A little bolt of electricity ran down her arm when he gripped her wrist to pull her hand away from the door. Despite her annoyance over him thinking she was some fragile thing, she couldn’t stop her body’s reaction to him.
Dante inadvertently drew her closer as he pulled her back a step. Her scent and warmth enveloped him as he drew her against his side. A metal slat in the door slid open, and a set of brown eyes peered out at them.
Cassidy bit her lip to keep from laughing as the man behind the door brought to mind the man standing guard at the gate to the Emerald City. She half expected this guy to start shouting at them,“Who rang that bell?”
Instead, he demanded in a gruff voice that held the faintest hint of a New York accent, “What?”
Dante edged forward until he stood protectively in front of Cassidy. He recalled the words below the address on the paper. “Opal said it was time for tea.”
He felt like an idiot saying the words, or more like a little kid playing spy, but the man grunted and closed the small window. Dante didn’t want Cassidy anywhere near this place, but it was too late to take her from here now.
The second the door swung open, Cassidy prepared herself for the stench of rot, but the only scents wafting out were those of liquor, blood, and sex. She wasn’t used to those last two scents from Addy’s, but she had a feeling they were normal for these places.
She wasn’t exactly eager to learn what lay on the other side of the door, but Cassidy kept her discomfort to herself. If Dante sensed her dread over stepping inside, he’d take her away, and she wouldnotlet a little uneasiness get in her way of helping with this. She’d spent most of her life sheltered and was tired of it. Even if they walked into a giant orgy, she would help him bring Julie home.
“I don’t smell any Savages,” she whispered to Dante.
“Would you be able to smell them out here?”
“Yes. It’s a stench you don’t forget, and you can’t miss it.”
“Are you coming in or not?” the man behind the door demanded gruffly.
“We’re coming,” Cassidy said.
Her eyes widened on the man behind the door. He didnotresemble the guard at the gate of Emerald City. The massive man’s shoulders were broad as a bull’s, and his hands could crush a basketball. He removed a cloth from his pocket to wipe away the sweat beading across his forehead and causing his brown skin to glisten.
Cassidy’s breath sucked in as they fully entered the building and the heat of the packed room hit her like a punch to the gut. It was at least twenty degrees warmer inside the building than outside. No wonder the bouncer was sweating;shewas considering removing her jacketandshirt. He was only a couple of inches taller, but the bouncer had a good hundred pounds on her.
She almost removed her jacket before recalling the stakes inside the pockets. She couldn’t have one fall out or be unable to get it if there was a problem. Nope, she had to suck up the fact she’d stepped into a sauna.
A sauna that was nothing like what she expected to discover here. She’d expected the place to be so dark only a vampire could see their way through it. She’d anticipated a haunted house setting with coffins in the corners, blood on the tables, and maybe an orgy in the back.
And though she wouldn’t be surprised to discover back rooms with orgies taking place, shewasshocked to discover that shadows didn’t enshroud the building, blood wasn’t flowing everywhere, and no coffins were used as furniture. There were no windows.
Instead, the dimly lit room was no darker than Addy’s. In the center of the room was a cleared space. People and vamps packed the open dance space as the music flowed from the speakers in the corners.
While a lot of it didn’t seem hastily assembled, some of it did as the speakers were plugged into surge protectors whose cords ran across the floor to outlets in the wall. The bar was little more than plywood on top of concrete blocks with shelves full of liquor and blood. There were no taps, and she would bet the beer came from coolers stashed behind the bar.
Probably due to a vampire’s sensitive hearing, the music was quieter than it would be in a human club, but the bass still vibrated the glasses on the tables and booths set up throughout the cavernous room. Red candles, set in red glass jars, flickered on the tables. There weren’t any flashing lights, but vampires wouldn’t want them.
Inside, the smell of blood was more potent, and when she inspected a few of the glasses some of the vampire patrons were sipping, she saw they held red liquid. Her gaze went to the glass jugs set up behind the bar, and her stomach rumbled in response. She fed two days ago, but the scent of all the blood in this place was pricking her hunger.
About half the occupants were vamps and the other half humans. She didn’t know if any of the humans had been here before, but she doubted they would remember the events of this night. She hated that they were using them in such a way, but she suspected many of them came here willingly. However, she doubted any of them hadtrulybelieved in vampires.
Because of that, they were now dinner. Goose bumps broke out on her skin. She glanced over at Dante, who studied the room with cool detachment. Annoyingly, he didn’t seem as affected by the heat, despite still wearing his leather jacket. She was starting to feel like a wilting flower, and he didn’t have a drop of sweat on him.
“Do you want to leave?” he asked.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s just—” She glanced around the room. “—it’s all soweird.”
Dante couldn’t help but agree. This was not something he would enjoy, but these humans put themselves here, and who was he to knock how others survived? At least these were willing victims and the vamps weren’t killing them.
“Where do we start?” Cassidy asked.
