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“It’s my understanding that business has been quiet across the board. Something’s keeping patrons away, though I have no idea what.”
“Well, it certainly isn’t the eye candy.” She winked at him.
Kane bowed. “You flatter me, Vanessa.”
The vampire turned her focus back to me. “If you’re looking for a place to frequent, this is the one you want. Everyone who’s anyone like us hangs out here.”
“Like us?” I repeated.
“Supernaturals.” Her gaze flicked over me. “I don’t know what you are, but whatever it is, it isn’t strictly human.” She sipped again. “I don’t get it. You don’t look like much. Why do I feel this sense of dread?”
“Maybe it isn’t me.”
She swiveled on her stool and surveyed the room. “I recognize most everyone in here. It has to be you.”
Vanessa was awfully stubborn for a vampire professing to be wary of me. I needed her to drop the subject, or she was going to manifest her unfortunate destiny.
Kane seemed to sense the building tension because he said, “Vanessa, darling, why don’t you spend time with Hollis? She looks exceptionally lonely over there by the piano.”
Vanessa’s lips curved into a seductive smile. “I adore Hollis. She tastes like cherries and brandy.” With a drink in hand, Vanessa slid off the stool and sauntered toward Hollis.
“Whatever you are will be impossible for you to hide here, Ms. Clay,” Kane said. “You’ll need to practice your answers more carefully.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He looked at me intently. “I think you do.”
“It’s Miss Clay,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I suddenly felt the need to correct him, but I did.
His expression lightened. “Ah, here’s someone you should meet. If it isn’t my favorite vampire.”
Another vampire hurdled over top of the counter and landed beside Kane with the grace of a panther. Her dark hair was pulled tight in a high ponytail, accentuating her heart-shaped face. Wide-set eyes were framed by thick lashes.
“Josephine Banks, meet Lorelei Clay, the proud owner of Bluebeard’s Castle.” Kane’s gaze skated to me. “Josie is my head of security.”
Two sharp fangs gleamed in the atmospheric lighting. “I was wondering who would be crazy enough to buy that money pit.”
“Or wealthy enough,” Kane added.
Josie examined my outfit. “Well, it clearly isn’t money.”
Ouch. I mean, she wasn’t wrong but still.
“What brings you in here?” Josie asked. “This doesn’t strike me as your kind of place.”
Another ouch in quick succession. Josie didn’t hold her punches, which seemed apt for the head of security.
“You’ve packed a lot of assumptions into that statement,” I said.
“It’s part of the job—reading people quickly, determining their threat level.” She poured herself a shot of tequila.
“And what level am I?”
She downed the tequila and smacked her lips in satisfaction. “Right now? I’d say a three.”
“Why right now?” I asked.
“Because you have power, but you don’t like to use it, so it would take a lot to set you off. I can’t tell what kind of power though.” Her tongue flicked across her cherry-red lips. “One little sip will tell me.”
