AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At least that’s what I kept telling myself.
Chapter 7
Kali
After spending the last five days holed up in Zan’s room, being back inside Impulse was nearly overwhelming. The red strobe lights shone on the vampires as they danced and partied. The music was thudding in my ears, drowning out the conversations happening around me. My annoyance grew with every second, and I bit my tongue, heat jolting through my veins. Here they were, drinking and having the time of their lives, while humans in Project Hope were just trying to survive. In my twenty-four years, I’d never seen smiles or laughs like I witnessed here every night.
Going back to Project Hope yesterday reminded me of the entire reason for the Clovers. They wanted humans to live. To be free from PARA. From the vampires. A wave of sadness rippled through me, and I sucked in a long breath. The Clovers had turned on me. They’d thrown me away like I was nothing.
But could I blame them?
If I saw a Clover acting how I had, I would be disgusted. In the eyes of everyone I knew, I’d betrayed them. And I had. I let Zan feed from me. Didn’t tell anyone that his blood healed me. Instead of trying to alert the Clovers that he’d escaped the basement, I’d slept with him. I was as guilty as they portrayed me to be.
“I thought you wanted to work again. Or do you just want to stand there?”
Gia’s voice jolted me out of my head, and I spun around to look at her across the bar counter. When I’d entered Impulse earlier and saw her alive, the relief that cut through me caught me by surprise. Apparently, when PARA invaded Impulse, they’d shot her, and she was unconscious behind the bar the entire time. Luckily for her, I’d come out to try to save Warner, distracting them from killing her.
“Feel free to just keep standing there.” Gia swiped her red hair out of her face. “But that just sounds boring. You’re here. Might as well stay busy.”
My eyes flicked toward the back hall. Zan had been gone for over an hour. When we’d gotten back earlier in the day, they’d brought Tim to a back room of Impulse. Pax and Viggo had left immediately after that. No one told me where they went, but I had a good guess. Their father was in charge, and I was sure they needed to update him on whatever they were looking for while we were in Project Hope.
“Can you hear him?” I asked quietly, knowing Gia could still hear my words. “Zan.”
Gia laughed. “No. The room he’s in is soundproof. But you can go talk to him yourself.”
“Like he’d tell me anything,” I muttered, turning to look at her. “He’s torturing Tim.”
She arched an eyebrow. “You seem awfully sure about that. Can you hear better than me?”
I didn’t bother to answer her sarcasm. She pushed a tray full of drinks toward me, and I stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and heading to the table she pointed at. The night would drag on even longer if I sat around and did nothing.
My gut knotted as I walked across the room. Was this my life now? Serving drinks to vampires while slathered in the lotion so they didn’t smell that I was human? All while Zan and his family planned something against humans. I couldn’t fucking do this every single night.
Without glancing at the vampires surrounding the table, I grabbed each drink from the tray and placed them in the middle of the table, thoughts about my bleak future swallowing me.
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
I lifted my head to see a blond vampire eyeing me with a leering smirk on his lips. Immediately, warning bells screamed at me, a stark reminder that I was the prey in this city. I didn’t give him a reaction, keeping my face a blank mask. Zan’s necklace was on display over the tight shirt I was wearing. I doubted any vampire in here would touch me while wearing this.
“Call her that again, and I’ll cut out your tongue.” Zan’s deadly voice came from right behind me, and a second later, his chest was pressed against my back. My heart thudded unevenly when he reached around and ran his finger down the chain of the necklace. “Or do you need an immediate lesson for the blatant disrespect you’re showing me? Calling her that when it’s obvious that she’s marked as mine.”
All the vampires around the table stiffened, most bowing their heads in respect. But the blond one who spoke didn’t avert his stare. His eyes stayed on mine for a split second before darting behind me to Zan.
“I wasn’t aware of any disrespect,” the blond answered smoothly. “I was just thanking her for the drinks. I didn’t see the necklace.”
I was sure he was lying since I’d seen him in here more than once. He knew exactly who I was to Zan. But this vampire wasn’t bowing down to Zan like all the others did. If anything, he was challenging him. The music was still loud, but no one at the table said a word as the blond vampire and Zan stared at each other. I didn’t move a muscle, even when Zan’s hand gripped my hip.
After a few more tense seconds, the blond finally lowered his gaze, his jaw clenched tight. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Zan didn’t respond, tugging me away from the table and taking the empty tray from my hand. I slipped from his hold and strode toward the back hall. I couldn’t hear over the music but knew he was following. Once I reached the back of the club, I turned around to see him halt a couple of feet away. My eyes trailed down his body, my curiosity piquing when I didn’t see any blood. I’d thought for sure that after what Tim had done to him, the revenge would be bloody.
“Why are you running from me?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Not running,” I shot back. “Just going somewhere where there aren’t ears surrounding us.”
It wasn’t like the hallway was soundproof, but if I spoke quietly, then I doubted any of the vampires would be able to hear over the music and chaos.
“Good. Let’s talk about why I shouldn’t leave you alone. I was gone for only an hour, and that happened,” Zan grumbled. “I should just kill him for even thinking he can talk to you.”
