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He sauntered over to the bar to get himself another Margarita. And it was obvious that he’d had plenty enough already. While he waited for his drink, he sat on a stool, lounging against the bar and flirting with the bartender, who was exceedingly straight, but the type who would flirt with anybody if it got him good tips. Though that definitely wasn’t the case here. Jace wasn’t just anybody. He was too damn good looking for his own good. And for mine.
He turned his back on me and knocked back his drink in one go.
Next to him, a guy I could tell he didn’t know leaned in close and said something to him. I got to my feet abruptly to go over there.
Vanessa pulled at my arm. “Where you going, Will?”
I turned and smiled down at her. She wasn’t flirting, but simply checking. In a place like this, and considering the recent increase in activity, it was a good idea to let someone else know what you were up to. I gave Conway a nod too.
“Back in a minute, Vanessa. I see somebody I know.”
“You need backup?”
“No. I can handle this by myself. This guy’s not a threat.”
By the time I got over to the bar, however, I got a better look at the man Jace had been talking to. He had already made his move. He was a little too slick and a little too handsome, and besides all that, the odor hit me right away. The odor of a vampire is subtle, and they usually disguise it when they’re with their victim. He couldn’t fool me though. The faint smell of rot and mildew, along with some other pungent odor like cheap cologne he was using to cover it all up was making my eyes water a bit. He was so intent on Jace, he barely noticed me until I was right up on him.
“Okay,” Jace was saying as I came up next to them. “Let me go tell my friends I’m leaving.”
Jace slid off the stool and stumbled into his new “friend,” who proceeded to grab him around the waist and tried to press a kiss against the side of his face while he took a few liberties with Jace’s ass. I saw the flash of a fang as he bent toward Jace’s neck. The next thing I knew I was yanking Jace back against me and away from the fucking full-blood vampire, snarling at him and filled with so much rage I wanted to stake him right there in front of everybody.
“Get the fuck away from him, asshole,” I growled.
The vampire looked shocked for a moment and then I saw his eyes narrow, as he gave me a deadly smile, not realizing yet what I was. “He’s mine,” he said and made the mistake of getting off his stool and coming at me.
Things kinda got hazy at that point. Vampires moved quickly, but then so did I. I fastened my hand around his throat, literally lifting him up off his feet for a moment. With my other hand I was reaching for the dagger I kept in my boot, when another strong hand closed over mine. I turned, still in a rage, to see Conway beside me, holding my hand with an iron grip.
“Let’s take this outside, Will,” he said in my ear, pulling at my arm. With his other hand, he clasped a silver cuff on the vampire, who began to wilt and moan with the pain. Silver burned the undead and would kill them if left on them long enough. This one wouldn’t have to worry about that, as I had more immediate plans for him. I turned back to Jace and snapped at him.
“Stay here,” I said, pointing a finger in his face. “Don’t you fucking move, do you hear me?”
“I-I…yes, I… Wait. Tell me what’s happening?”
“Just stay here. I’ll be back.” I started to walk away and then turned back to point a finger at him again. “I mean it. Don’t fucking move.”
He gave me a scared looking nod.
Conway and I shoved the vampire toward the side door we had already found when we came in and scoped the place out. Once in the darkened alley outside, I shoved the filthy bloodsucker against the nearest wall. Conway held him there with a hand on his chest as he hissed and struggled and tried to bite. I pulled my iron dagger from my boot and thrust it deeply into where I supposed his heart to be, and we were in luck. He was an old one and he crumbled into ash at our feet.
I kicked the shit off my boots, cursing. “Fucking vampires.” Conway was already using the soles of his own boots to scatter the ashes all over the alley. He looked up at me and grinned.
“Good work finding this fucker. I never even noticed him until you went over to him at the bar.”
“I wish I could take the credit, but I can’t. He was planning on Jace O’Neal being his next victim.”
“I noticed that. Why is O’Neal here? Do you think they knew each other? Did they have this meeting planned?”
“No,” I barked at him, surprised at how pissed off I got at his reasonable question. “O’Neal is drunk, and the vampire knew it. He was up there on-stage singing karaoke. Didn’t you see him?”
“I saw him. You need to leave that alone, Will.”
Startled, I turned to stare at him. “What are you talking about?”
“You know damn good and well what I’m talking about. He’s a thrall, Will. Totally compromised. I see how good looking he is, but this is not going to end the way you want it to.”
I bit off the sharp reply I was about to make and gave him a tight nod instead. “I need to go talk to him,” I said, turning to leave. He caught my arm. “Be careful with him, Will. Promise me.”
“I promise,” I said, lying my ass off. I was afraid it was far too late for me to be cautious around O’Neal.
