Sacrifice Me: The Complete Season One (13 page)

“What about this one?” I asked,
holding it up to myself in the mirror.

“Love it,” Shay the redhead said.
“What size shoes do you wear? There’s a pair of kick ass
black leather boots that would look amazing with that.”

She got up from her seat in front of the mirror to
go dig them out of a box for me.

“Seven, I think,” I said.

“Perfect,” she said with a smile.
“These are eights, but just stuff some tissue down in the toe
and they should fit fine.”

I looked around for a private place to change, but
quickly realized that this room was as private as it got.

“We’ve seen it all before,”
Cherish said with a laugh.

I wondered if that was her real name or not,
because it wasn’t doing much for my confidence that this wasn’t
a group of strippers.

“Have you ever danced before? Like, in
public?” Lyla asked.

“No. I’ve worked at a lot of clubs and
bars, but nothing like this,” I said.

“I could kind of tell by the fact that your
face is pale as a sheet,” she said with a laugh. “It’s
not as bad as it seems. The club is dark and no one is going to mess
with you. We’re more like decoration, really.”

“Great,” I said, trying to act happy
about being a decorative accent in a room full of blood-thirsty
vampires.

“It’s really one of the best jobs in
the place,” Peri said. She was short with really long brown
hair braided into one long braid down her back. She looked like she
was about fifteen years old, but I knew she had to be older to be
working here. Or at least I hoped. “The pay is great and all
you have to do is have a good time.”

“You better start getting dressed,”
Lyla said. “We have a staff meeting in half an hour before we
open.”

I slipped my shoes off and put them under one of
the tables. I felt a bit nauseated looking down at the skimpy black
outfit, but remembered that I was supposed to be owning this like it
was my choice. Not Azure's.

I can do this.

I undressed as fast as I could, relieved when I
realized the others were too busy finishing up their makeup to pay
attention to me.

I slid the black leotard on over my underwear, but
quickly realized there was no way I could wear my bra with this
thing. I unhooked it and slipped it off, feeling incredibly naked in
this stupid outfit. I had never been more grateful to have freshly
shaved legs.

Lyla whistled as I laced up the boots. “Wow,
you look amazing,” she said. She walked over and lowered her
voice. “Are you using?”

I gave her a sideways look. “What do you
mean? Like drugs?”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “No,
silly. Magic. Glamours?”

“What’s a glamour?”

All five of them turned to look at me.

“You’re kidding, right?” the
girl with the green shirt said. Misty, I think, was her name. Her
skin was dark and smooth and flawless, and her eyes were a deep
lavender.

“No, I’m uh, totally new to this whole
thing.”

“A glamour is just a spell a lot of witches
use to alter their appearance,” Misty said. “Like plastic
surgery or something, without the surgery.”

My eyes widened. “You can do that?”

“Wow, Rend wasn’t kidding when he said
you would have a lot to learn,” she said. “You never
played around with stuff like that when you were a kid? Your mom
never taught you about glamours?”

I shook my head, making an effort not to flinch at
the mention of Mom.

“Watch,” Misty said. She closed her
eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again. The deep lavender
color of her eyes had been replaced by a bright green that matched
her shirt.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“We don’t really have time to show you
how to do it now, but if you get a chance later, we’ll have
some fun with it,” Cherish said. “Shay here doesn’t
even really have red hair. She’s really a brunette, but she
keeps it red now all the time. I think it suits her.”

“Thank you,” Shay said with a little
curtsey. “Me too.”

“We’ll help you with your makeup real
quick and then we need to head out front,” Lyla said. “Rend
hates it if we’re late for staff meetings, and I’m sure
everyone will be dying to meet you.”

My stomach flipped at the thought of the whole
staff meeting me when I looked like this, but I had to find a way to
embrace it. Fast.

“I just want to do some dark eyeliner,
nothing too dramatic,” I said. “I’m not really much
of a heavy makeup person.”

A few of the girls laughed, but I stood my ground
when they tried to smear my cheeks with pink. I managed to get out of
there with a light foundation, very dark eyeliner, mascara and a
little bit of pink lipgloss.

“You really have some of the most gorgeous
blue eyes I’ve ever seen,” Shay said.

“Before you know it, she’ll be copying
them,” Lyla said with a laugh.

“You’re welcome to them,” I
said. “They kind of run in my family.”

Not that I knew much about my family. My mother
had refused to ever talk about them and she never, and I mean never,
talked about my father. But I knew I’d gotten my eye color from
her. She’d once slipped up in a moment of melancholy and told
me that most of her sisters had the same bright blue eyes. It was the
only time she’d even told me she had sisters and when I’d
asked her about it, she got angry and told me to mind my own
business.

“You ready?” Lyla asked. “It’s
time to go.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

I was grateful not to be walking out there alone.
I positioned myself right in the middle of the group, trying to blend
in and match their level of confidence. I had no idea how long they’d
all been doing this, but they seemed to have no problem with what
they were wearing. And to be honest, they all looked incredible. I
hoped I looked like I belonged with them.

We walked together through the black curtain and
out into the main part of the club. I sighed with relief when I saw
that the harsh lights had been turned off and the place was back to
the black and neon glow of the first night I’d been in here.
The darkness made me feel a little bit more comfortable.

Azure was leaning against the bar, no doubt just
waiting to see if I’d come out with the others like a good
little girl. Every fiber of my being wanted to avoid her eyes, but
instead, I met her gaze head-on, challenging her with a confident
smile.

The anger that flashed through her eyes was all
the reassurance I needed that I was doing the right thing by owning
this instead of curling up in the corner like an abused kitten.

Her mouth dropped open a little as I passed, and
my smile grew larger.

One of the guys standing in a group near the
dance-floor whistled. “Looking gorgeous, as always, ladies.”

Lyla walked up to him and held out her hand for
him to kiss. They shared a look that made me wonder if there was a
little something going on between the two of them.

I scanned the gathered crowd. It was about eighty
percent women and every single person here was unreasonably good
looking. A requirement of working here? Or were they all capable of
using these glamours Misty was talking about? Did I measure up?

I had a feeling this job was going to be a
constant test of my confidence.

“Let’s get started,” a familiar
bass called out.

My heart jumped into my throat at the sound of
Rend’s voice. I hadn’t been willing to admit to myself
just how much I was looking forward to seeing him again. So much it
was scary.

He didn’t seem to notice me at first. The
staff gathered in a half-circle around the edge of the dance-floor as
Rend went through some basic instructions about how the night would
go.

“I want everyone on their very best behavior
tonight,” he said, glancing down at a clipboard in his hand.
“And I want security at every exit and every single post around
the club at all times. I don’t want you ladies to much as think
about going to the bathroom or getting a drink of water without
making sure someone’s got your post, understand.”

A group of women off to his right nodded and I
stared in awe. This was his security team? I had originally thought
it was kind of odd to see a pretty woman working as the bouncer out
front taking ID’s, but for his entire security team to be
women? That was unexpected. Especially in a place this dangerous.

At least they get to wear club staff t-shirts.

I adjusted my weight from one foot to the other
and just that slight movement seemed to draw Rend’s attention.
He glanced up from his papers while he was talking about assignments,
then looked back down.

But then, he stopped mid-sentence, and slowly
looked back up, his eyes traveling very deliberately up my body from
boot to boobs.

I expected him to say something. Introduce me.
Cuss me out. Something. But he just stood there staring, his eyes
finally reaching my own. I couldn’t read his expression. Was he
angry?

I lifted my chin, not letting myself so much as
blink. I wanted him to see that I was still here, doing what needed
to be done.

Tension gathered in the room as people looked from
Rend to me, whispering. Behind me, Azure cleared her throat a little
too loud to sound natural.

I wondered if they could all hear my heart
beating. I wondered if they could all see just how much I wanted Rend
to cross over to me and take me in his arms.

I forced my eyes down, but that only made it
worse. Instead of the jeans and black t-shirt he had on the other
night, he wore a pair of perfectly tailored dark grey pants, a
pristine white button-up shirt with the top button undone and a
matching grey blazer. No tie. My body reacted in ways I hoped to God
none of the others could sense.

Finally, Rend shook his head and tore his eyes
away from me, looking back down at his clipboard. He flipped through
his papers a few times, then found his voice again.

“I want someone stationed by that back door
tonight, too. No one goes in or out that way tonight,” he said.
“No one in Paris tonight, either. If you need a smoke break or
something, just go out to Hubbard and try to keep it to a minimum
until we close.”

A few people exchanged looks, as if this was
definitely not normal. Was he saying this for my sake? I could have
told him I wouldn’t be stupid enough to go out that back door
again for the rest of my life if I could help it. And what did he
mean by Paris? Was that a special section of the club?

There was a part of me that was touched he seemed
to care about keeping me safe. I had no idea what I’d done to
deserve that. He could have easily just let me get eaten instead of
offering me a job and personal protection.

“I’d also like to introduce everyone
to our newest employee.” Before he even said my name, everyone
turned to look at me. “This is Franki. I’d like you guys
to really welcome her to the club and take some time to introduce
yourselves when you get a chance. Look out for her, too. She’s
new to all this.”

A few people mumbled casual hello’s, but
Rend didn’t give them time to come over and talk.

He went through the last of the instructions for
the night and about ten minutes later called an end to the meeting.

Several people made a beeline straight to me to
say hi and welcome me to the group. I knew I’d never remember
everyone’s names but it was nice to meet some people who were
nicer than Azure.

“Franki,” Rend called out. When I
turned to him, he cleared his throat. “Can I see you for a
moment?”

“Sure,” I said with a smile, doing my
best to hide my nerves. I apologized and left the group that had
surrounded me, then followed him into the same dark corner he’d
brought me to that first night.

Standing this close to him again made my palms
sweat.

His eyes drifted down to my cleavage and he ran a
hand through his hair. “What are you wearing?”

Okay. Not what I expected him to say.

“I’m wearing what I was told to wear.”

“Unless I’m going insane, I very
clearly remember giving you a staff t-shirt to wear,” he said.
His voice was gruff. “That is most definitely not a staff
t-shirt.”

The girly, highly aroused part of me was loving
the fact that he seemed so affected by my new clothing.

The confused,
did-not-fucking-want-to-wear-this-outfit-in-the-first-place part of
me was angry as hell.

“How observant of you,” I said,
standing as tall as I could next to him.

He reached out like he was going to grab my arm,
but then spread his fingers wide and pulled back instead.

“Why are you wearing that, then?”

“I don’t know why you’re getting
upset with me,” I said. “I wake up Thursday night in my
own bed with no memory of how I got there and no idea how you or
anyone else here might have known where I lived. I show up to work
not knowing if I’m expected to even be here, just because I
don’t want to upset you in case you were wanting me to work
tonight. Then I get here and am told that Azure is in charge. Well,
this is what she told me to wear, so I’m here, doing exactly
everything I’ve been asked to do. If you don’t think I
look good enough to be one of the dancers on a night when you have
friends coming—”

His eyes snapped up to mine. “Is that why
you think I’m upset?”

“How am I supposed to know why you’re
upset?”

He took a deep breath in through his nose, his
chest rising and falling. “Azure told you to wear this.”

I wanted to tell him she threatened my life if I
didn’t, but held my tongue. I didn’t want to make her
more of an enemy than she already was at this point.

“She said you were short a dancer tonight.”

He glanced over toward the bar, his eyes narrowed.

When he turned his attention back to me, he
softened just a little. “I brought you home Thursday,” he
said. “I thought you would be able to rest better at your own
house. As to how I knew where you lived, well, let’s just say
I’m very good at finding people whether they want to be found
or not.”