“Was Ben English?” I asked, remembering that the guy who had stuck the needle into Amy’s arm had a thick English accent.
Anthony shook his head, “No, why?”
“I had a vision of an Englishman around Amy,” I said, not telling him that it had actually been Amy’s memories that created my vision. I didn’t know if he’d handle that too well or if he’d want to know every last detail of Amy in her final moments. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good.
“I don’t think she knew anyone from England,” he said. Well, darn, it would have been too easy if this Ben guy were the one with the accent.
“What can you tell us about Mr. Crowly? Micah asked.
“Besides him being a dirt bag? He’s from Texas, as far as I know, and was turned vamp only two years ago. I didn’t care for him so I never got to know much about him,” Anthony said.
“What does he look like?”
“Brown hair that he keeps buzzed close to this head. He has brown eyes and is around my height and build. He dresses in casual clothes, jeans, t-shirt, sneakers or black boots. He usually wears a gold hoop in his right ear and has a tattoo of a crow in between his shoulder blades.”
What the hell was Amy Harper doing with a guy like that? She seemed like a nice girl, the type of girl that dated the Ivy League types, not ruffians.
“Thank you Mr. Sindle. We’ll look into contacting Ben Crowly. If there is anything else you think of, please don’t hesitate to call the FPD,” Micah said, standing up and offering his hand to Anthony.
Once in the car, Micah and I looked at each other. Something wasn’t quite right with that guy and we had both picked up on it.
“He’s not telling us everything,” I said.
“I agree. He was nervous about something, maybe whoever killed his sister got to him, made some threats.” Micah said. I didn’t understand. If it had been my sister, I wouldn’t let any thugs scare me into not telling the truth. But Anthony was human and living in an otherworldly city. He didn’t have magical defenses like I did.
We made our way back to Rush within ten minutes. The line had shortened but not by much. When we went to go inside though, the bouncer stopped us.
“We already paid the cover,” I said, holding up my hand to show the stamp. I looked at Micah’s hand but the bouncer hadn’t stamped his.
“You can go in, he can’t,” the bouncer said.
“Bullshit, I know you remember me,” Micah snarled. The bouncer gave a sly smile worthy of making me feel uncomfortable. “Ladies only, get lost, dog.” Micah was having a hard time controlling his anger, his wolf simmered just below the surface, waiting to break free. I put my hand on his arm and made him look into my eyes.
“I’ll go in and get Aiden and Fiona; we’ll meet you out here in ten minutes.” I wasn’t thrilled about going into a club known to serve brew, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed to get Aiden and Fiona out of there.
Micah pulled out his FPD badge and presented it to the bouncer.
“FPD, she doesn’t go in without me.”
“Your badge isn’t a VIP pass, bucko. Go chase some deer and let the pretty lady have some fun,” bouncer guy said as he slid an arm around my waist. My skin crawled when he wrapped his knobby fingers around my waist.
Micah growled so deeply, that I could see his shirt vibrate against it. If I didn’t do something, he’d end up shifting and things would get uglier than they already were. I called upon my magic and zapped the guy’s hand just enough to make him let go of me. He drew his hand away and shook it as if to put out a fire that didn’t exist.
“Whoo, we’ve got a feisty one, fellas,” he said to two other vamps that had come out of the club to serve as his backup. They laughed and appraised me hungrily.
“That’s right, jackass, touch me again and you’ll lose that hand,” I told him and then turned to head into the club.
“Gwen, I don’t want you going in there alone,” Micah protested.
I turned to face him and said, “They left their cell phones in the car. I have to go in. I can handle myself and we’ll be back within minutes.” Ignoring Micah’s qualms about my safety, I proceeded to head into Rush again. I hoped it would be as simple as I had told Micah it would be.
The techno music had been replaced with alternative; The Kill was currently playing by 30 Seconds to Mars. The lights that flashed overhead had been replaced with a red pulsating light that lent a dangerous feeling to the packed club.
Trying to find Aiden and Fiona in this heap of darkness was next to impossible, with only the silhouettes of bodies visible. Each person I passed looked at me hungrily. I watched them cautiously but kept moving forward. I felt like I was being stalked. The vampires were eyeing me like I was covered in blood.
“Aiden,” I called, hoping he’d be able to hear me over the loud speakers. I waited ten minutes but he didn’t show. I moved onto the dance floor and noticed the bodies that had been gyrating were now swaying slowly with their heads back and eyes closed. They all moved in sync with each other almost mechanically. I swiveled my body and absorbed the weirdness that I was standing in the middle of.
What the hell was going on?
Marilyn Manson’s Sweet Dreams played and the crowd instantly shifted their movements to rocking, almost like a shallow head banging.
“Aiden!” I called a little bit louder, not caring if I drew attention to myself. I could defend myself with magic but not against this many vamps. Arms wrapped around my waist and I was instantly flown away from the dance floor and onto the balcony. I shrieked and struggled but a hand went around my mouth.
“It’s me, Gwen,” Aiden’s voice said into my ear. I released the breath that had caught in my throat and he lowered his hand. He pulled me into a curtained room and I saw that Fiona was passed out on the black velvet couch that sat against the wall. A lot of vampire clubs had privacy rooms for feeding and I didn’t like that Aiden was in one with Fiona.
I rushed to her side and checked her neck to see if there were any bite marks, but all I saw was clear flesh.
“What happened to her?” I asked. Aiden held a finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet and he peeked outside the curtain then walked over to where I sat by Fiona.
“I think her drink was drugged. I started noticing she was acting funny when we were dancing, but after she had a second drink she became dizzy and I brought her up here where she passed out,” Aiden looked at Fiona’s hand and then at mine and I could tell he noticed something.
“What?”
“You and Fiona were marked,” he said. I looked at my hand and at Fiona’s; they both had a stamp of an eye on them. Micah’s hand had no stamp and neither did Aiden’s.
“Marked for what?” I asked, although I had an idea.
“Because you guys are witches, I’m guessing they’re marking you for capture.” Chills broke out along my skin at the memory of the way the bouncer and every other vampire had watched me with more interest than necessary. Fiona and I had been marked like cattle and now we were in the belly of the slaughterhouse.
I tapped Fiona’s cheek, trying to wake her, but she didn’t even stir. I checked her pulse and was relieved to feel the slow thump of her heartbeat. Aiden was peeking out of the curtain so I stood up and joined him. Women in short skirts and bras were carrying trays of what looked like shot glasses through the crowd. Each person took a glass and threw back the liquid. As soon as their glasses were empty, they dropped them to the floor and within seconds, their eyes turned the bright blue I had seen before.
“Is it brew?” I asked Aiden.
“Has to be, I don’t know of any blood that would turn a vampires’ eyes that color.”
The situation just went to hell in a hand basket. I had no clue how the three of us were going to get out of a club full of vampires tripping on witches’ blood. I could phone Micah and have him call for the cavalry, but I wasn’t sure if even they would be able to handle all of these vampires. I had no clue how brew affect vampires. It seemed it turned them into salivating monsters.
“Can you make yourself and Fiona invisible? Aiden asked. I gave him an unbelievable look.
“Sorry, no I forgot my cloak of invisibility at home,” I told him sarcastically, “What do I look like, Harry Potter?” I know he was trying to think of an easy exit, but my sarcasm boiled to the surface whenever I felt backed into a corner.
“I’d love to hear any ideas you have,” he snapped back. I thought for a couple of minutes and realized I could use magic to remove us from the premises.
“I might not be able to make us invisible, but I can use glamour,” I told him. Now it was his turn to give me an unbelievable look.
“Glamour doesn’t work on vampires, Gwen,” he said, as if I were a child he was explaining colors to.
“Not that kind of glamour, glamour as in appearance. I can change what we look like to them.”
As far as ideas went, it was the best we had. I got to work, starting with Fiona. I channeled my magic and waved my hands over her body, envisioning her as a young man with skin the color of creamed coffee. Instantly, Fiona’s skin started to darken and her feminine features turned masculine. It only took a couple of minutes before Fiona looked like a Frank.
We heard footsteps coming closer, so I pushed Aiden onto the other couch and waved my hand over his eyes.
“What…?,” he exclaimed, but I shook my head to tell him to be quiet. I magicked his eyes to change to the electric blue, blending in with the tripped-out vamps, and then I changed my eyes to match. I straddled his lap and planted a kiss onto his surprised lips. He was hesitant at first, but that quickly faded and he began to kiss me back with a different kind of hunger.
The curtain was pulled back and I turned to face our intruders. To them, we just looked like two vampires tripping on brew and taking advantage of our so-called high. Two women stumbled inside, their eyes bright blue. They giggled and smiled at what they saw, but didn’t leave. They lazily walked over to the couch and plopped themselves down, next to Aiden and me.
