Crimson Dawn (16 page)

Irulan quietly laughed to herself, and turned away from me so that she could roll her hips into the front of my pants. I briefly froze unsure of where to place my hands, when she reached back, grabbed them and wrapped them around her waist. Her tank top pulled free of her pants as she twisted her hips to the music leaving my hand resting against the soft skin of her stomach. "Do you really think I'm going to forgive you for slapping me that easily?"

"A girl can hope, can't she," she replied.

Any reservations I was holding onto fell away when she leaned back into me and wrapped her hands around my neck. I bent my neck and took a small breath. I expected roses, but this time something new greeted me. "You smell different," I said and leaned in closer trying to identify the intoxicating scent.

Irulan purred and leaned over, slowing reaching for the floor, grinding her soft ass even further into me. My breath caught in my throat as she glided back up my body and turned to face me. "Do you like it?" she asked as she ran her nails down one of my arms.

I gasped as my eyes blackened over and my fangs dropped. "Of course I like it, tell me what it is."

Her hand sliding down my back and cupping one of my cheeks drew another gasp from me. Her other hand wound itself into my hair and pulled my head down towards the mound of her breast. "I'll tell you what," she said, "You tell me exactly where I put it, you can't miss one spot, and I'll tell you what it is.”

Running a finger down the side of my face, she inadvertently reminded me of the slap she'd laid on me and drew me back to myself. "I'm bound to get whiplash from your mood changes woman,” I said as I pulled back from her cleavage. "One minute, you want to ring my neck, the next..."

She cut me off by digging her nails into my back and dragging them down the skin exposed by my tank, effectively drawing a heated hiss from me. "We're past that, Valeria. If I didn't know you better I'd think you were too chicken shit to take me up on my offer.” If she thought I was too scared to take her up on her dare, she was dead wrong.

I smiled, "Am I moving from head to toe or vice versa?"

Irulan shrugged her shoulders, "Your pick."

I inhaled sharply as I dipped my head close enough to run the edge of my fangs across the skin of her exposed breast. Whatever she had on assaulted my senses and sent a thundering wave of desire through my body. "Here," I said and she nodded yes. I ran my fangs along her skin to caress the skin on her neck, "Here.” Again, she nodded yes.

The music changed again, this time to a bass pumping pop song that got the crowd around us moving in a fast-paced rhythm, but the tempo of our dance didn't. We moved against each other slowly, sliding along the other’s body so smoothly it was as if the desire that rode us was tangible as heated body oil. I traveled down her body, my fangs lightly scoring the skin on her stomach as I let my nose lead me to her navel. I said the word 'here' so softly I wasn't sure she'd heard me until she softly moaned the word ‘yes’.

There was no telling how many other places I would have found because Priest chose that exact moment to tap me on the shoulder. I was upright in the blink of an eye, furious at him for the interruption. Then I remembered why we were in the club in the first place. I stepped away from Irulan and turned to give my full attention to Priest. For the first time since I'd met him I looked at Priest and saw his skin flush with color. He was either embarrassed, excited, or both.

Priest smiled and looked at Irulan, then back to me. "I know I've been a little heavy handed with the lesbian jokes but I was seriously just fucking with you. Up until now, I honestly didn't believe it. Sorry about that, Trumaine, no straight woman could have put on the show you two just did.” He looked around in the pulsating lights, and his smile got broader, "I hated interrupting you two, since almost every guy in here is sporting wood now, but it can't be helped.”

He jerked a thumb towards the bartender. "While you two got your swerve on I was doing some actual work. The bartender says Aurieux should show up very soon."

"Aurieux,” I frowned. "That's a Creole surname. Our boy is Gullah, Priest."

Priest lay a finger to the side of his head, "Duh, do you people really believe I lack any intelligence at all?" Before he continued, he shot me a look that dared me to answer his question. "Creole father, Gullah mother, he was raised here on one of the islands.” He looked back at the bar and noticed the bartender pointing in our direction while talking to a young, coffee-skinned man sporting a low-cut fade and a serious expression on his face. We'd just been made.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I heard the soft click of Priest’s fangs dropping into place, in the blink of an eye. All the playfulness dropped away leaving nothing but Sentinel. "How do you wanna play this, Trumaine?" he asked as he took in the lay of the club, no doubt scouting any possible exits just in case Aurieux decided to bolt.

I thought about it for a moment, and then made my decision. "We'll send Irulan to the bar. If he reads her aura, hopefully, he'll think Elf, that's better than Vampire. If he's running with Tristan, he already knows the locals. We may spook him.” He huffed, and I shook my head. "Besides," I said, "All Irulan's weapons are concealed under her clothes. Remember what she said about sudden movements."

I didn't need to look back at Irulan to know that she'd heard me. She immediately began making her way through the sea of bodies until she got to the bar and took a stool at the farthest end.
Good girl
, I thought
, don't rush him, take your time.

Priest and I watched her talk her way through a throng of men and women until she appeared at Aurieux's side and ran a hand down arm to get his attention. I thought it'd worked until Irulan got a glazed look on her face and our glamour broke. "Not good, Valeria," Priest muttered as we began shoving our way through the crowd to get to the bar.

Aurieux turned and headed for the door, stopping long enough to whisper something to a bouncer and point back at us. Before we knew it, Shifters and Weres surrounded us. A wolf grabbed me from behind and attempted to put me in a full nelson while another foolishly leaned down to grab my legs. I get that the guys were just trying to do their job, but no way was I having it.

I jerked forward as I rammed the hilt of my sword backwards into the throat of the wolf behind me hard enough to send him crashing to his knees and clutching his throat trying to breath. At the same time, I brought my elbow down across the back of the other's neck, catching him at the base, effectively knocking him out cold.

I looked over at Priest and saw him toss a Pantera across the bar and into the bottles lining the wall behind it. We backed into each other, both of our faces gone feral, as we prepared for the next group. "While we're playing footsy with the locals, our boy is getting away, Valeria," Priest said hastily. Another wolf chose that moment to dive at me with his hands changed into a wicked set of claws.

I sided stepped his advance at the last minute and caught him by the throat twisting him in the air and began to shake him like a rag doll. "Do you realize you're interfering with a CMS sanctioned hunt," I yelled before tossing him across the bar to join his buddy.

Priest caught the fist of an Ursidae as he was trying to land a punch, but missed the other one. The bear landed a booming punch to Priest's chin sending an arch of blood spraying from his busted lip. Another blow sent Priest crashing to his knees snarling and cursing bloody murder. I wanted to help, but if I took over, it would be a blow to Priest's ego. Male Vampires are funny that way. The mountainous Ursidae drew his leg back and kicked forward, aiming for Priest's head.

To hell with his ego! I gathered myself preparing to flash into the bear and knock him across the room, when Priest shot me a look that froze me in place. I instinctively reached out and felt the aura of another vamp somewhere in the building. I tried to scent his house, but there were too many bodies for me to ascertain anything.

Shit! I had to let him handle this himself. If I intervened and word of it spread through the Vampire community, then he would lose all the respect that he had earned over the years. I watched helplessly as the bear's booted foot connected with Priest's jaw, sending Priest flying backwards onto his ass. The bear stepped up to Priest and raised his foot above his head. I closed my eyes. I couldn't watch.

Instead of the crunch of broken bones I was expecting, I heard the loud roar of the Ursidae as he screamed in pain. My eyes snapped open to find Priest latched onto the bear’s leg drawing blood from his femoral artery as fast his heart could force it through his body. The Ursidae kicked at Priest frantically with his other foot, but it was no use. Once a made Vampire was in the midst of a feeding you might as well give it up. Short of killing him, the only thing that could break Priest's hold on that bear before he was ready was his sire, and he wasn't anywhere around.

I felt the gaze of every eye in the club bearing down on us like a ton of bricks. The situation had gotten out of hand in a manner of moments. Another wolf charged in my direction. I easily sidestepped his advance, reached out, grabbed him around the neck, and hugged him close to my body with his back to me.

"Call your boys off now or you're next on the menu, is that clear?” I looked back towards the bar and saw Irulan shaking her head as if she were trying to get rid of whatever spell Aurieux had used on her. It was about damn time. We needed the extra set of hands, so we could get after Aurieux, who already had an enormous head start on us. I turned my attention back to the choking wolf in my arm and realized that he couldn't speak because of my grip on him. I eased up my hold and allowed him to catch a few breaths of air before telling him again. "Call off your boys now or you're next. I won't repeat myself again. Am I clear, mutt?"

The rattled wolf bristled at me calling him a mutt, but he nodded as best he could with my arm around his neck. The remainder of his mob warily backed away but kept their eyes locked on me the entire time. On the right of me, I heard the soft thud of a body hitting the floor and then Priest was at my side, his chin covered in the deep red of the bear's blood. To the left of me I heard the shuffle of clothing as the river of club-goers parted to let Irulan through. A quick peek out of the corner of my eye told me why they'd moved out of her way so quickly, her eyes blazed with power, and both hands lit up like Time Square.

"Glamour them, Valeria, and let's get the hell out of here before I do something I'll regret later," she demanded when she'd reached my side. Glamour worked differently for Vampires. Reading minds is one thing, even projecting thoughts, but the ability to control thoughts and minds is something extremely difficult. Instead of causing others to believe that we have taken on a different appearance, as the Sidhe do, we control the mind and modify the memory of our prey. From what I understand, glamour worked the same way in ancient Vampires as it did Elves and the Sidhe but over time it adapted into what we're capable of now. The only Vampires that possess glamour abilities similar to the Sidhe, now, are the Incubi and Succubae.

I looked out over the crowd and drew a deep breath. "I've never tried to glamour this many people at once. I'm not sure if I can do it."

Irulan moved to stand in front of me, so she could look me in the eyes. "You drained four Deadborns today, Valeria. They may not have given you new abilities, but their blood definitely boosted the ones you already have. Now glamour these bastards so we can get out of here. That little shit Aurieux and I have business to attend to."

I opened my shields and pushed my will out across the expanse of the nightclub, smiling inwardly when I felt the multitude of minds give way to my probing. I released my hold on the wolf and let him drop to the floor, so I could concentrate on the task-at-hand. I carefully removed the memories of Priest and me and replaced them with an unruly Were and a pissed-off Shifter. I couldn’t change too much, or I risked damaging their minds. When I was done with my tinkering, the three of us tore out of the front door in search of Aurieux. I tossed Irulan the keys and my phone. "Priest and I are faster on foot, you'll never be able to keep up with us. There's a tracking app on my phone, follow us in the car.”

Irulan nodded and took off for the SUV, while Priest and I both took in a deep breath. Priest shook his head in frustration. "This is no damn good, and you know it. We’re right outside one of our clubs. I'm catching scents from at least thirteen different races."

I took another deep breath and a broad smile graced my lips. "It's not impossible, Priest, you just have to know what you're looking for."

I starting running, not bothering to look back because I knew that Priest was behind me. We were moving so fast that Priest had to shout to make himself heard over the roar of the wind. "How do you know we're on the right trail, Trumaine? I smell Gullah, but it's all over this city."