We Own the Night (The Night Songs Collection Book 3) (20 page)

“Anything specific?”

“He wanted to know about the strip club I worked at. He had a lot of questions about that.” She twisted her lips nervously and looked up at me. Her mind darkened. “And a few questions about my family. Why I walked away from them.” Lennon hadn’t had the easiest life as a little girl, and she was usually reluctant to talk about it. I knew so little, but when she hinted, it was shrouded in sorrow. She didn’t want me to dig in that hole. Admitting that she’d talked about it didn’t mean she was willing to do that now. At times like this, being inside someone’s mind felt dirty. Fear flashed like a yellow warning light. That Cash could get it out of her shocked me.

Definite mind control. But it seemed like he was looking for something specific from Lennon. I wondered what it was.

“Doesn’t he ever tell you anything about him?” It didn’t surprise me he indulged Lennon and showered her with attention. It was the ultimate manipulation, and I’d expect no less from a master of deception.

“Yeah, he tells me about the show, and his old show in New Orleans.” Lennon’s face brightened. “Can you believe I grew up in Arkansas and I’ve never been to New Orleans? It sounds amazing there.”

“But nothing about him? He’s almost three hundred years old. He was created alongside Talis, it sounds like.” I knew I was losing ground as her smile faded. “He has had to have had a fascinating life. I’d think he’d want to brag about it.”

“I don’t know.” She traced the hemline of her skirt. “He seems to understand hard times, and struggle. I don’t dig, doll. I know what it’s like to have secrets.”

Damn it. She totally cut me off. I respected it as much as I resented it.

“Yeah, I get it.” I did. My family didn’t understand why I could only call them back late at night, or why I wasn’t running back to Martha’s Vineyard now that my mother reconsidered disowning me. My family would never understand what I was. I didn’t want to risk them not accepting me. It would be impossible to keep them in my life if they knew. I got it, more than I wanted to think about, so it was time to change the subject. “What’s going on at the bar?”

Lennon groaned. “Blade is acting like he owns the place, which pisses me off to no end. I wish I could figure out a way to poison his Venom. Soul Divider is there all the time, and they’re making friends fast.”

Great. Just what I needed. “How is Melanie?”

Lennon didn’t question my motives. “She’s going along with it. She thinks Blade will keep her out of jail, so she’s not going to question anything.”

“Blade isn’t the one she has to worry about.” My tone was more bitter than I intended.

“Oh, come on, Callie, you’re not going to throw the girl in jail, are you?” Lennon asked. “She caught her boyfriend in bed, screwing some other chick. What would you do?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. I knew exactly what I’d do, because I did it. “I’d kill her.”

“Exactly!” Lennon jumped a little as she said it, like it was the easiest decision in the world.

It was so easy to say when you weren’t speaking from experience.

Time to change the subject away from my latest sins and back to the old ones. “Has Blade done anything, besides acted like an asshole? You know he’s behind that awful sex tape.”

Lennon clapped her hand over my mouth. “As if it was possible to hate that bastard more. God, he was so sweet as a human. What happened to him?”

“I happened to him.” Tears threatened to break the threshold of my eyelashes.

“No, doll, you can’t blame yourself for him.” She crawled over and snuggled against me, wiping tears from my cheeks and not even wincing when her fingers came away red. If that’s not a good friend, I don’t know what is. “That evil had to be brewing deep down inside of him before he changed. I’ve known a lot of vampires, before and after, and not one of them has done a one-eighty like that, besides him.”

I gave Blade everything I had when we were both human, and not once did I think he was capable of becoming what he was now. I didn’t want to think I had that sort of darkness brewing inside me, just waiting for the right time to rear its ugly head. I might have been naïve, but I wasn’t stupid.

“That’s why he scares me so much,” I whispered, leaning into Lennon. Her skin radiated heat and she smelled so good, like cucumber melon body wash. I forced myself to keep my eyes open, to stay in the moment. I could never let myself hurt her.

Lennon’s instincts were probably better than most humans, swimming with Bloodlust. She pulled away from me slightly, bringing her sweet scent away with her. Or did I tell her to do that? I dove back inside her brain, willing her to move back towards me. She looked at me, puzzled, like I might have said something she didn’t hear. Then she pulled me back in to a hug.

I did it. How I wished I could tell her. But she wouldn’t want to celebrate with me. She’d want to run.

“I believe in you, Callie. I really do. I know you have your doubts about Cash, but he’s a good man. He cares about me, and from what he says about you, I think he cares about you, too.”

My mouth dropped. I hadn’t even thought of asking her if Cash dug for information on me. Crap.

“What does he say about me?”

“Well, he asked about our friendship, when we were roommates, how you knew Tristan, and that. Basic stuff.”

“And you told him?”

“Of course.” Lennon tilted her head. “Why? Shouldn’t I have?”

“I don’t know.” I hated this feeling, the uncertainty. I was wrong so often, I assumed my instincts would lead me where I wouldn’t want to go. I trusted all the wrong people, and betrayed the ones who didn’t deserve it. “I guess if he really wanted to know about me, he’d find out one way or another, right?”

I
couldn’t get Cash out of my brain. I wondered if he was there on purpose, trying to tell me something. There was no reason for me to go back and talk to him. He’d given me my assignment and directions. But I wished there was some way I could get inside
his
brain without him knowing and figure out if he was screwing with me.

All I had was Tony, and a morbid hope that he knew something about what was going on with Cash. I headed down to the Sin City Vampire Club with Tristan, ignoring his babbling about other girls. It hadn’t stopped since the other night. He was on my last nerve. It took everything I had not to tell him that if we brought anyone back to our bedroom, I would kill every single one of them.

Instead of crossing my legs and watching Tristan from behind the side stage curtain, I decided to wander around. A concert within a TV show was a massive undertaking, with crew people milling around, a thousand different jobs. Some of them seemed to do nothing but hang out at the snack table. I always caught them shoving nuts in their face but never doing real work. I grabbed a water to give myself a reason to be there, saying hi to a couple of producers I’d become friendly with in the last few weeks. Then I continued my mission.

Tony surrounded himself with his crew, it must have been just after a shift changed and he needed to debrief the new arrivals. His mouth dropped slightly when he saw me coming, as if he didn’t expect to see me. After a beat, he went back to his clipboard and continued his meeting.

He caught me off guard, too. I’d expected to find him drinking coffee at the snack table, so now I had to come up with a reason to hang around near the offices. How asinine. Since I’d signed that paperwork, I was technically an executive producer, but it was a title more than a job.

“Hey Tony.” I approached him as his employees scattered. “What’s going on?”

“Same old, same old.” He smiled and ran his hand through his hair. “How are you tonight, Callie?”

He sure seemed nervous. He shouldn’t. This was his job, and if he was doing what he was expected to, it should be auto pilot. I might not know what the hell was going on around here, but I knew plenty about working hard.

It was the perfect opportunity to test him. “I’m great. Things are falling into place. This whole afterlife thing takes a little getting used to.”

He didn’t seem comfortable talking like this with me at all. He never seemed to have this problem with Tristan, but that was different. Tristan was a guy. Tristan had no power, besides being the star of the show. He didn’t tell anyone what to do. Tristan certainly didn’t have opinions.

I was just supposed to be arm candy. Pretty and sweet.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said.

“Yeah, I think I’m getting the hang of this leadership thing.” I was just going to keep talking while I tried to fish into his brain. “How long did you work with Talis?”

“I’ve been with Immortal Dilemma since their inception.”

“Why did she think they needed security right off the bat? Were the Vultures always crazy?”

“The Mistress liked to protect what was hers.”
Anger.

Wow, he irritated easily. I leaned up against the wall so I stopped pacing around him. Made this look a little less like an inquisition. Maybe he’d chill out. “Does it bother you that you basically have to guard a bunch of children from overzealous women?”

“You have no idea what I do, Callie.” Tony’s face turned red. “There’s more that goes on around here than you know about.”

“Maybe it’s about time you tell me what goes on around here.” I stood up straight again, just inches from his face. I felt bad, provoking him, but he needed to know I wasn’t going to put up with him undermining me behind my back. “Because I need to know everything you do.”

“I’m sure there’s an outline of my job description in the office.” His walkie blared on his belt loop, and he picked it up.

I grabbed him by the wrist, making him jump. “I don’t give a damn about your job description. I want to know what you do.” I let go of his wrist, but I didn’t break eye contact.

“I save your ass on a daily basis, Mistress.” Tony’s tone turned cold. I was treading on thin ice. “I protect your boyfriend’s wealth, and make sure everything runs smoothly around here. That’s all you need to know.”

“I’m not looking to fight with you, Tony,” I didn’t need him acting out against us. I’d screwed up enough without even trying.

“Good,” he said gruffly. “Would you like me to escort you back to the stage?”

No one had ever told me go fuck myself so nicely before. “That would be nice.”

Tony surprised me by hooking out his arm so I could loop mine inside. A fan event was in full swing, and some of the producers looked they’d had enough of trying to keep the girls in line. What they were doing backstage during the show was beyond me. But whatever reason they were here, they weren’t happy to see me and had no problem expressing their displeasure. I didn’t have anything to be worried about, but it still made me uncomfortable. Thankfully the Vultures couldn’t read my mind. I knew I could take them all out, but who wanted to deal with that public relations nightmare?

The fans spilled down the hall, all the way to the stage. Maybe there was some special event where they got to go on stage. That seemed potentially disastrous, but I’m sure someone was making a ton of money off of that arrangement. I thought of it only in board room meeting terms. It was strange to be so detached from money, after worrying about it ever since I was old enough to know it mattered. Now I just existed, and I knew that my needs were magically taken care of. Maybe Blade was right, I’d slept my way into that situation. But it certainly had its perks.

Too much anger and jealousy
. It churned in my stomach. I couldn’t pick up anything clear on Tony before he brought me to my roadcase. He nodded to me as I jumped up on it. I had nothing left to do but watch Tristan. Tonight he was shirtless, his hair falling free down his back. He’d painted his face half tribal, half skeletal. It looked mysterious and scary and really hot.

Like you had no idea what you were getting yourself into.

The fans didn’t leave a lot of room for the regulars. They all gasped as Tristan came to me between songs. He put his hand up to acknowledge them, but then came over and cupped my face with his hands, pulling me so into a kiss I almost fell off of my case.

“What was that all about?” I said against his cheek. He still held my face so tight I could barely pull away.

I felt the corners of his lips turn up, and I knew I must be covered in his makeup. He nipped at my lip, and laughed when I came up off the case a bit. “I just want you, that’s all.”