Blood Judgment (Judgment Series) (11 page)

Julian walked alongside Vali through the entertainment district—a Mecca of clubs, tattoo parlors, fast food, and specialty shops. He wasn’t sure how Vali had talked him into going clubbing, but he’d given in and now he was determined to have a good time.

Warmer temperatures and the end of the work week had brought clubgoers out in force, filling the sidewalks with venue-hopping, boisterous pedestrians.

He liked the busyness of the area. He liked the music spilling out when someone opened a door. He liked the scent of broiled burgers and fried chicken. And he liked being a part of the crowd shifting along the sidewalk. It had a normal feel.

It was a façade, of course. He wasn’t welcome in any of these places. Hell, they weren’t supposed to be there. They were supposed to be in one of the god-awful Open Zones. Nothing was the same and nothing would ever be the same. That’s just the way it was.

It was time to accept it and learn to adapt. Perhaps that’s why he’d allowed Vali to drag him down here. The human world shouldn’t matter to him anymore. What mattered was acceptance among his own kind. Because, want it to or not, belonging mattered to Julian.

He clenched his right hand. He’d worn a long sleeved shirt to hide the ugly identification brand and scars on his inner forearm but Vali had provided the method for covering the ones on the back of his hand. A tube of Skin Magic concealer had easily done the trick.

“Slade doesn’t like me much, does he?” Saranna’s brother vacillated from sarcastic to downright hostile around Julian.

Vali snorted. “He’s worried you’re gonna bang Saranna and break her heart. Or some shit like that. Now me, I think you’d be good for her.”

“She’s not interested in me.”

Vali looked over as if Julian were an idiot. “You’ve gotta’ be shittin’ me? You don’t know?”

“She likes me?” She hadn’t given him any obvious signals.

“Well, duh. I smell it on her whenever she’s around you. Just like I smell your interest in her. And incidentally, her brother has a nose, too. Hence his worry of you banging her.”

Julian warmed. “For real?”

“Don’t hurt her, okay? She deserves some happiness. Besides, the last guy who hurt her ended up dead.”

“What?”

“Just sayin’. He was knifed up in a stairwell.”

Holy fuck
. “And?”

“She thinks Slade did it.”

A chill rippled over him. “Did he?”

“Dunno. Wouldn’t doubt it though.”

“I’d never hurt her on purpose.” He’d dumped more than his share of women, but that part of his life had ended. And he hadn’t wanted to hurt them; he’d only wanted to end things when it became obvious it wouldn’t work.

“Slade’s not a bad guy, but he needs to get a life. Far as I know, he doesn’t have any friends. All he has is Saranna and he sees you as a threat.”

“What’s to like about him? There’s a reason he doesn’t have friends.”

They separated to get past a knot of people waiting to file into a club. When they were next to each other again, Vali said, “Between you and me, I think somethin’ bad happened to Slade. He weirded out when he was around fifteen or so.”

“Maybe he’s just a jerk.”

“I think it’s deeper than that, but who knows. Anyway, he loves Saranna. He’d lay down his life to protect her. I know that for a fact.”

“Great. I’m competing with an overprotective, jealous brother.”

“Yeah. So be careful. Slade
is
dangerous. In a hunter kind of way.
And
he belongs to a group of nutbags who get off using Krav Maga on each other. His idea of a good time. Just sayin’.”

Holy shit
. Slade
was
dangerous.

“But, hell, Ashton is just as bad with that fencing shit. He goes at it with his leader. He’s been cut up more times than I can count.”

“I take it his leader is better with a blade?”

“Understatement. But the dude is a lot older than Ashton and he’s been fencing for years.”

Julian snorted. They were an interesting bunch.

Vali fished a little plastic bag from his jacket pocket. “You ever do Ritalin?”

“Ritalin?”

“Makes ya feel good. Euphoric. I don’t think it does that to humans. But vampires love the shit.” He offered Julian four little pills. “Try it. You’ll love it.”

Julian hesitated. He’d never had any interest in drugs.

“Come on, don’t be a weenie. Try it. You don’t have to do it again if you don’t like it.”

Not wanting to look like a wuss, Julian accepted the pills and choked them down dry.

“Atta kid. You’ll feel real good when those kick in. When you drink a little, it’ll kick the pills in the ass.”

“Terrific.”

Vali laughed. “Trust me. They’re harmless as long as you only take ‘em on occasion. Sometimes…” His voice became thick. “Sometimes, I really need them.”

“Are these things addictive?”

“Yeah, but you’d have to use every day for a good while to get hooked.”

Two young males came toward them, pushing through the pedestrians.

“Watch out for those two fuckers,” Vali said. “The older one is Damon. The other is his brother, Jax. They’re collaborators. The whole family is.”

“Bastards.”

“One of these days, someone’s going to toast that pack of trash,” Vali said.

“Won’t be any loss.” Any vampire willing to sell out others for money deserved to be killed as far as Julian was concerned.

They passed the brothers without incident and continued on their way.

They walked past familiar clubs and Julian’s stomach clenched. Ahead of them, the name
Magpies
flashed in bright neon. They were heading right for it. “I can’t go in there.”

“Sure you can.”

“I used to hang out there. I might run into people who know me.” The idea of his former friends being afraid of him, or worse, ridiculing him, was something he wanted to avoid if at all possible.

“So what? You are what you are. Fuck ‘em if they have a problem. You can’t limit yourself because you might run into someone you knew.”

The hell he couldn’t.

But now that Vali had called him on it, he couldn’t back out and keep any semblance of pride.

“If they don’t like you now, they never would’ve if they’d known you had a vampire daddy. You give a fuck what someone like that thinks? You’re with your own kind now. You’re where you belong.”

The truth of the words burned home. Julian knew his ex-crowd well enough. None of them would have accepted him, nor would he have accepted one of them had he learned they were part-vampire.

He swallowed past what felt like a balled up sock and followed Vali inside the club.

Vali headed straight for the stained bar where a burly man approached on the other side.

“Jack and Coke for both of us.” Vali motioned at Julian.

“I’ve seen you here before,” the bartender said to Julian. “But there’s no way this little snot is old enough to drink.” He looked at Vali with the same disgust a man would have for a dog turd on the sidewalk. “I’m sure you have ID?”

Vali produced a driver’s license and handed it to the bartender.

After a quick glance, he shoved it back with an unconvinced scowl.

Vali slipped his ID back in his pocket and rolled his eyes.

A moment later, the bartender banged the glasses down on the bar and took Vali’s money.

“Come on.” Vali grabbed one of the glasses. “Let’s get a table close to the dance floor.”

Vali maneuvered the crowd, leading Julian through clouds of manufactured fog that reflected an array of dizzying, flashing, multi-colored lights.

Julian’s stomach rolled at the stench of mingled sweat, perfume, men’s cologne, and raw lust. He wanted to go outside where he could breathe. Or throw up. Instead, he followed Vali to a table and settled on an uncomfortable chair.

Vali thunked his glass down hard enough to slosh some of the contents onto the table. “Goin’ to the john. Be right back … unless I find a pretty little gal to dance with.”

Julian downed half the Jack and Coke and nearly choked when he looked up. Rachael strutted toward him, her clothes molded to her lithe form as usual, the black and red silk clinging to barely-concealed curves.

Her approach killed the Ritalin buzz that had kicked in.

Her blue eyes met his in a bold stare. He knew that look and what it meant. He knew what she wanted.

“Julian,” she purred in a silky voice and eased into the chair across from him. Her gaze crawled over him, slow and hot. “I’ve heard things about you. From Tommy. It’s true, isn’t it?”

That big-mouthed fucker had probably told everyone.

“Isn’t it?” she coaxed.

No point in lying. “It’s true.”

She reached over to touch his face, but he caught her wrist.

She frowned, scarlet-painted lips bowing into a pout, as she pulled against his hold.

He released her.

“I’ve always wondered what screwing a vampire would be like. How about it?”

“Don’t think so.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why not? You should be glad I want you. And you sure didn’t mind sleeping with me before.”

“I’m interested in someone.”

Her brows lifted. “One of
your
kind?” She made it sound ugly, like something you’d slip into the garbage and hope no one saw.

He ground his teeth. “Yes.”

“She doesn’t have to know. Hell, she probably wouldn’t care. So get off your high horse.” She leaned over the table and her abundant breasts almost spilled out of the wisps of silk containing them. “I want you, Julian. I want you to fuck me. Maybe I’ll let you bite.”

The scent of her excitement touched off a flare of anger in him. She didn’t give a damn about him, never had. She wanted the thrill of screwing a vampire and having something to tell her slutty girlfriends. Just as she’d undoubtedly bragged about screwing the star violinist after she’d slept with him the first time.

“Isn’t happening.” He picked up his glass and drained it.

Her eyes darkened to midnight-blue and color stained her cheeks. “I didn’t want you anyway, you sorry piece of shit.” She stood, spun on her spiked heels, and strode away with her head held high.

She stopped at a table where four men were seated. To Julian’s horror, two of them wore the olive uniforms of Security Center officers.

His skin prickled, first with heat, followed by cold. One officer swiveled in his chair. Julian met the man’s eyes head on, though his insides crawled like snakes.

Where the hell was Vali? They had to get out of there before things got butthole ugly.

Rachael stood with one hand on her hip, her too-short skirt showing a lot of leg. She glanced over at him. Her expression hostile, she raised her chin. Ratting him out and probably embellishing the story.
The bitch
.

Vali materialized through the mob and took the seat she’d vacated.

“There’s going to be trouble. We have to get the fuck out of here.” Julian got to his feet.

“Why? What did I miss?”

“A girl I know hit on me. She’s over there talking shit to those Security Center goons. We have to go. Now.”

One of the officers pushed his chair back and stood. He stalked toward them, heavy boots clomping on the floor.

“Come on.” Julian headed for the exit.

He wove through the crowd, his body tightening with tension. He looked back. The officers were shoving their way through the milling throng, homing in on them. The spot between Julian’s shoulders itched until they exited the building. “I’ve never seen government goons in there before.”

“Come on, before those jerks get out here.”

They slipped around the side of the club, clinging to deep shadows until they reached the street behind Magpies.

Six blocks away, Vali looked back for the hundredth time. “Bogies flying up our backsides.”

Julian spotted two officers. “You think they’re looking for us?”

“Dude, I can’t believe you asked that. You think they might be searchin’ for Mr. Goodbar or somethin’?”

“Smartass.”

“Know it. Now let’s get out of here.”

They cut down an alley and broke into a jog, putting quick distance between them and the government officers. Once the men were out of sight, they slowed back to a walk.

A large vampire strode toward them, a younger male by his side. Striking black hair with startling blond streaks and almost identical features marked them as father and son.

Longing swept over Julian. Friends weren’t family. Bottom line, he was alone. The others had each other. Family. He had no one. It was an empty, soul-grinding feeling.

“You ever wonder about your dad?” Vali asked as though he were privy to Julian’s thoughts.

“Sometimes.” More like a lot since his induction into the vampire club. Not that it mattered. His father had felt nothing for him. Had he cared the least bit, he would have been there for Julian. Period.

“What about your family?” Julian asked.

“Dead.”

“I’m sorry.” Shit, he wished he hadn’t gone there.

Vali shoved his hair from his face. “My father was murdered. The thought of living without him was too much for my mother. She took her own life.”

Good Lord
.

“Being orphaned isn’t uncommon in our world.”

“Holy fuck.”

“Ashton’s parents raised Saranna and Slade. He’s more like their brother than their cousin.”

“Their parents are dead?”

“Don’t know. After Saranna was born, their father split. Their mother dumped them on Ashton’s family and took off to look for him. They never came back.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Ashton got fucked on that deal. Saranna was an infant and his parents doted on her. Slade was traumatized and they spent a lot of time trying to help him get over losing his parents.”

“And Ashton was ignored.”

“He handled it well, though.”

Julian wondered if that were true. Just because someone didn’t show pain didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

“This way,” Vali said, dodging into the mouth of an alley. He stopped so suddenly that Julian almost ran into him.

Halfway down the length of the passageway, a man crouched over a woman’s body. He lifted his head. In a blink, he sprang to his feet and tore from the alley.