The Dark Side (2 page)

The music tore at my ears, full of weird dissonances my brain translated as screams. Steeling myself, I started forward then stopped as a man and a woman stepped into my path. They looked at me and smiled with a nasty sort of anticipation that made my spine stiffen. I didn’t smile back.

Dan moved up behind me and I let myself relax a little. I wasn’t here alone.

The guy cocked his bald head at me, one hand tucked into the waistband of his way too tight jeans. The jeans were the only thing he was wearing. Which meant I had an eyeful of unnaturally smooth chest. His nipple ring looked almost neon purple in the lights. The barely-there top the too-thin too-bleached blonde at his side wore revealed a matching piercing.

“Want to play?” Baldy’s voice was as unattractive as the rest of him, squeaky and grating all at once.

Ugh. “Not really.” I tried to move past and he grabbed my arm. I snarled, heard an echoing growl from Dan, but the guy’s hand remained clamped around my bicep. I sucked in a breath. He smelled human—old sweat, cheap vodka and cheaper aftershave. I could deal with him. “You might want to reconsider.”

His fingers tightened. “Am I hurting you?”

He was, a little. Probably not as much as he wanted to. I narrowed my eyes at him, hoping he’d get the message. I didn’t have time for this. His girlfriend scowled at me and I almost laughed. She wasn’t even close to the most intimidating thing I’d seen recently. “You should pick your targets a little more carefully,” I said, and then yanked my arm out of his grip.

His eyes widened. Obviously he hadn’t picked up that I was a shifter. “Bitch.”

Dan rumbled again behind me and I held up a hand, smiling at Baldy. “You got that right,” I said and shoved him aside with enough force to send him and his lady skank tumbling backward.

“Let’s go,” I said to Dan, moving toward the stairs, trying to avoid body contact with any more patrons. I half-heard a commotion behind me and turned just in time to see idiot boy launch himself at Dan who promptly backhanded him, sending him crashing to the floor. This time he had the sense to stay down. No one moved to help him up, not even Blondie who’d staggered to her feet and was ruining her makeup with shocked sobs.

Dan and I moved on through the mass of clubbers. A lot of them wore a lot less than either of us. Chains and spikes featured heavily, as did piercings in places that hurt to think about. I paused to let a woman leading a half-naked guy by a heavy chain attached to a collar move past me. Both of them turned their heads to look at me, the woman blowing me a kiss through blackened lips.

But it was the guy who had my attention. The lower half of his face was covered by a—well, you could only call it a muzzle, the leather fastening behind his head, hiding his mouth. Silvery mesh left a small breathing hole and elaborate silver designs mimicked fangs around the space. On the face of things, it wasn’t any creepier than half the outfits in the place but something about him made my stomach twist uneasily. I froze, watching them until they disappeared into the crowd.

It took an effort to move forward again and almost immediately a tall black man stepped into my path. “Where you going, pretty?” His head was shaved and his clothes were a dark, dark red, if my eyes were translating the weird light correctly.

I suppressed a shiver. I hated being called pretty. When I’d been held prisoner by McCallister Tate—the psychopathic vampire who’d killed my family—his henchmen had called me that. “To see Lord Esteban.”

He put his hands on his hips, effectively blocking the stairs. I stared at him, not sure if he was vamp or human. The crowd was thicker here and there were too many scents hitting my nose, too many bodies close by, for me to know which one was his.

He smiled unpleasantly, revealing fangs. Mystery solved. “You expected?”

“Yes. I have an appointment.” I waited, praying I wasn’t about to have confrontation number two. I still had Esteban ahead of me. Another fight might just use up all the acting tough I could muster. But hopefully, if this guy worked for Esteban then he had to treat Esteban’s guests courteously.

Finally he stepped aside. “Enjoy.” His tone suggested this was unlikely.

So did my brain.

I put my hand on the banister. Then snatched it back as my palm started to burn.

“Silver chips in the paint,” the vampire said from behind me. Amusement laced his voice.

What kind of idiot put silver chips in the paint when some of the clientele were shifters?

“Just keep climbing.”

Dan’s voice was right in my ear. I did what he suggested, ignoring the fading pain in my hand.

“Silver in the paint?” I whispered to him as we climbed, both avoiding contact with the banisters. It wasn’t that easy. The stairs were steep with large gaps between the treads, making it very tempting to cling to something for support.

“Some people like pain.”

Dan’s tone was matter of fact. I felt like an idiot. I knew what went on in the dark clubs. I knew what BDSM was. And Dan and I had put his handcuffs to nonofficial uses from time to time when he’d been a cop. But the stuff that went on here was way, way beyond. I’d never understand someone
wanting
to be hurt.

Pain was bad. And I’d had enough of it to last more than a lifetime.

So what the hell was I doing here?

Trying to get things back to normal. Right. Wearing leather and surrounded by freaks. I bit my lip. No point panicking. This should be simple. It was probably an accounting problem—I couldn’t think of anything else Marco would think I could help Esteban with—and I ate accounting problems for breakfast. So easy. Deal with the big bad vamp’s finances, repay my debt to the other big bad vamp in the process and everything would be fine.

Just fine.

* * *

The door to Esteban’s office, like those leading into Maelstrom, was a black mirror. My reflection still looked nervous. The music had faded to a dull roar but that only meant I could pick up other sounds. Groans. Screams. And dull thwacks that had to be the sound of leather hitting flesh. I swallowed, hard.

“We can still leave. I can handle Marco,” Dan said. His reflection didn’t look any happier than mine.

Any sorting out Dan did with Marco was likely to get ugly. A werewolf-vampire political blow-up, if not actual violence, was not my idea of returning to normality. “If it’s not this, it could be something worse.” I wasn’t sure what worse might be. But I was sure that I wanted to deal with at least one of my obligations to Marco.

Just like any other business meeting
, I told myself as I pasted on my polite and professional face, lifted my hand, and rapped on the glass.

The door swung open silently, revealing a woman in the doorway. One I knew. A vampire named Leah who was high up in Esteban’s organization. She’d been at Marco’s when I’d made my deal.

She hadn’t liked me then and her expression suggested her opinion hadn’t changed. “Ms. Keenan.”

“Hello, Leah.” I nodded at her, trying to be polite. The long dark green dress snaking around her body made her skin look very pale, and her lips very red. Like she’d just fed.

She didn’t acknowledge the greeting.Instead she looked past me to Dan. “Who is this?”

“Daniel Gibson,” I said.

Her dark eyebrows shot up. “The FBI agent? From the Supernatural Taskforce?” The last words were a sneer.

“Yes. But he’s not here in an official capacity.”

“We do not let the FBI come sniffing around.” She put one hand on the doorframe, blocking our way.

Well, no. Not if half the stuff said about dark clubs was true. But I didn’t want to get into a pissing match with Leah. So I played my trump card. “I said, not in an official capacity. Lord Marco said I could bring him.” Marco was the oldest Old One in the city. Esteban had to do what he said.

“Let them in, Leah.” The words came in a low golden rumble that brushed up my spine and somehow reminded me how little clothing I was wearing, as though a warm breeze had blown past me.

I didn’t like my reaction. Leah blocked my view of the speaker, so I couldn’t see who it was but the voice was very much used to being in command. When Leah melted out of our way without protest I knew it could only be one person.

Esteban.

Curiosity warred with caution as I walked into the office, Dan on my heels. Marco had been nothing like I’d expected an Old One to be—less of the pain and terror and more of the charm and honor. I wondered whether Esteban would surprise me as well.

When I saw the man—vampire behind the desk, surprise wasn’t quite the word. A lot of vampires are good-looking. Whether it’s because they like to pick pretty prey or because they can use some of their abilities to make you think they’re attractive, I’ve never been quite sure.

Lord Marco was gorgeous, in a suave, Italian, charming male model sort of way.

No one would call this man gorgeous or even handsome, really. No. He was something far more primal than that.

He wore black. Black shirt, black tie, black suit. Which only made the golden tones of his skin and hair gleam brighter. His eyes were a blaze of blue and his face was chiseled. It should’ve added up to All American boy. But, what it actually added up to was sex. Sensuality rolled off him like a wave.

My stomach tightened in response then heat flared through me. Dan growled low in his throat. Apparently I wasn’t the only one affected.

Which meant the sex scenting the air was some sort of vampire power. My throat clamped closed and I had to remind myself to breathe as I tried to see the reality of a nice-looking guy rather than the silky steam and seduction he projected.

“Ms. Keenan.” He rose from his chair with a nod. Ornate, heavy chased silver rings glinted from each finger breaking up all that gold and black. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

It wasn’t a suggestion. More like an invitation wrapped around a command. Now that I was close to him, the voice sounded even better. The deep rumbles seemed to promise all sorts of rewards if you just did what it asked. And you wanted to do what it asked. I took a step toward him before I knew it.

Which made me want to get the hell out of there. I’d had a vampire seduce my mind once and he’d had to thrall me to do it. I wasn’t so sure Esteban would need to go that far.

Sweat broke out on my back, nerves shrilling at me to run. My mouth dried as I tried to back up a little.

My logical side told me to stay put.

Damn. I didn’t need any more complications. I stayed still for a few seconds, debating once again whether I should leave even though I knew I couldn’t. All the time, feeling a pull toward Esteban like a tide.

Esteban watched me, and the amusement in his eyes told me he knew exactly what I was fighting. Luckily I’d had a fair bit of practice in controlling my instincts and urges the last few months. I stood my ground, just long enough to make it clear I was moving under my own free will, and then took another step.

Dan’s hand pressed into the small of my back possessively as I moved toward the chairs arrayed in front of the desk. His touch didn’t help me suppress the heat curling through me but he wouldn’t take it well if I shrugged him off. I tried to remind myself that it wasn’t a sexy guy in front of me, it was a
vampire
.

One with a nasty reputation.

Esteban still looked amused.

The closer we got, the stronger the pull to move closer still. No wonder his clubs were successful. You’d just need Esteban to walk through the room and people would be panting.

As I neared the chair, another vampire appeared beside me, pulling it back for me. I jumped then did a double take when I got a look at his face. If Marco was all charm and Esteban was pure sex then this guy was sheer beauty.

The kind to make painters weep and women sigh.

Like Leah, he was dark. Deep brown hair, skin a deeper olive gold than Esteban’s and eyes darker than the hair. None of which conveyed the utter perfection of his face.

He smiled while I gaped at him. I sank into the deep leather seat and his gaze sharpened as he turned his attention to Dan. He walked around me, smooth vamp gait making it look like he almost floated, and pulled a chair out for Dan as well.

“Why don’t you sit?” he asked in a tone close to a purr. The voice was almost as sleek as his gray suit. Dan stared at him, face unreadable.

“Niko, don’t play with our guests,” Esteban said.

The vamp slanted a glance at Dan then shrugged a shoulder and backed away. Dan’s shoulders relaxed a little and he sat. Though he stayed perched on the edge of the chair, eyes scanning the room.

Ready for action.

I straightened as well, trying to watch where Niko had gone out of the corner of my eye.

“He will behave.” Esteban’s voice implied ‘or else.’ “Niko, go with your sister.” He gestured toward the door and Leah.

Wait a minute,
sister
? Were they actually related or did Esteban mean related by lineage? I hoped it was the latter. I’d never heard of siblings being turned together before. Though they did look alike and also looked to be close in age—frozen in their early twenties. It was possible but I couldn’t imagine wanting to follow a brother or sister into vampirism unless the relationship was way closer than usual.

Leah looked like she wanted to object.

Esteban lifted one golden eyebrow and his hands flattened on the desk, rings clicking flatly against the wood. Just that small movement was enough to make it feel like the temperature in the room had dropped. The fog of arousal vanished like I’d been doused in cold water.

Thank God.

From the look on Leah’s face, she felt chilly herself. She headed for the door, waited there for Niko to join her.

A few seconds later the door closed behind them. Silence filled the room. Esteban watched us while we watched him.

Finally I decided to break the stalemate. “Lord Marco asked me to come see you.” Couldn’t hurt to remind Esteban I was under Marco’s protection. “He said you might have a job for me?”

Esteban leaned back in his chair. “For you, not the FBI agent.”

“Dan’s just here to escort me,” I replied carefully. “He’ll keep his mouth shut.” Or so he’d promised.