Page 18 of Master Botosoni

I race out the door and make my way through the club, excusing myself as I step around a woman on all fours, with a collar and leash around her neck drinking from a crystal bowl, while the man with her sits on the couch and plays with her very naked upended ass.

The minute I’m up the stairs, I look down the hall, trying to remember which way back to the club and which way to the front door. I turn the corner to the front entrance where a hostess in a short black dress with black pumps outlined in bright red stands with her back to me. She’s leaning against a black podium, checking people in, while another woman dressed the same, escorts the lucky ones with approved access into the club. The door opens, and even expecting it, my breath catches and my chest pounds with fear as my family walk in on the heels of a red eyed vampire with spiky hair and a diamond stud earring who does not look friendly at all. The vampire nods to the hostess, gesturing my family through as my father and brothers glare at me as though they could kill me where I stand. “You can come too, Miss Catina,” he says to me.

I swallow through the thickness at the back of my throat that makes it hard to even breathe as I follow the group. Think, think, think. There has to be some reason that I am here, some reason that I would allow a male, a complete stranger to take me home to his lair, and willingly show up with him at his club. That’s all they need to know. They do not need to know that the master vampire took my virginity, or that I wanted him to be the one, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. If they find out, they no longer have that card to bargain with; they can no longer dangle my innocence as enticement to wed or otherwise buy their daughter. All hell will break loose.

No, they can never know about that. But if they think they’re getting money, and that I’m the one who’s getting it for them, maybe they will leave. At least long enough for me to help the vampires find the rogues and the shifters who want to destroy them. Maybe it would be just enough to give us the time that we need for Botosoni and me to come up with a plan to make it all work.

My mind floats back to the con that a few families with daughters of beauty and how they use to make money in the traveling circles. All of the details float in my mind, coming together in a hurried but seemingly rational plan to keep the peace, and get my family out of here without incident, at least for a short time.

The vampire gestures a flat hand around the small room off the main area, but his eyes are mean and flaming red, glaring at me as though I’ve done him some wrong in the most personal of ways. “You can use this space to talk until Master Botosoni is able to come down and see you. It’s usually reserved for larger parties who want to get away from the noise of the main club.”

He looks at each of us as though we’re far beneath him or his time, but he stares at me with undisguised animosity. It’s not that I haven’t been looked at like that before, but it’s the first time that someone in Botosoni’s employee has treated me this way. “There are snack sandwiches and other fair in the refrigerator below the bar. Feel free to help yourself. Master Botosoni will see you shortly.”

Two of my brothers don’t even wait until he’s left the room before they go behind the large marble bar that matches the one in the main club and lean down to ferret out the food, while the older brothers stand by my parents. My youngest brother brings a large platter covered with a plastic dome out and lays it on the bar, peeling off the top, to snag one of the triangular cut sandwiches. He shoves the corner of it between his lips and searches through the refrigerator for more to eat.

My father, though, he’s cautious, and he waits until the door clicks into place before he walks toward me, menacing, with that evil look that comes right before I learn exactly how pissed he is. “How could you bring such disgrace to this family? How could you! I will kill that son of a bitch with my bare hands and make you wish you had never thought to defy or disgrace this family.”

All I can think about is the five of them going after Botosoni, and it ending in bloodshed, either his or theirs. At

the same time, Botosoni and the vampires are racing against the clock to get things in place to battle the rogues. This is the last thing in the world that he needs to be dealing with, and I make the decision to put the animosity on my parents and brothers part to rest, to let them think that I’m still a daughter who is worth bragging about in the community we travel with, and not the vampire whore that I really am.

I clear my throat as my chest beats so hard it feels like it might explode. “The vampire came to see me at the coffee shop. I was setting up to tell fortunes. I recognized him from the day before when he came into the shop. That souped-up sports car is hard to miss. Bright, shiny, and it must have cost a pretty penny. So I remembered the con. The one that other families use.”

I have everyone’s interest, my father’s mind probably adding up every single dollar he can squeeze from the vampire who’s rumored to be one of the wealthiest men in the world. Old money, and money that my father and brothers want. My father’s lips tilt into as much of a smile as I’ve ever seen from the nasty old man. “Tell me more, Catina. Maybe you will redeem yourself yet.”

My breathing is erratic, and my heart races, but I’ve started this game now. There’s no way to back down without stoking my father’s wrath and getting him and possibly Botosoni in an all-out war at the worst possible time. I breathe in deep, letting the gossip from my friends and the escapades of their families fuel my story. “He came into the coffee shop and spilled his coffee on me.”

One of my brothers’ eyes harden. “Stupid girl. You could have taken him for cash money, right on the spot for that.” His eyes scan my neck where little dots of heat still speckle from the scalding coffee that splashed on me only days ago. Perhaps that wasn’t the smartest thing to say.

I try hard to keep my temper in check. We may be in public, but I don’t put it past his quickly lit temper to do something wicked right in this room, no matter who can hear it down the hall. “That would only bring in a small payday,” I tell him. He may have my father’s temper but not half of his brains. I look to my mother, always half hoping for one bit of sympathy, empathy, or any damn emotion, that shows she cares, at all. But like always, she doesn’t even have one little word to say on my behalf.” Perhaps she’s too scared of the men in our life too.

It’s up to me, to carry the story, to weave myself out of their angry path and back into their good graces, at least until this is over. Then Botosoni and I can focus on fixing this for good.

I glance around, “Look, I don’t have much time. Master Botosoni is going to be back shortly. I pretended to faint while at the coffee shop, hoping that I could play on his chivalry. Lucky for us, Botosoni took the bait. He carted me back to his house and took care of me. I even let him feed me, gaining his trust, playing into his protective instincts. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard.”

My brother scoffs, “Who would want the likes of you, an old maid? The only thing you have going for you is your virginity, but pretty soon you’ll be too old for that to entice anyone either.”

I fight back the tears that always seem to come from their abuse. I suck in a breath, determined to make this work. “The vampire likes me so much that he wants to make me his. I told him my family were pretty awful, that they wanted to sell me. He’s too into me to let that happen.”

My father’s eyes gleam while my brother’s eyes narrow, darting between me and my father, not knowing exactly how this will go, but eager to get the talking over and his hands on the money. I just need to think of a way to get them to leave me alone until after the auction, until the vampires can get their hands on the rogues. Something that will make them want to stay away.

And then it hits me. “Master Botosoni put me in an auction on Friday night. In a few nights, I have no doubt that he will purchase me for an astronomical price, then we won’t have to worry about money for a very long time. I’ll slip away before any damage is done, and we can move on to another city and do it again. See, I’m not just a worthless psychic. I can be a contributing member of this family.” I play on my father’s greedy nature. “Right, Pappa?”

He smiles, that evil sickening smile that makes my stomach turn. “Of course, Catina. I always knew someday that you would make your father proud.”

I take a furtive glance around. “Really, you should go now, before he gets here. The last thing we want is for him to think he’s gotten tangled up with a family of thieves. Right, Pappa?”

My father is quick to agree. “Let’s go before he gets back. Catina’s right. Let her do her work. We will see you after Friday. Remember, leave quickly, right after the auction so there’s no chance that he can take your virginity. That will still bring us a handsome little price one day soon.”

Chapter 16

Botosoni

I stand with Lord Braedon watching on the laptop in the security room, having just finished letting our most elite patrons know about the auction before arriving just in time to watch and hear every heart-breaking word that Catina says. I wait until her family is out of the room and watch as she waits a few minutes and then walks out the door. I watch as the cameras film her making her way all the way to the stairwell that will take her back downstairs. Presumably to head back to the lower level where I left her, and to find me and tell me some other made-up story. I don’t need to watch her walk down the stairs to know that it’s true.

My jaw tightens in resolve. She can just sit there for a while and wonder why things have suddenly thawed because I have no time for her games right now. There’s far too much to deal with, and like it or not, she’s right in the middle of an all-out war with information that we need. That’s not going to change for little miss wrap me around her finger, until we get the rogues and shifters.

She is going to help us; I’m going to make damn sure of that. I don’t know how she thought getting me to buy her at the auction was going to go down, because we don’t intend to auction the ladies for real, only use it as an enticement to get the rogue bastards to come to us.

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