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Settling at The Hollow had taken some getting used to. Accepting that preternatural beings roamed the Earth wasn’t so hard. But living among a species that could drain me dry and had all kinds of powers? That was a whole other thing.
It made me feel seriously vulnerable and at a major disadvantage. Particularly since a full freaking army of them—known as the legion—lived right here. But with the exception of a few, they weren’t otherworldly or creepy. They were just … people. So, yeah, it was all too easy to forget the danger they presented.
I snapped out of my thoughts as the bartender began placing bottles and glasses of NSTs on my tray. They often smelled of whatever flavour they were as opposed to blood itself. Which was good, or I’d otherwise be nauseous as hell at the end of every shift.
Hearing a booming laugh, I turned slightly toward the sound. Feeling a smile tug at my mouth, I looked at Maisy. “Harvey’s here again,” I said, referring to one of the legion.
“Hmm, I noticed,” she said. “A few of his squad members are with him.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Including Damien.”
“Hmm, I noticed.” But I tried not to look his way too often because my stomach insisted on fluttering each time our eyes met. “You going to talk to Harvey this time or scurry away like a scared doe again?”
Maisy narrowed her eyes. “I don’t scurry, I just walk fast. And I do talk to Harvey. Until he starts flirting. I’m still not entirely sure I want to get involved with a vamp again.”
“You do remember that you are a vampire, right?”
“How can I freaking forget?” she grumbled.
“You don’t like anything about being one?”
“Sure I do. I love my gift. I always wanted to be a witch when I was a kid. Being telekinetic is close enough. But I guess I can’t help resenting my new reality because I didn’t fully choose it for me. I Turned to be with Compton. But then we split. And being forever linked to your ex is not fun.”
“I can imagine. You know, the Grand High Pair might grant you freedom from Compton’s hold. You could ask.”
“I could. But he hasn’t done anything wrong. Couples separate all the time. I’m sure Sam and Jared would understand that I don’t like being psychically linked to my ex, but they’d probably also see it as my problem to deal with. There are no doubt plenty of vamps out there who made the mistake I did.”
“And, just like you will, I bet they all moved on and found someone worthy of them.” Now that my tray was full, I carefully lifted it. “Maybe Harvey will make your new reality more enjoyable. Come on, he’s cute. Fun. Doesn’t take himself too seriously. And he likes you enough to persevere, despite how often you shoot him down.”
She sniffed. “If there were more available women on the island, I’m not so sure he’d be so tenacious.”
“I am. He likes you. Just give him a chance. What have you got to lose?”
“And if Damien finally makes his move, are you going to give him a chance? No, don’t tell me he’s not interested. You know he is. And why wouldn’t he be? You’ve got the little heart-shaped face, the pouty mouth, all that blonde hair that’s almost silver, and your eyes are a gorgeous blue-grey. Hell, I’d do you if I was gay.”
I laughed. “Well thanks.”
“Seriously, he watches you like he could just gobble you all up.”
“Well, to him, I sort of am food.”
She snickered. “That you are. And if he asks to take a bite, you should absolutely let him. There’s nothing quite like having a vamp feed from you.”
So I’d often been told. “I doubt he’ll ask. He never does anything other than look. Which tells me he might like what he sees but not enough to act on it. And it’s not like we’d have anything other than a one-night stand anyway, given we’re not the same species. Relationships between the two rarely end well.”
Maisy sobered slightly. “Yeah, I can attest to that. But there ain’t nothing wrong with a one-night stand. And he’d be a mighty fine way to break your dry spell.”
Without a doubt. But I’d rather put him out of my mind. The guy had a way of making me nervous, so I’d prefer to pretend that his eyes weren’t on me.
Holding my tray above my head, I walked to the area of the club that I covered. I winded my way through bodies, set bottles and glasses on tables, and took yet more orders.
People danced, laughed, talked, and drank. Most were vampires, but there were some humans too. A few strolled around offering themselves up as blood donors … like walking, talking Cosmos or something. And many took them up on their offer, since vampires could only get buzzed if they drank the blood of intoxicated humans.
