Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) (13 page)

His grip was strong, but not overpoweringly so, just enough to show he was no pansy. Ryder was certainly innocent looking enough with his blond hair, blue eyes and the perpetual pout like he’d been sucking on his own lips.

But he was strong. Stronger than he looked, than he felt.

That much was clear.

And he knew the limits of his strength.

That boded…well.

“Ran,” I said, and then immediately wished I hadn’t given him my real name. Ah well. He was probably going to find out, sooner or later, sooner if he found Jason before I did. “Nice to meet you.”

His grin widened. “There. Now, that wasn’t too hard, was it?”

“You’re quite annoying.”

“All the time,” he said, laughing quietly under his breath. I think I would’ve liked him better, or at least tolerated him better, if I didn’t feel like he was laughing at my expense. “All the time, Ran.”

We parted, he to the left and I to the right.

If I thought I would find Jason soon, I was wrong.

Every minute spent looking for his dark head was every minute where I felt sweat pool in the small of my back. I was hot, hard not to be in an enclosed space with almost a thousand people breathing, moving, dancing, but it wasn’t just the heat.

Jason dead.

Jason with his throat slashed.

Jason with his blood coating his chest like a crimson sea.

No. I wouldn’t.

I wouldn’t let him die!

Not when I was close, so close to fulfilling my duty and getting out of here. Get out of the proverbial chicken coop and make for the hills.

Parting would never be such sweeter sorrow.

Thirty minutes later, I sprinted up the metal stairs, having convinced myself the only reason I hadn’t found Jason was because he was here with Ryder.

No such luck.

Ryder pushed back from the metal railing, his strangely dark eyebrows furrowed down. “You couldn’t find him either?”

I swallowed a lump of fear and nodded. “I must have been over every square inch of that dance floor. It’s hard to believe we could have both missed him.”

“Means he’s not on the floor,” he said and then sighed. “Fucking hell. There’s a chance he might’ve gotten past the security doors and is wandering around in the employee hallways. This place is a fucking maze. If he’s not here, he’s got to be there. And if he’s there, Vincent’s going to have my ass on a stick.”

The club hadn’t appeared very large from the outside, certainly not large enough for one young vampire to get lost, and I told him as much.

He paused on the first step down. “Are you serious? You think this is all we have? Just in case you didn’t know, Vincent’s a powerful son of a bitch. There’s a lot of us who’ve thrown our lot in with him. He lets us stay here.”

I stared at the high metallic ceiling and felt my stomach dip. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to get over the fear of heights. “Down. You live underneath the club.”

“Bingo.”

Why was I not surprised? “How many levels?”

“Four.”

I cursed under my breath. “How big?”

He blinked. “You’re not going to like it.”

“Just tell me.”

He did.

I cursed again, this time louder.

The vampire laughed.

At least someone was enjoying themself. “What’s so funny?”

He shook his head, still laughing to himself. “Nothing. Sorry. So, what now?”

As if there was a choice. “I’ve got to get down there.”

“Ooh, no can do,” he said, wincing. “Vincent’s rules. Look, if it makes you feel any better, if he is down there, someone’ll probably come drag him out in a little while. You want to sit down and see?”

I’d never survive the wait. “I can’t. He’s my responsibility. I’m supposed to be looking after him.”

He was silent for a moment. “You’re not doing a very good job of it, you know?

Truer words had never been spoken. “It’s…a work in progress, I’m afraid.”

How could it not be? I’d never had to guard anyone in my life before.

I rubbed my temples, trying to ignore the sudden pounding that made me feel like I was on an amusement park Tilt-a-Whirl. “He’s never hunted before. He was fed, that’s all.”

Ryder made a sound in the back of his throat. “I can understand your trepidation, but I really can’t let you go down. Orders are orders. No outsiders or humans allowed below. You’re just going to have to come up with another option.”

My options were…I struggled with the sudden nonsensical urge to laugh. What options? I couldn’t fight past Ryder, well, not fight and manage to stay conscious enough to get below. “Take me with you.”

His eyes widened. “You want to go downstairs? With me?”

“I don’t have a choice,” I said. “If I’m with you, no one will stop me. You don’t understand how crucial it is that I find Jason. There was an attempt on his life a couple of days ago. I have reason to believe he is still wanted.”

“I heard,” he replied, tilting his head to one side. Only a benevolent nun could’ve trusted the smile gracing his red lips. “Let’s make a deal.”

Deals. Everyone wanted to make them.

I, on the other hand, was really starting to hate them.

It was a deal that got me into this mess in the first place.

I doubted this deal was going to make the situation any better.

But it didn’t hurt to hear him out. As long as he was quick about it. “What’s the deal?”

He leaned against the metal stair railing, bracing his chin on his knuckles. It was an innocent pose and one he pulled off amazingly well, despite his bared shoulders in a black shirt with the sleeves artfully torn off. “That you get to take me out.”

I blinked. I didn’t think I heard him correctly. “I’m sorry. That I
get
to take
you
out?”

He grinned widely. “Yeah. I need a chance to get out of this place.”

There were so many questions I wanted to ask. Questions in the same line as “Looking like that, you have to resort to blackmailing people for dates?”, but quite frankly, I’d already wasted enough time. For all I knew, Jason could be dead and that knowledge made my breath come short. “If I say yes, will you escort me underground?”

He nodded, like an eager child offered a cookie. “Tomorrow work for you?”

That was soon. Maybe too soon. But there was no time to agree on a given day. “Yes, that’s fine. I don’t care. Now, will you take below?”

“Hell yeah!”

I wished I was half as enthusiastic.

Mm, maybe not.

9

‘Employees Only’ screamed in dark red lettering across the double doors painted in black and Ryder placed a hand on one door, then paused. “Look…Ran?”

It was hard, not to keep jumping from foot to foot. “What?”

If my harsh tone bothered him, it didn’t show on his suddenly worried face. “If anyone asks, you’re my blood for the night, okay?”

I couldn’t stop a shiver from running through my body.
Over my dead body.
“Yes. Okay. I don’t care. Can we go now?”

He pushed the door open and stood to one side, hand still on the door. “After you, Madam.”

Walk in front of a vampire? No matter if the vampire said he was a friend. “I’m…not entirely comfortable walking in front. I wouldn’t know where to go. Perhaps you should go first.”

He quirked a brow. “So much for chivalry.”

But he took point and I shivered as the doors closed behind us. The doors were heavy and it was cold in the fluorescent lit hallway. Of course, it was below freezing outside, but there was no warmth here. “It’s cold.”

Ryder spared a glance over his shoulder. “Yeah. We’re not really into heating. Hope you don’t mind.”

It was hardly worth complaining about. “Never mind that. Keep walking.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The hallway was long, with several doors on either sides. All of them were locked.

“Look, do you mind not opening every single door you come across?” he said, starting to sound a little annoyed.

Good. At least, I wasn’t alone in my general frustration. “It’s worth a shot.”

“Just…let me handle everything, okay?”

The hallway forked into two, both of them with a flight of stairs going down and Vincent’s human emissary was climbing the one on the right.

“Ryder!” Her eyes flicked in my direction and then narrowed. “Oh. She needs to leave. Now.”

He put an arm around my shoulder and I struggled not to put up a fight. This close to a vampire, I was almost gasping to get away. On the inside, of course. Outside, I was all smiles and good cheer.
Look at me. I promise I’m not a threat.
Yeah right.

“She’s my blood for the night,” he said, sounding almost defensive.

She crossed her arms, one foot tapping on the rich crimson carpet. I couldn’t help but think it would mask the color of blood incredibly well. Was that the intention? I believed it. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“You expect me to believe that kind of bullshit?” she asked, derision clear in that low, husky voice. “Are you an idiot? Wait, never mind. I already know the answer to that.”

He lifted his chin, just a little bit. “What’s wrong with my donor? She wants to share some blood. We’ll have some fun. What’s wrong with that? I might have feelings for you, but since you’ve so
kindly
put me down, I think I’m entitled to a little fun.”

I kept my mouth shut. Seemed like the best course of action.

“A little fun?” She stabbed a finger in my direction. “Does she look like she wants to have a little
fun
?”

I cleared my throat. “I wouldn’t be entirely adverse to it.”

That was all she needed to know.

“See?” Ryder’s arm tightened almost painfully. “So what’s wrong with that?”

She was quiet for a moment and then shook her head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“So we can go then?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Yeah, go ahead.”

We brushed past her and the back of my neck prickled almost uncontrollably. I knew she was still there, standing at the head of the staircase as we took the one opposite the direction she’d come from. “Hey. Ailward.”

Ryder stiffened as I stopped, head down, not entirely trusting myself to turn around. I couldn’t trust myself to keep a straight face.“Yes, Emissary.”

There was a dull thud on the metal railing, almost as if she leaned her hip against it. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason you’ve badgered Ryder into taking you down?”

He drew in a short burst of breath. “Eve, that’s not —”

I touched his arm dangling over my left shoulder, stopping him from making a complete liar out of himself. “I’m looking for…something.”

“That seems suitable vague,” she said with a short laugh. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Ailward.”

I wished she’d stop calling me that. As if I needed a constant reminder of something I dreaded. “I hope so, too.”

Ryder’s arm forced me down the rest of the stairs and all the way down, I felt her thoughtful gaze on my back like a searing hot brand that wouldn’t dissipate.

The staircase went down several more levels lit by harsh lights that seemed to flicker at odd intervals, but Ryder led me down the first hallway, with the thick crimson carpet and soft green wallpaper. Were it not for the lack of windows and the terrible lighting, I thought it might have looked the same as the inside of an upscale apartment building.

The spacing between the doors made me think perhaps the rooms that laid beyond were quite palatial…insofar as underground suites could be. “Do you live here?”

“As does most every nonhuman who works for Vincent,” he said and coughed nervously at my expression. “Look, it’s just convenient. I mean, you could go live elsewhere if you wanted to, but then there’s rent to pay, security to worry about, the fact you’re going to have to feed yourself if you want to be fed at all…here, at least we’re with people we know and around familiar surroundings. I mean, Vincent’s not bad, as far as Lords go. He doesn’t ask us to pay him a tithe, unless that’s what taxes are for. He’s really not that bad. Trust me. I know.”

Interesting. A useful fact I could carry back to the Elders. Assuming I was still alive when the time came to make my report. “You are very open about this. I don’t think this is a known fact, is it?”

He shrugged. “You’re an Ailward. You’d find out sooner or later.”

Surely someone couldn’t be this harebrained. “Sooner or later? Are you this willing to talk about your brethren stronghold in such a lackadaisical manner?”

His eyes widened in incredulity. “Are you kidding me? You honestly think I’m worried about this place getting targeted by some group like the Fellows or whatever the fuck they’re called? Lady, this place is safer than a fucking Cold-War bunker.”