Feet pounded on pavement, and I looked up as Raoul filled the doorway with Mason and Brock behind him.
Raoul’s lips pressed together as he took in the scene. “You turned off your radio?”
“Of course not.” I patted the inner pocket of my jacket where I carried the small device, but the pocket was empty. Crap.
I gave Raoul a sheepish smile. “It must have fallen out when I jumped off the laundromat.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“You jumped off a two-story building in those boots?” Brock gave me a lopsided smile. “Hot.”
Raoul shot him a warning look. “Do not encourage her.” He cocked his head as if he was listening to something. Then he said, “Copy that,” before he looked at us. “All clear.”
“How many in total?” I asked.
“Fourteen,” Raoul replied. “And six humans recovered.”
“I’d call that a good night’s work.” I tallied up my kills in my head as I wiped my blade on the jeans of one of the dead vampires. Six out of fourteen. Not bad at all.
“And since Jordan had the most kills, she gets the honor of writing up the report,” Raoul announced.
The smile fell from my lips, and I didn’t try to hide my dismay. There were few things I detested more than writing up field reports. It was so tedious and boring. But the Council was a stickler for record keeping. One of these days, I was going to tell them what they could do with their reports.
Raoul patted my back. “It should only take an hour, two tops.”
Mason snickered, and I fixed my gaze on him.
“Don’t worry. It will still give us plenty of time to go out tonight,” I said sweetly.
He looked like he was in pain. “Wouldn’t you rather find some other girls to go out with?”
“I don’t know any other girls here, so you’re my new BFF.”
“I miss Beth,” he grumbled.
I missed Beth, too. And Sara. I didn’t make female friends easily, and it figured that my two best girlfriends had gone and settled down with mates. They were ridiculously happy, and I was happy for them. But I missed having them around. Mason was fun to hang with, even when he pretended not to like it, but it just wasn’t the same.
Maybe it was time for a visit. I talked to Sara and Beth all the time, but we hadn’t seen each other since the week I spent at Westhorne for Christmas, and that was five months ago. The two of them, along with Nikolas and Chris, were in Chicago now, setting up the newest command center.
Sara was six months pregnant – something I still found hard to believe – and whenever we talked, she complained that Nikolas wouldn’t let her do anything fun. I bet she would love a visitor.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I loved Los Angeles and my job, but every girl needed a little vacation once in a while.
I didn’t realize I was smiling until Mason waved a hand in front of my face.
“What’s so amusing?” he asked warily.
I winked as I walked past him. “I’m just thinking about how much fun we’re going to have tonight.”
* * *
“How long do we have to stay here?” Mason complained as he leaned back against the bar, wearing a bored expression.
“We’ve barely been here an hour.”
“And that’s an hour of my life I’ll never get back.”
I nudged him with my shoulder. “Come on. It’s not that bad. Maybe if you moved away from this spot, you’d enjoy yourself. God knows there are enough girls wanting to dance with you.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “Jealous?”
A laugh burst from me. “I can barely keep from throwing myself at you.”
“You wound me,” he said with a sad face that might have been believable if not for the gleam of amusement in his eyes.
“I’ll make it up to you.” My gaze moved past him to the hordes of women nearby, some of whom were staring greedily at my friend.
“What are you doing?” he asked as I studied the faces around us.
Ignoring him, I continued my perusal. There were a lot of gorgeous women here, but most of them weren’t his type. Mason was pretty laid back, and the majority of these women looked too high-maintenance for him. No, he needed someone more like…
I smiled when my gaze landed on a trio of blondes. Two of them were dressed in short tight dresses that showed off their toned bodies and enhanced breasts. The third one wore a dress, too, but she was trying to discreetly tug on the hem when she thought no one was looking. She was as pretty as her friends, but her whole demeanor told me she felt out of place here. She kind of reminded me of Sara when I used to drag her out clubbing with me.
The girl’s two friends said something to her. She shook her head, and they walked to the dance floor and started dancing with each other.
“Back in a sec,” I said to Mason as I left him and walked over to the girl.
I gave her my most winning smile. “Hi. Love your dress.”
“Thanks.” She shyly returned my smile. “I like yours, too.”
I leaned in to speak in her ear. “Hey, do you see that tall, hot guy behind me in the gray shirt?”
She glanced around me, and her eyes widened when they found Mason. “Yes.”
“That’s my friend Mason. I made him come with me tonight, and this is not really his scene. I think he’d feel better if he had someone other than me to talk to.”
She shook her head. “I… He doesn’t look like he needs help meeting people.”
“He’s shyer than he looks,” I lied. “You want to meet him?”
“Me?”
“You have a nice face,” I told her honestly. “I have a good feeling about you.”
“Oh.” She stole another peek behind me. “Okay.”
“Great! I’m Jordan, by the way.”
“I’m Emily,” she replied as I led her over to the bar. Mason watched me curiously as I approached with my new friend in tow.
“Mason, this is Emily. Emily, Mason.” I smiled at them, ignoring his questioning look. “You two get to know each other. I’ll be right back.”
Before either of them could say anything, I split, disappearing into the crowd. When I got to the other side of the club, I looked over to see Mason and Emily deep in conversation.
Called it. I gave myself a mental pat on the back as I searched for someone to dance with. I was always bursting with energy after a job, and dancing was one of my favorite ways to burn some of it off. My other favorite way required a bit more privacy than this place offered.
I checked out the men around me and got more than a few interested looks in return. I passed on them because in my heels I was over six feet, and I didn’t like dancing with someone shorter than I was. It cut down on my options, but a girl wants what she wants.
The crowd parted, and I found what I was looking for. Standing at around six-four with wide shoulders and a trim waist, he was perfect. He looked my way, and I took in the black hair and olive skin that gave him an exotic appearance. I smiled in appreciation. You’ll do nicely.
I walked up to him, and neither of us spoke when I took his hand and led him to the dance floor. Pressing my back to his chest, I lifted my arms above my head, and began to move. His hands settled on my hips, and he ground against me in a sensual dance that sent heat to all the right places in my body.