Chapter 7 #2
“Thanks,” I said as he pulled aside the heavy velvet curtain to let me in. A wave of noise and smells assaulted me. If I’d thought it’d been bad out there, it was so much worse in here.
I walked a couple of steps along the small hallway, then stopped to gather my bearings.
Clubs were literal hell to me. They were tolerable once I got used to them, but for the first few seconds, it was just too much for my senses. Too much noise, too many smells, too many heartbeats calling for me at once.
Why some vampires loved places like this so much was a mystery to me. Sure, there was no easier way to find a snack for the night, but to me, putting up with this environment just wasn’t worth it.
After a while, I adjusted to all the noise and headed further in.
Bennie had been clear. Go directly to the bar, Aries would be waiting for me.
Why he thought having me interact with Aries was a good idea, I did not know, but he wouldn’t have ordered me here if he didn’t have a good reason.
I took one last deep breath, then entered the main room of the club, immediately swerving left, making a beeline for the bar.
Humans avoided me as I made my way through the crowd, and I couldn’t help but feel pleased at this development.
The older a vampire got, the more humans were able to feel the difference.
Ohh, they didn’t know what the difference was, but they tended to find vampires creepy.
Or so I’d been told. I was still way too young for anyone to find me creepy, but apparently I was getting old enough to register as “other.”
Aries was standing behind the bar, polishing a glass while overlooking the crowd.
It was barely eleven, but it was already getting busy.
The music was thrumming, alcohol was pouring, and vampires were discreetly feeding in the shadows.
Shaking my head, I zeroed in on Aries.
The fucker smirked when he saw me, showing me the barest hint of his fangs in a clear warning.
My hands balled into fists, my nails digging into the skin, but the pain didn’t even register.
My vision bled red as I remembered Finn’s unfocused gaze, the way he’d been unable to keep steady.
The way he’d passed the fuck out as soon as we’d entered the car.
“Do we have a problem?” Aries said, instead of greeting me. He looked pointedly at my hands, then raised an eyebrow as he took in my face.
“No,” I answered, but it was more a growl than a word.
“Good.” He appeared relaxed, unbothered by my anger, as if I were no match for him. More rage bubbled inside me, but I managed to keep a lid on it. Barely, but I did.
Vampires were arrogant fuckers, and if this guy really was a couple of hundred years old, he’d earned the right to be.
“Come on, youngling, your equally young sire is waiting in my office. He had a couple of very… interesting questions for me.” He gave me a one-sided grin that sent a shiver down my spine.
Protect Finn, my insides screamed, though he wasn’t anywhere near here. When he’d told me to leave, he’d been waiting for his gastroscopy, and they’d certainly keep him overnight once they had the results of his blood panel.
Still, Aries had me on edge with his cryptic words.
Why had Bennie asked him of all vampires?
I reluctantly followed Aries through the door to the back, but instead of following the hallway all the way to the end, where a green neon sign showed off the exit to the back alley, he opened a door to the right, revealing a staircase that led us up a floor into another hallway.
Was Bennie even here?
Well, I guess torture chambers were usually reserved for basements. Preferably hidden behind fake walls and stuff.
“In here,” Aries said, opening a door to his right and entering without a second thought.
I slipped in through the heavy steel door behind Aries, immediately caught off guard by the wall of windows giving a prime overview of the club.
From up here, you could see everything—the bar, the dance floor, and the small stage for the DJ.
“Neat view, right?” Aries preened. “But not what we’re here for, youngling. Have a seat.”
I turned around just as he gestured at an array of black leather couches and matching armchairs.
One of the couches was already occupied by Bennie.
“Finally,” he breathed, patting the smooth, shiny leather next to him. “Sit. I guarantee you’ll want to hear this.”
I grumbled a little but followed his wish. “I sure hope so. I had to leave Finn at the…” I stopped myself in time, casting a wary look at Aries, who grinned at me like the cat that’d gotten the cream.
“Ahh, yes, I believe your little… infatuation with the human is the reason we’re all here,” he said, turning his back on us like he was completely unbothered by our presence. He opened one of the cabinet doors behind the massive black desk and revealed a small fridge filled with bags of blood.
“Want one?” he asked us, but his eyes were trained on me.
Was this some kind of weird test?
“Uh, yeah,” I said as a sharp hunger started burning like fire in my stomach. I couldn’t smell the blood, but seeing it was enough for my fangs to elongate.
It’d been almost a week since I’d last fed, and I had to admit, it hadn’t been a very satisfactory meal.
Bagged blood never was, but it was getting worse.
Nothing measured up to the three drops of Finn I’d tasted.
“I take it your meals are getting more and more unpleasant?” he asked, cutting open the bag, pouring it into a wineglass for me.
The dark red liquid called to me. My stomach cramped, and my gums ached.
“How do you know that?” I demanded to know as I reached for the glass and downed half of it in one big gulp. The coolness made me shudder. Blood was supposed to be warm, not cold as ice, but the metallic taste hitting my tongue eased the burning in my stomach.
I quickly downed the rest of it, working hard not to throw up at the wrong temperature and consistency.
Aries was watching me like a hawk, his eyes narrowed to slits, red bleeding into his otherwise bluish-gray pupils.
“Just a hunch,” he said before he swiftly took the glass out of my hands to get me a refill. “It lines up with everything Bennie here has been telling me.” He gave Bennie a feral grin, and I shuddered.
“Sorry, man,” Bennie said, no doubt sensing my unease. “But I had to talk to someone, and since Aries isn’t affiliated with any clan, I thought he’d be the safest choice.”
“Ahh, yes.” Aries rolled his eyes. “Vampire politics have never held any shred of interest for me. I find them quite dull. And since vampires live a lot longer than humans, their political schemes are even more boring than everything the humans can come up with, purely because they take so… fucking… long.” He rolled his eyes dramatically, then handed me the glass back.
I braced against the cold and drank another sip. With the worst of the burning gone, I managed to drink more slowly, swiveling the glass in my hand between sips.
“Okay. So, you know what’s going on with me? Or rather, there is something going on with me? I’m not just some crazy, obsessed fucker?”
Aries let out a throaty laugh, pointing a finger at me.
His nails were painted dark red, almost the exact color of blood.
Very clichéd, but I had to admit, it worked for him.
“I like you, youngling.” He shook his head in disbelief at what he was saying.
“As for your question, you might very well be a crazy, obsessed fucker, as you call it, but not without reason. To make sure my assumption is correct, please, in your own words, tell me about your Finn.”
I took my time, took another sip of blood, and cleared my throat before looking at Bennie for reassurance. He was weirdly quiet, but one look at his face told me he was as relaxed as he could be in the vicinity of a vampire who didn’t belong to his clan.
If he’d had a clan, that was.
Bennie and I were more of a duo.
“I’m sure Bennie already told you plenty about him,” I said, unsure of what exactly my sire had said and how much I had to reveal.
If Bennie had talked to Aries, he didn’t consider him a threat to Finn, but I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
“Yes, I think Bennie relayed the important facts, but I want to know more about the way you feel. I swear, I have no ill intentions toward your Finn, youngling. I don’t need to know his current whereabouts or his address.”
I let out a breath and nodded.
“Okay, so… uhm… it’s like… I need to see him?
” I started. “Like, I can’t stay away for long periods of time.
I need to check on him and make sure he’s safe.
Otherwise, I get really anxious.” I blew out my breath.
“And if he’s behaving recklessly, I get mad.
Really fucking mad.” I thought of the way he’d almost keeled over into traffic tonight.
“I want to throttle him for not taking care of himself properly and for not fucking listening to me.”
Aries let out a throaty laugh. “I thought your sire said you hadn’t talked to him prior to that… mishap in my club. And he said you haven’t talked to him since.”
Fuck.
Bennie looked at me expectantly, and I felt like I was ten years old again and had just been caught stealing cookies out of the jar.
“Uhm… I haven’t really talked to him,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face. Fuck. This was embarrassing. I hadn’t even wanted to admit that much. “But I might’ve left notes on his door.”
Bennie groaned, but Aries just laughed again. “Notes? Do tell, youngling. What did those notes say?”
“I might’ve told him his iron levels were too low and he needed medical attention. Which he did not get until he started puking blood this evening.”
“Is he okay?” Bennie sat up straighter.
“He’s at the hospital. And I’d really like to go back and check on him, so can we get on with it?”
Aries sighed. “You take all the fun out of my little game of twenty questions. But fine, if he’s really your mate, I know I can’t keep you from him if he’s unwell.”
“If he’s my… I’m not a shifter.”
Aries nodded. “I never said you were. Shifters are all about mates—annoyingly so, I admit—but they’re not the only species with mates.
Vampires have them. Witches have them. Mages do, even humans, though their dulled senses make it hard for them to recognize their mates.
Then again, I think your sire here told me you’d already found your Finn when you were both human? ”
I nodded, my mind still reeling with what he’d said.
Vampires had mates?
And Finn was supposedly mine?
No. No, this couldn’t be true. I’d sworn to myself I’d keep him far away from this world, but if he was my mate… it was just a matter of time until he’d get sucked into it. Right?
And all because of me.
I sat up straighter, giving Aries a serious look. “I need to know all about mates. Symptoms, err, signs. Everything.”
And then, I feared, I had a lot of thinking to do.