“I’ve seen you here before,” a male voice says close to my ear.
He’s tall enough that I’m forced to tilt my head back to see his face, despite my four-inch heels. “I’m sorry?”
The vampire smiles, flashing his fangs, and a dimple deepens in his left cheek. Bright blue eyes stare into mine. “You’re that ex-princess, huh?”
“I guess that would be me. But my real name is Charlie.”
“Cool. I’m Kyle.” He pushes his fingers through messy blond hair, which has a surfer look—dry from the saltwater and light from the sun. “You haven’t been here in a while.”
“I’ve been busy,” I mutter, tossing back another mouthful of whiskey and blood.
The vampire watches me intently. “Are you here for paint night?”
“Paint night?”
“It’s all good, babe. I’ve got you.” Kyle tosses me a tube of neon green paint, which I catch easily.
“What am I supposed to paint?” I ask, reading the label.
He grins again. “You’re adorable. The paint is meant for your skin. Every part of your body. And let me just say... you have a stunning canvas.”
I roll my eyes and down the rest of my drink, then order another, making it a double. After I’ve given Mia more money, I unscrew the paint cap and squeeze a little onto my finger.
Just then, a female voice shouts over the music. My eyes go wide at the sound of it, and I turn to see my sister sauntering over to us. Valerie is wearing a black cocktail dress that clings to her every curve, and her auburn hair falls in delicate, loose curls. Her makeup is expertly done, and I wonder if she got help from Beatrix or Gabriela.
She spots me a moment later, and her mascara-lined eyes widen. “Charlotte?”
I press my lips together, uncertain what to say. Finally, I murmur, “Hey, Val.”
She stands there for several beats, not saying a word, and then she throws her arms around me. I manage to set my drink down in time to avoid wearing it, but the tube of paint ends up pressed between us. The bright color seeps through my dress and onto my skin. I don’t care—I drop it and hug my sister so tight it would likely suffocate a human. The smell of alcohol practically seeps from her pores.
She eventually pulls back, laughing at the paint on both of us. “What are you doing here?”
“I should ask you that,” I say, raising my voice as the music intensifies. “I used to come here all the time.”
“I’m going to take off,” Kyle cuts in suddenly. I glance at him and see that his eyes are now fastened on a group of giggling tree nymphs at the end of the bar. “Catch up with you later, Camille.”
“Her name is Charlotte, you waste of fangs,” Valerie snarls. I can’t suppress a smile—there’s the sister I’ve always known. Kyle is already moving away, though, and I doubt he even hears her. Still scowling, Valerie refocuses on me. “By the blood, it seems like everyone is on venom these days. Okay, so, have you been? Honestly.”
I frown. “Wait, you think that guy is on venom?”
She flaps her hand dismissively. “Him and half of the people in here. Even the bouncer is riding a serious high. But forget all that—I want to hear about you.”
I bite my tongue to keep from telling her that our father came to see me at the hotel. “Honestly? I’m barely keeping it together. I mean, at least I have a place to stay and a job.”
“How is working in the sewers?” Valerie asks next. Her golden eyes are overly bright from the amount of alcohol surging through her bloodstream. “Is it as revolting as I imagine?”
I laugh, reaching for my own drink, and take another sip. “Pretty much. It’s okay, though. I’ve made some friends.”
Well, I did have friends.
Oblivious to the shadow that passes over me, Valerie waves Mia back over to order a beer. “That’s great, Charlotte,” she says.
I hurry to change the subject. “How is everything at home? At the mansion, I mean.”
“Same as always. We don’t talk about what happened to Mother, of course. Father has been—” She stops and grabs the bottle of beer off the bar, tipping her head back to drink from it. “He doesn’t spend a lot of time at the mansion. Not that he ever did, but even more so now.”
My mind goes back to the conversation I just had with the Vampire King in my hotel room. “Really?”
Valerie nods, tipping her beer back to take another drink. “I think something’s going on. But of course, he won’t tell us anything—not me, anyway. Henry has his ear, so some things never change.”
At the mention of Henry, caution steals into my chest and forms a tight knot. I glance around us, worried someone will be looking back. The odds are high that The Vampire King ordered one of his soldiers to follow me. “I don’t think we should keep talking about this. Not here, at least.”
Valerie’s gaze flits around the dark room, too. “Fuck. You’re right. God, I should probably stop drinking.”
The warmth of a buzz spreads through me as I order another drink. “Never stop drinking. Not tonight, at least. Come on—let’s have some fun. I hear it’s paint night!”
“Have you ever been?” she asks, watching me swallow a mouthful of my fresh drink. The burn of whiskey slides down and warms my stomach. Valerie frowns when I take another swig from the glass and completely empty it. “What’s going on, Charlotte?”
“What? Oh, nothing. I’m fine.” My words slur a little, but I smile at my sister. “Just taking the edge off.”
“It looks like a little more than that,” she remarks. I pretend not to hear as I pay Mia for a refill and swallow half of it. The whiskey doesn’t even have a taste anymore. Without warning, I snatch the paint from the bar and squirt it toward Valerie. It splatters against my sister’s dress and she squeals. “That’s not what you’re supposed to do!”
I bat my lashes at her. “Oops.”
Pulling a tube of neon purple paint out of her purse, Valerie unscrews the cap and squirts some onto her fingers before lifting her hand to my face. “What are you doing?” I ask, leaning away instinctively.
“Relax, Charlotte,” she says. “Look around. Everyone is doing it.”
She’s right—the creatures around us are painting themselves and each other while they drink and dance. I turn back, letting Valerie smear the paint across my cheeks. She adds three lines under each of my eyes, then a peppering of dots around my temples. After that, she switches colors and dips into the green, which she uses down the bridge of my nose. I take it from her and trace across my collarbones, then between my breasts.
“Easy, killer,” Valerie teases, managing to paint her own face without using a mirror. I toss the tube onto the counter and finish off my drink, wobbling a bit in my new heels.
“Come on. Let’s dance!” I grab my sister’s hand, not giving her a choice in the matter, and drag her into the crowd, swaying my hips in time with the music. We throw our hands up and sing at the top of our lungs, dancing as if our mother isn’t dead and we don’t have monsters living inside of us.
After a while, the room starts spinning and sweat dots my brow. “Are you okay?” Valerie shouts over the music. I nod at her, smiling blearily, and grind my ass into the vampire dancing behind me.