Chapter 29 Your Fangtasy
“Well,” starts Tannis, “that went just about as well as a werewolf’s first heat on a full moon.”
My eyes widen. “Don’t tell me there are werewolves, too?”
“Mhm. A few of them are on my payroll,” Tannis says with a nod and plops back down into the winged-back armchair. I can’t tell if they’re being serious or not, but I don’t question it. I’ve had enough alpha-male bullshit for one morning.
The other vampires lingering nearby start to clean up the mess. I watch them wordlessly organize the shattered remains of the destroyed couch and collect it all in neat piles of four that they each carry out.
“That was a disaster,” Gray finally says. He’s still holding onto me, but tighter than before. I have no doubt that this visit rattled him.
“Listen…” I press my hands to his chest and push him back gently. “There wasn’t any other way that conversation could have gone.”
Gray groans and falls away from me, stumbling into the seat I was sitting in before. He looks miserable. The perk he’d had last night and at the start of this evening has been totally sapped. He needs a pick-me-up. Desperately.
“She’s right, you know,” Tannis agrees, though I’m not sure if that’s the answer Gray wants to hear right now.
“I’m sorry, Millie,” Gray says, looking up at me with muddied red eyes. I miss the sparkle in them already, the pure bright red that flashes to life like a newly made fire.
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is,” he argues. “I should have left you after the church tower.”
That makes my chest twist. “Okay, but that doesn’t mean I’d be any safer than I am right now.”
“Your odds would be much more favorable.” Gray frowns deeply. When his mouth droops, so does his face. I haven’t seen this look before. It’s like he’s given up, washed away any semblance of happiness for a fragment of woe.
I look to Tannis for help, but they only offer a simple shrug. With a sigh, I move myself between Gray’s legs and take his face in my hands. I smooth my thumbs over his chiseled cheekbones. He’s cool to the touch, and I can’t help but relish the familiar softness of his skin.
“Why don’t we do something fun?” I suggest. The last thing we need to do is sit around chewing our nails over anxiety. And by ‘we’ I mean me and Gray. Probably.
“You mean your romping around this gentle evening wasn’t enough fun?” Tannis asks, their tone thick with sarcasm.
Ignoring their comment, I give Gray’s cheek a pat. “Come on. Let’s go out! I’ll get drunk and you can tell me all about the terrible decisions I’ve made up to this point.”
He considers it seriously, then says, “This idea has some merit.”
“It’ll be great! I’ll even invite Jill and Emma.” The three of us used to go out all the time. I know they’d love it, Emma especially.
“And what if I would prefer a party of two back in my room this evening?” He smiles, running a hand along my hip and hooking a thumb into the waistband of my leggings.
“I’m sure I could arrange that, too.” I wink.
“Ugh! You two are making me sick.” Tannis groans loudly and pushes up from the chair with a dramatic flip. “Nathaniel!”
Both Gray and I pause, attention drawn from each other to the new vampire that appears from nowhere.
I saw him before, too. He was one of the four who had carried out the furniture.
His red hair was unmistakable from the bunch.
It’s a deep mix between maroon and burgundy, a perfect complement to his pale complexion.
“Nathaniel, be a dear and escort these two to my club.”
“Your club?” Gray asks.
“We’re not going to String Theory?” I ask, my voice a little pitchier than usual. I’m afraid to text and tell Dax that I’m not coming in… again. There’s only so much one man can take from me, and I fear he’s hitting his limit.
“Millie, you can’t have fun at work. That’s derivative to the point you’re trying to make.” Tannis crosses their arms over their bare chest and rolls their neck. When it pops, they sigh with satisfaction.
“I guess,” I mumble.
“So if not String Theory, then where?” Gray stands, and I take a step back.
Tannis smirks. “Like I said. Nathaniel will escort you to my nightclub.”
“Call me Nate.” The redhead nods his head with a partial smile.
I narrow my gaze and lock in on Tannis. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly,” Tannis says. “I’ve invested in property over the years. It’s the most lucrative way to make money, build a reputation—”
“Create yourself a seat of power,” Gray adds casually.
“You get it.” Tannis winks at their cousin and then continues. “Anyway, it just so happens that after you disappeared, dear cousin, I bought the building and the bar where you were last seen. For a while, it just sat there, collecting dust. I’m sure you can relate.”
My brows pull together as my mind works out the details. Gray did mention working nights at a speakeasy before he was captured.
Gray scoffs. “And here I was about to say how sweet it was you kept it all these years.”
“Yes, well, I’m a bit sentimental.”
“So this bar?” I give Gray a stern look before turning back to Tannis. “What did you do to it?”
“What any sane and rational vampire with a disgusting amount of money would do.” They shrug, as if the answer should be obvious. “I turned it into a laundromat… with a secret passage to an underground nightclub.”
“You’re joking.” My jaw almost drops. I know exactly what they’re talking about, and if it’s the same club I’ve heard the other girls whisper about, then we’re in for the most spectacular night of our lives. “You’re not talking about—”
A wicked curve pulls at Tannis’s perfectly shaped lips. I hear the name in my head before they even say it aloud, and already I can feel the excitement rising to the surface. There isn’t a single thing that could make tonight better, except this. Two words: Your Fangtasy.
Inviting Jill and Emma out was as easy as I expected. I only needed to name drop the club, and they were in.
As it turns out, Tannis’s nightclub isn’t just any passing fancy.
It’s an elite exhibition of the supernatural underbelly that not only requires an invitation, but a fair amount of money, too.
There are also a number of other factors to consider, like family name, source of funding, and political alliances.
And those are just the VIPs. The rest have to have connections for an invitation to filter down to them, so it’s no wonder it’s hard to find.
I don’t know a single politician or heir to an auto dynasty.
“You’ve heard about it?” Gray asks. We headed out shortly after Tannis dressed and beautified me.
“A lot of us have.” I can hardly keep myself still or from looking out the window.
I’m hoping I might see it pop up out of the darkness, rising high like a gothic cathedral with neon lights and thumping club music.
At least, that’s what I imagined Your Fangtasy to look like.
It sounded like something straight out of 80s pulp fiction, like The Crow meets Lost Boys.
“Word gets around,” Nate adds from the driver’s seat. “I thought it was crazy that Tannis wouldn’t keep it a secret, but they insisted that hiding in plain sight is a better strategy.”
“Sounds like something Tannis would say.” Grays scoffs.
“Well, it worked. Everyone’s heard of it, but they have no idea how to find it or where to start looking.” I scoot closer to Nate, squeezing myself between the two front seats. Mostly, I just want a front row seat when we finally make it to our destination.
“There’s a good reason for that.” Nate chuckles. I can see his red eyes flash with amusement in the mirror. “Everyone who comes is compelled to forget a few key things before they leave, like the location and any vampires they meet. It’s an extra safety measure we take to protect the club.”
“Unsurprising,” Gray adds, and I can hear him rolling his eyes from the backseat.
“Sounds a little sketchy.”
“It might to a human, but to protect the community,” Nate pauses, “compelling is a clean and efficient way to do that. We just manipulate their memories a little. They’ll know they had a good time, and if Tannis wills it, they get an invite to come back.”
Compelled?
I go rigid, chilled to the bone. It seems like the less I want to think about my first encounter with Dante, the more it flashes in my mind like a bright strobe light.
He had compelled everyone at String Theory to overlook me, as if I was invisible.
If it’s that easy to force their will over someone, then I worry about bringing my two very human friends with me.
It feels wrong to lure them in like this.
I have Gray, but what kind of insurance can I guarantee Jill and Emma?
“My friends are coming,” I say stiffly. A cool hand brushes underneath the coat I’m wearing, splaying along my exposed lower back. “What about them? They don’t know about vampires.”
Nate laughs loudly. “They’ll be fine! Tannis has strict rules. No feeding without consent, and no feeding out in the open. Could cause a frenzy.”
“Will you keep close to them?” I ask Nate more directly, holding his gaze in the mirror.
“That’s what I’m here for.” His brows draw together seriously, then he holds out one hand to me. “I pinky promise I’ll protect your friends from all the hungry vampires.”
I can’t help but laugh, despite how cheesy it is. Still, I hook my pink in his. “Pinky promise.”
A second later, Gray is pulling me back and holding me against him. He pushes the fur coat aside and presses his lips against the curve of my shoulder.
“It isn’t too late,” he starts, a little muffled, “you can tell them we canceled. Save them the spectacle.”
“I think… it’ll be okay.” Though I worry about the compelling part. Emma might be somewhat na?ve, but Jill isn’t dumb. She’s the watchful type.
“You never know,” Nate sings from the driver’s seat, “they might find they like a little bite to their evening.”
Gray grazes his teeth along my skin, as if to punctuate the point Nate is making.
I jump and my entire body vibrates with the action, aroused by the thought of being bitten again in a room full of vampires.
Though, I don’t think we can get away with it a second time, not when we have a chaperone and two other people with us.
Of course, that doesn’t stop the horny side of my brain from thinking that I might want to test those strict rules.
“So, why didn’t Tannis come along with us?” I ask, changing the subject.
“They had some business to take care of,” Nate says with a shrug. “That’s why they sent me.”
Having Nate with us makes sense then. If he’s part of Tannis’s upper echelon of security, then of course they would send one of them with us to make sure we had no issues getting in — or getting out.
“Sounds mysterious.” Gray whispers, his voice low and deep. His mouth hasn’t left me. He’s moved from my shoulder to the nape of my neck, kissing anticipation along my back. I can’t tell if he’s trying to calm my nerves or make them a mess before we even make it inside.
“We’re here,” Nate says as he pulls into a dimly lit parking lot and comes to a stop.
“Finally.” I breathe a sigh of relief. If I had to wait another minute, I was going to lose it.
Scrambling out of Gray’s hold, I open the door and shimmy my way out.
Gray chuckles, amused by the effort. Outside, Jill and Emma are already waiting, leaning against their car.
It’s kind of empty, save for a third car; a little white beater with rust on its doors.
I wave to the girls and rush over to them, struck by the look on Jill’s face.
“What?” I ask.
Jill frowns, pointing toward the building we’re parked in front of. “I thought you said we were going to a club, not a laundromat.”