Chapter Twenty-One

When I finally made it through the velvet rope to the VIP section, the guys were all sitting around in chairs with various Bleeders draped over them. I tried not to grimace when I saw Ozzie nibbling on Natasha’s neck.

My heart thumped when I realized it was Skyler on Travis’s lap. Her hair was matted and tangled, and her body was a mass of bruises and bite marks even worse than the ones I’d seen before.

Vaughn sat at one end of a sofa. There was a girl at the other end, but she was inching closer. She had her neck tilted to one side, like she was offering it to Vaughn. Did she think he was a vampire, too?

I walked over and sat in his lap, really trying to sell the whole girlfriend thing. Also because I liked being close to him.

“Baby,” he said. “What took you so long?” The panicked look on his face told me he was aware of the girl trying to get him to notice her.

I leaned in, nuzzled his neck, and whispered, “I’m going to try to get what we need tonight.”

Vaughn’s arms tightened around me, but Travis’s loud voice drew my attention away. “Did I tell you guys that Johnny has been keeping something from us?”

Ozzie and Armando both stopped what they were doing. “Yeah? What?”

There was suspicion in their eyes, and it didn’t lessen when Travis explained, “Johnny here knows my Schuler,” he said. “She’s been telling me all about it.”

“I do know Skyler,” Vaughn said evenly. “Tiff and I both do. We go to the same high school. There are tons of kids at our school, but I’ve seen her around.” It wasn’t a lie.

Travis deflated. He’d obviously thought we’d deny it or something.

“Did she say anything else?” I asked. Like my grandmother is a witch? Or that I am?

“I don’t pick girls for their conversational skills,” he said, snickering.

I raised an eyebrow. “Then what do you pick them for?”

“For the way their blood tastes,” he said.

I tried to keep any expression from my face. “There’s a difference?”

“Hell, yeah,” Ozzie said. “I’m a B-positive man myself.”

“I like a good A,” Armando chimed in. “But I’m not fussy.”

“He’s like a blood bank.” Travis snorted. “He takes all types of donations.”

“What about you?” I asked, then wished I hadn’t when Travis said, “I like O negative. But I had blood from a redheaded witch once that was the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.”

I froze. Had he figured out who I was?

“Jesus, Travis,” Ozzie said. “Quit obsessing about the witch.”

“I know a witch,” Sky said drowsily.

His eyes gleamed red. “That’s right, baby,” he said. “Tell me all about her.” He crooned it.

“It’s Granny,” Skyler said. “Granny used to make me apricot crostata when I was little and was missing my mommy.”

Travis relaxed. “I’ve never bitten anyone’s grandma.”

“Ease up on your girl, Travis,” Ozzie said. “I think she’s a quart low.”

I had to do something before Skyler started to tell Travis everything about my grandmother and me.

“Baby,” I said loudly to Vaughn. “I want to be alone with you.”

Vaughn’s eyebrows rose. “I thought we were going to hang out with the guys tonight.”

The band members were watching us now, but I didn’t want them to remember what they’d been talking about moments before.

He’d ditched the gross vamp tee and changed into a navy shirt. I put my hands on the inside of Vaughn’s button-down shirt and started undoing the buttons. “Now, baby,” I pseudo-whispered. My fingers lingered because touching his smooth skin was exhilarating, even in a room full of vampires.

Our eyes met, and he must have seen the panic in mine, because Vaughn kissed me gently on the lips and stood, then hoisted me into his arms. “We’ll be back.” I wrapped my arms and legs around him.

Travis snickered. “We don’t mind a little show.”

He was so disgusting.

“She’s shy,” Vaughn said.

I buried my face in Vaughn’s neck, just so I wouldn’t say something I’d regret. Then it occurred to me what I had to do.

“Don’t be mad,” I whispered to him and slid out of his arms.

And then I asked Travis to dance. “I love this song,” I said. “Come dance with me.”

His brow furrowed before a slow grin covered his face. “Your girl’s getting tired of you, Johnny. I told you, they can’t resist me for long.”

I dug into my purse and pretended to search for my lipstick, but instead palmed the folding scissors and slid them into the sleeve of my top.

I ignored Vaughn’s pissed-off expression, and I led Travis onto the dance floor.

It was a risk getting this close to Travis, but I was desperate. “Thank god the DJ is on now,” I said.

Travis frowned at me. “Don’t you like our music?”

“Of course I do,” I lied. “I just meant that since you’re not onstage, it gives me the opportunity to dance with you.”

A slow song started, and Travis grabbed me and held me in a tight grip. Up close, the smell of decay and old blood was overwhelming, but I tried not to let my distaste show.

I put my arms around his neck and slid the scissors from my sleeve but fumbled and almost dropped them. I caught them before they hit him, but it drew his attention. “What are you doing?” he said, shouting over the music.

Sweat poured off me. This was my only chance.

“I love your hair,” I cooed, stroking a promising lock with my other hand and grasping the scissors with the other.

When Travis’s hands started to wander, I snipped, catching the long strands. But now what was I supposed to do with them?

“Can I cut in?” Vaughn said.

“What? No,” Travis said.

“Oh, but I have to give your other fans a chance,” I said and moved quickly into Vaughn’s arms.

Travis looked like he might argue, but the song ended, which seemed to galvanize him. Without another word, he strode off toward the DJ booth.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Vaughn growled.

“I was running out of chances to get a lock of his hair,” I said. “But I did it.”

“He had his hands all over you,” Vaughn growled.

“It wasn’t great,” I admitted. “But now I have what we need for the spell, except for the filet of fenny snake.” That had to be easier to get than a lock of vampire hair.

“If he touches you again, I’m going to knock him out,” Vaughn grunted, but handed me my clutch, so I guessed he was done being grumpy. I grabbed a plastic baggie and placed the vampire’s hair into it before shutting it back into my purse.

Travis said something to the DJ, and she handed him the microphone. “Baby, come up here,” he said.

A couple of girls, including Natasha, started forward, but he waved them off. “Schuler, where are you?”

A spotlight panned over the crowd, and then I saw her. Skyler, looking like she was being held up by invisible men who were moving her arms and legs, walked to where the DJ booth was.

“What’s he doing?” I asked Vaughn.

“He does this at special shows,” a girl nearby said. “He performs a magic trick.”

“Magic? What kind of magic?”

“He really likes fire,” she said. “He calls it vampire fire.”

Sky was now standing next to Travis.

He waved his hand theatrically, and then a small blue flame danced in the palm of his hand.

There was no expression on her face—not even when Travis snapped his fingers and ordered her to touch the flame. Sky’s hand passed over the flame, and her mouth opened in a silent scream, but she didn’t say anything.

“That had to hurt.” The girl next to me winced. “At the last show, the girl ended up in the emergency room.”

I had to do something. I had to put the fire out.

What was Travis doing?

My mind went blank. I couldn’t remember anything Granny had taught me. Instead, Expecto Patronum ran through my brain on repeat. For the first time, I regretted my love of Harry Potter.

“Enough!” I finally shouted, trying to clear my brain of my childhood favorite.

Then the overhead sprinklers went on and everyone started screaming and running. The only light was the red exit sign, but I didn’t move toward it.

Enough was enough. I wasn’t leaving without Skyler.

Vaughn used his phone as a flashlight. “C’mon, Sky has to be around here somewhere.”

He was right. “You look upstairs,” I told him.

“We shouldn’t separate,” he said.

“There’s no time,” I argued. “We’ll cover more ground if we go in different directions.”

He nodded and then merged into the crowd. He made it to the stairs and then disappeared.

I pushed against the exiting crowd, but apparently Bleeders, Drainers, and baby vamps didn’t like to get wet. They were stampeding toward the exit.

Bodies flowed past me. Someone stomped on my foot, and I swore. I shoved a guy out of my way and managed to jump on top of the bar to scan for Skyler, but I didn’t see her.

A girl let out a long scream. She’d fallen, but another girl yanked her up and helped her move out of the way.

Before long, the club had emptied out. We were too late.