Revelation of Blood (25 page)

“Did you happen to see who she left
with?”

“No,” she shook her head as she piled my
table’s order on a tray. “We were really busy. Rat Bastards were
playing that night and it was a crazy crowd.”

“Hm,” I frowned. “Okay, thanks. Just thought
I’d ask. I’ve been wracking my brain all day trying to figure out
where she could be.”

“My guess?” Fiona arched an eyebrow at me.
“She probably partied too hard and is sleeping it off.” She leaned
over the bar and whispered conspiratorially, “I’ve noticed she’s
been hitting the bottle pretty hard lately. Been going out partying
almost every night then dragging ass in to work the next day
looking like hell. One day, she opened in the same clothes she
closed in. I don’t think the girl even went home the night before.
Can you believe that?”

Straightening my back, I frowned at her
attempt to gossip. If there was one thing I was, it was protective
of my friends. I did not like the fact that Fiona seemed a little
too happy to be dishing on Nikki’s dirt and I made that clear to
her. “Nikki’s life is Nikki’s business, Fi. As long as she comes
into work and does her job, it’s none of anyone’s business how she
chooses to live it on her down time. You know what they say about
loose lips. Be careful, Fi. I’ve got a mind to poke a hole in your
boat.”

With that, I grabbed my tray and ignored her
indignant gasp as I made my way back over to Jackson and Johnny.
Since Fiona was dating Dan, I figured it would only be a matter of
time before she ran to him and told him what I said to her. But,
honestly I didn’t care. She should have known better than to talk
shit about my best friend. I had zero loyalties to Fiona and didn’t
give a single damn if she knew it.

“Here you go, boys,” I smiled brightly as I
emptied my tray onto their table. “I’ve got a pitcher of Bud and
two Johnnie Walker Blue doubles for you. Now you enjoy and I’ll be
back to check up on you in a bit.”

“Thanks, Skye,” Johnny smiled at me as he
lifted his glass in salute. I gave him a friendly wink and turned
to the table behind him.

Dan’s newest hire, Tori, came bouncing up to
me at eight thirty and relieved me of duty. I filled her in on a
few of the tables needs then grabbed my receipts and headed into
Dan’s office to cash out.

When I walked in, Dan was just ending a call
and turned to me as he hung up the phone. “You done for the day?”
he asked.

“Yep,” I said, placing the credit card
receipts on his desk. “Tori just got here and relieved me.”

“Well, at least she’s on time for once,” he
quirked wryly as he grabbed the stack and started going through
them. After a few silent seconds, he sighed. “I want to apologize
for the way I acted this morning. I was in a bad mood.”

“Don’t worry about it, D.,” I shook my head.
“No harm, no foul. We all have bad days.”

“This shit with Nikki is just getting to me,”
he said, turning to me and running his fingers through his
hair.

“It’s getting to me, too,” I admitted as I
put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I know. I heard about what went down with
you and Fiona today.”

I pursed my lips and sighed. I knew she was
going to tattle tale on me. “I’m sorry I snapped at her. She was
gossiping and it just hit me wrong. You know how protective I
am.”

“I know,” he quirked his lips up at me. “I
had a talk with her about it. She’ll be keeping her thoughts to
herself from now on, doll.”

That surprised me and I raised my eyebrows at
him. I wasn’t expecting him to side with me in the matter. Fiona
was his girlfriend after all. “Really?”

“Yes really,” he smiled crookedly. “I don’t
pay my employees to gossip about one another behind their backs.
When Fiona is on company time, she’s my employee so it applies to
her too.”

“I can’t imagine she was very happy about
that conversation,” I said, crossing my arms under my chest.

“No, she wasn’t,” he admitted, “but that’s my
problem, hon. Don’t worry about it.”

“I still can’t get over that you two are
dating. She doesn’t seem like your usual type.”

“She’s a good girl,” he said, turning back to
the receipts and pulling out his calculator. “We have a lot of fun
together. Besides, my type hasn’t been working out well for me
lately.”

“Lola,” I sighed, remembering the time I
caught them going at it in Dan’s office.

“Lola,” he agreed with a nod of his head. He
finished totaling up my tips and reached into the cash drawer to
fulfill it. “Not a bad day’s work, doll. I’m adding seventy-five to
your tips as pay for today.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” I shook my head.
“I make plenty at The Mausoleum, D. The tips I got today are
payment enough.”

“I can’t just not pay you, Skye,” he said,
looking up at me, confused.

“You can and you will,” I pursed my lips. “I
don’t need it Dan.”

He took the money out of the lock box and put
it back in his desk. “Well, one thing sure hasn’t changed,” he
chuckled as he stood.

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“Your stubbornness,” he cocked an eyebrow as
he held out the money to me. “Still as stubborn as ever.”

I took it with a laugh and winked at him.
“You love me, stubbornness and all.”

“I do,” he chuckled again and pulled me into
a tight hug. “I’ve missed you around here. Thanks for filling in
today.”

“No thanks needed, hon. I’m happy to do
it.”

“Plan on coming in tomorrow unless you hear
from me by ten. I’m praying Nikki will show up before then, but I’m
not holding my breath.”

“She’ll turn up, D.,” I whispered as I pulled
back, noting the worry on his face.

“She’d better have a damn good excuse when
she does,” he frowned.

“Damn good,” I agreed.

We said our goodbyes and I grabbed my bag,
stuffed the cash inside the inner zip pocket, and made my way out
to the car. The short drive to Archer’s club took only a minute,
but I frowned as I pulled into the back alley. A trash truck was
blocking the path and I couldn’t go down it. Reversing, I made my
way over one block and parked in back of the club’s customer lot.
By the number of cars and the lack of available parking spaces, I
knew the club was already at capacity.

Hooking my bag over my body, I started
crossing through the parking lot. Out of nowhere, a young teenager
appeared and grabbed the strap of my messenger bag as he tried to
get it over my head.

“Give me the fucking purse, lady!” he growled
menacingly at me as we struggled.

“Oh, HELL no. Are you actually trying to rob
me?” I scoffed, kicking him in the shin. “You’re not getting my
purse, you little bastard!”

“I’ll cut you, lady,” he said nervously as he
took a small pocket knife out of his hip pocket, his eyes darting
around the parking lot watching for witnesses. “I swear, I’ll do
it.”

I narrowed my eyes at him as I jerked the
strap out of his hand and took a step back. “You even TRY to cut me
with that and I’ll kick your ever loving ass, kid. Your mouth is
writing checks your scrawny ass can’t possibly cash. Do yourself a
favor and go home before you get yourself hurt.”

He laughed at me and lunged suddenly. Calmly
lifting my hand, I flicked my wrist and used my power of
telekinesis to throw him into the side of the building. He hit the
concrete hard and crumpled to the ground.

I sighed and walked over to him to make sure
he was okay. He was groaning softly and rocking a little on the
asphalt. “Didn’t I warn you?” I asked, shaking my head. Leaning
down, I searched his pockets, found his wallet, and pulled out his
student ID and Texas Identification Card. “Anthony Lima,” I said
aloud, reading it. “Well, Anthony, it says here you live at 1633
Cosgrove Lane. Hm…I know exactly where that is. I also see that
you’ll be a junior next year at Anderson High School. Bet your so
parents are proud. I wonder if they know that their little hoodlum
son likes to go out late at night and steal purses from young, hard
working women.”

Fear flashed in his eyes as he looked up at
me. “P-Please,” he shuddered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Don’t tell
my parents.”

“If I ever see you around here again, I’ll be
paying you a little visit,” I smiled, tossing the cards onto his
chest. “And I promise you, you won’t like it, kid.”

I held my hand out and waited for him to take
it. Once he did, I effortlessly pulled him up and dusted the dirt
off his shoulder. “You keep doing dumb shit like this and you’re
going to get yourself killed one day. Lots of people carry
concealed weapons in this state and you’re likely to catch a hole
in your head one of these days. Stay in school and quit being a
little asshole. The gangster lifestyle only guarantees you prison
time or a coffin. Now get the fuck out of here and go home.”

He was still staring at me slack-jawed and I
cocked my brow at him. “What, dude? Got something to say? Spit it
out. I’m late for work.”

“How…how did you throw me like that?” he
asked in a timid, fearful whisper.

“I eat my vegetables,” I smirked then tossed
my thumb over my shoulder. “Get lost, kid. Go read a book or
something.”

After watching him leave, readjusting my bag,
and smoothing down my shirt, I trekked over to the club’s front
entrance and bypassed the block-long line. “Hey, Trey,” I greeted
as I approached him and our new doorman, Thorin. “Busy night?”

“Always, darlin’,” he smiled as Thorin opened
the red velvet rope for me.

A few grunts and groans of disapproval
sounded behind me and Trey smirked over at the line. “She works
here, y’all,” he explained in an attempt to calm those eagerly
waiting for a chance to enter.

“How do you like the job so far?” I asked,
turning to Thorin.

“It’s interesting,” he said with a tilt of
his head. “Never a dull night.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” I chuckled with an
arch of my brow.

“Jameson brought Styvi here tonight,” Trey
mentioned just as I’d turned to walk inside. “He didn’t want her to
be alone. They’re up in Archer’s office if you want to say hi.”

“Oh good! I’m dying to see her. Catch you
later, guys!”

As soon as I entered, I knew I was right in
my assessment of the parking lot; The Mausoleum was jam packed with
dancing bodies. I slowly worked my way through the crowd and sighed
in relief when I reached Quinn.

“About time you showed up,” he smiled down at
me. “
Athair
was looking for you a few minutes ago.”

I quickly scanned the second floor and found
him seated with a group of business men. “Thanks for letting me
know, hon,” I smiled up at Quinn. “What’s the ratio tonight?”

“Same as last night,” he frowned. “We’ve got
Dark everywhere.”

“Any problems yet?” I asked as I eyed the
dance floor.

“A few, but nothing Pádraig and I couldn’t
handle. I’ll be glad when they start hanging out at their own bar
again though, and I hope it’s soon.”

“What if they don’t leave?” I asked softly as
I leaned in a bit. “What if this is The Mausoleum’s new
reality.”

“It won’t be,” he promised with a stern look
in his eye. “This is a nice club…it won’t stay that way if the Dark
move in. They’ve got a different way of living and doing things
than we do and Archer won’t stand for it.”

As if on cue, the smell of fresh blood hit my
senses and I quickly turned to the floor to find the source. A
tall, skinny Dark One had just sunk his fangs into a young man not
thirty feet from me. Quinn growled and, without thinking, I stalked
over to the Dark One and roughly grabbed him by the ear.

“Remove. Your. Fangs,” I growled lowly. His
eyes got round with surprise, but he didn’t immediately obey. I
twisted his ear painfully and repeated myself. “Now.”

The Dark One withdrew his fangs with a hiss
and dropped the young man to the floor. “You interrupted my
dinner,” he frowned then grimaced as I tugged on his ear. “He’s a
willing donor. I’m not breaking any rules.”

“Yes, you are,” I said, letting go of his ear
with a shove. “There is no feeding allowed on The Mausoleum
premises. Donor or not, it’s forbidden. You and every other vampire
in here know the rules, so don’t give me that crap. Christ, what is
wrong with people today?”

“You’re Skye Morrison, aren’t you?” he asked
as he licked the blood from his lips, seemingly unconcerned with
the scolding. “I’ve heard some very interesting things about you.
Very interesting indeed.”

I frowned and met his eyes as I took a step
closer to him. “Yeah? Like what?”

“Like how you’re fucking both Archer Rhys and
his child Jameson Doyle,” he smiled as he reached out to touch a
lock of my long, red hair. “Keeping it in the family, are we? How’s
that working out?”

I quickly slapped his hand away and
thankfully Pádraig chose that moment to appear. “Don’t touch me,” I
said, frowning up at him.

“Sorry, cookie,” he smirked, holding his
hands up. “I was just going to offer up my services if they aren’t
keeping you satisfied. After all, you’re my family too…sister.”

I laughed and threw my hair back as I stepped
closer to him. “You think you can handle this?” I asked with a
saucy smirk. He nodded his head and smiled down at me as I ran my
hand down his chest to cup his manhood. “Aw,” I tsked when I
reached it, “It’s so tiny. What am I supposed to do with that? It
appears you’re not adequately equipped for the task. Just for
future reference, I like men honey, not boys. Call me when your
balls drop…brother.”

The Dark One growled angrily and I stepped
back to allow a chuckling Pádraig to escort him outside. “How about
you add that one to the list of stories you’re all telling about
me,” I called after him then looked down at the human on the
ground. He was gazing up at me with alert eyes, so I offered my
hand to help him stand.