DeVante's Coven (2 page)

“A little bit,” Daniel said. And he was, despite the fact that he knew he was safe, that a mortal could not physically harm him. This felt new. This man took immediate power over Daniel’s senses. Sensual, sexual power. And Daniel was straining to get closer to him, right hand at the man’s throat, stroking the artery out of habit but with no thought for blood, eyes on the man’s lips, left hand balled into the man’s shirt, pulling him forward, towards another kiss.

“Don’t be. I won’t hurt you.”

Then he pulled away, jerking his shirt out of Daniel’s clenched fist, and sat back behind the steering wheel. His eyes glared daggers, and his voice, when it came, was clipped and sharp. “But someone else might. It’s stupid for a boy your age to be hitchhiking. What if I
had
wanted to hurt you?”

“I can take care of myself,” Daniel said, flushed, slamming his body back into the seat, embarrassed that he was still turned-on, that it had been a joke.

The man gave a short bark of laughter. “You think so. Invincible youth. Stupid.” He fastened his seat belt and they started moving again, slow start, but quickly getting up to speed. “I’m taking you into the city tonight, but don’t let me find you on the side of the road again.”

Daniel seethed in humiliated silence for most of the ride, realizing that the whole thing was planned. Well, probably not the accident, but for sure the kiss and the talk.

Fucking adults.

Daniel promised himself, right then, that he would find a way to make his youth an advantage. He would be eighteen forever, so he could let it be a roadblock and a constant source of frustration, or he could make it work. When the guy eased the car to a stop by the Castro Theater and said, “This is where you get off,” Daniel was ready with his sunshine smile, the one Roderick claimed lit up even the bleakest night, and said only, “Hey, thanks for the ride. What’s your name, anyway?”

And here he was, in the heart of gay San Francisco, where damn near every building flew a rainbow flag. He’d been here with Roderick, of course, trolling for prey. But Daniel had been Roderick’s follower, and now that he was on his own he wasn’t sure exactly where to go. He checked his back pocket for his ID as he staked out rainbow flags. Smokers gathered outside every open business, and still the racially segregated groups and clumps of people made Daniel jumpy. He grew up in northern Minnesota, a small town, and never met a person who wasn’t white until he was twelve years old. And he wasn’t racist—no fucking way—but the sheer number of people of color here continued to startle him. And the way they sort of kept to their own was intimidating.

At the door of Tandy’s Sport’s Bar & Grill he was required to show the ID. It passed, and he went in. The lights were low. Three women were on a small stage murdering a Karaoke rendition of a Jimmy Buffet song. Ugh. Daniel wanted to plug his ears, but people were actually dancing to it.

Definitely not what Daniel was looking for.

He cleared out of there, walked down the street. A marquee over Smitty’s Pub urged him to “Come for the Drag Show Saturday.” That seemed promising. But when he went inside, he was again disappointed. There wasn’t anyone at the door checking IDs, and the bartender gave him eyes and let out a low whistle, but the clientele was hardly desirable. Four old guys were at a poker table playing cards. Daniel wasn’t very good at guessing ages, but he figured they had to be somewhere between forty-five and sixty. A bunch more old men sat at the bar staring morosely into their drinks. He stayed for all of a minute and a half.

Back on the sidewalk he wasn’t sure what to do, so he walked, weaving around people outside smoking cigarettes, and watching for something familiar. Every block was a mix of old and new architecture, three and four story buildings with bay windows and decorative moldings flanking small, squat boutiques and restaurants. He was sure he’d recognize the club he’d gone to with Roderick, when Roderick had been Daniel’s everything and Daniel had played along.

And then he saw the sign. Ck Teasers. Exactly the place he was looking for.

The bouncer hardly looked at his ID, just scanned his body from crotch to face, smiled, and let him in. Like he knew there was no way Daniel was twenty-one, but so long as he was cute…

The whole club pulsed with loud dance music. The beat felt like it was right inside his skin, and Daniel took a couple of minutes to get his bearings. He always needed a couple of minutes to get his bearings. It was like,
a thing
, with him. Couldn’t jump in without gauging the scene.

There were neon lights, go-go dancers, and half-naked men gyrating on the dance floor. Yeah. This was the place. Above the dance floor was a cat-walk with more dancers, these in outrageous costumes, one a black skinned angel with fluffy white feathered wings, another a devil with red horns and a tail. Daniel didn’t even want to know how the tail was attached.

He approached the bar for a drink. “On me,” said a whip-thin guy leaning against the bar. Daniel nodded his thanks. As he took a sip, he realized he had forgotten to ask DeVante what would happen if he consumed alcohol. He and Roderick had come to this club a few times on the hunt, but not to dance or socialize. Well... he was about to find out about alcohol the same way he found out about food—by experimenting rather than pestering the vampires with questions. He’d found out right quick that he had no tolerance for solids, vomiting so forcefully that the back of his throat bled.

In the year he’d followed Roderick around the country while Daniel was still mortal, Roderick had enjoyed plying him with drinks. But these past two years Daniel had basically been a vampire in training—watching, learning, and listening to lectures—and Roderick had never offered alcohol. And since Roderick left, DeVante had never taken Daniel to clubs or bars. Certainly not! The club scene was much too human for a master vampire.

So now Daniel would test liquids specific to the tavern industry. The thought made him smile. He was starting to think like DeVante talked, and after only a month. He’d have to nix that.

He took another sip. Nothing seemed to happen.

He watched the swirl of males dancing close and sexy. Some of the guys were shirtless, bodies glistening with sweat and glitter, touching one another as they danced, making love with their eyes. Oh yeah, this was exactly what Daniel was looking for.

He downed the rest of the drink in one quick swallow. It tasted all right, not seductive or all-consuming like blood, but no big deal. It made him light-headed, but his stomach didn’t reject it. He moved into the crowd, letting his body sway to the loud thumpa-thumpa dance mix, and found himself part of a small group of young guys dancing, grinning. One of the twenty-somethings—sexy, tan, and shirtless—came right up to Daniel, put his arms around his neck and nuzzled his throat. Daniel gave in to the music flowing around him and let himself move with the guy, who slipped his hands under Daniel’s shirt and traced circles on his chest. A minute later, one smooth movement slipped Daniel’s shirt over his head and off, tucking an end into his back pocket so it hung like a tail. Now their bodies touched as they danced, igniting a heat that thrummed through Daniel, skirted past the Hunger, and settled in his groin. His cock was hard in his jeans and he rubbed against the twenty-something, feeling an answering stir.

Daniel tried to picture fucking this guy in some room somewhere with a bunch of people standing right there, watching… or even not watching. The visual he got was actually embarrassing. “I’m not into back rooms,” he said. “And I’m not ready to leave yet. But maybe we can hook up later?”

Twenty-something gave him a cynical, angry look. “Are you blowing me off, or do you mean it?”

“No, I mean it. Just… I’m new to the city, and this is my first night out on my own. So how about we dance for a while, have a drink. You can tell me what’s around here that’s worth checking out. Or we can keep an eye out for each other later on.”

“Well, I’m not a big talker, you know, so maybe I’ll find you later.” He stalked off.

Shit. Daniel must have said the wrong thing. The guy was cute. He kicked himself for half a second, which is exactly how long it took to make eye contact with another, even cuter, guy. Oh, well. Everybody’s looking for something different.

He danced close and hot with the new guy, who didn’t touch him, just raised his arms above Daniel’s shoulders, letting them hover, their bodies separated by a hint of air. Daniel swore he could feel the guy’s aura, shivering in the air between them. He smiled into the eyes of his sexy dance partner.

And suddenly realized his buzz was gone. He danced back to the bar for another drink, then back to the dance floor. He left his t-shirt tucked into his jeans. He wasn’t gym-built, but he was young and lean, and guys were definitely checking him out. Just about everybody he danced with touched him, his shoulders, his back, his chest. One guy fell in love with his blond hair, which was short in the back and longer in the front, and kept running his fingers through it. Daniel liked the attention, liked being touched. He could feel the Hunger, but it was sitting back on its heels, no urgency, merely an observer in this place where light, sound, and touch already claimed all of his attention. And that was perfectly okay. He wanted to experience this as if he were still a mortal. Wanted to pretend, maybe, that he was still living at home with his fucked-up parents, but had somehow grown a set of balls and let everyone know he was queer, and fuck ‘em all if they didn’t like it.

He wanted to feel and enjoy the freedom to be who he was. And yes, fuck them all. Fuck his parents. Fuck Johnny J. and Eric, and the whole gang. And fuck Roderick.

He had to discover who he really was inside this boy/vampire shell, discover whatever was great in being himself. Find the power inherent in being
Daniel
. And he would. Oh yes, he knew he would.

Time passed like nothing, and all too soon the bartenders were yelling. “Last call for alcohol!” Then the lights came up, the music changed to a melody about closing time that made everybody in the place key phone numbers into their cell phones as they headed for the door. Daniel still had a pocketful of cash because he hadn’t had to pay for a drink all night.

All of a sudden Twenty-something was standing in front of him. “So, what do you say, want to come home with me now?”

Daniel grinned at him, oh, to be young and mortal and have such confidence!

Before he could answer, a pair of arms dropped over his shoulders from behind, fingers laced together across his chest, and he was pulled back against a hard warm body. “Sorry, Twinkie, but he’s coming with me.”

How interesting
, Daniel thought,
to be the prey
. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized Reed was in the club. He wondered if it was the alcohol that distracted him, or the club itself.

Reed turned Daniel within his embrace to face him. “And I said you’re coming with me.” He held Daniel’s chin and leaned down to let his lips claim Daniel’s mouth, one arm around his back, the other hand cradling the back of Daniel’s head, stroking his hair, holding him captive. His fingers traced tiny circles on Daniel’s skin and the sensation thrummed through him as he went pliant in Reed’s hands. He let his arms drift around Reed’s back and felt electricity flow down his spine. The moan came from deep within him, and, hearing it, Reed lifted his head, breaking the kiss, and looked right into Daniel’s eyes. Daniel stared at him, maintaining eye contact with both of his prey’s eyes at once. He wondered if Reed felt anything, if he were imparting the kind of bizarre sensations the vampires had stirred in him when he was mortal; Roderick’s resonating buzz, DeVante’s zip-flash… they stared into one another until Daniel looked away. Then Reed seemed to collect himself, gave his head a little shake, and said, “Let’s go.”

“Where?” Daniel asked, as he pulled his shirt on.

“My place.” Reed tucked Daniel in close under his arm. “And I can drive you to wherever you need to go, after.”

After what?
Daniel almost asked, but already Reed was drawing him out of the club and Daniel drifted into his surface thoughts almost by accident. An image of himself and Reed entwined on a huge bed brought his cock to attention. Ah, after
that
.