ever been to a feeding room before?” He murmured. “Would have thought it was your kind of place.”

Nausea and need tightened her belly. “F-feeding room.” Right. She knew what these places were. She’d heard about them. They were—

“Your one-stop dining shop for vamps,” he said, his gaze sweeping the crowd. She followed his stare and saw that a woman had a man pinned against the far wall, and her fangs were in his throat. Two men fed off another woman in the corner. A few feet away, a female vamp bit the wrist of the blond with her.

Blood.

“I don’t … like feeding rooms,” she managed. Her teeth were burning, an instinctive response to all the blood. Like a dog salivating. Want. Need.

But the prey in feeding rooms—they were expendable. Used, tossed away. Killed.

“I’m not …” Like this. Right. Who was she kidding?

His steady gaze—once again that bright blue—seemed to say the same thing.

“Why are we here?” She demanded. Weapons. That’s what he’d said, but the only deadly weapons she saw in that place were fangs.

“You’ve got demons after you. And I don’t quite have the skills I used to possess.” His head cocked and his attention drifted to the bar. “If we’re going to fight the ones coming after you, we’ll need to be armed.”

Right. Because she wasn’t exactly kick-ass. He’d probably noticed that. “How did you even know this place was here?”

But he was already walking toward the bar as he tossed his answer back to her. “Oh, you’d be surprised at the things I’ve seen.”

No, she wouldn’t be.

Keenan reached the bar. He flattened his hands on the surface. “Max.”

The bartender glanced up with one brow raised. Keenan knew the guy’s name?

“I want to see the goods in the back room,” Keenan said.

Nicole put her elbow on the bar and let her stare dart around the room. The humans there had come in willingly, but with one bite, the vamps had taken control of them. There’d be no running back home and telling friends about the cool new club now. From here on out, the humans—those who made it out alive—would say nothing without the vampire’s permission.

Control.

She hated it.

“Listen, buddy,” the bartender snapped, “I don’t know you and I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about—”

His voice choked off.

Nicole glanced back at him. Keenan had gone over the bar. His hand was around the guy’s throat, and he was squeezing, hard.

“Don’t bullshit me,” Keenan ordered. “I know about the stash, and I need weapons.”

The angel wasn’t so good with finesse. Nicole cleared her throat. The bartender was a vamp. Maybe she could deal with him. She flashed a smile. A vampy one. “What my boyfriend means—sorry, he’s still new to the scene—is that I want to make a purchase from you.”

The vamp’s black eyes measured her, and he gave a jerky nod, as much of a nod as he could manage right then, anyway. “I’ll deal …” He rasped. “With … you.”

“You’ll deal with us both, Max,” Keenan promised as he shoved the guy back.

“How do you know me?” Max asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Word about you gets around.”

Okay, that sounded ominous.

Max straightened up quickly, cast a quick eye around the bar, and then shoved his thumb toward the door on the left. “This way.”

They couldn’t go that way fast enough. That blood smell was getting to her. Her control had never been that good and right then, that scent was sweeter than any candy she’d ever had.

She hurried behind Max and Keenan, her stare quickly sweeping back once more and—

Oh, shit.

Nicole’s eyes met a pitch-black stare that belonged to a vampire she’d hoped to never see again. Handsome face, arctic black eyes, and a smile so cold and cruel …

A lover. A killer.

Connor.

Her breath seemed to choke in her lungs. Then Connor lifted his hand and crooked his finger at her, urging her closer. Bastard.

She spun on her heel and hurried after Keenan.

But she knew the vampire would follow her. Damn him. She knew.

Some monsters never stopped hunting.

Not until you shoved a stake into their hearts.

CHAPTER FIVE

Max pulled out the gun and offered it, handle first, to Nicole. She took it, her hold hesitant, but the gun felt solid in her grip. Almost … reassuring.

“Silver bullets,” he said, giving a nod. “It works best on wolf shifters, but all them damn animals will have some reaction to it. Fire and they’ll go down.” His lips kicked up a bit. “At least for a little while. Long enough for you to take their heads.”

Her lashes lifted and she met his stare. “Long enough,” she repeated quietly. The words came out weak because it seemed like her throat might be closing up.

Connor could come in at any moment. They didn’t have time to waste. “How much?” Why was she even asking? She had about one hundred bucks shoved in her back pocket. Well, she’d had it shoved there last night. She hadn’t even checked today.

Max ran his tongue over his fangs. “Well, now …”

“We’re not worried about shifters.” Keenan took the gun from her and slammed it back down on the wooden table. “What have you got that will take out a demon?”

Max’s black eyes narrowed. “That would depend on just how strong your demon is.” He shrugged. “If you’re talking low level, maybe one or two …” He lifted his claws. “These will work well enough.”