He cursed himself for being an idiot. He would either find his mate one day or he wouldn’t, but getting bogged down by his desire for it to happen wouldn’t help anyone, especially not him. Besides, he could always discover his mate only to have her reject him and ruin his life. In that case, single was the far better option.
Chapter Two
Mike tookanother cigarette from his pack and lit it. He rarely smoked two cigarettes in a day, but he found himself eyeing the box and wondering if he might have to buy another. Today felt like a smoking day. Sliding the Zippo back into his pocket, he set the pack on the bar for later.
He surveyed the crowd in the mirror as Doug and LeNae leaned close to talk. All the customers had stopped paying attention to them and were either focused on their drinks or their companions. Jack lifted his beer, rose from his stool, and walked over to sit on Mike’s other side.
“I’m not in the mood to listen to Casanova over there,” Jack grumbled.
Mike smiled and rested his elbows on the bar. “Were you into her?”
“Hardly,” Jack snorted. “I’m not here for women.”
“This place seem legit to you?” Mike asked, pitching his voice so only Jack could hear him.
“Yeah. I think they would have jumped us by now if it wasn’t.”
“I agree.”
“But, I think we should move on before morning. Vampires are sure to tell other vampires about this place.”
“I agree.”
“They may have already alerted all their friends and family about their new safe haven.”
“It’s a possibility,” Mike said. “We’ll finish these drinks and go.”
“We might have to pry lady killer over there away.”
Mike glanced over at Doug as he examined LeNae’s bracelets and asked what each of the charms represented. Mike almost rolled his eyes, but not so long ago, it might have been him. A part of him wished to be as happy as Doug still was, but the larger part of him wanted more from life than random hookups. He stubbed out his cigarette, pulled out his lighter, and lit another one.
“Easy there, Smokey,” Jack said. “Maybe you won’t get cancer or wrinkles, but yellow fangs are sure to be a turnoff for most women.”
Mike’s lips quirked in a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
In the mirror, Mike watched a vampire extend his hand to a human who blushed prettily before taking it and rising to her feet. The vamp draped his arm around the woman’s shoulders and was leading her toward the front door when it opened.
Mike couldn’t see who stood in the doorway, but something metal clattered as it bounced across the wood floor. A plume of smoke burst into the air, and then something else bounced off the floor. Mike put out his cigarette and rose from his stool as the front door closed without anyone having entered. The cloud of smoke floated toward the patrons at the tables.
What is going on? Did someone knock over an ashtray and start a fire?But that didn’t make sense, as there were no flames.
The couple closest to the door stumbled back; tears streamed down their faces as they coughed. The woman clasped her throat before falling to her knees. Her coughing spasms abruptly ended when she slumped to the floor. The vamp with her stumbled back a few more feet and collapsed to his knees. When he tried to rise again, his knees wobbled and his legs gave out; he face-planted onto the floor.
“Holy shit,” Jack said as he rose to stand beside Mike.
The remaining patrons filling the tables leapt to their feet as the smoke twisted insidiously through the air until it covered the entire front half of the bar. If he hadn’t been a vampire, he never would have seen the vamps and humans falling to the ground within the thick mass. Then the front door, tables, chairs, and customers overtaken by the smoke were swallowed by the cloud.
The rest of the crowd continued to stumble away from the smoke, but it was only a matter of time before it consumed them all.
Mike tasted something bitter on the air as the cloying smoke clogged his nostrils. LeNae, her face pale and her eyes wide with horror, backed into the shelves of booze lining the wall. Two bottles rocked precariously before toppling off and shattering at her feet. LeNae jumped and bit back a scream when liquid splashed over her sneakers.
More patrons collapsed while the rest backed into the bar as the smoke neared.
“What is going on?” Jack demanded.
Grasping his beer bottle by the neck, Jack bashed it against the bar. He held the jagged remains before him as he prepared for something to charge out of the smoke at them.
“Is there a back way out of here?” Mike shouted at LeNae and slapped his hand on the bar to get her attention.
