Revelation of Blood (11 page)

“Well, now you do,” Jameson growled as he sat
back.

The waitress appeared with our order and
dropped it off before quickly leaving again. I poured myself a tall
glass of Johnnie Walker and downed it.

I could see Jameson staring at me out of the
corner of my eye and I slammed my empty glass down on the table in
front of us. “Why are you staring at me? Don’t you have groupies
somewhere to fuck?”

“Probably, but Archer wanted me here so I’m
here,” he smiled at me. I wanted to slap that satisfied smirk off
his face. “Why, are you jealous?”

“You wish,” I scoffed as I grabbed the bottle
and sat back on the couch. To hell with the glass. “Been there,
fucked that, and all I got was a lousy breakup song.”

“So you heard our new song, huh?” he smirked.
“What did you think of it?” During the concert, I’d noticed that
Jameson swapped the song about our breakfast with a new one. It
didn’t make me happy to hear the angsty lyrics, but at least it
wasn’t the love song he wrote for me. I don’t think I could have
handled hearing him sing our song again.

“You want to know what I think?” I seethed as
I stood up. “I think you’re an asshole; a straight up prick. How
could you treat me that way at your show? You completely
embarrassed me! I’ve done nothing but apologize for breaking up
with you. I’m sorry I hurt you, I swear to God I am. But you want
to know something? I’m glad our relationship is over because now I
get to see the REAL Jameson Doyle! And you know what I think? I
think he’s a real sonofabitch.”

Jameson reached out to pull me back to the
couch but I slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me. We may
be forced to be family now, but we’ll never be friends again; you
saw to that tonight. God, how could you do that to me, Jameson?
Haven’t you punished me enough? You know what, forget it! Enjoy
your fucking meal. I’m out of here,” I growled as I spun on my heel
and walked back to the other side of the bar.

I needed to get as far away from Jameson as I
could. I was so angry and hurt; angry that we fought and hurt
because nothing I said or did was good enough for him. I didn’t
know what I could do to make him finally forgive me, but I wasn’t
going to try anymore. We were completely over; our friendship
wasn’t even salvageable. Archer was going to kick both our asses if
he found out. I prayed Jameson stayed away for a few days until we
could each cool off, otherwise Archer would know that peace
negotiations never even got off the ground floor.

Hugging my bottle of Johnnie, I made my way
over to the leather couches by the liquor bar. I found a spot to
sit and got comfortable as I gulped down a few shots. A few seconds
later a man sat down next to me.

“Bad night?” he asked and I glanced over at
him with a sigh.

The man was dressed conservatively in tan
slacks and a dark green sweater. His hair was short and auburn, his
eyes green and smile friendly. He appeared to be in his
mid-twenties and I was a little surprised to see him in such plain
clothing; most of the people here wore gothic club wear.

“Not really. Well, sort of. Yes,” I frowned
thoughtfully. Tonight had been bad for the most part. The only
highlight was Archer.
Where the hell was he
?

“I thought so,” he chuckled. “You’ve got a
death grip on that bottle.”

“Oh,” I breathed, embarrassed, realizing that
I was clutching it tightly to my chest like it was a lifesaver and
my surroundings a sinking ship. I took another swig and held the
bottle in my lap.

“So what are you drinking?” the man
asked.

“Johnnie Walker,” I smiled tightly, holding
up the bottle.

“No,” he chuckled and waved a small laminated
card. “I meant blood. What are you having? Have you decided?”

“Um, no,” I shook my head. “Is that the
menu?”

The man smiled and handed it over to me. “I
recommend the fruit fusions, if you’re a purist like me.”

The menu had about twenty different blood
options to choose from and offered just about anything a vampire
could want. They had everything from Carnivore’s Delight, which
stated that the donor ate nothing but rare beef for optimum
pleasure, to Cocaine Cowboy, which said that the donor was
guaranteed to be high on the finest Columbian cocaine available. I
grimaced when I read that and wondered why Archer would promote
drug usage among his employees, never mind hire them. Tonight’s
special was listed as the Kiwi Kiss. The description stated the
donor had been on a strict kiwi diet for the last ten days.

I handed the menu back to the man and chewed
thoughtfully on my bottom lip. “That was…interesting.”

“Yes,” he chuckled. “But like I said, I’m a
purist so I stick with the fruit fusions. You should try one.
They’re very good. Pineapple is my favorite.”

“Good evening, monsieur, madam,” a woman
nodded as she came to us. “What will it be tonight?”

“I’ll have the Pineapple Paradise, please,”
the man replied.

“And for you, my dear?” she asked with a
polite smile.

“Um, well, I guess I’ll try tonight’s
special. The Kiwi Kiss?” I answered, a bit unsure. Truth be told, I
was still a little freaked out about the Cocaine Cowboy.

“Very good,” she nodded her head once and
turned to leave.

“Um, miss?” I called. She turned and stepped
back in front of me. “Archer Rhys told me say that anything I
wanted was on the house. Is that okay?”

“Yes, madam,” she smiled patiently. “Mr. Rhys
previously informed me of your needs. If there’s nothing else…”

“No, ma’am,” I shook my head. “Thank
you.”

“So the Kiwi Kiss, huh?” he nodded his head.
“Good choice.”

“I was tempted to go with the pineapple, but
kiwi was a favorite of mine when I was human.”

“Pineapple was my favorite,” the man smiled
knowingly before he stuck out his hand. “My name is Lucian.”

“Nice to meet you, Lucian,” I smiled, shaking
his hand. “I’m Skye.”

“I’ve heard the name whispered quite a bit
over the last hour. You wouldn’t happen to be the Skye everyone is
talking about, would you? Skye Morrison?”

I sighed and took another long drink of
whiskey. “What are the chances that someone else in here is named
Skye?” I asked hopefully.

Lucian chuckled and patted my knee. “Slim to
none. I know most of the vampires in here and none of them are
named Skye.”

“Well, crap,” I sighed again. “What was
everyone saying? Was it bad?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment before he
answered. “No, it wasn’t all bad. Mostly everyone was talking about
how they’d heard you defeated the Dark Father. A few women said
that they’d heard you were dating the club owner. So, is it
true?”

“That I’m dating Archer?” I asked.

“No,” Lucian laughed. “I’d figured that out
already since you’re blood’s being comp’d. I mean about defeating
the Dark Father.”

“Oh,” I frowned a little. I hated talking
about Amun. All I wanted to do was forget about him and it seemed
like everywhere I turned, someone was bringing him back up again. I
just couldn’t get away from him. “The rumors are true,” I said
softly and left it at that.

“You must be a remarkable woman,” Lucian
said, equally as soft. “I didn’t mean to bring up a bad subject. I
apologize.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled tightly at him. “I’m
just not used to the notoriety of it yet.”

“Well, if I were you, I’d be screaming it
from the rooftops. You did what no man or vampire on this earth
could do. You are an incredibly special girl. I hope you can see
that.”

“That’s sweet of you to say, Lucian,” I
smiled crookedly and patted his knee. Remembering my manners, I
extended the bottle of Johnnie Walker to him. “Would you like
some?”

“Oh, no thank you dear,” he chuckled, holding
out his hand. “I fear it’s not compatible with my needs.”

“You’re a Dark One,” I whispered, figuring it
out way too late to take back the insulting offer. I wasn’t
positive, but I figured it was pretty rude to offer liquor to
someone who couldn’t drink it.

“Yes,” he smiled kindly. “And you are a Day
Walker. I believe Mark said it best. ‘
Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself
’. We are different, but we are also the
same.” His attention was drawn by the arrival of our donors. “Ah,
my blood is here. It was nice chatting with you, Skye. I hope to
run into you again.”

“It was nice talking to you, too, Lucian,” I
smiled as he got up and escorted his pineapple flavored donor to
another couch.

“Your feeder, madam,” the attendant smiled as
my donor sat down next to me on the couch.

After thanking her, I turned to my donor and
smiled timidly. He was around thirty-five and was tall and slim
with sandy hair and brown eyes. He held his wrist out to me and I
held it in both hands as I brought it to my mouth. Running my nose
up his forearm, I could smell a strong kiwi influence.

Calling forth my fangs, I bit into his vein
and sighed as his blood pooled in my mouth. Just like the menu
promised, my donor tasted of nothing but kiwi. It reminded me of
the kiwi and strawberry summer salads my mom would make when I was
a kid. They were a favorite of ours during the hot summer
months.

My donor sighed heavily and started to writhe
on the couch; the sound bringing me back to the here and now.
Uh-oh
. I was accidentally giving him the full whammy of my
venom. I tried holding it back, but it was too late. My donor
started panting and climaxed before I even got my third mouthful
swallowed. I knew I needed to stop before I got carried away, so I
withdrew my fangs with difficulty and sat back as far as I could
from him.

“Oops,” I breathed, trying to shake the
hunger from my eyes. “I’m really sorry about that, mister. I didn’t
mean for that to happen.”

I heard whispering around me and looked up to
see that most of the room was looking my way; gossiping about what
they’d just seen.
How totally embarrassing
. I glanced over
at Lucian and saw him staring my way, too; a look of surprise and
something else I couldn’t place.

Thank goodness Archer picked that moment to
reappear again. He helped my donor up and took his spot next to me.
“Did you have a good time,
cion
?”

“Um…it was…informative,” I said
diplomatically. Truth was, I was not happy about Jameson making a
scene earlier on the dance floor, and I was even more unhappy about
Archer employing drug addicts to service vampires. We’d be having a
conversation about that, but not tonight. Tonight I was ready to go
back to Archer’s penthouse, take a shower, and put this day behind
me. “I’m kind of beat, baby.”

Archer pulled me sideways onto his lap and I
rested my head on his shoulder. “It’s been a long day. Are you
ready to go home?” he asked sweetly as he kissed the tip of my
nose.

“Yes, please,” I whispered as I wrapped my
hand around his neck and ran my fingers through the soft hair
there.

“You haven’t seen Jameson by any chance, have
you?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I ran into him about
twenty minutes ago. He was by the blood bar when I left him.”

“Okay,” Archer said standing up and setting
me down on the floor. “Let’s go see if he’s staying or coming home
with us.”

Archer handed me my half empty bottle of
whiskey, interlaced his fingers with mine, and I followed him
across the busy club floor in search of Jameson. We found him just
where I’d last saw him; he was sitting on the leather couch sipping
whiskey and talking to an attractive female.

“
Dheartháir
,” Archer greeted with a
smile and Jameson stood up to hug him again.

“You remember Amani,” Jameson said, nodding
his head to the woman on the couch.

Amani, Amani
? I silently wondered, my
eyes flashing over to her.
The girl who left Jameson for the
Dark One and broke his heart back in the 40s
?

“Of course,” Archer answered tightly,
seemingly none too happy to see her, as he squeezed my hand
lightly; letting me know he was answering my silent question
also.

“Good to see you again,
athair
,” she
bowed her head respectfully. “I just got back into town last night.
I thought I’d come by and see old friends.”

Archer’s stern gaze seemed to cut her in two
and she flinched slightly. He turned his attention from her and
spoke to Jameson. “Skye has had a long day and we’re heading back
to the penthouse. Will you be joining us?”

Jameson looked indecisive for a moment as he
looked to Amani and then to me. “Uh, yes father. I think that’s a
good idea. I’ve had a long day myself.”

Amani frowned unhappily and folded her arms
across her chest; the action making her seem as if she was pouting.
“Well it was nice to catch up while we could, Jameson,” she smiled
over at him. “You have my number. Call if you want to get together
before you leave town.”

Jameson turned his back on her and walked
over to us. Archer handed Jameson my hand and then turned back to
Amani. “I wouldn’t hold your breath,” he growled lowly then
followed Jameson and me to the exit.

I wanted to rip my hand out of Jameson’s but
didn’t dare in front of Archer. He had told me to make things right
with Jameson and I didn’t want him to know that our friendship was
irreparable.

When we got to the steel door, we bid a good
night to the doorman Charles and Archer ran ahead of us to get the
car.

As soon as he was gone, I jerked my hand out
of Jameson’s and took a big swig from the bottle of whiskey. “I
told you not to touch me,” I growled as I wiped the back of my hand
across my lips.

Jameson took the bottle from me and downed
half of what was left. “Like I had a choice,” he scoffed.

“Look,” I sighed, unhappily as I jerked the
bottle away from him. “Archer told me to fix things between us and
that’s what I’d intended to do when I went backstage tonight.
Obviously, we both want the same thing and that’s to no longer be
friends, but Archer can’t know; at least not yet. He’s really
pissed at us for the way we acted at Patty’s earlier. So, until we
get back to Austin, we need to act like nothing is amiss. I
promised him that we’d fix this shit between us and honestly, he
doesn’t need the added drama.”