CREAM (On the Hunt) (10 page)

Shut it. No telepathy either
, she snapped.

He pointed Nessa in Jeliyah’s direction.

The blonde asked in annoyance, “Again?”

Jeliyah wanted to smack the woman. What did Nessa have to be pissed about? Jeliyah didn’t want to borrow her clothes.

Teaghan smacked the woman’s ass, which made her giggle. “Go to it. I’ve got work to do.”

Rather than try to fight it like the night before, Jeliyah followed the woman.

Jeliyah vetoed anything that showed her ass. That left her with a close-knit fishnet, ankle-length dress. Strategically placed horizontal strips at her chest and waist made it the best option. It came with a matching bra and panties. Nessa tried to get Jeliyah into the thong instead of the panties but Jeliyah threatened to get her gun and shoot the woman. Panties it was.

Jeliyah wanted a more substantial outfit. She was wearing less than the night before and hadn’t even known that was possible. Given the wardrobe options and her need for clothing that didn’t push her comfort boundaries, Jeliyah knew she would be shopping with Teaghan tomorrow after all.

His smug laughter filled her head. She gave him the mental equivalent of the finger. The shopping trip was self-preservation. She didn’t want to see what Nessa would put her in tomorrow if the woman was forced to dress her again.

The dress got Jeliyah all the attention Teaghan said it would. Men fell over themselves all night to buy her drinks—strong drinks—and food. They were more willing to get her drinks than food but gave in when she resorted to batting her eyelashes and asking in a cutesy voice.

It wasn’t Jeliyah’s usual style to flirt but that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to do it and when. Besides, the food at the club was worth it. Teaghan hadn’t mentioned that when stopping to get her burrito. Then again, he was a vampire. He wouldn’t have known the club’s food was good.

Between drinks, the men convinced Jeliyah to dance. She figured she owed them that much since they weren’t going to get anything else out of her no matter how many drinks they bought. Necromancer metabolism—she couldn’t get drunk. The same thing made poison ineffectual as well.

Correction—a necromancer could get drunk but it took a rare, very expensive type of alcohol to do it. She doubted the club had it. Even if they did, her admirers didn’t have pockets deep enough to afford a capful let alone the full glass needed to get her tipsy.

The night wore on and Jeliyah’s admirers left one by one as they realized she wasn’t going to sound the “easy-girl mating call” any time soon. She would have felt bad for them if they hadn’t been planning to take advantage of her.

“Poor idiots don’t know a necromancer when they see one,” said a man close to Jeliyah’s shoulder.

She glanced back at him but knew already he was a vampire. That didn’t surprise her. The club had a substantial vampire population. What did surprise her was that he spoke to her. The other vampires had been keeping their distance all night.

She said, “Most humans don’t. We’re not easy to spot like vampires.” She tapped her lip to indicate his fangs. They got longer when a vampire was preparing to feed but the non-feeding fangs were still longer than a normal human’s canines.

“So you acknowledge necromancers are not human.”

“We’re mortal. Human is debatable.”

“How refreshing to hear you say that.” He gestured to the empty space at the bar beside her. “May I join you?”

“If you want.”

He leaned his back against the edge of the bar and looked over the crush of dancers. “Who are you hunting?”

“I’m not.”

“Is that so? I saw you here last night and heard about the rogue kill that happened afterward. I thought you might be hunting someone.”

“Nope. Just here to have fun. The rogue wasn’t a club patron. He came here for me.”

“I see. Sounds like a dangerous life.”

She shrugged, not that concerned. She’d been raised as a necromancer. The lesson of danger existing around every corner so long as vampires were allowed to walk amongst humans as equals had been drilled into her from her first days on the campus. The vampires didn’t like the necromancers any more than the necromancers liked vampires—natural enemies forced to tolerate each other to keep the tenuous peace.

She asked, “So where’s your necromancer tonight?”

The man laughed, showing fangs. “I should have known you would recognize me as an enforcer without your necrome being active.” He offered his hand. “I’m Ephraim.”

She shook his hand briefly, not wanting to touch him but not wanting to be rude either. At least her aversion to vampires was still intact. Teaghan must be the exception.

She said, “It took me a moment to sense your marker, but I doubt a normal vampire who suspected me of being a necromancer would open the conversation asking about hunts. The vampire population is as much in denial about rogues as the humans.”

“Very true. Very true. My partner opted for a movie. I got bored and decided to try out this club. Several have recommended it to me. They are right. The vampire DJ is good at his job.”

She made a noncommittal sound, not willing to admit Teaghan was good, not aloud. Sex or not, his wannabe lifestyle still grated on her nerves.

“And where is your partner? After your run-in last night, I doubt he would send you out alone.”

She gestured to the DJ booth where Teaghan performed his job while surrounded by women. “He’s moonlighting. And you’re right. He wouldn’t leave me alone and that’s why I’m here.”

“Ah. From the edge in your voice, I take you aren’t fond of clubs.”

“Too loud. Too crowded. I would rather be at home but I lost the argument.”

“If your home is far from here, it would explain his reluctance to leave you there. He wouldn’t be able to render you aid if you were attacked again.”

Jeliyah’s skin prickled as a sense of warning swept through her. Her paranoia might be flaring up but she wouldn’t ignore the sensation, not after having one enforcer attack her. The way Ephraim phrased his statement made her think he might be trying to find out where she and Teaghan were staying. Again, moving hotels after every hunt proved to be a sound strategy.

She said in a measured tone, while trying not to sound measured, “He just likes to show off how popular he is. I think he wants to make nice with me, which is cute and all—especially for someone his age—but he’s a means to an end. I’m not looking for friends.”

Ephraim chuckled as he nodded. “A necromancer through and through. All about retirement. I have to stop my partner from accepting hunts for us at times. The man doesn’t want to give me time to rest.”

“Funny that there are so many hunts in the last few months. Add two enforcers going rogue and a casual observer might think something was going on in the vampire nation. What do you think?”

It was his turn to be guarded. Jeliyah wouldn’t have noticed the way he relaxed more, as though forcing himself to appear relaxed when he really wasn’t, if she hadn’t been watching him out of the corner of her eye while pretending not to be watching him. He knew something.

Ephraim said, “The head family has made no statements to indicate something is amiss.”

“Like they would.”

“True.”

Jeliyah wanted to get away from the man. She sent a mental cry of help to Teaghan to get her away from Ephraim without looking as if she was running. Her internal alarm was sounding loud and clear. Everything about Ephraim put her on edge and she didn’t have centuries of practice, like him, to pretend she wasn’t on edge. Not for long.

The bartender tapped her shoulder. She spun and faced him. “Yes?”

“Teag’s calling you.” He pointed at the DJ booth.

Jeliyah looked in Teaghan’s direction. He was waving her over with one hand in the air. It almost looked as if he was dancing. She didn’t care. She needed the out. To Ephraim she said, “I have to see what he wants.”

“Of course. Don’t let me keep you.”

She kept her pace sedate as she walked to the DJ booth. Without looking over her shoulder to confirm, she knew Ephraim was watching her and not because of her outfit. If she did anything to indicate she saw him as a threat, he would attack her. She felt that intention loud and clear.

What the hell had she done to get on the enforcer hit list? Her gaze went to Teaghan. Maybe it was him. Had he put a target on his back and she was catching shit by association? Maybe taking the twins’ hunt and forcing them to go rogue had broken some enforcer-brotherhood code and now the others were hazing him. Whatever the case, Jeliyah didn’t appreciate being caught in the middle.

She squeezed into the booth, elbowing aside a few of the girls, who glared at her. They didn’t say anything, which was good because Jeliyah would have had some things to say right back.

Teaghan pulled her close and leaned into her. He didn’t whisper in her ear though. His words sounded in her head.
Can you activate your necrome in silent mode or something?

Why?

I’m thinking he’s not the only enforcer in here. I need to know what I’m up against.

You’re flying blind. If I activate this necrome, every vampire in the club will know it.

He nodded and released her to go back to his music.

Jeliyah moved to the back wall of the booth. A quick glance at the bar showed Ephraim still there and still looking her way. She decided to act as if Teaghan had scolded her. Crossing her arms over her chest, she fixed a pout on her face.

It wasn’t hard acting upset. She was. But her upset was tinged with apprehension and a small amount of fear. They were going to be attacked again.

Teaghan was keeping an eye on three vampires he while acting as if he were absorbed in the music. The first had been Ephraim. He’d gotten the man’s name from Jeliyah’s mind since Teaghan didn’t know him. It had pissed off Teaghan when a vampire came sniffing after Jeliyah once the humans gave up.

Her outfit was doing too damn good a job. He’d wanted to loosen her up so it would be that much easier to get her in bed again once they returned to the hotel, not help her find another sex partner. He figured they were in for another argument before he convinced her to give in to what she really wanted—him.

With one confirmed and two possible enforcers stalking them, an argument about sex was the least of his worries. Jeliyah’s question about the twins’ motivation in going rogue entered his mind. Blowing it off earlier might not have been his wisest move.

He didn’t know what this was though. Enforcers didn’t attack other enforcers, not unless they had gone rogue. And there’s no way someone had tagged Teaghan as a rogue. If they had, the enforcers wouldn’t sit around letting him spin tunes all night. Humans or not, they would attack him to keep him from rabbiting.

The head family liked enforcers to do rogue takedowns without witnesses but they preferred the rogue be killed as quickly as possible. So Teaghan didn’t have rogue status. What he did have was just as annoying though.

He agreed with Jeliyah’s assessment about Ephraim’s interest in the hotel and how close it was to the club. It was across town on purpose. Teaghan kept home and play well away from each other. If a rogue managed to find Teaghan’s hotel, he wanted to make sure the fight didn’t endanger his favorite pastime.

“Need a drink, Teaghan?”

The redhead who spoke pulled Teaghan out of his thoughts. His gaze went to her neck. “Yeah, I do.” If a fight was coming, he needed to be fed.

The girl giggled and cooed as he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She tilted her head back, pressing her breasts against his chest and rubbing her thigh against his hip. Her open invitation annoyed him but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take the drink she offered.

He bit her and fed quick, taking two pints. His giggling donor moaned with passion. She mistook vertigo for pleasure. Not his problem. He released her, ignoring her stumbling movements, and grabbed another girl to feed him.

Anyone who knew him would notice his out-of-character actions. Teaghan didn’t indulge. He sipped at the donors supplied to him, giving each enough attention so they would volunteer again the next time he showed up. A few sips spread out over five-to-seven girls equaled a meal for him.

That’s all the girls were—dinner. Before Jeliyah came into his life, he would have singled out one girl for a quickie in the back office once the club closed to feed his other hunger. A player’s lifestyle. One he enjoyed. Jeliyah—his abrasive little necromancer—compelled his full attention, whether she wanted it or not. He planned to do all in his power to keep her safe.

He released the second girl and a third rushed forward to take her place, baring her neck and her breasts in one movement. Not long ago such a display would have had Teaghan pushing her up against the table to fuck her while he continued mixing music. Now, his dick didn’t so much as twitch. Yup, his necromancer had done a number on him. He was glad he had practice blocking his thoughts or else she would pick that fact from his mind. He planned to have her take responsibility for impeding on his lifestyle as soon as he was sure they wouldn’t be killed.