Chapter 18 The Blood Party #2
He let out another laugh before he held her face in his hands and bent to give her a quick kiss.
“Suit yourself, but you’ll be missing out, Ad.
Let me know if you change your mind.” He signalled to the bartender to get her another drink as he stepped away, giving her one last wink before he headed to a group waiting by one of the back rooms.
Adriana turned to face the bar, thanking the bartender for the drink that had been placed in front of her.
Mitch never charged her, so she’d given up offering to pay long ago.
She accused him of trying to bribe her into partying with him, but he simply explained he gave all of his friends a free pass to drink at his clubs.
She contemplated his offer, wondering if she should take the risk and join him later, but she knew it was a bad idea.
It was very unlikely her brands would stay covered in the heat of the moment, and she’d end up in the same stressful predicament as last time, worrying about who had seen the truth of what she was.
Finishing her drink in one swig, she decided she should go home, apologise to Cass, and plan to cook her a big breakfast for the hangover they were bound to have in the morning.
As she set her glass back on the bar, shaking her head with a polite smile at the bartender’s offer of another, she heard a deep voice speak from behind.
“Hello, beautiful. Do you take or give?”
Adriana raised her eyebrow at the question, not even bothering to turn around. “What are you talking about?”
“Blood,” he explained with a laugh. “Do you partake in feeding or do you like being fed from? Either way, I’ve got a room out back a few of us are going to be in, and I think you’d have a great time.”
She could hear he had a thick Spanish accent, although it sounded like he was emphasising it a little too much at times. Before she could tell him to get lost, a woman’s voice rang out.
“Oh, leave her alone, Nic. She’s clearly not interested.”
Adriana heard the man sigh with a laugh as he backed off.
She turned and watched him walk away towards the back room, taking in his dark hair tied into a low bun and the formal suit that stuck out like a sore thumb among the mix of scantily clad and casually dressed party attendees.
The man joined Mitch, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders and quickly steered him into one of the back rooms. Adriana could have sworn she’d seen a flash of worry on Mitch’s face as he looked back at her, but it was shortly replaced by his easygoing smile, the usual mischief twinkling in his blue eyes.
“Sorry about him,” the same woman said, as she came to stand next to where Adriana sat at the bar. “That prick always thinks he can get what he wants, it’s great when he gets turned down. I hope he wasn’t rude to you.”
Adriana laughed. “It’s fine, thank you though.”
“Would you like to join me? I’ve got a bottle of wine that I could use a little help with, now that he’s ditched me.”
Adriana turned to look at her. She was pretty, and looked to be around her mid-twenties, with sleek black hair that flicked under her jaw, fawny skin and deep brown eyes.
“Sure,” Adriana smiled, and followed her to sit on a sofa in the corner. It had died down a bit now that several groups had split off into the private rooms, with two men remaining at the bar and a few smaller groups in the booths that lined the walls.
Adriana eyed the couple at the bar, watching as one of the men slid his hand up the other’s thigh.
The bartender kept a close eye on them, too.
Whilst feeding was allowed in the mainroom, everything else was kept behind the doors of the private rooms. She smirked, knowing they’d struggle to find a spare private room on a busy night like tonight.
“I’m Niamh, by the way.”
Adriana’s head snapped to the woman next to her. She cocked her eyebrow at her as she accepted the glass of wine Niamh held out.
“Oh shit, I forgot you’re not meant to introduce yourself at these things.”
“It’s fine,” Adriana replied with a smile. “I take it you’re new?”
“That obvious, huh?”
Adriana laughed as she took a sip of her drink, looking the woman up and down with curiosity. She wasn’t mortal, Adriana could sense that much.
“I travelled up from London,” Niamh explained. “I came here with that dickhead who ditched me.”
“Ah, is he your partner?”
Niamh laughed, spitting some of her drink out and holding her hand to her chest. “Fuck, no! No, no, we just work together. I’m not interested in him, or men in general, if you were wondering.”
Adriana smirked at her less-than-subtle hint. She offered her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Niamh. I’m Addie.”
Niamh’s eyes widened in obvious surprise at her introduction, but shook her hand with a small giggle.
Adriana settled back against the sofa, twisting her body to face Niamh, propping her elbow on the back to lean her head on her hand.
It had been so long since she’d experienced anything that wasn’t based on pure need, the type of need that didn’t require a name, so it was nice that Niamh had introduced herself. It made Adriana feel human.
“So are you just visiting the club, or are you in Manchester for a while?”
“A bit of both,” Niamh replied, her eyes wandering Adriana’s body, lingering on her gloves for a moment. “We came up for work and Nic wanted to visit a club that he hadn’t already drunk dry, in every sense, so we thought we’d swing by before we left.”
“I see. Well, I’m glad you could find the time to stop by.”
The two of them exchanged in flirty conversation for hours.
The bar had picked up a few more people, some from outside and some who had retired from the private rooms and needed to cool off.
But there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t touching or kissing or feeding from someone.
And as the night grew late and glasses became empty, Adriana found herself leaning in and kissing the beautiful woman sat next to her.
Adriana held her face and threw a leg over, straddling her on the sofa in front of the entire bar as Niamh’s hands found her waist. She ran her fingers through her short dark hair, biting down on her lip when she felt Niamh’s hands squeeze her hips, pulling her closer.
Adriana pulled back to look her in the eye. “What would you like me to do? I can feed from you in here, but anything else we’ll need a room for.”
“You’re a Lamia?” Niamh breathed out. “I’ve never been fed from, what does it feel like?”
Adriana smiled, her fangs poking out between her lips. She held Niamh’s face and kissed her gently, before trailing her lips along her cheek and flicking her tongue against her ear.
“It can hurt, and it can feel as amazing as you want it to. I can make sure you enjoy it.”
When Niamh didn’t respond, Adriana leant back and fixed her with a stare. As much as she wanted to devour the woman beneath her, she would never dare to dream of taking blood without full permission.
“You don’t have to,” she said softly. “It’s completely your choice. We can stop this right now, if you’d rather. I won’t pressure you whatsoever.”
Niamh smiled at her, her hands coming under Adriana’s shirt and rubbing her waist. “I’ve always wanted to know what it felt like, and now's a time as good as any.”
Adriana laughed, bringing her lips back to Niamh’s before pulling away again to look her in the eye, silently checking if this was what she wanted. Niamh nodded, her hands continuing to rub Adriana’s sides before reaching round to grab her behind.
Adriana tipped Niamh’s head back with two fingers under her chin, whispering sweet nothings and using her Lure to set the mood and ease any tension.
It wasn’t often she used her Lure on anyone, but the euphoria she felt as she allowed it to flow from her body to Niamh was so exquisite, she half wished she’d used it more often.
That was something she’d never known before becoming a Lamia, that the ecstasy the person under her Lure would feel would also affect her, too.
She wrapped a hand around Niamh’s jaw, not hurting her but keeping her head firmly in place so she wouldn’t pull away and risk hurting herself. She kissed down the side of her neck, sucking on her pulse, before she slowly sank her fangs into her.
Niamh gasped at the pain and gripped Adriana harshly, but began to moan as Adriana’s other hand reached under her shirt and began to play with her breasts.
Adriana lazily drank from her, being careful not to take too much and be as gentle as she could, though it was almost a struggle not to draw too much too soon.
It had been a long time since she’d tasted blood with that much power. Lupus blood, she realised.
She could feel Niamh relax against her, her blood tasting sweeter as her arousal increased.
But she didn’t want to overdo it, especially as it was her first time being fed from.
Releasing Niamh from her Lure, she licked over her neck, cleaning up the drops of blood that blossomed from her bite mark and soothing the sharp sting with her tongue.
Niamh’s grip loosened as Adriana leant back to check she was okay and saw a dazed smile on her face.
“Are you alright?” Adriana asked.
Niamh nodded, humming in satisfaction. Adriana laughed as she stood up, swaying slightly at the blissful concoction of whiskey, wine and such powerful blood.
She’d ask her about that later, perhaps even offer to meet her outside the club on another occasion.
Although Adriana had never dated, never dared to attempt to fall in love again, she couldn’t always pass up the opportunity to have a little fun with a pretty face.
Adriana stumbled into the washroom, taking off her gloves and running her hands under the taps before splashing water on her face to clean Niamh’s blood that had trickled down her chin.
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, noticing the already healed wound on her neck from Mitchell had left a trail of blood down her chest and stained the top of her shirt.
With a sigh she twisted her hair into a bun and pulled the shirt over her head to try to scrub some of the blood off before it fully dried, not wanting Cass to see when she got home. She left the tap running, letting the sink fill up, when she heard a soft gasp behind her.
She looked up in the mirror and saw Niamh standing behind, staring at her back.
“Fuck,” Adriana breathed out, as she dropped her shirt in the sink.
“You’re an Incantrix and a Lamia?”
Adriana spun around and Niamh’s gaze wandered to her bare arms, her eyes widening in recognition. She obviously knew what those brands meant. Anyone that had ever heard of Alexander Duran knew what those brands meant.
Adriana grabbed her shirt from the sink and tried to put it on, but it was soaked through, and her trembling hands couldn’t seem to function properly.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” she yelled, throwing her shirt to the floor in frustration before walking towards Niamh and taking her hands in hers. “Okay, okay, Niamh, you need to listen to me. You can’t tell anyone, okay? Please, you can’t tell anyone. No one can know what I am.”
Niamh stared at the dark swirling markings on her arms a moment longer before she lifted her head to meet Adriana’s pleading stare with confusion.
Adriana felt her squeeze her hands in what was likely meant to be a comforting gesture, but it did nothing to calm her anxiety. Neither did her choice of words.
“He told me he had never turned anyone.”
Adriana slowly backed away, reaching behind her until she could feel the edges of the sink. She held onto it to support her body, suddenly feeling dizzy as her chest tightened. The lights in the bathroom seemed to brighten as her pupils dilated, making her head hurt.
“Who?” Adriana asked, her voice sharp and cold. “Who told you that?”
Niamh visibly shivered, before she took a deep breath and said, “I’m the first leader of the Lupus Court, Addie. My name is Niamh Yue. I work with Xander.”
A loud crack resonated through the washroom as Adriana felt the cold porcelain of the sink tear away from the wall under her grip. Her heart pounded in her chest, her breathing came out in ragged gasps, her skin felt like it was too tight. She was panicking, and she was losing control.
Niamh took a step forward to reach for her but stopped in her tracks at the dark glare Adriana threw at her. Her pupils had completely blown, her eyes black as an endless night, as her hands clenched into fists to try to fight the tremors wracking through her body.
The second Niamh took another step forward, Adriana reached for her Elementai magic.
The taps from the other sinks along the wall all burst simultaneously, water spraying across the room and starting a mini flood.
Niamh jumped and covered her face, giving Adriana the chance to push past her and run out the door.
Adriana raced through the bar to the stairs that led to the outside alleyway. Shadows instantly swarmed around her, as if flocking to their master in protection without her even asking. The sight of them made her feel sick.
She ignored Mitch asking her what was wrong, just as she ignored the whistles from people at the bar. She just did what she had always done: she ran.
As she darted up the stairs, so close to the exit, she heard Niamh shout.
“Nic! Nicolai! Stop her!”
Adriana froze, turning back to see the tall man with long dark hair and tawny beige skin that had invited her to the room climbing the stairs.
And then she saw it, a unique brand that resembled a strange circular mandala pattern on his left inner forearm poking out from under his rolled up shirt sleeve.
Running straight for her was Nicolai Fernandez: the Portalis Lamia, a leader of the Lamia Court, and Xander’s brother.
Out of instinct, Adriana shot a beam of light towards him before he could even look up at her. He held an arm over his face to protect his eyes and fell backwards down the stairs, tumbling all the way to the bottom. She didn’t wait to see if he had got up.
Finally, she reached the top of the stairs and burst through the door into the alleyway.
The first rays of daylight filtered through the narrow spaces between the buildings, casting long shadows on the damp pavement that crawled towards her.
Adriana paused for a moment and caught her breath, before she ran again.