Thank God the males didn’t seem to be annoyed with Selena’s presence like the females did, but instead seemed highly intrigued. Which, come to think of it, could be a bad thing.
With determination, Selena steeled her back. She was here now, and she wasn’t running away. How would that look? Like she was afraid of vampires. Which she was not.
She sidestepped the vampiress and was sure if she looked behind her, the woman’s gaze would be boring into the back of Selena’s head. The rest of the vampires moved out of her path as if she were the queen walking down the red carpet to her throne.
Sighing heavily, she was sure her human friend, Tara Green, had gotten her information wrong. Selena glanced around the crowd, looking at individual female faces, all eyes on her, no one saying a word, though they might have been telepathically communicating up a storm with one another. One of the women watching might be this Twilight person. Everyone seemed unduly interested in Selena, blood bonds and vampires alike, so she couldn’t tell if any of them might be the woman. What if she had changed her mind and decided it was too dangerous to tell Selena the truth? At least, while she was among the vamps?
Tara probably hadn’t even known this place was a vampire dance club. Then again, maybe a vampire had brainwashed her into luring Selena here. Which sent a trickle of dread down her spine. Was she being led into the vampire’s lair for some dark purpose and this had nothing to do with locating her sister?
It wouldn’t be the first time. And she was certain it wouldn’t be the last. Vampires lived so long, they often needed a diversion in their lives to break up the monotony. Any huntress who hunted alone and by her own rules was fair game. Was that what she was? A mouse for the long-fanged cats to play with?
Glancing around the large building that seemed small because so many people were crammed in here, the fragrance of perfumes and colognes wafting in the air, she kept a watchful eye out for both someone who might be Twilight and any vampire threat that might occur. She wasn’t sure what she would do if a vampire decided to attack her. Not when she was without weapons. She couldn’t hope for anyone to come to her rescue if she began to fight one of the vampires. She could only hope that if she didn’t provoke an attack, no one would initiate one either.
Surely, others would not permit a rogue’s unprovoked attack against her here. Though several of the women looked like they were having a devil of time reining in their more primal instincts.
The notion a vampire might have put Tara up to bringing Selena here, put a new spin on the situation though. At once, the unease that she’d tried to contain while she flaunted herself in front of the club full of vampires began to take its toll. Her hands grew clammy and perspiration collected between her breasts. Her heartbeat quickened no matter that she tried to slow its pace by breathing in more deeply. The sound of the blood racing through her veins served as an enticement for ravenous vampires. So, she really needed to calm her frantic heart.
She took several deep breaths and when she reached the edge of the dance floor, she searched for the bar through the myriad of dancers. Desperately, she wanted to quit the place, but she couldn’t. Not without appearing to be a coward. Hunters already looked down on her. She wasn’t about to be treated the same way by a bunch of blood-drinking vamps.
Scanning the dance floor where men and women began to get back to the business of dancing, rubbing their bodies together in sexual bliss, Selena raised her brows. She’d never witnessed them dancing before. Not intending to show any interest but to get a drink, observe the crowd for as long as it took to finish her drink while waiting for a sign from Twilight, then vamoose, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the dancers. From one couple in particular—the man dressed in a black tux, his black hair curling to the edges of his white collar, while his fingers stroked the woman’s breasts covered in a black silk dress—in front of everyone. The woman responded by slipping her leg between his legs and rubbing.
Selena had never seen anything so bold, so indecent in public, and so intriguing. She knew she should look away and concentrate on the whereabouts of the woman named Twilight.
Before she could shift her attention from the erotic dancers, Selena moved away from the dance floor and ran straight into a solid figure. Jerking her gaze from the dancers, she turned to see what immoveable, warm-bodied force she’d stumbled into. Her eyes caught the man’s icy blue ones, which proceeded to darken to nearly black. His lips remained noncommittal, but his eyes held hers with such determination, she almost felt he could read her mind, or he thought he could control her. Neither of which vampires had the ability to do with hunters. She scoffed silently to herself. All vampires were totally conceited.
Mumbling an apology, she tried to go around him, but he blocked her path.
“Would you care to dance?” he asked, in a typical vampiric voice, deep, dark, and seductive.
Both males and females used the timbre of their voices to lure an intended blood bond to them. But Selena wasn’t a normal human, and thankfully she couldn’t be lured in that manner.
“Thank you, no.” She managed to slip around him and headed for her intended destination. The bar. A drink. Another quick survey of the crowd. And an even quicker departure. Though she intended to make it look like she wasn’t departing quickly because she was bothered by any of them.
Reaching the bar, she found all the stools had been taken. Not that it mattered. After she got her drink, she could slip closer to the door and leave as soon as she was done. If this Twilight woman wanted to approach her, maybe she would do so if Selena was nearer the exit and not quite so conspicuous. As if a huntress in a vampire club could be inconspicuous, she chastised herself.
Then again, maybe when she left the club, the woman would attempt to meet with her in the parking lot.
The music shifted to a slower tempo, but the erotic moves of the dancers couldn’t get much more sexual without the dance partners stripping off their clothes and doing it on the floor. Sure she was experiencing an early hot flash after getting an eyeful, Selena leaned toward the bar and ordered a Tom Collins. The blond male seated next to her, slid off the barstool, gave Selena a wicked look, then floated away.
Still intending to get a drink and leave, Selena ignored the available seat.
“Sit,” the man with the vivid blue eyes said. He motioned to the barstool. “I’m Basil. And you are?”
“Thirsty.” She gave a small smile but didn’t take the seat. She assumed now that Basil had telepathically told the blond guy to vacate the seat for Selena. Was he attempting to get her under his spell?
“I’m the owner of this dance club. I’m curious as to why you’re here.”
Ahhh, so he wanted to ensure she didn’t cause trouble.
Most of the conversation in the club ceased and even the music piped down. As long as the club owner didn’t force the issue, she didn’t intend to explain her business and risk losing her contact. But everyone seemed to want to know just how she would respond.
The bartender reached across the counter and slid the drink to Selena.
She handed him a ten-dollar bill, but Basil shook his head. “Drink’s on me.”
“Thanks.” But she didn’t mean it.
The guy made her uneasy, although she knew why he had targeted her. For his patrons’ peace of mind, she was certain he was determined to learn if she had come here looking for a vampire on her terminal list. Except he wouldn’t know she didn’t have a terminal list…for now. They were handed out only by the League, and she was on their no-hunt list. Still, it was nobody’s business that she was a huntress without backing from the League. The vampires would look upon her with as much disdain as her own kind did. Some might even test her resolve not to take them on.