Club Nexus (Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective) (3 page)

“Got what I came for?” I asked.  No sense in waiting while
Puck made eyes at the human woman.  I was past waiting on the man.  It was time
to get down to business.

“In the market for a short or tall ten pints?” he asked. 
“Had a new shipment of Ice in this week, so your drink can come feisty or
sedate.  Take your pick.”

Ice was the drug Puck was pedaling lately.  I reckoned it was
some magic concoction that gave paranormals a euphoric high and left humans
stoned out of their right minds.

“I prefer my meal kickin’ and screamin’,” I said.

I couldn’t abide my prey drugged six ways to Sunday.  Where
was the fun in that?

“Feisty it is then,” he said.

“When can I eat?” I asked.

“In good time,” he said.  “Like I said, it’s been a busy
night and you’re not the only vampire in this city with needs.”

“I shouldn’t oughta have to wait,” I said.

“Don’t worry, my friend,” he said.   “You won’t have to wait
much longer.  Customer in front of you is a quick feeder.  Man will be done in
fifteen minutes tops.  Give him time to finish up.”

“Fine,” I said, holding out my hand.

Puck upended a velvet bag embroidered with arcane symbols
and handed over an iron key.

“At my signal, enter the basement—no sooner,” he said.  “Use
the room on the right, same as last time.  Your toys are already laid out for
you.”

I fidgeted on my stool and tried not to gaze longingly at
the basement door.  As soon as the vampire ahead of me was done feeding, it’d
just be me, my prey, and a room full of chains.  I’d be happier than a pig in
poop.

Puck stood and slapped me on the back.

“Gotta run, Cyrus,” he said.  “Have fun.”

“Always do,” I said.

I spoke into empty space.  The faerie was already strutting
down the bar toward the human woman and her friend.  I turned back to the
hourglass and clicked my fingernails against the bar top.  It seemed like ages
for the other vampire to clear out of the basement, but finally a vampire who
looked like some Yankee Wall Street stock broker came out of the door in a
blur.

It’s hard to keep our otherness in check immediately after a
feed.  The blood games provide a euphoric rush that pushes our bodies to glory
in our vampiric speed and strength.  The Yankee vampire held his body at odd
angles, cracked the back of a chair he touched in passing, and moved too
quickly.  Evidently, he’d drunk his fill.

So where in the Hell was Puck?

I focused on the faerie’s voice and soon pinpointed his location. 
He hadn’t gone far.  He was with the human woman and her intoxicated friend. 
Judging from Puck’s face, his attempts to win over the two women hadn’t gone
well.  If I wasn’t so hungry, the thought would have made me smile.  Instead, I
grimaced, waiting for Puck to get on with it.

Finally, after an eternity spent spying on Puck’s
flirtations with the human woman, he came walking my way.  As he passed the
bar, Puck reached up to scratch at his cheek with two fingers.  That was the
signal;
two minutes.

From the corner of my eye, I watched Puck saunter over
toward a table of vampires at the edge of the dance floor.  He passed something
to one of the men and continued on toward the basement door at the end of the
bar.

A pulse of pleasure raced up my spine and my fangs tingled
with anticipation.  I’d exercised enough patience and restraint for one night. 
I’d sat like a bump on a log while that other vampire drank his fill.

Now it was my turn.

I slid liquidly from the barstool and turned away from the
crowd.  Patting the key in my front pocket, I walked down the bar toward the
basement door.

A woman brushed by, the edges of her midnight blue cloak
twining around my ankles like coldblooded serpents.  I shivered, which was something
I hadn’t done since my human days.  The cold doesn’t generally affect you once
you’ve felt the chill of the grave.  My reaction was odd enough to make me turn
around, seeking the mysterious woman.  But the cloaked figure was gone.

I clenched my jaw in frustration, and my thirst returned.  A
woman that beautiful was as scarce as hen’s teeth, but I wasn’t interested
enough to attempt pursuit.  There wasn’t much that could distract me when I’d
set my mind to the pleasures of a blood hunt.  The creatures who frequented
this club may allow a taste, but often for a hefty price, and they’d never let
me play the games I truly desired.

My head snapped back to focus on the door just to the left
of the bar.  Behind that door lay what I sought. 
Your toys are already laid
out for you
.  I felt a slow smile skitter across my face.  I had a good
feeling about tonight.

Boots whispering along the floor, I pulled the key from my
pocket and forced myself to walk, not run, to the door.  Desire stirred within
me like cream in a butter churn.  Beyond that unassuming portal lay a world of
pleasures.

“Excuse me,” said a voice at my shoulder.  I scowled and
pulled my gaze from the door.  I’d been waylaid by the blue-skinned bartender. 
I recognized her as the one who’d poured my glass of bourbon.  “Can you hold
the door?  I need to swap these for clean linens or Puck will have my head.”

Puck might “have her head” for slacking in her duties, but
the woman had no idea how close I was to literally tearing her head from her
body and tossing it across the room like a hot tater.  Too bad that kind of
ruckus would draw the attention of club security, and put a kink in my plans.

“Fine,” I said, opening the door.  “Now go on and quit
piddlin’, or I’ll leave you out here.”

The faerie woman scurried inside, arms laden with soiled
linens.  Once inside, for just a moment, I considered taking the bartender as
an appetizer, but then I heard a cry from below.  Puck was tenderizing my
meal.  Time to get a move on.

Casks of wine moved by in a blur of motion as I nearly flew
through the storeroom and down a flight of stairs, leaving the faerie woman
behind.  I continued on, slipping through the shadows without the need of a
light, following the sound of someone pitchin’ a hissy fit.

They always did that when the Ice wore off.  Don’t know how
Puck managed to time it so perfectly.  I reckon he drugged them at a specified
time, making our meals suggestible and easy to transport into the basement
rooms where we had our fun.  Of course, we predators prefer our meals feisty. 
It wouldn’t do to have our prey ruffied to Hell and gone.  What’d be the fun in
that?

I pulled up short to see Puck in the doorway to my usual
room.

“I’ve outdone myself with this one, Cyrus,” Puck said,
gesturing for me to look inside the room.

For once, the faerie was giving it to me straight.  The
woman shackled to the wall was finer than frog’s hair.  Like a human’s palate,
vampires have preferences for what’s on the menu, and this woman was just my
type.

“She’s a spittin’ image,” I said.

I’d given Puck a faded photograph to go by and tonight he’d
come through in spades.  The auburn haired beauty was struggling against the
manacles and nekked as a jaybird.  My fangs lengthened and an ache coursed
through my body.

I reached into my coat and tossed an envelope of cash toward
the retreating faerie.  I closed the door, knowing Puck wouldn’t go far.  No
matter what the man claimed about running this business for profit, he was in
it for more than the money.

On more than one occasion the faerie had lingered outside
the door of my room while I fed.  Judging from the pheromones coming off the
guy, Puck liked to listen.  Well goody for him, tonight he was in for a treat.

I set to work on the woman, calling her by the name of
someone long dead and gone.  I tried to make it last, savor the aroma of her
fear, but she reminded me so much of an irretrievable past.  Within seconds she
was bleeding like a stuck pig.  I fed quickly and deeply, pausing only when I
heard a ruckus outside the door.

Someone had entered the basement and was arguing with Puck. 
Best see what all the fuss was about.  I may not like the man, but Puck
provided me with warm meals like this one.  I pulled an arm across my mouth and
went to listen at the door.

“Playing at judge, jury, and executioner?” Puck asked. 
“That’s not like you, Forneus.  Heck, I didn’t think you had the balls.  Good
for you.”

I swung the door open, nearly taking it from its hinges, and
ran to defend Puck.  A demon stood facing Puck from across the room and the
blue-skinned bartender was rushing toward Puck with her arm raised, a jeweled
dagger in her hand.

“No one threatens Bite Club,” I snarled.

I slid in front of Puck and hissed, spittle and blood
flecking the wide-eyed faerie woman.  In the same motion, I planted my feet
wide, grabbed the woman’s arm and wrenched it free from her body.  The jeweled
dagger that’d been plunging toward Puck’s chest was no longer a threat.

I flung the arm across the room, nostrils flaring and fangs
aching.  Even full as a tick from my previous meal, the blood spraying from the
faerie’s shoulder held my rapt attention.  A coil of need grew inside my gut.

Once again, it was time to feed.

The faerie lunged toward Puck, and I struck.  I latched onto
her neck, sinking my fangs in deep and letting the rapid pulse of the artery
carry me away.

Lost in a sea of blood dreams, I lost track of events.  But
as the faerie’s heart faltered, I came to my senses and scanned the room for
additional threats.

Flame flickered along the demon’s fingers, making me flinch,
and a human woman came rushing into the room, crossbow at the ready.  At first,
the human aimed the bow at the demon and I thought she’d take care of the man
for me.  But she spun and trained her bow on me, demanding I release the faerie
girl.

I tossed the corpse to the ground.  I no longer needed the
faerie woman; she was drier than a bar on Sunday.  But the human was another
story.

I rushed forward, the sting of a crossbow bolt not even
making me pause.  The bolt wasn’t wood, so it couldn’t stop me, but I’d still
make the woman pay for the minor wound.  My fingernails lengthened as I
extended my hands toward the woman—all the better to flay the flesh from her
bones.

I reached out, closing the distance, but suddenly the woman
was gone and the demon was standing in front of me.  Before I had time to
wonder where my prey had gone, a blinding pain shot through my chest.  Then all
I could see was the ceiling.

I’d been staked.

I tried to move, but I was weak as a lamb.  I couldn’t so
much as flex my fingers.  I strained to hear past the ringing in my ears,
wondering what the demon had planned for the likes of me.  Probably nothing
good.

I reckoned I was past redemption now.  I’d broken Vampire
Law and was beyond receiving help from the council.  Puck lay bleeding close
by, not that he was even a friend.  For the first time in decades, I felt
remorse.  How long had it been since I’d had faithful friends or allies to
watch my back?

My past was steeped in blood.  After my rising, I’d killed
everyone who’d ever mattered to me as a human.  I’d murdered my friends and
family and reveled in their pain.

Eventually, the demon came to stand over me, flame
flickering in his eyes.  I knew then what he meant to do and, surprisingly, a
part of me welcomed this final judgment.  All things have an ending, and I’d
had a long unlife.

I’d cheated death and caused a speedbump in the cycle of
life.  I should have died long ago.  When the flames came, I smiled.  It was
time to complete the cycle.

It was time to return to dust.

O
f
all the nightclubs, in all the cities, in all the world, the freakin’ demon had
to walk into Club Nexus.
  My nickname, Jinx, had never seemed more
appropriate.  I really was one of the unluckiest people on the planet.

The sight of Forneus striding purposefully across the club
toward me made my breath quicken and skin tingle.  I tried to look away, or at
least stammer a warning to Ivy who was ordering our drinks, but my body had
gone on strike, completely disconnecting from my brain.  Anger and desire stole
the words from my lips and I continued to face the demon head on.

When it came to Forneus, I admit, I have issues.

I desperately wanted to kiss the man and shoot him in equal
parts.  That’s the problem with the demon lawyer.  He is so frustratingly
attractive and yet every time he opens his mouth I feel the urge to wipe that
smug smile off his face—with a sledgehammer.  Every move of his powerful body,
every gesture of his slender hands, and every leer down his aquiline nose sent
waves of heat down into my belly and made my blood boil.

Yes, I should definitely shoot him.

Since Forneus was a demon, he’d probably survive the
shooting, might even enjoy it if I hadn’t dipped my crossbow bolts in holy
water before leaving the loft.  I slipped my hand from the bar and reached over
my shoulder to where my crossbow was slung, keeping my eyes on the demon.  My
fingers traced the handle of the weapon and I licked my lips in anticipation.

Forneus approached from the side opposite Ivy and slid an
arm around my waist.  Warmth spread through me and need spiraled low in my
belly.  As if sensing my desire, a knowing smile lifted his lips and heat
simmered in his eyes.

I shifted in my seat, giving Forneus a leer of my own, and
froze.  Ivy, glowing wildly like a fourth of July sparkler, was there in a
flash, holding a knife to Forneus’ throat.  Damn, she was fast—and pissed.

Even if her glowing skin hadn’t given away my friend’s
agitation, then the sheen of sweat on her upper lip and her rapid breathing
would have been a clear indication of just how much Ivy loathed the idea of
coming this close to touching an immortal demon.  Well, when it came to this
particular demon that was something we both had in common.