His dark brown hair curled at the edges of his leather jacket as he watched her in a ravenous way that scared and tantalized her. However, there was also a sadness in his eyes, one she recalled from the last time she saw him. She didn’t know what put it there, but she longed to ease it.
Somehow, she managed to keep singing, but her chest was suddenly tight, and she felt completely exposed in a way she never had before. Could everyone in the bar see her intense reaction to him? Couldhesee it?
Their eyes met for only a second, but it felt as if time slowed and an eternity passed before she finally tore her attention away again. She focused on the words as she resisted her impulse to throw the microphone on the piano and bolt off the stage. She required a few minutes to steady herself; unfortunately, she couldn’t have them right now.
Dante turned his attention away from the beautiful woman on the stage. Normally, when he walked into a place, he assessed the crowd. He learned the exits and the best place to sit in a matter of seconds. However, his attention was drawn to her the instant he stepped through the door.
Now, he took in his surroundings with a critical eye. It was a Wednesday, but a pretty good crowd filled the bar. Most of the people were sitting at the tables and booths near the stage. He didn’t blame them for getting as close as possible to the woman; asleep or awake, her voice had haunted him for the past two weeks. She was like the Pied Piper, mesmerizing them all with her song.
Over the heads of the crowd, he saw a row of women and a couple of guys at the bar. The vampire bartender who was here the last time he came was smiling as he filled drinks, but the vampire couple wasn’t here.
When the bartender looked up, his smile froze before fading. He rested his hands on the bar as his eyes narrowed on Dante. The woman on the stage and the bartender both emanated an aura of power he rarely encountered in vamps. They looked younger than him, but he suspected they were a lot older. Coming back here wasn’t his best idea, but after seeing her on the street today, he couldn’t face the prospect of returning to his studio apartment.
It wasn’t often that being lonely bothered him; he’d gotten used to it over the years. But, after seeing her again, the prospect of being alone in his apartment was too much to bear. He’d sit there, flipping through Julie’s journal until the sun came up and sleep finally claimed him.
He planned to have one drink, or at least that’s what he told himself on the cab ride over, but he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than talking to her again. He could also use a lot more than one drink after making his way through the three “vamp” bars.
All they’d proven to be was a bunch of humans playing dress up and pretend. He hadn’t seen one other vamp at any of them. He also hadn’t seen Julie or run into anyone who knew her. He hadn’t held out much hope the bars would yield any results, but he didn’t have any other leads.
His attention shifted back to the stage as the last words faded away and the woman closed her eyes as she bent her head. When the audience erupted into applause, she lifted her head to beam at them.
Beneath the gentle light of the stage, she practically glowed as the cheers continued. Dante couldn’t recall ever encountering someone who radiated such life, vitality, and joy. He almost expected her to sprout a halo and wings. As a lapsed Catholic, such a thing would have brought him back into the fold.
Her midnight blue eyes found him again, and they twinkled in a way that reminded him of Christmas lights reflecting across a field of fresh snow. He didn’t think it was true, but he couldn’t help thinking her enchanting smile was just for him.
Then she turned back to the crowd and started singing “Three Little Birds.” By the time Dante started toward the bar, everyone in the crowd was singing with her.
She’s a vampire,he reminded himself as he threaded his way through the crowd and tables. He was aware that a lot of vampires weren’t vicious, murdering bastards, but he wasn’t sure what to make of her, or the vamp behind the bar.
Cassidy watched Dante glide across the floor toward Kyle. She almost shouted at him to stop, but she kept singing. Kyle wouldn’t hurt him, and she didn’t think he would try to harm Kyle, but her brother wouldn’t be welcoming.
Dante didn’t smell like a Savage, but Kyle didn’t like vamps hanging out here. And normally Cassidy didn’t either, but she didn’t want Dante to leave. She’d spent the past two weeks hoping he would come back so she could talk to him again, and now that he was finally here, she would make sure he stayed for a bit.
Cassidy’s unease grew when Kyle stared stone-faced at Dante when he stopped at the end of the bar. The women lining the bar in front of Kyle all turned to look at Dante. Cassidy often referred to the women as the resident cougars, and she could feel their interest as they discovered new prey to hunt.
A burst of jealousy buried Cassidy’s apprehension over what Kyle planned to do as lust exuded from the women. Her hand clenched around her mic as she struggled to find the inner peace singing usually brought her; it wasn’t working.
Dante rested his hands on the bar and stared at the bartender standing close to the other end. The man continued to stare at him for a minute before reluctantly stalking toward him. Brushed back from the angular planes of his face, the man’s hair was a wheat blond color, and his dark blue eyes glimmered with hostility.
“Can I help you with something?” the bartender asked as he stopped before Dante.
“I’d like a whiskey sour,” Dante said.
For a second, Dante thought he was going to refuse to make the drink, but then he turned and walked away. Unfortunately, what the man lacked in hospitality, the women sitting at the bar more than made up for as they edged closer.
One pretty woman with blonde hair and keen brown eyes rose from her chair and walked toward him. She left absolutely no doubt what she had in mind when she stopped before him, and her gaze leisurely perused him. Dante was familiar with brazen women, but he’d never encountered someone quite likeherbefore.
“Howdy, stranger,” she greeted with a hint of a Southwest accent.
“Hey,” Dante replied before turning away.
He hadn’t come here to find someone to spend the night with—or… maybe he had. His gaze returned to the stage as the last notes of the song faded away. The woman sipped a glass of water while she spoke with the piano player. The man nodded, and she set her drink on a stool beside the piano.
Dante recognized the haunting notes of the “Sounds of Silence” before the woman started singing again. He leaned an elbow against the bar and turned back to the stage as her version took on a deeper, harsher timbre more like the Disturbed version than the Simon and Garfunkel one. He hadn’t expected her soothing tones to be able to carry this edge, but she did so with ease.
He completely forgot about the woman in front of him as an unexpected lump formed in his throat. For the second time today, he was back in that truck with Maya, singing their hearts out to whatever shitty song she found on the radio.
Years ago, though he fought desperately against it happening, he forgot the sound of Maya’s laugh. Now, he heard it as clear as day in his head again. Loud and boisterous, it wasn’t the kind of laugh people found charming, but it was contagious, and it came from someone who truly loved life.
