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“Easy, wildcat,” he interrupted, bringing his arm over my shoulder and pulling me in close, where I could smell his minty breath and strong cologne. “You don’t want to appear too eager, or they won’t let you stay. Remember, vampires enjoy thehunt. Act afraid, and they’ll do whatever the fuck you want them to do to you tonight.” Devon smirked, dropped his arm to his side, and took my hand. “Come on, let’s go.” After Sarah came over and introduced herself as Mandy, he gestured to a hallway that led to the back of the bar. “After you, ladies.”

The hallway that led to the club was wrapped around the back but descended underground. We came to a door with a shade on it that lifted when Devon knocked three times. A woman with light brown skin, black hair pulled in a tight bun on the top of her head, flawless makeup, and eyes with a reddish hue appeared in the little window.

“State your name,” she said.

“Devon Nordic.” The woman waited before Devon placed two fingers on his neck and turned to face us. “They’re with me,” he told her.

“They’re not getting in without their names on the list,” she said, her red eyes turning brighter and her fangs protruding as if she was trying to intimidate us.

“I said they’re with me,” he shot back, his tone harsh and elevated.

“Cassy Thomas and Mandy Rain,” I told the woman at the door, and we both placed two fingers on our necks. She looked down at a sheet of paper and back at us, then closed the window flap, and we waited again.

Devon turned to us and shrugged. My steady heart was the one thing that didn’t give us away. We were about to enter uncharted territory and weren’t sure what to expect. I held my breath and exchanged a glance with Sarah as the door swung open. The tiny woman appeared in the doorway, gesturing for us to enter. Once inside, we looked around. Colored lights flashed all around us, but the music was not as loud as it was upstairs.

I took another sip of my cocktail, but just enough to show Devon I was drinking it. I leaned toward Sarah’s ear. “Let’s dance for a few minutes so we can look somewhat normal before we snoop around.”

“Good idea,” Sarah agreed. We looked around to see where Devon had gone, as he was no longer standing by us. “Where did that douchebag go?” she asked.

I turned toward another stage where the DJ was stationed and spotted Devon talking to a man in his mid-forties. He was very handsome. Even while he was slumping in a red leather chair with his legs outstretched, I could tell he was tall. On the floor next to the man was a human girl surrounded by several vampires. Bite marks ran along her neck and inner thighs as if they had been feasting on her. I watched closely as a male couple took turns licking the blood dripping down her leg. Their skin was ghostly pale, and their hair black as night. To the victim’s right was a woman with golden-brown skin and rose-colored lips biting down into the girl’s neck again, creating more wounds along her skin.

“Over there,” I said, nodding their way. “It’s fucking disgusting what they’re doing, but we don’t have a choice.”

Devon caught our attention and waved us over.

This is too easy.

I didn’t get less than ten feet near them before the middle-aged man he had been talking to locked eyes with me, and visions came rolling in.

Wait, a vision?! Here?

Shit!

The man ran by my side in a field next to my old home in Salem. I looked to be about six years old.

“Try to grab one, Mercy,” he said. “Over here.”

I looked above me as fireflies swarmed around us. I lifted a copper cup, and a few fireflies landed inside, so I cupped the top with my hand to keep them from flying away. “They’re so pretty, Papa,” I said, and my vision returned to the beat of Ellie Goulding’s song,Lights.

Oh shit!

“Cassy!” I heard Devon shout, and I realized I was still gawking at this man I now knew as my father from the seventeenth century: Alexander Winchester.

“This is Alex, ladies. He owns the club,” Devon explained.

I looked over at Sarah with my jaw clenched. I had to turn away from them because I had difficulty concealing the shocked look on my face.

Yeah, Alexander looked a little different from my previous visions of him, but seeing him at the club was unexpected. I honestly believed he was dead.

Sarah held up a finger. “If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen,” she said, “Please give us a minute.” Sarah gripped my arm and pushed me over to the side.

“What the fuck was that?” she asked. “What are you doing?”

“We need to go, Sarah. Now!”

“Wait, why? What is it?”

“That’s my father.”

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