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As they walked to the Emerald City Blues Club, Selina noticed that the clouds were breaking up and she could see a few stars. Then, the moon come out from behind a cloud, looking almost full and very bright. She glanced over at Damian.
“Nice to see that the moon isn’t a problem for you,” she said as they walked out of the alley and turned down the street to the blues club.
“I told you I can control it,” Damian replied, looking over at her, “as long as I don’t have beautiful women adding something extra to my whiskey.”
Selina smiled. “That’s good to know,” she said. “I do have a question though. How do you change into a wolf and not have your....” she paused, trying not to laugh, “not have your clothes left in a pile on the ground?”
Damian glanced over at her. “Are you picturing me without my clothes right now...or only as a wolf?”
Vampires can’t blush, a fact that Selina was grateful for at that moment. “Mr. Salvadori, I assure you I am merely interested in the mechanics of your transformation.”
“Too bad,” replied Damian, smiling. “To answer your question, I have a small token that I keep in my pocket. As long as I have it, my clothes transform with the rest of me. It I lose it...let’s just say it could make for an embarrassing return to my human form.”
Selina was going to ask him more when she realized they had almost reached the club. “Should we go in or stay outside?” she asked, looking around.
“Relax,” Damian said, taking her hand. “We are just two people out for a walk, who may stop and listen to a little music.”
Selina nodded. “Then, let’s go in and see what we can find out,” she said, glancing over at the entrance.
“All right,” Damian agreed. “But first, don’t you think we should look like a couple out for a romantic evening?” He walked past the front entrance and stopped, looking into her eyes. He smiled, then tipped her chin up and kissed her.
For a long moment, he forgot all about the club, the vampires, everything but Selina and how wonderful it felt to kiss her. She seemed to grow warmer at his touch and before he knew it, he had put his arms around her and was kissing her with a lot more feeling than he had intended.
Selina had not expected the kiss but was not surprised. She knew Damian found her attractive, but she did not anticipate her reaction to it. As the kiss deepened, she felt his lips warm against hers and she started to feel herself grow warmer. This had never happened before. He was kissing her with such passion that she put her arms around his neck and held on, wishing for a moment he would never stop.
Finally, Damian stepped back and just looked at her. Carina, you are warm to the touch. Is this the way it always is when you kiss someone back?
Selina shook her head, slightly. “No, it’s the first time anything like this has ever happened.” At his look, she smiled. “Don’t be so proud of yourself. I have not kissed a man for quite some time. Maybe I have evolved, and you are just the first to notice.”
Damian smiled. “Perhaps.” As he started to say something else, he noticed two men walk up to the entrance and nod at the doorman, then go in without paying. “Selina, who is that man with Lou Williams?”
Selina turned. “That’s the manager of Midnight Madness,” she replied, “the club just down the street from Luna’s.” She turned back to Damian. “Why would their manager be with Lou Williams, when he blames all of the other clubs for hurting his business?”
“I don’t know,” Damian said, “but I think it’s time we found out.” He took her hand as they walked back to the entrance.
After they paid the cover charge and walked in, Selina leaned over and whispered, “They didn’t stamp our hands. The dead girl...the third victim, she didn’t have a stamp on her hand either.”
Damian glanced over, his interest definitely piqued. “How did you know that?” he asked.
“Detective Wright mentioned it,” she said, “as we were walking down the stairs into the club this afternoon.” Selina looked around, trying to appear casual. “They’re over at the bar and I recognize the other two men sitting with them.”
“Who are they?” Damian asked, walking with her across the club to a table in the corner. The others were so involved in conversation they didn’t notice.
Damain pulled out her chair and Selina sat down, saying “Mr. Jones and Mr. Paulsen, two of my neighbors, who have repeatedly said they do not like my club.” Glancing back over at the bar, she added, “One walks his dog past my club and the other is an artist.”
“Which one is the artist?” Damian asked.
“The tall one,” Selina replied. “Should we get closer, so we can hear what they’re saying?”
As Damian started to answer, the band announced they were taking a break. “No need,” Damian said, looking over at the bar. “They’re speaking loudly enough I think we can hear them from here.”
Lou Williams was buying a round for everyone at the bar while the manager of the other club nodded and smiled. The two neighbors were talking together, then stopped and looked over at Lou as the bartender brought them their drinks.
“We are celebrating the return of our neighborhood from the freaks and the wannabe Victorians,” Lou said, holding up his glass. “Another body found behind Luna’s and now, I think Miss Selina Bellerose is going to have to close down her establishment.”
The manager of the rival club nodded. “I saw it online. She says the club is closing for a week to give the staff a vacation, but we all know what’s really going on.”
“That woman should never have opened her club in our neighborhood,” Paulsen said, slamming his drink on the bar.
“Calm down,” said Jones, the other neighbor. “You’ve had too much to drink.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Lou Williams stated, looking around the bar. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate the way Miss Bellerose adds a certain beauty to the neighborhood.”
Damian made a noise, very low in his throat that sounded almost like a growl.
“And we all know those little cuties she has working with her are totally hot,” the manager added with a smile.
This time, Selina wouldn’t have been surprised if she had been the one growling. Instead, she started to stand up until Damian held her wrist and shook his head. “Wait until we hear everything they have to say.”
Selina nodded and sat back down.
“I want to mark this occasion,” Lou continued, “by offering everyone half off their drinks from now until closing!” He smiled and bowed amid the clapping. The club was more than half full and they were open for hours. Selina had heard that Lou Williams was fairly tight, so he must have been not only happy, but possibly a little drunk to have offered cheap drinks to everyone in the place.
“I need to get closer to them,” Damian said, glancing back over at the bar. “I can’t tell from here if any of them are vampires.”
“My money is on the assistant manager,” Selina said, “but his comment about my girls has probably colored my opinion of him.”
Damian tried not to smile. “You are most protective of them,” he observed, reaching over and holding her hand. “That’s one of the things I find so attractive about you.”
Selina smiled. “Thank you,” she said, trying to ignore the fact that her hand felt slightly warmer at his touch. “But we still need to deal with the vampire or vampires at the bar...”
Damian nodded. “They’ll recognize you, but I can walk behind them and get a sense of anything suspicious.”
“Shall I meet you outside?” Selina asked.
“No,” he replied. “Wait for me here, and I’ll be right back.”
Damian got up and casually walked over to the bar. As he got closer, Paulsen knocked over his drink.
“I don’t care,” he said, looking at Jones. “Even with one closed, we’ll never get rid of them all in time.” He pushed himself off the barstool and headed for the back entrance.
As he stumbled his way to the door, Lou Williams got up and went after him along with the other two men. “Paulsen, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jones demanded as he walked out the door.
Damian turned to Selina, motioning for her to come over. When she reached him, he shook his head, saying, “I didn’t get close enough to sense anything. I’m going to have to follow them, but I didn’t want to leave you here alone.”
“Let’s go,” she replied, “and thank you for wanting me with you.”
“We make a good team,” Damian said, smiling at her. “And we need to give them a head start, or they’ll know they’re being followed.”
Selina smiled back and walked behind him until they reached the back exit. As they walked out, they almost ran into Diana and her associates.
“What are you doing here?” Selina asked surprised to see them.
“I could ask you the same,” Diana replied.
“That’s him!” one of the vampires exclaimed. “That’s the guy from the hotel.”
“Really?” Diana asked, finding Damian much more interesting with this new information. “I thought you took care of him, Raoul,” she added, looking back at the vampire.
“It wasn’t just me,” he answered, nervously. “Henri and Armand were there, too.” He looked over at Damian. “We did take care of him. This guy shouldn’t be walking around.”
“Especially after being escorted out of the hotel by three of my best associates,” Diana said, shaking her head. “Why does it always seem to take more than one?”
“Because they’re not very good,” Damian replied, looking over at the vampires. “As you can see, no lasting effects from that little skirmish.”
Diana smiled, then looked at Selina. “Where are you two going in such a hurry?”
“We were trying to follow some suspects before your associates got in our way,” Selina replied. “Now, we’ve probably lost them.”
“We should be on the same side, Cherie,” Diana said. “You and your friend,” she said, smiling at Damian, “might be of more help than I realized.”
“It’s too late to catch up with them,” Damian said, turning to Selina. “We should get back to your club.”
Selina hadn’t been so frustrated in a very long time. “You just keep your associates out of our way,” she said to Diana. Selina spun around and walked down the short alley back toward the main street.
Damian glared at the other vampires, then looked at Diana. “No offense, but you need to find better help.” He followed Selina and caught up with her before she reached the end of the alley.
Diana watched them leave and smiled slightly, then turned to the other vampires. “He’s right. I do need better help. Let’s go back to the hotel, and I’ll call Giovanni.”
She walked off in the opposite direction and got into the waiting limo. The others exchanged a few worried looks, then quickly followed her.
“I can’t believe we lost them!” Selina exclaimed in frustration as they walked around the corner and back towards her club. “We spent all evening on this and didn’t get any closer to finding the killer.”
“Not entirely true,” Damian said, catching her hand and holding it as they walked. “We found out the manager of a rival club is working with three men, who have expressed a desire in having you leave the neighborhood. What do you think his motivation might be?”
“I don’t know,” replied Selina. “He might want to ruin my club as well as Midnight Madness and maybe buy it for a less expensive price? Or he’s getting paid by Lou Williams.”
“Both good possibilities,” Damian said, smiling. “But I wonder if you have considered a third one. Maybe he is the vampire we have been looking for and he senses that you are one, too.”
“But you didn’t think I was...” Selina stopped talking at Damian’s look.
“Actually, I did wonder,” he said, looking at her closely. “But I managed to convince myself that you were not because I found you so attractive. And you were very protective of your girls. I didn’t think a vampire could be...well, so maternal shall we say.”
As Selina stopped and looked up at him, Damian brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. “You are not like any other vampire I have ever met, Carina. But, I am not a vampire. Would you be able to fool one of your own so easily?”
At her look, he added, “Not that you are anything like the killer, but would another vampire know you are one and that you might pose a threat or even a challenge to him?”
“I think I would have noticed him,” Selina replied, “if that were the case.”
“But you have never taken a life,” Damian said still holding her hand. “I would imagine this would make you less able to detect one who has.” He shrugged. “Either way, we know all those men want your club closed and you out of this neighborhood.”
“And that they think my girls are hot,” she said angrily.
“Well, they are pretty cute,” Damian agreed, then held up his hands at her look. “I’m just saying they are attractive, but it was not appropriate for him to put it quite that way.”
Selina nodded. “Yes, they are attractive and not so little anymore, but they will always be my girls.”
“As it should be,” Damian agreed. After a moment, he looked at his watch. “It’s almost one, and I should probably go back to my hotel...but I don’t like you staying at the club by yourself.”
“Honestly, I don’t want to stay,” Selina said as they approached the front door. “So much animosity towards me and my club tonight. I just want to go home.”
Damian nodded. “That is understandable. Want some company? It looks like the perfect night to enjoy the moonlight in your Porsche convertible.”
“You’d be staying in the guest room,” Selina said firmly. “Do you still want to come with me?”
Damian took her hand. “Carina, you are luminous in this light. How can I say no?”
Selina smiled. “Very well. I don’t suppose you’d like to drive?”
“What do you think?” Damian replied.