Blood Debt (Sanguis Syndicate #2)

Chapter 1

Awareness hummed in Raul’s blood. Something seemed to be calling to him.

He tried to concentrate on the stage, where a group of talented actors sang and danced their way through a darkly humorous murder mystery.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was out there.

He used his vampire senses to search the theater for any hint of danger.

They didn’t find anything that posed a threat.

Raul relaxed back in his chair. The show was excellent and he was enjoying it.

He simply needed to give one hundred percent of his attention to the performance and stop worrying about strange feelings.

Just as he renewed his focus on the play, the lead actress delivered a cheeky line before sauntering from the stage.

A moment later, the MC stepped out from behind the curtain.

“It’s time for our intermission. We’ll be back shortly with a decadent dessert that might be deadly.”

Raul applauded along with the rest of the audience. When the lights went up, he rose to stretch his legs. The two dates who’d attended the theater with him rose as well.

“This show is great,” Alan said.

Linda, his other date, laced her fingers through Alan’s. “I see a friend of ours over there. We’re going to go and say hello.”

Raul nodded and the two humans went off to speak to their friends. As more of the crowd began to move around during the intermission, Raul recognized a few of his acquaintances. Upon noticing him, they came over to pay their respects.

A burly vampire, with muscles straining the fabric of his suit and his bald head shiny with sweat, greeted Raul first.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Raul. What do you think of the show?”

The vampire accompanying him smiled. She was dressed entirely in green—her gown, shoes, jewelry. Even her hair and lipstick were in the same emerald shade.

“Is it worth leaving that beautiful ranch of yours for a few hours?” she asked.

Raul laughed. He was a known homebody. He socialized as needed for work, but he was most comfortable at home, riding over his property or in the house watching movies.

“It’s worth it. The actors are doing a fantastic job.”

Another acquaintance, a human in a vintage beaded evening gown with long strawberry blonde hair offered their opinion. “I love the singing voice of the president character, but I think she’s the killer.”

Their small group began debating who they thought was the culprit behind the show’s murder.

As they talked, the live musicians finished their song, a string rendition of Jewel’s Foolish Games.

After the audience’s quiet applause, they set their instruments aside and rose to take their break.

The musicians filed out of the theater, and a DJ came out and started to play a set of old nineties R&B hits over the theater’s sound system.

In the quiet lull before the first recorded song began to play, Raul heard a soft laugh.

Happy, bright, and delicate. He turned, searching for the source of that delightful sound.

He didn’t see who it came from at first. Then, a woman in a black dress moved to the side, revealing the person standing behind her.

That beautiful laugh came from a petite, East Asian human, with short, stylishly cut flaxen blonde hair, and golden skin.

The young man was dressed in a caramel brown suit with cream trim on the lapels and a cream button up shirt beneath the jacket.

Raul’s heart began to pound as he watched him smile.

The awareness humming within him finally made sense.

“Excuse me,” Raul said in the general direction of the person who’d been speaking to him. Without another word, he left the group and moved across the room, headed directly for the lovely human who’d caught his attention. “Hello,” he said once he’d reached him.

After saying goodbye to the person he’d been speaking with, the young man turned and looked up at Raul.

“Hello.”

His voice was as soft as an angel’s kiss.

Up close, Raul could see that pale brown freckles dotted the bridge of his nose and the tops of his cheeks.

His lips were pink and lush and his dark eyes were still sparkling from his earlier laughter.

The human was so gorgeous that it took Raul a moment to realize he was staring.

He mentally shook himself from his trance.

“I’m Raul,” he introduced himself as he held a hand out.

“I’m Ji-Su.”

Ji-Su accepted the handshake, his warm, fine boned hand all but disappearing inside Raul’s large grasp.

“It’s nice to meet you.” A quick glance at his neck showed recently healed marks from a vampire’s fangs. This lovely human already belonged to someone. Disappointment burned in Raul’s chest—startling in its intensity. He checked to be sure that Ji-Su wasn’t available. “Are you here alone?”

“No. I’m with my patron and his friends. They stepped outside to smoke.”

His blood patron. Ji-Su was a blood pet. “Tell me, Ji-Su. What do you do when you’re not looking so enchanting that you bewitch strangers at dinner theaters?” That precious laugh came again. Hearing it up close sent a tingle of pleasure down Raul’s spine.

“I’m a gaming streamer.”

“Ah, forgive me if I’m not quite sure what you mean by that.”

A deep dimple appeared in Ji-Su’s cheek when he smiled.

“I play video games and live stream myself playing them online.”

“Interesting. I’m into a different type of gaming. I run a casino.” He ran several actually but there was no need to bring that up in casual conversation.

“I’ve only been to a casino once. I got scared when I lost twenty dollars at the craps table, left, and never went back.”

“That’s too bad. If you come to my casino, I’ll show you a much better time than that.”

“Is this a sales pitch? Will part of the night be spent with you trying to sell me a time share?”

Raul grinned. “Not a sales pitch. More of an attempt to get you to spend time with me so I can hear your lovely laugh again. In fact, I might nudge the table a bit to make sure you win to hear you celebrate.”

Ji-Su bit his lip, clearly holding back the laugh Raul wanted to hear.

“Are you saying your casino is corrupt?”

“Not at all. But I’m willing to make an exception for a human as pretty as you.”

Now Ji-Su laughed. Raul listened and watched, completely captivated. Far too soon, Ji-Su’s laugh quieted, although the humor lingered in his expression. Raul was about to ask him about his blood patron and how long he had left on his contract when Ji-Su looked off to the side.

“There’s my patron.”

Raul turned to look in the direction of Ji-Su’s gaze.

An African American vampire with medium-brown skin, dressed in a black tux approached.

His jacket hung open and the bowtie was undone.

He was average height for a vampire, with dark hair separated into twists and dyed blond on the tips.

Three similarly attired humans and one vampire walked behind him.

Raul recognized Ji-Su’s patron. He didn’t know his first name but he knew he was a LaMonte.

The LaMontes were one of the upper-class vampire families that resided in Dear Lake.

“Cedric, you’re back,” Ji-Su said.

“Obviously,” the other vampire drawled as he stepped partially in between Raul and Ji-Su. His eyes moved to take in Raul. “Who is this you’re talking to?”

“This is Raul. Raul, this is Cedric.”

Raul nodded his head at the introduction. The other vampire didn’t extend his hand for a greeting so Raul didn’t bother to either. Only two seconds in Cedric’s presence and he already didn’t like him. After a moment of cold silence between them, Cedric’s eyes left his and slid back to Ji-Su.

“I left you at our table. Next time, stay where I put you.”

A blush tinged Ji-Su’s cheeks pink, no doubt from embarrassment at the rude way Cedric had spoken to him in front of everyone.

“I apologize for wandering off. I hope you weren’t worried.”

“I wasn’t.” Cedric clamped a hand around Ji-Su’s upper arm. “Let’s go.”

Ji-Su gave Raul a polite smile. “It was nice to meet you.”

“You as well.”

Cedric practically dragged Ji-Su back to their table. Thanks to his sharp vampire senses, Raul heard their hushed conversation over the music as they walked away.

“I don’t want you talking to any vampires unless I introduce you to them first and give you permission.”

“Okay.”

Raul didn’t like Cedric’s demeanor or the way he treated Ji-Su.

But there wasn’t cause for him to do anything about it.

Cedric hadn’t been abusive, merely rude and abrasive.

And Ji-Su looked healthy and well cared for as was expected for a blood pet.

Still, he had the urge to go over and steal Ji-Su away from Cedric and take him back to his ranch to keep for himself.

Odd, since he’d never been one to covet what belonged to someone else.

But something about Ji-Su brought out instincts he’d never felt before.

At the sound of footsteps behind him, Raul closed his mind to those thoughts and turned away from watching the group retake their seats.

His own blood pets approached. Linda, a tall, curvy, raven-haired Latina and Alan a handsome, curly-haired Caucasian with a slim, broad-shouldered build.

The two came to stand on either side of him and linked their arms through his.

“Who was that darling young man?” Linda asked.

“Ji-Su, a blood pet of Cedric LaMonte.”

“Is he a friend of yours?”

“No, neither of them are.”

A bell chimed, signaling that intermission was drawing to a close.

“Come on. Let’s return to our table.” They went back to their seats, chatting quietly as the wait staff began circulating with trays of dessert and wine.

A server arrived at their table, presenting each of them with a peach pastry drenched in a whiskey sauce and topped with whipped cream, along with glasses of a crisp Riesling wine.