Page 33 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“What?” I asked over my pounding heart.

She grinned. “You’re a natural! There’s no way you won’t land this position. Please teach me some of your tricks.”

I stared at her, my brows drawing together.

“You okay?” she asked, concern in her bright green eyes. She flipped her icy blonde hair over her shoulder. Her dress was short, formfitting, and black, and a pentacle necklace dangled low on her chest.

“Yes, sorry,” I said, my lips turning up as I studied her face, searching for concealed intent. She was… strangely genuine. “I’d love to. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Seraph suddenly appeared. “Gabbing during our busiest hours isn’t going to get you hired here, human,” he barked.

I straightened and nodded. “Sorry, boss.”

He rolled his eyes, but I noticed his lips quirking slightly. He was a big, burly wolf shifter, with curly brown hair and a big bushy beard. He made a shooing motion with his hand, and I was quick to grab a platter of cocktails for vampires at a table in the back.

The table of men stopped talking, heads turning to watch me as I approached. They didn’t have any tattoos, and they all appeared to be in their midtwenties. They must’ve been born. Were they even welcome here, in Rune’s club? I knew the war was over, but the two vampire clans still seemed segregated and at odds. I needed to trade my tricks for some culture and history lessons from Snow.

I passed the correct drink to each vampire, gasping when someone touched my back as they brushed past me.

“Sorry, love,” a woman with tight blonde curls and hooded eyes said. Her dress was tiny, silver, and shimmered as she moved.

I zoned in on the two distinctive puncture marks on her neck, then the ones lining her arm. She perched on the nearest vampire’s lap. They were evenly arranged around the half circle booth carved from mahogany, an ornate, circular quartz table in front of them. A chandelier above illuminated the sharpness of their features, the wicked gleams in their eyes.

The vampire with the courtesan in his lap made eye contact with me as he revealed his fangs. I tried and failed to hide my flinch when he snapped into her neck, puncturing skin and sucking as his eyes flooded with rapture just as the courtesan’s did.

His friends snickered as they watched me.

Calm the hell down, Scarlett.

What did they desire? I quickly sized them up, noting clear, flashy wealth and unbridled arrogance.

These types loved humiliation. They wanted to scare me, to believe I was awestruck by their beauty and prowess, helpless to their own whims.

I leaned into my fear. “Anything else I can get for you all?” I asked, letting my voice shake slightly.

This greatly amused them, and I hid my anger somewhere they couldn’t see.

“Those eyes are dangerous,” a blond man said, leaning forward.

The next vampire sunk his teeth into the courtesan’s wrist as she moaned softly.

“You’re new here,” another said, his gaze darkening as he watched my pulse. He had shoulder-length black hair and light brown skin.

I nodded. “I arrived here yesterday.”

The blond man flashed a dangerous grin. “We meant at Odessa, but don’t tell us you’re new to the city, too, little human…”

I forced myself to smile softly, shifting on my feet with a nervousness that wasn’t entirely fabricated.

One of the men groaned, forcefully grabbing the girl’s other wrist as she was passed to a different vampire’s lap. The sight of them feasting on her as her eyes fluttered made my stomach drop.

I thought of Isabella.

“A human fresh from dry lands. Isn’t that precious,” the black-haired man said, and I homed in on his fangs.

A sudden presence at my back had the whole table going still and quiet at once, thinly veiled disgust and anger twisting their features.

18

---