Chapter 24
The club was bustling even during the day, with lines forming outside as if a new iPhone had just launched. The grand opening had been just a week ago, and the excitement still lingered.
Ethan's office door stood wide open. Each time I glanced at his desk, I saw the piles of cash growing, yet he still felt the need to take my tips.
He was forcing the girls to do degrading things just to scrape together enough for a five-thousand-dollar payout.
Wade and Jager were likely complicit in this too, right?
I shouldn't even question it; they were clearly in on it. But their defense of me left me feeling conflicted. Maybe I shouldn't speak on behalf of the other girls, considering most—if not all—of them didn't have my back.
I understood that Ethan was awful. But it would have been nice if someone had hinted to me that Ethan had taken my locker. The dance floor was empty, but the atmosphere was still charged.
"You came in early to work?" he asked, his tone laced with false casualness.
"I won't be working at all. I need at least two days for my neck to heal," I replied, gritting my teeth. I couldn't communicate with him like I sometimes did with Cloney; everything about Ethan made me furious, even the thought of his name.
"Won't? So you're telling me that you, the employee, won't be coming in today without asking for permission from your boss?"
"I don't need your permission. You had those boys jump me, and this is the consequence. I won't be coming in."
"I think it's because Jager and Wade keep giving you little passes that you think you can come in here and tell me you won't be working. It's just a little blood and a few bite marks."
"I don't care. You're not the one feeling the pain. Why don't you try experiencing pain yourself—like someone forcing a wooden stake through your chest?"
"It doesn't kill me."
"But it hurts. The splinters hurt. That's exactly the kind of pain you want."
"I'm not going to argue with a human who has to come here and work for me. Get your ass to work later."
"No!"
"You're not leaving, then. You can wait here all day until nightfall."
"Watch me." I turned to walk out, but two bouncers were already blocking the door with their muscular frames. I strutted toward them, showing no sign of fear. "Move out of my way." They remained still, smirking at me.
"We only take orders from the boss."
"Take her to one of the rooms. I'll call Jager and inform her that you don't want to work. You lazy cunt."
I stepped back as the two men advanced toward me, ready to grab me. "You better tell her that you made those boys jump me and that my neck is damn sore."
"You're being lazy. Grab her!" he yelled after the men. They lunged for my hands, and I fought back, flailing my arms in the air. "Take her to the room!" he demanded loudly. They started dragging me out, and I winced as my neck snapped back in protest.
"You better tell them the truth, you fucking—" I growled furiously, as the door slammed behind me, locking me inside.
I surveyed the room. It was one of those private session rooms meant for extra services, furnished only with a bed, a sofa, and a small table. A single light hung precariously from the old wall.
The disheveled bed suggested a session had just taken place. Disgusting. Though this room was rarely used, the numerous condom wrappers strewn about told me the club was morphing into something more than just a venue—it was becoming a veritable brothel.
I opted to sit on the sofa, resting my weary neck against the back.
I didn't care what Jager, Wade, or Ethan said; I needed at least two days off.
Taking those two days meant losing money, but my body craved rest. My neck throbbed painfully, and I knew I wouldn't be able to navigate the club efficiently with it in such a state.
The demands of the club required constant movement and walking.
I longed for rest. I wanted to sleep it off.
Painkillers crossed my mind, but their cost was outrageous.
Two days of minimal movement and rest were the only prescriptions I could afford, and I hoped it would be enough to get me back on my feet.
I sighed heavily, resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going anywhere. I decided to rest until they came.
As I poured myself a glass of blood, I noticed Ethan calling. I pressed ignore and filled a second glass for Wade. We hadn't fed in weeks, often depriving ourselves as a means of control. Most vampires had to do this; otherwise, the population would plummet even more drastically.
Taking a sip of the warm blood, I sighed in satisfaction. It was a workday, and I couldn't wait to get through it to see Snow Bunny. I had spent the entire night thinking about her, wishing I could see her before she left the club.
Wade strolled down the hallway, taking the glass from my hand and gulping the blood down in two quick motions.
"Always so greedy," I whispered.
"I'm hungry, and blood wine gives me nothing but trouble in my stomach without food."
"Mhm."
She settled onto the stool and reached for the pitcher filled with thick blood. "Which blood is this?"
"Mrs. Harpic's—two cats and three dogs," I teased with a smirk.
Her face contorted in horror as she slowly set the pitcher back down. "That's a lot of blood."
I laughed. "You idiot, it's donated blood from a licensed place. I can't believe you fell for that."
We sourced our blood from licensed facilities like The Operal, the go-to blood bank for vampires, along with a few other smaller outlets.
There have even been licensed places that offer vegan blood options.
I didn't know the scientific methods behind it, but the process was absolutely remarkable, even if the taste was quite disgusting.
So far, I had enjoyed the blood from the blood bank for vamps. It was smooth, refined, and sweet.
"I'm still not drinking it. I'm full. Same time next week," she replied.
My laughter was cut short by the phone ringing again.
"Who's that?"
"Ethan."
She grumbled her frustration.
"Well, I have to take it." I reached for the phone and answered, putting it on speaker and resting it on the counter.
"What?" Wade answered instead.
"Oh, Wade. Did I call the wrong number? I was trying to reach Jager."
I smirked. "What do you want, Ethan?"
"Your little bitch is here, and she's telling me she doesn't want to work, Jager."
"Don't speak of her like that," Wade growled.
"She needs to work!" Ethan barked through the phone.
Wade snatched the phone. "Maybe you're forgetting your place. Don't make me come over there and detach your head, scrambling your body like words."
I gestured for Wade to give me the phone. She threw it to me, and I caught it with lightning speed. "Where is she? I hope you haven't touched her, because if you have, I'll do everything Wade just threatened, if not worse."
"I didn't touch your—"
Wade's growl interrupted him. "I mean your girl." He muttered under his breath, "No reason to go ape over a girl. A human one at that."
"Where is she?" I pressed.
"I locked her up in one of the rooms."
"Keep her there. We're coming. And don't let a single thing happen to her."
Wade snatched the phone back. "Or else all parts of you will go missing. Don't fucking play with us. Do you think we're as weak as those damn humans you ripped apart?"
Ethan hung up the phone, leaving Wade fuming.
"I wonder what's wrong with her, why she doesn't want to work," she said, her frustration palpable.
"Maybe that's the question you should've asked Ethan, but I doubt he would care to hear her reasons."
"We need to change Ethan."
"And who exactly do you propose we use? He's the only one with the necessary skills."
"He's horrible. Did he tell you what he did to her last night?"
"All he mentioned was that he took her money to give back to some boys she ripped off."
"Well, he shouldn't have gone about it like that."
I nodded in agreement. Ethan wasn't the best at dealing with humans, but he was all we had, given his dubious methods.
"I tasted her blood last night," Wade admitted openly.
I raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You drank from her?"
"No, not from her directly. I drank from the boy who had fed on her. I sucked her blood back out, and it was the most..." She trailed off with a pleasurable sigh. "The most exquisite thing I've ever tasted. He didn't get much, but I got enough. I could find myself becoming addicted to her blood."
"I must say, I'm feeling a bit jealous," I murmured.
"Don't be. There will be a next time," she declared, as if we could simply ask her for a taste of her blood, and she would hand her neck over. But there were other ways to get her blood. I smirked. "I could have her during her period, just for myself. Oh, the beauty of it if she's a heavy bleeder."
"No, now I'm definitely going to be jealous," Wade growled.
I rolled my eyes. "I always share. I just get the first taste." Wade doesn't usually make the first moves on girls—I do. I have a more playful and flirtatious approach.