"Is that...Club Dead?"
"What?" Morpheus pushed us all out of the way to stare out the window. "It's not enough that those bastards were killing off my patrons but now they've taken over my place? Have I not suffered enough?"
"Not nearly enough in my opinion," Piper muttered, earning her a look so fierce from Morpheus that I thought for a moment he might attack her. His mind was on other things. Like the council who was responsible for all of this.
"What's the plan?" Allister asked, moving our focus from the windows to inside the car. "I mean...we have a plan, right?" When no one answered, Allister cursed and threw himself back in his seat. "So, we're doomed."
Marcus spoke for the first time since we'd left the house. "Only the one without faith is ever doomed."
Drake snorted. "Nice time to be poetic. Maybe save some of that for the council. Maybe we can talk our way out of this."
The car stopped and it was silent except for the beating of Piper's heart. It rampaged in her chest giving off how much more nervous she was than she appeared to be.
I grasped her hand in my own and squeezed it, giving her a reassuring smile.
Tell me it will be okay. Lie to me if you have to.
I leaned over and pressed my lips to her forehead murmuring, "It will be okay."
The door to the car opened before any of us could reach for it. The vampire on the other side wasn't one I recognized. His large form put even Marcus's body to shame. Though, I had to admit that I thought Marcus had more personality than this guy.
No one moved at first.
"Out," the muscle man commanded. His voice a low growl, almost like he'd smoked one too many packs of cigarettes before he became a vampire.
Not waiting to be told twice, we piled out of the car one right after the other as if we were on a death march. It felt like that was what we were doing. Marching straight to our deaths. Or that of Piper's.
We approached the front of the club where at this time of night the big red light up sign usually glared back at us. Tonight, it was eerily dark. Another muscled vampire stood at the door, blocking the entrance to the club.
I'm being led into my own club. How have I fallen so far?
I sniffed in amusement at Morpheus's thought. In any other case, it would be hilarious to see the arrogant prick brought down a few notches. However, in this case, I'd have taken dealing with Morpheus over the council.
Piper stayed at my side, the others forming a circle around her as if to guard her from the oncoming conflict. If Piper noticed, she didn't say anything, and her mind was too jumbled right then with emotions for me to pick out a certain thought. I preferred to focus on the enemies’ minds in any case.
Keep your ears open.
This thought came from Antoine, and I gave a subtle nod. They were all relying on me to be able to figure out the council's play before they spring it on us. Since I'd never met the council, I wasn't sure how that would go or if I could even get into their minds.
The inside of the club hadn't changed much. Someone had moved all the couches and chairs to the sides of the room except for one. On that singular couch sat three figures. If they weren't all sitting together, I wouldn't have thought they would even know each other. They were that different.
On the right end of the couch sat a man in a purple suit lined with gold. He sat with one leg crossed over the other, a golden cane propping up his hands. The only thing missing from his ostentatious outfit was a top hat covering his dark bald head. My eyes dipped to the table in front of them.
Ah. There it is.
The top hat sat on the short table before them where three glasses of blood sat. Curiously, a baby doll was propped up against the hat with its own little glass of blood before it. Frowning, I shifted my gaze to find the vampire that might match the baby doll.
In between the two adult vampires sat a girl. Not more than nine or ten. She wore one of those lace and ruffled dresses with bows all over it. The curls of her yellow hair were pinned up on each side and a pale blue ribbon adorned her hair. Her big blue eyes, pert nose, and pouty mouth made her look innocent, harmless.
One look in those eyes said otherwise. Old and soulless were the only emotions, there was not a shred of mercy in that doll-like face.
Or a thought. I frowned. I couldn't read any of them. Not the purple suit guy. Not the undead child. Not even the...I pursed my lips at the last figure. This one was completely normal looking. Almost too normal. The man could be anybody. The guy at the grocery store. The soccer dad. You couldn't pick this guy out of a line up. He was so ordinary.
He was wearing khakis for god's sake!
What a group of freaks!
It took everything in me not to laugh at Piper's assessment of the three people before us.