Page 56 of Accidental Vampire

Nadine’s voice was buttery and boring. She was arguing with Sean about the cost of highball glasses. Sean assured her no one would notice if they got them from Chinatown. Nadine insisted that, of course, Veronica would notice. She was right. Veronica cared about the quality of glassware. I’d wait it out, ignoring the inane conversation. The pull of the Patron bond ramping up.

The cloak room was empty, not even being used as storage space. Even for my eyes, it was too dark to make out specifics. But I had fucked enough people in here to know it would be empty. I wedged the phone out of my back pocket. Sean had moved on to hand towels and laundry costs.

No one knew where my phone was, so Aurora picked up a new one. An iPhone. I curled my lip in disgust. I turned it over to find the power button. I think I hated iPhones simply because Aurora liked them. Maybe our… friendship? Relationship? Whatever… Maybe it wasn’t healthy. We constantly did thing to spur hate because it made the fucking better. I hit the power button, then slid the phone under my thigh to muffle any sound. Sean’s inane banter should muffle it, too.

Once it powered up, I figured out how to silence it as notifications popped up. I didn’t care about a single person who was reaching out to me. Days without a phone had broken me of the constant need to be reading other people’s nonsense. The last time Aurora got me a phone, she filled it full of puzzle games and nude photos. I always deleted the games anytime I thought she’d clue into the fact that I played them. I ignored her nudes. CandyCrush would kill the time the two idiots in the hall wasted arguing.

The screen glowed in all sorts of pastels. I shot a glance at the door to make sure the glow wasn’t bright enough to crawl out from under it and alert people to my presence. A dark lump in the corner caught my eye. It was tucked behind the door like someone had hid it. I stretched and pulled it over. Most women here didn’t carry handbags. Never got the purpose of hauling around luggage and bits and bobs of beauty accessories. This thing was giant compared to the sleek envelopes you’d see here. I opened its mouth and peered in.

There was a lot in here. Two zippered pouches. One with makeup. The other with snacks, of all things. I turned over the metallic packaging in my hand. It was “granola”, what ever that meant. I tore it open, and it made an alarming about of noise. It was dry, crumbly and smelled horrible. I tossed it aside. I keep touching my cell phone screen to keep it lit. I didn’t need the flashlight function, just the ambient light from the screen.

I pulled out what must be a wallet. It was also abnormally large and zippered on three sides. There was a charm hanging off it of a little boxy person in red plastic. The plastic tag that hung with it said “Lego”. Funny name for a person. I unzipped it and cracked it open to lay it flat.

Tiffany stared back at me from a little protective plastic window. I squeezed my eyes shut as the bond seemed to ramp up. The plastic card with her face on it did not want to leave its confines, but gave up after a brief struggle. Her hair tumbled all around her face. She looked ill, but that might be the washed-out nature of the photo. My thumb caressed the lettering. Hartford, Tiffany, Elizabeth. 65 Piedmont Blvd, Brooklyn. DOB? Her birth date? 01/06/1992. Organ Donor. Sex F. Height 5’08” Eyes BRO.

Her whole being summarized on a little card.

A loud slap echoed in from the hall followed by Nadine’s, “Keep your mouth shut.” I shrugged. All was well with Nadine’s management style, it seemed. My ears tracked them walking down the hall to the front entrance of the club.

I dug through the rest of the wallet. There were a few credit cards. One had a self adhesive note stuck to it with some writing. “DO NOT USE. EMERGENCY ONLY” written in her hand. There were a bunch of other plastic cards, as well as thick paper business cards. There was $123. I tucked my fingers in all the other compartments and found no more money. That’s it? Who only carries $123? I stacked up all the little cards and the cash in the fold and zippered it shut again. It was a struggle to wedge it in the pocket of the leather coat, but I managed. I peered back into the bag. There were a few oblong tubes wrapped in bright colored plastic. Five pens. Some loose change. Way at the bottom was her phone. I pressed the on button but nothing happened. It was a Samsung. I smiled. I tucked that into the inside pocket and shoved everything back in the bag.

I slipped into the club. I had planned to walk the perimeter and not be seen. Long shot, and I lost it. I hadn’t taken two steps in before I heard “Lachlan” whispered in a hush. I clenched my jaw. Veronica must have heard it, too, the pressure on the bond intensified. Heads were turning now, craning, searching, homing in on me.

Veronica sat at her table. Stunning as usual. In green today, like grass just before dawn. Juliette on her left, one leg, the one with the gun strapped to it, idly kicking off the edge of the raised platform. There was no Kyle fawning over her. She saw me when everyone else did. She reached a hand out to ruffle the hair of the boy sitting next to her. That Warren-look-alike. The one she made me drink on Tribute Day. Warrick, was it? An odd sense of shame burned my cheeks. Hadn’t wanted to think about it since, but I was hoping I’d drank him dry and left him for dead. Erase the horror at giving in to that moment of desperate hope.

And she sat there, her perfect manicure lost in his hair. My fingers curled around Tiffany’s wallet in my pocket. I heard my name over and over in the crowd, happy and expectant faces blurred with the nervous ones. I jutted my chin out as I approached. She knew she could bring me to my knees at any moment. She was willing to give me all the rope I wanted. She dropped the bond between us. It left me hollow and wanting.

Veronica dangled her hand out over the center of the table. Just out of reach, so I’d have to awkwardly step up.

“I’ve always been meaning to ask Juliette?” I said in a purr, ignoring Veronica’s delicate fingers.

Juliet’s eyes went wide at the public slight, but she didn’t dare look at Veronica or her hand waiting in mid air.

“Is the gun just for show?”

“How do you mean?” Confusion didn’t look good on Juliet.

“Oh, I see. You need it to make yourself feel powerful.”

Anger flashed across her watery blue eyes. Good. She took the pistol out of its holster and placed it on the table, pointing right at me. I raised an eyebrow as she proved my point.

Veronica had the only power here. She had all of it. Veronica wiggled her fingers expectantly again. I was prepared to wait them both out. An eerie silence was spilling through the club now. What did Aurora call it? Train wreck watching? But they all knew the truth, too. If this was a standoff, it was only happening because Veronica allowed it.

With a dramatic sigh, she withdrew her fingers that never got a kiss and curled her arm about the boy again. Veronica took this person, and made him a thing, a toy, a gift, a tool, all because he looked like Warren. Did she really think this was something I wanted? She brought his wrist to his mouth and grazed him with a fang, letting pearls of blood run down his wrist, wasting the blood.

I cocked my head. That’s odd. I haven’t seen her bite someone, put flesh to actual fang, in public, in a very long time. She squeezed his wrist, encouraging the wound not to close too fast. The boy winced. I shoved my hands deeper in my pockets.

“Where’s Kyle?”

Veronica was not expecting that one. I could feel a hint of unease ripple through our bond until she snatched it back. She knew my disdain for him. She thought it was jealousy, that I was hurt I wasn’t the one warming her bed. I hated Kyle because he was what I didn’t want to become - a simpering fool lost at her feet.

“Kyle? Didn’t you hear, Pet?”

I gave her a sigh in response, like I was bored with all of this.

“He betrayed me.” Her smile didn’t touch her voice. “Lovers do that, don’t they? They promise you eternity, together until the stars end. Then betray you. For money.”

I took a slow breath to cover my need to pant. Saint had made that promise. Those exact words.Until the stars end.And he betrayed me, broke my bones, left me in the dirt for money.

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