Chapter 5 #2
I took my restless energy and moved to the side of the small, raised platform where Kayla would sing her set. Sebastian would no doubt take up his usual position at the railing outside his office.
He often watched her from there, and I was never quite sure if he was watching her because he enjoyed her singing or if he was watching the crowd to ensure no one wanted what was his.
Before, I might have said he was merely watching his mate, but there was a fresh feeling of possession seizing me, an instinct of ownership when I thought of Ciara, so perhaps Sebastian was doing both.
Watching what was his and ensuring no one else was doing the same. That sounded a lot like Sebastian, actually, and I grinned as the words formed my thoughts and certainty claimed me about their truth.
The crowd stirred, their noise-level increasing as Kayla walked onto her stage. It was more than a walk. It was a sashay, like being vampire had imbued her with unimaginable grace.
Would it do the same for Ciara? I could only imagine so. But would she let me turn her? Already, every one of my instincts urged me to.
But I wasn’t here tonight to think about Ciara, despite how she formed a thread of constant thought, like a radio feed I couldn’t switch off or mute. A crackle on a wire, the very beat of my heart. She was part of me now that I’d found her.
I hadn’t imagined it would be like this. I wasn’t sure I’d even imagined a mate for me. In some ways, I was still stuck in my role of servitude. Glad for everything Nic achieved for himself and provided for me, for my life and my lifestyle, but rarely did I imagine more.
Perhaps it was time that changed.
I looked up. It was definitely time my expectations changed. I deserved everything any other vampire expected and hoped for.
And now I also had a mate. I just had to claim her and feel I deserved her.
I already wanted her. That much wasn’t in doubt.
The crowd shuffled and coughed, their chatter dropping to murmurs then silence as Kayla sounded her first note. It was crystal clear and soared through the nightclub as though without effort.
As always, there was something like a siren call in her voice.
A magical quality that didn’t come from her being a witch.
Even if she’d remained human, it felt like she could have lured many a man to his death.
Her voice and the notes she produced were both sultry and intoxicating.
In fact, being the regent’s mate was probably the only thing that kept her safe from a line of men at her dressing room door.
It took conscious choice to move my gaze from Kayla and scan the crowd as a small disturbance broke out to my right.
A group of young wolf shifter pups barged closer to the stage, their eyes wide like saucers as they looked up at Kayla, and I moved toward them, my vampire speed having me in front of them within seconds, my arms spread as I moved them back, trying to usher them into the crowd once more.
Kayla watched us, her gaze holding a hint of anxiety, but her voice remained clear and strong.
I glanced up at Sebastian and he caught my eye, nodding, although his hands were tight around the chrome railing, his knuckles white.
He hadn’t been immune to the hint of danger, either. His worry for Kayla was palpable.
The wolf pups had already faded back into the crowd. They wouldn’t be trouble again. I turned to face Kayla once more, ready to enjoy the rest of her performance, but I froze, each of my muscles tensing. Tingles ran through me, a slow prickling awareness.
Ciara.
She was here. Somewhere, she was here.
I looked around, suddenly on high alert.
Her scent captured my attention, and then her brown hair as she flipped it over her shoulder, the motion familiar. But I wasn’t the only one who’d seen her.
The pups I’d just moved away from the stage brushed past Ciara, each shoulder check rougher than the last, and they said things to her.
Skin-stain… Skin-pet… Skin-scourge…
Her scent turned bitter with fear, and fury erupted hot inside me, obscuring my vision as I surged forward, clearing a path toward my mate.
I grabbed the first pup I came to and slammed him against the wall so hard his teeth rattled.
My fingers tightened around his throat and his eyes bulged as I leaned closer, and a growl rumbled through my chest.
Little fucker. I could outgrowl him. I could rip his fucking throat out for talking to my mate like that.
“Hey, man.” Another guy grabbed my upper arm. “It was just a joke. Let him go.”
But when I turned to face him, he shrank away, and my fangs pressing against my gums told me why.
I probably looked ready to eat him. Shifter blood was almost unpalatable, but he didn’t need to know that.
“It was just a joke,” he repeated, but their words hadn’t sounded like a joke.
They’d been mean-spirited and serious. Like a chant, the rhythm often repeated.
Whatever they’d called her, they did it a lot. They bullied my mate like this and she was used to it.
I shook the pup again.
“Please.”
This time the hand on my arm wasn’t his friend’s. It was Ciara’s, and I relaxed instinctively under her touch.
“Let him go,” she whispered, the words a soft plea. “Let him go, Jason.”
Her use of my name undid me, and I was powerless to do anything but what she’d asked, and my fingers loosened before I even thought about it. The shifter stumbled away, his eyes still wide as he rubbed his throat.
His friends grabbed him. “Come on.” Then they all ran, scurrying through the crowd as they headed toward the door. I would see to it that Sebastian didn’t grant them entrance to Nightfall again.
“What the hell were you doing?” Ciara’s voice was low. Seething.
I glanced at her, slow to understand. Couldn’t she see? Didn’t she know? Fucking protecting her. But I didn’t say the words. I kept my lips together over gums still straining to contain fangs that wanted to erupt.
Her jaw was tense, and she folded her arms as she looked at me, her eyes full of that delicious challenge I’d longed to see more of.
I hid my smile. “Go to the VIP balcony, Ciara.” Then I waited to see what she would make of my instruction. I’d deliberately issued it as a command.
She narrowed her eyes. My tone wasn’t welcome, and this time it was harder to hide my smile. She scowled, her spirit clearly not dented by the way the shifters had spoken to her.
“I don’t think so.” She pushed her hair back again, revealing her face more clearly.
The movement of her hair sent her scent rippling through the air toward me, and my gums strained to contain my fangs as my body responded.
In my mind, my fingers tangled in that hair, and I tugged at it while she moaned my name.
But before I could follow those thoughts, a second woman appeared next to Ciara, and my nose wrinkled at her scent of dog. She gripped Ciara’s forearm.
“The VIP balcony? Dude!” she squealed. “We’re VIPs!”
I breathed in again, yep…dog and alcohol. I gestured to the stairs leading to the balcony. “Go on up. Tell the barman I said you can have any drink you like.”
While Ciara looked like she might have stood her ground, the other woman tugged at her. “Oh, Ciara! This is a better night than I could have hoped for.” She winked slyly at me. “Maybe life really is about who you know, hey?”
Ciara curled her lip a little, and I snorted as I tried to disguise a sudden chuckle. “I’ll meet you up there when Kayla finishes her set.”
Before either of them could reply, I strode away, ready to resume my place by the stage.
Once there, though, I watched Ciara carefully, ensuring she didn’t leave.
But she wouldn’t have stood a chance, even if she’d tried.
Her friend’s will was strongest, and Ciara quickly relented, following the second woman up the steps to the balcony.