Flesh and Blood

Unbelievable. He pulled away, stilling the snarl in his throat but unable to stop his eyes from going leopard.

‘Oh,’ she cooed. ‘Whatever you are, I’m game.’

‘Actually, you’re prey.’ He pushed forward and left her behind, blank-faced and openmouthed.

Tec grabbed Doc’s wrist above his outstretched hand as he approached and Doc returned the greeting. ‘Long time, man.’

‘Yeah, well, you know Dominic and I fell out.’

Tec made a small woofing sound deep in his throat. ‘Yeah, Mia told me when you two, you know … ’ He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. ‘That’s some bad juju, man.’

‘That’s for damn sure.’ His curse and Mia were two things he didn’t need reminding of, although Fi had erased Mia’s place in his heart. Doc glanced around at the crowd and changed the subject. ‘I hope you’re getting paid extra.’

‘Actually, we are. In fact’ – Tec jerked his head toward the door – ‘if you see Mia, tell her your first one’s on me.’

‘Thanks, bro.’ Doc slapped Tec on the shoulder and went inside. He hadn’t counted on Mia being here, but then, why wouldn’t she? A good job was a good job, and in Paradise City, good jobs – straight jobs – were as hard to come by as feathers on a fruit fly. Didn’t change the fact that he didn’t plan on seeing Tec’s sister unless absolutely necessary.

Several yards down, the hall ended in a set of steel double doors painted bloodred and decorated with a pair of crouching gold dragons. That was new. What was wrong with dirty and rusted? Guess that didn’t go with the new velvet ropes cordoning off the entrance.

A second later, the door swung open and a fringe vamp he didn’t know let him through. They nodded at each other, the only greeting needed.

Doc made his way through a set of heavy velvet drapes and entered the throng of fringe, varcolai, fae, and remnants. It had been years since he’d been in this club, since the night of his curse, actually. Besides the doors, nothing had changed. Same gaudy crystal chandeliers, same dark wood, same odor of blood, drugs, sex, and booze. He stopped, his gaze hooked by the petite blonde crossing his path. Scratch that. Something had changed. Dominic suddenly had a whole lot of comarré working for him. The comarré and comar sidled past. On closer inspection, they had none of Chrysabelle’s fineness. Dominic was producing fakes, but the fringe didn’t seem to care. Or maybe they didn’t know better?

Dominic’s business was Dominic’s business. Doc moved on, searching for the man, but a quarter hour later and he’d yet to find Dominic on the floor. Doc tapped the arm of a passing server, a female remnant with traces of shifter – or drugs – in her eyes. ‘Your boss in?’

She tucked the edge of her tray against her side. ‘Dominic’s always in.’

‘What room is he in?’ Better to look for him on the floor than go straight to the man’s office. The days of belonging to this world were long over, and assuming any of those privileges still existed could have bad consequences.

She shrugged. ‘You’ll have to ask Katsumi. She’s acting manager.’

That explained the new paint job on the doors. ‘And I would find her where?’

‘Not sure.’ The girl looked around. ‘I don’t see her.’

‘Yeah, me neither, which is why I asked.’ This was going as well as everything else in his life. ‘What about Ronan or Mortalis?’

She laughed. ‘Ronan hasn’t been here since he got his fangs handed to him in the pit. And Mortalis was here, but … ’ She lifted one shoulder as she glanced around the club again. ‘I dunno.’

He exhaled slowly and reminded himself that yelling wasn’t going to make the girl any smarter. ‘How about Mia?’

The girl smiled. ‘She’s in Vanity.’

Finally. ‘Thanks.’

She slipped back into the crowd and he headed for Vanity. Glistening gold-mirrored hangings draped the entrance, reflecting a thousand images of himself and the golden glow of his eyes. Like he needed the reminder of what he was – and wasn’t anymore. Pushing through, he walked into the lounge. Nothing had changed here either. Textured plum silk covered the walls. The seating areas were all gold-mirror backed and done with more purples, this time suede and leather. Peacock feathers decorated everything else, matching the enormous peacock-shaped bar heavily paved in crystals and glass tiles so it sparkled like a disco ball.

The perfect spot for Mia to hold court. Even among all that bling, she stood out. True beauty had a way of outshining glitz. And true beauty was the best way to describe her slim dancer’s body, long dark hair, and big brown eyes. Tonight she seemed taller than her usual five foot three, and he wondered if she was wearing platforms. That girl rocked some serious heels. At least she had when they’d been going out. He took the last spot beside the service bar and waited for her to glance up. Didn’t take long.

‘Well, now, they’ll let anyone in here, won’t they?’ She neatly folded the spotless bar rag she’d been wiping down the bar with and tucked it away before she made her way over. The reflected prisms from the blinged-out bar covered her in speckles of light as bright as her smile. ‘I can’t believe it.’

‘Believe it. It’s me.’ He smiled back. Hard to imagine a chick that petite could be a threat to anyone, but he’d seen a fae-varcolai remnant purposefully sneeze on her once. Bad idea. Mia’s fear of germs bordered on the manic. She’d hit the offender with a blow to the windpipe so fast and hard the creature had required two weeks of ventilation to recover.