Page 19 of Taste of Forever
Justin only muttered something under his breath that sounded like, “I don’t need this shit,” as he shrugged on a jacket.
“You’re actually doing this?” I said. “Playing cards with your buddies over the dinner thatweplanned?”
“I seriously thought it was tomorrow,” he said, like that excused his actions right then.
“Because you were tuning me out while I set the date! Is it so hard to just listen to me? To prioritize me?”
“When you’re being like this,” he flung an arm in my direction, “yeah, you make it kind of hard.”
I turned my back to face him so he wouldn’t see the hot, angry tears brimming in my eyes. “Whatever. Just go.”
I didn’t have to tell him twice. The door opened and then closed behind him without another word.
With him gone, it felt slightly easier to breathe. My chest didn’t feel like it was going to explode with every moment of disappointment I’d swallowed in this relationship. But I was restless. Angry. I had pent-up frustration that I needed to let out.
And I was all dolled up with nowhere to go.
Moving on autopilot, I put on my hiking shoes and grabbed my longest coat from the closet. An hour later, just after dusk, I stood at the base of the hill, watching the lively vampire city wake from a daytime slumber.
I barely remembered driving or trekking through the woods. In my blinding frustration at Justin, it almost felt like the vampire world put me in a trance and drew me here with the tug of a gentle string. I fully intended to stay away from this place. But I couldn’t stay in that apartment, and I was already here. Exploring would certainly burn off some energy.
Turning to a shop window, I did a quick check of my face and hair to make sure I didn’t get dirt anywhere embarrassing.
“You look lovely, darling.”
I startled at the voice, then tried to smooth over my embarrassment with a laugh. “Oh, thank you.”
The speaker, a woman with dark red, almost burgundy eyes, smiled broadly as she unlocked the door of the shop where I’d been checking my reflection. She looked middle-aged and her grin was full of fangs.
“Whoever drinks from you tonight is a lucky one. Have a nice evening.”
She went inside before I could reply, flicking on a light switch that powered a red neon sign in the front window. The sign readCostanza’s Finest Darakt.
What the hell is darakt?I wondered, watching as she turned more lights on inside. I gathered it was some kind of tobacco or marijuana product from all the smoking paraphernalia on display.
I kept walking, trying to keep track of where I was going, and not get so distracted by my surroundings that I ended up lost. Luckily the blood bank was a good landmark, being the tallest and brightest structure in the general area.
Keeping the stark white building in my periphery, I made my way deeper into the city. Buildings became smaller and more packed together, the sidewalks and streets narrower. I sidled my way past dozens of red-eyed vampires, hardly any of them giving me a second glance. Some were smoking cigarettes that produced red smoke with an herbal and metallic smell. It wasn’t a bad smell, but I couldn’t shake the idea that blood was in those rolled-up pieces of paper.
The area was well-lit thanks to tall street lamps and the various shops and businesses throwing off their own lights. Some restaurants had outdoor patios with fire pits and string lights around their perimeters. Whether by all the lights or the weather or the hundreds of people out and about, the night air was comfortably warm.
“Coming up on your right!” someone called over the roar of a motorcycle engine.
I looked behind me and darted away from the edge of the sidewalk just as the bike and its rider zipped past me. The vampire driving glanced over his shoulder at me with a quick, fanged smirk before facing forward again.
My hand came to my chest as I tried to get my heartbeat under control. I had to be aware of my surroundings without being so jumpy. Getting off the street and sitting down somewhere would definitely help with that.
Ahead of me on the next block was a place called Pulse Point Club and Lounge, which seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. It was one of the few places besides the blood bank that had a second level. I glanced behind me, making sure I could still see the hospital-like building before I crossed the street.
I walked inside to even warmer air and a large, dimly lit room. A well-stocked bar took up the center space, with intimate booths along the walls and a dance floor with a DJ table taking up the rest of the floor. A wide staircase led up to the second floor, which was a loft set up with comfortable furniture and its own miniature bar. The VIP area, I assumed.
There were more people here than I expected, considering it was probably mid-morning for vampires. Couples and even a few throuples cozied up in the booths along the walls. At the bar, people leaned in closely to talk over the bass-heavy music.
The dance floor was mostly filled with women. Human women, I realized after a second glance.
“‘Scuse me.” Someone, another human woman, squeezed past me from behind and headed straight up the stairs to the loft section.
After realizing I’d been taking in everything from the doorway, and therefore blocking the entrance, I took a few stepsforward. My nerves eased at seeing so many humans around and I gathered enough courage to slide into an empty seat at the bar.
