Thicker than Water (Fangs and Feuds #1)

Do I know you?

DO I KNOW YOU?

Amara

“There must be some mistake,” I say anxiously.

My new boss frowns, looking at the clipboard in her hands. We’re standing at the reception desk of the Respite hotel, the massive luxury hotel owned and operated by Tudor Thornblade and his progeny. The hotel is huge, and sleek. Everything is white marble with brass finishings. The main entry hall has high ceilings bejeweled with glittering chandeliers, two long reception desks stretching the length of the long lobby, and ample elevators leading up to the many hotel floors. The chime of the elevator doors plays softly in the background of our conversation.

It doesn’t look like a family of ancient vampires works here. But I suppose they’ve evolved with the times, the same way the Hecate coven has.

“Nope,” my boss says firmly, reading off her clipboard. “Amara Monroe, full-time bartender at the Succumb club, starts this Thursday.”

“That can’t be right,” I say, fiddling with the strap of my bag. I hate having to carry my things in a bag. I’m used to witch capes and dresses with roomy pockets. “I’m supposed to be working in the lounge. I didn’t even know that the Respite hotel has a club…”

She grins at me. For a moment, her expression is almost mischievous. Then she gets back to business. “Well, do you want the job or not? Because I need a new bartender. ”

I sigh. I don’t really have a choice, do I?

“I’ll take it, thanks.”

“Great!” she sticks out her hand. “I’m Xia Chan, the manager of the club. During the day, anyway.”

I shake her hand, praying to Hecate that I’m not making a terrible mistake. “Nice to meet you.”

“Let me show you where you’ll be working. It’s just down this way.”

I follow her down the hallway. With a start, I notice an enormous portrait of Tudor Thornblade on the wall. He looms over the lobby with his arms crossed. His blond hair is slicked back from his temples and his light purple eyes gaze intensely at everyone who passes by.

With a shiver, I turn back to my new boss.

“Have you met him?” I ask her.

“Tudor? Yeah,” she says. “But he doesn’t bother much with the day-to-day operations of the hotel anymore. He leaves that to his daughters, mostly.”

“His daughters?”

“Yep. If you’re lucky, you won’t have to meet any of them.”

I squint at her. “Why?”

“Here we go,” she says, stopping in front of an old service elevator. It’s off to the left of the more modern, pristine hotel elevators that take guests to their suites. But this elevator looks older than I am (which is saying something). She presses the down button and the doors to the elevator immediately open with a chime.

I follow her in. The inside of the elevator is much larger than I expected, with mirrors along the wall and a bench with plush, purple pillows. It’s strange to see, especially in what’s supposed to be a service elevator.

“I’ve never seen a bench in an elevator before,” I comment.

She chuckles. “Oh, that’s nothing. Wait until you see the club.”

The doors shut. But instead of pressing one of the buttons on the brassy, shiny panel, she presses a small red button underneath it. For a moment I brace myself, expecting the elevator to stop or the emergency alarm to activate. But instead, the elevator starts moving.

With another jolt, I realize that none of the buttons on the panel say “Club” or indicate a “B” for basement. But we’re definitely going down.

I feel a tingle of apprehension and I clutch my bag close to me. It has my wand inside, a wooden instrument that hones my magic. I’m glad that I brought it. If I get murdered on my first day, I’m going to come back from the dead just to haunt Lavinia Nox.

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open.

This floor is dark and the air is thick. My eyes adjust as we step out. The first thing I see is a wall, bare except for a red neon sign. It depicts a set of lips with two sharp fangs sticking out.

Very subtle, Tudor.

“ Why isn’t there anyone stationed at the entrance?” snaps Xia, moving down the hallway. I follow her to a coat check window. The attendant catches a glance of her and ducks out of view quickly.

A security guard appears at the end of the dark hallway, wearing a red uniform and an appeasing smile. They’re short, barely 5’1’’, with light brown skin and closely cropped, platinum blond hair.

“Sorry, Xia!”

“Nova, how many times do I have to tell you-”

“It’s during the day. What could possibly happen?” they reply with a shrug.

“Lots of things could happen,” says Xia, shaking her head. “Trust me, you don’t want to find out. Just stay at the entrance at all times, ok?”

“Ok, ok,” the security guard replies. They shoot me a charasmatic smile. “Hi! I’m Nova.”

Xia introduces me. “Nova, this is Amara, she’s going to be the new bartender.”

I smile back. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise!”

“Come on, I’ll show you the bar,” Xia says.

The hallway opens into an enormous, underground room.

I have to stop to catch my breath.

Now this looks like it was designed by a family of ancient vampires. Even though it’s daytime, it’s incredibly dark, lit solely by red and purple lights. There’s a huge dance floor in the center, surrounded by seating areas with standing tables and plush velvet couches. There are sets of stairs going up to a second-floor balcony, which wraps around the entire club so that you can watch the dance floor beneath. Under the balconies, there are intimate booths with heavy curtains that can be drawn to hide all sorts of illicit activities. Bass-heavy music reverberates throughout the club.

Right in the middle of the dance floor is a long, oval bar, with a gleaming black countertop.

I’ve spent the last hundred years working at a cozy bakery in a tiny rural village.

This is the opposite of that job.

“It’s not as scary as it looks,” says Xia, unconvincingly, as she leads me across the dance floor and up to the bar.

It’s early and the bar is empty, so at least I can have my panic attack privately. Xia ducks behind the bar, shuffling through some boxes. She pulls out a silky garment and hands it to me.

“This looks about your size,” she says.

I grimace at the crimson fabric. “I’m more of an autumn …”

“Aren’t we all,” she chuckles. She puts her clipboard down and pours two shots of whiskey, then hands me one. She drinks her’s quickly and pours herself another. Not super professional, but I’m not surprised. I’m sure it’s not easy working for a notoriously dangerous vampire family. I can’t help wondering how much she knows. If I can get some information out of her, maybe I won’t need to get close to Tudor or any of his progeny. Xia is definitely alive, and she doesn’t seem too bad.

“So…what’s it like working here?” I ask, before downing my shot quickly.

“It’s all right. But probably pretty different from where you used to work. It was a bakery, right? I have to admit, I only skimmed your resume.”

“That’s ok. Yeah, it was a bakery. In a really small town, you wouldn’t have heard of it.”

“Around here?”

“Well, a couple of hours north.”

“Around Houndsville?” she asks amicably.

“Um, yep, it was Houndsville,” I reply with a nervous smile. I can’t tell her I’m from Hemlock Haven. If she knows anything about the Hecate coven, she’ll immediately know that I’m a witch. “I just moved here, actually. ”

She pushes a strand of silver hair behind her ear. Her hair is short and jet black, streaked with silver.

I’m glad she’s not a vampire, so she can’t hear my heart thumping nervously in my chest. My palms are sweaty, and the shot glass slides through my fingers, tumbling to the hard floor and shattering.

“Oh my Goddess!” I gasp.

Xia looks at me curiously and waves her hand. It’s a familiar gesture, but not one I was expecting to see here. In a twinkle of red, the shot glass reassembles itself and levitates to rest back on the counter top.

I stare at Xia through wide eyes, genuinely shocked. Red energy magic is an unmistakable sign of an evil witch. Now that I’m looking for it, I realize with a horrible start that I’ve seen this witch before. She was one of the evil witches I fought against during the Wicked Wars. What on earth is she doing working for Tudor Thornblade?

Xia gives me a similar expression.

“Do I…know you from somewhere?” she asks.

I chuckle anxiously. “No, I don’t think so. People say that to me all the time, I’ve just got one of those faces!”

“Mmm-hmm,” she says, taking her second shot smoothly and putting the shot glass back down on the counter. But there’s a suspicious shadow over her face that wasn’t there before.

“Well, I should really get going!” I say. “Thanks for the tour, I’ll be back at 4pm sharp on Thursday.”

Before she can say anything, I turn and speed-walk back to the elevator.

I knew this was a terrible idea. The first person I met at the hotel is an evil witch who could possibly recognize me! Why did I think it was a good idea to use my real first name? I thought it would be easier, because I wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting it. Lavinia was so convinced that nobody would know me, we thought I would be able to get away with it.

As the elevator doors shut with a ping , I press the “L” button for the lobby, eager to get out of this building as fast as my legs will take me.

I’m in way over my head.