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Blood & Bone
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Venom stood next to me holding a whiskey and chuckled. “Looks like the trash is gonna take itself out tonight.”
I smiled at his metaphor. “You’re not wrong. I mean, of all the clubs for the bitch to wander into.”
We vampires could sense each other. It took me a really long time to learn it, but when a succubus—who was nothing more than a vampire who fed on souls as well as a little blood—came prancing into my bar, we were all on high alert. Venom being a wolf scented her and her human friends immediately.
I pulled out my phone and texted Kovah, who had the night off. I knew he had plans with his vampire wife, but also knew he wouldn’t want to miss this.
Me: Get to the bar stat. You’ve got to see this.
It took him ten minutes to reply.
Kovah: Is it an emergency?
Me: If you consider a succubus in my club an emergency, then yes.
Kovah: OMW
I chuckled and pocketed the phone. His pretty wife would be pissed but I knew I’d never hear the end of it if I didn’t let him in on this. The reason for Kovah’s hybrid existence was because of a succubus and he had a personal vendetta against every single one he came across. Nobody better to get rid of this one than him. I’d been a vampire almost four decades, but when I heard his story, it was definitely one for the history books.
If vampires kept history books.
Shadow materialized next to me and almost made me jump. “Don’t fucking do that!”
He grinned. “Sorry. I was in the clubhouse and was too lazy to walk over here.”
“Asshole.” I shook my head.
“Whatcha got?” he asked, stroking his thick beard with his fingertips.
I tilted my head toward the succubus and her human girlfriends. They were ordering shots by the dozen, and I was gonna keep taking her money until I decided it was time to escort her outside and kill her.
Can’t take it with you, babe.
“So, what’s the plan?” Shadow asked.
“Once she, well, at least her friends, are good and drunk, we’re going to ask them to leave. Then you and Kovah will be out back to end her.”
“Judge, jury, and executioner, huh?” He chuckled.
I nodded. “Something like that.” I turned to look into his grayish-colored eyes. “You know I don’t usually get down like this, but succubae are a hard no for me. She may seem innocent, but anyone whose soul she takes turns into that feral thing we killed last night. No poor, unsuspecting human deserves that. I know she can’t help what she is, but a lot of these redheads choose to be turned, knowing the consequences. So... she needs to go. I got ninety-nine problems and this bitch ain’t gonna be one.”
He laughed.
Face came to stand next to us. “What’s the good word?”
I stared into his Hollywood-ready mug, his blue eyes, square jaw, long eyelashes, and perfectly coiffed hair bordering on annoying, and said, “Go over there and tell them you’re the manager and ask if everything is up to their standards.”
“You got it, boss,” he replied.
He straightened his spine and put a little swing into his swagger as he wandered over to them. With my enhanced hearing, I could hear that he was doing exactly as I asked. Half the table sat there with their jaws hanging open as he spoke. The other half fidgeted with their hair and stuck their chests out while batting their eyelashes at him.
“Fuckin’ pretty boy,” Shadow said with a scoff.
“That’s why I sent him over there.” I folded my arms across my cut.
“Are you in a motorcycle gang?” I heard one ask, pointing at his cut. “Is your name really Face?” she continued without waiting for an answer.
He threw them a charming grin. “The Nighthawks keep the peace, ladies. Nothing more.”
The succubus’s smile dropped. She turned around and scanned the club until her gaze landed on us. She eyed our patches and then narrowed her eyes at us.
Just then, Kovah showed up and stood next to me. Her gaze moved to his name patch and then she flipped him off. She even mouthed a “fuck you” to really drive the point home.
Shadow and I looked at the hybrid. “You know her?” I asked.
Kovah chuckled and blew the redhead a kiss. “My succubus-killing reputation precedes me.”
“Well, she’s all yours. Though, I would get out of here if I were you. Go hide out back. We’ll wait a bit and then ask them to leave once they try to order more drinks. Say we’re ‘cutting them off.’”
“Good one.” Kovah grinned and headed back to the office where there was a door leading to the alley behind the club.
Seemed our plan wasn’t needed. Shortly after the succubus spotted Kovah, she asked for the bill, and once the server delivered it, she paid in cash and she and her friends made their way to the front door.
On her way out, she looked me up and down with disgust. “Girls, this place sucks,” she drawled, looking at her friends. “Never coming here again.” She threw me her best mean mug, and with her chin held high, she walked out the front door.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted Kovah.
Me: Succubus leaving out the front door now
Kovah: On it
Me: Face and I got your back
I watched as the group headed down the street, their high heels clacking on the pavement. As they passed the first building, Kovah popped out from the alley separating it from the next one, and snatched the redhead by the waist. They disappeared from sight. Face and I used vampire speed to catch up to the five young ladies standing around wondering what had just happened. I grabbed three, Face grabbed two, pulling them into the alley.
“Ladies, look at me.” I stared intently at all of them. Once I had them locked, I began, “What’s your red-haired friend’s name?”
“Renee,” they answered in unison.
“Well, Renee ran off with a guy she met at the bar. They fell madly in love, are getting married, and moving to Spain. She’s never coming back. You’ll never see her again.”
They just stared at me, confused.
“Repeat what I just told you.”
“Renee is never coming back, getting married, moving to Spain,” they all said in unison.
“Good girls.”
For whatever reason, maybe to make them feel comforted, and because using that compelling shit always made me feel guilty, I kissed each one on the forehead before commanding them to go back onto the street and continue to enjoy their evening out.
Face met up with me shortly after. “Make up a good story?” he asked.
“She met a guy, got married, moved to Spain,” I deadpanned as we walked back to the Cobalt Room.
He laughed. “Same. Except Paris, not Spain.”
“Well, I’m sure they’ll be arguing about that until the end of time whenever Renee’s name is mentioned.”
“True,” he replied, with another laugh.
We found Kovah nursing a drink at the bar, chatting with Dash. He grinned when he saw us.
“How did it go?” I asked.
He held his hands up. “Didn’t even get my hands dirty.”
“And the body?” I asked, knowing succubae didn’t turn to ash. They turned into hideous shriveled corpses like from an Indiana Jones movie. Just less juicy.
He jutted a thumb behind him. “In the dumpster, lit it on fire, along with her purse and phone. Hopefully that’ll get rid of most of it.”
I shuddered at his indifferent attitude but had to understand what he’d been through. Killing bad things was his therapy—especially a succubus. This had to have been like a treat for him.
He downed the rest of his drink and stood. “Well, boys. I left Manta tied to the bed, so I better get back.”
I lifted an eyebrow. Ever since my horrible ordeal after my turning all those years ago, I had yet to tie a woman or anyone to a bed since. “You do realize she can break those restraints easily, being a vampire herself.”
He mock-punched me in the arm and lifted his glasses. His eyes, completely white with no pupil at all, he winked at me. “She wouldn’t dare.” He made a spanking motion with his hand, slammed the glasses back into place, and left the bar.
“Fuckin’ freak,” Shadow said, shaking his head.
“Brave freak,” I corrected him.
“You never did give me a report on those wolves,” I said when our conversation lulled.
“It was a dead end.” He signaled the server over, a prospect named Ally. She would be our third female Nighthawk if she passed the initiation. “Whiskey, honey. Something local.”
“Yes, Shadow.” She walked back to the bar and we were both quiet as we appreciated the swing of her hips and the curve of her ass and small waist.
“Why do you waste my good whiskey?” I asked, looking up at him. Tall bastard.
“I’ll pay full price. The taste alone is worth it.” He chuckled.
“It’s your dough,” I replied with a shrug.
We watched more humans pour into the bar as the night wore on. Ally brought him his bourbon and he groaned as it slid down his throat. “God, that’s good shit.”
I’d watched Dash pour his drink. “That’s Sazerac. Rye whiskey. Glad you like it. I think it tastes like crap.”
“Suit yourself,” he replied with a shrug.
“Continue about the wolves,” I prompted.
He swallowed the rest of his drink and set it on Ally’s tray as she passed by. “Like I said, dead end. I found one wolf. He wouldn’t talk or tell us shit. I put a bullet in his head.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s it? Is the art of torture lost on you? We have cells at the clubhouse for a reason.” I gritted my teeth as my jaw ticked, and looked out at the bar. “Don’t do that again.”
He turned to me. “Listen, man, it wasn’t about torture. The asshole was feral. Just like that vamp y’all killed last night. Never seen nothin’ like it. Foaming at the mouth like he got rabies or somethin’. Wouldn’t talk. Obvious danger. Decided he couldn’t and shouldn’t be let loose.”
I turned to look at my friend. “Should have tranq’d him and brought him in.”
He sighed and blew out a breath. “Duly noted. But... I got his ID. Maybe we can have Face run him.”
“Where’s the ID?” I asked, my curiosity now piqued.
He pulled a Louisiana driver’s license from his pocket and handed it to me. Read James Lawson. Lived in the West End district according to his listed address. I handed the license back to Shadow. “Have him run a full background.”
“On it,” he replied, disappearing into thin air.
I wished he’d stop fucking doing that.