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“Vampires are not like what you see in the movies. First off, they don’t sparkle in sunlight, they catch fire. But if you’re really into the sparkly look, you could use body glitter.”
“Body glitter is hot. But I dig the whole vamp look even more.”
Clearly my sarcasm was wasted on him. The only reason I was in the club was to follow up on a lead and this guy would not stop chatting me up. He liked my outfit, so he’d told me repeatedly, and kept trying to talk about vampires. It wasn’t as if I had put out any signals. Then again, just being a vampire might be a signal. I still haven’t gotten used to some aspects of this whole creature of the night thing.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.
“That’s nice of you, but no thanks.”
“Come on, what can I get you?”
Fine. I was done trying to be halfway polite. This guy had been bugging me for almost an hour while I scanned the crowd.
“Blood. O positive if they serve it here.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. So, you’re like really into the goth thing, huh?”
What a moron. “No. I’m a fucking vampire.”
I flashed my fangs at him and let my eyes burn to red and just like that the fucker whipped out a cross.
“That’s what I thought,” he said.
Religious symbols aren’t always a safe bet, but a silver cross is a real bitch. If the person wielding the cross doesn’t believe in what it stands for, the vampire has nothing to worry about. But silver hurts, always.
As long as it didn’t touch my skin, I’d be fine. My arm moved so quickly it looked like a blur as I grabbed his wrist, twisted it behind his back, and shoved him into the bar.
A few people around us took a step back and the bartender yelled, “What the hell?”
“What are you playing at?” I growled. “You’re no hunter.”
We had about thirty seconds before one of the bouncers reached us.
“No, I’m not.” With those words he pushed back against me and I lost my grip. As he turned, his eyes flashed amber in the semi-darkness of the club.
“You’re a werewolf?”
His grin revealed fangs as a bouncer tapped my shoulder and said, “Is this man bothering you?”
It’s interesting how they always assume the man is the problem and the woman is the victim.
“Actually, I was bothering him,” I said. “And now I’m leaving.”
I wasn’t unnerved that he was a werewolf; what bothered me was that I hadn’t sensed it. Someone must have used a cloaking spell on him. But why? I made my way as quickly as possible through the gyrating ocean of bodies. Techno music pumped loud and hard, like the heartbeat I no longer had.
I could sense him now, and he was closing in on me. I didn’t think he’d throw down right here in the middle of the club. Still, I didn’t want to take a chance and get any of these people hurt. I wasn’t afraid of a little one on one with a wolfman, but I needed to get out of this crowd.
I stopped for a moment and closed my eyes. I was still learning to use my powers; however, I was partially psychic before becoming a vampire. Now, I was pretty damn good at manipulating minds. That is, when I could actually focus. I radiated thoughts of opening the side exit to the bouncer I saw standing there. Without his key, an alarm would sound and I didn’t want that.
All I wanted was to get outside into the alley. As I approached the bouncer he was already using his key to open the door. He held it open for me and seemed about to protest when I looked him directly in the eyes and said, “You do not see me.”