Page 63 of Club Blood

I continued walking, choosing to ignore and disengage, much to myneed’sdispleasure. Mother would have been so disappointed. The only thing she hated worse than Vegas and vampires, was someone who let another walk all over them.

I left to find Nevada when I was sixteen. Mother wasn’t the easiest to live with, but when she found out Vegas was more to me than cheap liquor and dirty money, I was no better than the scum of the earth.

Vegas was a breeding ground for vampires, and I was built to be a vampire. I wanted desperately to be a part of the immortal world, and the City of Lights was where I was convinced it would happen. Some girls dreamed of growing up rich—my mother included—and I grew up wanting eternal thirst, unholy strength, and power that would bring people to their knees. It wasn’t just the allure of the show girls and the Vegas nightlife that drew me in. After the Known became publicly recognized, Mother wanted to bunker down. I wanted to get on the first flight to immortal freedom.

Acting as if she was not one of them herself. I thought my wanting it would help her love me more, but of course, it wasn’t that easy. She’d been a vampire for as long as I’d been alive. Turned against her will, with nothing and no one but a newborn. Mother never got over it.

And even after she was killed by hunters in my human teens, despite her wishes, I fled to Sin City. I fled to become immortal myself. Mercy’s coven appealed to me because she always gave people the choice, something Mother never had. She was the easy choice to follow.

I’m pissed that she failed me.

Past the construction workers, there was little else in sight; off the strip was dark and secretive. If there were things still open—which in fact there were—they didn’t want anyone to know. At least not everyone.

I thought Carlisle would be gone by now. He had shown up toAmbrosia, watched her cunt get worshipped by that fucking girl, and gotme. He should have left by now.

I was surprised he called me here tonight, to this place. I wanted so desperately to be back in the comfort of the crowds and casinos. But not home, not back at Mercy’s estate. I could never go back there now.

After what I left Mercy, the heart of the girl she had inadvertently gotten killed, I knew she would come to the right conclusion almost immediately. She had ruined our coven with the inclusion of the human whore, but Mercy was smart. She would scent me all over it, if her good for nothing Snitch Second didn’t find out first and tell her.

I will destroy her for what she did to me.

As I rounded the corner, there was nothing but a small neon sign that glowed blood red.Brams’s. The motel and bar was situated between two iron gates, and steps that led down to an old, wooden door. My heels clicked against the steps as I descended. My fingers curled into a fist and I quickly tapped my hand against the door. Once. Twice. Three times.

“Name and business,” I heard as a flap opened, revealing two, plum colored eyes.

I rolled my own. Vampires were such secretive creatures. We were alreadyKnown, it made no sense whether humans knew what we did in the shadows. Even if they tried, they wouldn’t last long. None of them would ever be able to stand toe to toe with a vampire and live.

"Narcissa," I gave no inclination of telling him my last name. "Carlisle sent for me."

"Mr. Valore is really busy tonight, he is not taking any visitors."

“I'm not just a visitor," I snapped. "As I mentioned, he called for me."

The vampire on the other side of the door seemed to hesitate for a second. I used the opportunity to . . . persuade him. "I doubt he'd be happy with you if you didn't let me speak with him. I'm a critical player in the games he plays now."

The threat of Carlisle Valore was not one to take lightly. The vampire harrumphed and opened the door. He was a boney thing, someone I could snap in half with just my fingers. "Good boy," I cooed in his direction, patting my hand against his gaunt face. He narrowed his eyebrows at me and I watched as his fangs slid out of his lips with a tight grimace. I walked away from him, knowing all too well that despite his revulsion to me, he was checking out my ass in the mini skirt I’d thrown on before coming out tonight. No wonder the construction workers cat called. I knew I was hot.

"Big stuff, where is Mr. Carlisle?" I turned my head around, catching him mid stare.

The vampire grumbled but pointed to a set of stairs just past the bar.Bram'shad been around for as long as I've been in Vegas, which, admittedly was only the later part of the century, but even still I knew it housed other vampires long before the Known becameKnown. It was old and shabby, and almost to the point of ruin.

It was an exclusive club, and had become the hiding space for the black market vampires that prowled the red district. Not that the Authority paid any attention to it.Bram'sdidn't cause any trouble, and so the vampires were left unchecked here.

I grabbed a hold of the railing on either side with both hands, descending deeper into the building. Torches lined the walls, illuminating the dungeons as I reached the final step.

"Narcissa!" A big voice boomed from a room several doors down the hallway. My breath came out in an anxious little huff before I approached the doorway. There was no door on its hinges, and as I rounded the corner my eyes widened in surprise as I saw Carlisle Valore sitting comfortably at the end of the bed. I hadn't realized I was walking into his bedroom. I coughed nervously. He was dressed down in casuals, the deep v of his shirt revealing porcelain skin. What a different sight than the one atAmbrosiatonight.

"Mr. Valore!" I attempted enthusiasm. His returning smile made the place low in my stomach burn with intensity. God dammit, the man was breathtaking, even more than Mercy was.

"Oh please, we're long since past the niceties. Carlisle to you, Cissy."

I'd regretted getting into bed with Valore. There wasn’t much I regretted about my dark and dismal life, but my recent rendezvous with Carlisle had certainly become one of them. Even if his hate-fuck was the most erotic thing to have come across my dreams, I felt as if it somehow gave him even more power than he already had. Still, I was smug enough to also feel satisfied that I'd slept with Mercy's largest competitor.

"I'm so happy to see you, I was wondering how long it would take for you to come back to bed with me. Now that you and that bitch finally cut ties." He grazed over me hungrily, taking in my small skirt and exposed stomach. My breasts were pulled together in a short cropped corset, and he spent an obvious amount of time regarding them.

Hearing Mercy described in such a way still sent a pang of desire and defeat through me, but my steely gaze hardened. I would not show any emotion, any weakness. I wanted Carlisle Valore to see my defiance to Mercy as strength.

"Mercy has shown that she is incapable of running Vegas. I am no follower of weakness."

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