Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(34)
Author: Erin McCarthy

The first thing out of the one’s mouth was, "What the ?What happened to her? Did something bite her?"

Cara just shook her head.Bryan said, "I found her like this. I don’t know what happened."

Ten minutes later, they had Dawn hooked up to an IV, settled on the gurney under a heated blanket, and were wheeling her back out to transport her to the hospital.

Cara stood in the doorway for a minute, watching them retreat. She rubbed her forehead and turned to Kelsey, who was in the back of the room sitting on a stool. "Kelsey, I guess we need to find our guard. I want to go to the hospital and make sure Dawn’s going to be okay."

"She’ll be fine."

The voice made her jump. It was a man, coming from behind her in the dressing room. Cara turned slowly and came face to face with a dark-haired man in an expensive suit, a cigarette burning in his hand. He wasn’t good looking so much as he was striking, and the smile on his lips was crooked, devious.

"Did you do this to Dawn?" This had to be him. The one Kelsey had been talking about. Cara could feel his coldness as he shrugged his shoulder.

"Yes." He took a drag off his cigarette and blew smoke in her direction. "And even though I lost it for a minute or two, I’m not going to apologize for it. We both enjoyed ourselves before she passed out. She’ll be fine after they give her some blood back. I bet she even begs me for it again."

Cara’s stomach roiled. She wasn’t entirely sure what he had done to Dawn, but she found herself clenching her fists in disgust. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I just want to talk to you for a minute." He turned to Kelsey, who was watching with wide eyes. "Come sit with me, Kelsey." He held out his hand.

She started to shake her head no,then frowned. "Kyle?"

His face relaxed, lip turning up in a smile. "You do remember."

Cara couldn’t tell if Kelsey remembered anything or not, but she did walk right over to him and let the man take her hand. She sat down on the couch next tohim, let his hand rest on her knee. It made Cara’s stomach churn even more viciously. She wondered if he had done to Kelsey what he’d done to Dawn.

"I didn’t expect you to be a vampire," he said to Cara. "Though I can understand why Fox wanted you. You’re a nice package."

If he thought she was going to thank him for the compliment, he was insane. Of course, it seemed like he was a lunatic anyway. She wanted to just grab Kelsey and run like hell, but Kelsey was still holding his hand and didn’t look particularly concerned. Cara didn’t think Kelsey would follow her if she ran.

In fact, Kelsey was turning to him.Running her fingers over the nape of his neck to massage him. Patting the back of his hair down like he was a little kid instead of an evil vampire.

He didn’t seem to mind her touch. He just said, "So, Cara, you belong to Seamus Fox. I wonder why he would break the law foryou? Aside from the obvious, that is." He blew more smoke out. "I’m curious."

Kelsey brushed cigarette ash off his pant leg.

"You are incredibly annoying, you know that?" he told her, though without any malice.

"A lot of people say that about me," Kelsey said with a complete lack of guile.

The man laughed and moved his hand farther up her thigh. "I’m not surprised." He turned to Cara. "You can leave now and go visit your friend Dawn. Kelsey and I have some catching up to do."

Over her undead body."I’m not leaving without Kelsey."

He iooked amused. "Alright, fine. I have another appointment anyway. I’ll leave. I’m very accommodating."

Somehow that’s not the word Cara would have used to describe him.

Letting go of Kelsey’s leg, he stood up. "I would never hurt Kelsey, you know." He moved in closer to Cara until his arm brushed hers and his dark, empty eyes locked with hers. Behind the cigarette odor, Cara caught a hint of the same sickly sweet smell the other vamp had. She stood still, determined not to show her fear, to not move away from him.

"You, on the other hand, are a different story."

Then he was gone and Cara released a whoosh of air. "Who the hell is that, Kelsey?"

Kelsey just stood up with a shrug and straightened the bottom of her dress. "That’s Kyle."

"Bait," Seamus said with a grimace. "That’s what your friend Dawn was. He wanted you there for some reason."

They were sitting in the back of the club, at the very table where Seamus had sat that first night with Kelsey, when he had watched Cara dancing behind the screen. Like that night, he ordered drinks for everyone at the table to assuage suspicion and to keep the waitress from losing out on tips. Three dancers were on the stage doing some routine with feather boas and nothing else.

"I don’t understand, Seamus." Cara rubbed her eyes, looking tired and worried. She had just gotten off the phone with her friend’s boyfriend. He had said that Dawn was asleep, having been given a blood transfusion and painkillers, and he had suggested she wait until the morning to visit.

Seamus hadn’t seen Dawn’s condition, but it sounded like she’d been bled too heavily by the vampire Cara had encountered.

"Why would anyone want me?" Cara asked.

"I don’t know." Seamus kept thinking back to that night get Fox and his girlfriend . At the time he’d assumed they meant Kelsey, but maybe they had meant Cara.But why? Who had a reason to kill him?

"Let’s dance," Kelsey said suddenly to the bodyguard, grabbing his hand and pulling at him.

He looked horrified and shot a confused look at Seamus. "Mr. Fox?"

But Seamus decided it would be better if Kelsey weren’t at the table when he told Cara about the night Alexis had found Kelsey, so he just smiled. "Go on and have a little fun, Daniel. Dance with Kelsey. I’ll keep an eye on things."

That should be ample punishment for Daniel for taking Cara and Kelsey to the club in the first place.

Daniel dragged his feet, but Kelsey tugged and pulled until she had him out on the dance floor. It didn’t block anyone’s view of the nude dancers on stage, but was a free forum to bump and grind and imitate the dancers in whatever way club-goers might choose. Currently there were two sultry women dancing. Daniel stood like a stone statue, but Kelsey threw her arms around his neck and wiggled up and down the length of his brawny body.

Seamus almost felt like laughing.

"What’s wrong with Kelsey?" Cara asked, watching her with the bodyguard. "What happened to her? She’s like I don’t know."

"Missing a few cards in her deck?"

She nodded.

"Well, Kelsey was never exactly a genius. She was always a bit ditzy, but sweet.And a party girl. Always dancing and drinking and picking up men in the casino. Then after the presidential debate in early September, Alexis went up to Ethan’s suite and found Kelsey drained of blood. The vampire who did it was still there and he stabbed Alexis, almost killing her. Ethan turned Alexis, and I gave Kelsey my blood and brought her back to life. Since then, she’s been different." He watched her run her palms over Daniel’s chest while her hips rocked against him. She wasn’t smiling. "She doesn’t laugh anymore. She’s afraid to be alone. She seems more scattered than ever."