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Before dashing into Quinn’s bar, I ensure that I’m not being followed. Ren has been making me paranoid lately. I’ve seen how closely he watches me, and it makes me nervous to continue as I have been, sneaking into Ren’s home every night. In his mind, I’m his partner, but I may also be a suspect.
I need to see her, if only to watch her from afar.
The dim lights of the bar flicker in the night, and I creep into the bar’s back entrance, my body springing awake at the thought of her beautiful countenance and smooth, luscious skin.
13
QUINN
Today is uncharacteristically dull. I wipe down the counter for the third time, just trying to keep time flowing, so that I can get out of here. So far, there have been no gifts today from my stalker. I’m partly relieved, because I don’t know how I can continue to confront Rory with this, but I still haven’t even seen this guy, so how dangerous can he really be?
Not that Rory’s even here today. I’m closing alone today - no Rory and no manager anywhere to be found.
“You know what you did!”
The sound of glass breaking fills the room behind me. I turn around slowly to see a tall, shadowy man standing aggressively above a table of men. What’s weird is I never even saw them sit down. But the bar has suddenly filled up.
I know a vampire when I see one. They have a very particular look and pattern of behavior.
I’m glad that tonight might turn out to be exciting after all.
“Excuse me,” I say across the bar, as I approach the figures. “Are you planning on paying for that glass?”
The men at the table snicker. I wasn’t exactly coming to their defense, but I’m glad it turns to my favor.
“Why don’t you butt out of it, woman?”
He stands intimidatingly over me, using his massive presence to try to scare me away.
But I don’t scare easily.
“I’m sorry,” I say simply. “I thought as being the sole operator of the bar, it was my business to know when a fight started on the premises.”
He turns me around, wrapping his arms around me. The table of men just sits and watches, as he goes in to bite my neck, but stops short.
He seizes my necklace instead, and I feel his hesitation. Using the opportunity to my advantage, I throw myself away from him, then clear the distance, grappling him. He’s massive in my grasp, and I know that the traditional methods of dispersing bar patrons don’t work on vampires.
So I bluff.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” I say calmly, still grabbing him from the back, not able to do much more than the gesture.
“Or what?” He asks.
I pull out a random piece of silverware from within my pocket. Neither the table in front of me nor the vampire in my grasp can see what I’m actually holding.
“Or I’ll carve out a chunk of you with this wooden stake,” I say. “I’m small. You’ll never see me coming.”
“You’re bluffing,” he hisses.
“Am I? That’s an interesting theory,” I say. “Counter-theory. We got tired of vampires coming into our bar and causing problems, so the sprinklers above you–” I gesture upward. “Are filled with holy water.”
He thinks for a minute. I know how good vampires are at reading stimuli - my heartbeat, everything going on in my body, the release of neurochemicals - so I do my best to calm myself.
“Let’s take this fight somewhere else,” the vampire says, backing away from me. “This girl’s already been claimed.”
‘Already been claimed’.
I’m not sure what he means by that, but I’m glad to see him leaving. However, one of the vampires says something fairly disturbing on his way out.
