You humans are weird. Why would you make your body feels strange? Our reactions are slowing and I don’t feel well. Our tummy feels funny, and not in a good way. It’s like you feel when you see Greg.
Will you stop going on about Greg?I huffed.
I will, when you finally accept that you want to mate with him.
It’s not as simple as that.
Of course it is. You like him, he likes you. What is complicated about that?
For one, I don’t think he does like me.
She snorted.At times, you are as blind as a deer with its eyes gouged out.
Ugh. At times, you’re overly graphic.
You are changing the topic because you know that I’m right.
Someone touched my elbow. When I whirled around to see who it was, turning made me dizzy. Standing next to me, far too close, was Voltaire, the vampyr in charge of the Red Guard crew whom I had tangled with over Mark’s death.
He opened his mouth to sneer something at me, but before he could let out so much as a derisive breath, Greg’s fist slammed into his face. Voltaire stumbled back into a table. He recovered instantly and was back on his feet faster than you could blink.
I saw the moment he decided he wanted a fight. Rather than phasing away, he reared back and punched Greg in the face. The punch landed hard and true but Greg barely rocked with it. His eyes narrowed and he swung for Voltaire again.
The two men were scrapping, then they descended to wrestling on the floor. Both were utterly deadly, but some man-rule had been invoked and instead of using full force they were toying with each other, releasing their frustration by whaling on each other.
Then I winced as Voltaire landed another vicious blow to Greg’s stomach. Voltaire’s eyes flashed and his teeth extended. The rules had changed.
‘Back up or I’ll stake you,’ Greg growled. Sure enough, a wooden stake was resting in his hands. How had he gotten that past the club security? Voltaire barred his fangs again and violence flashed in his eyes.
Sharon stumbled into me. ‘Whoa, Lucy, you don’t need to steal all the sexy men. There’s no need to fight over her, guys. There are plenty other sexy fish in the sea.’ She gave Voltaire an exaggerated leer. ‘God, nothing gets me going than seeing a good punch. You should see me after a boxing match.’
Voltaire turned to her, all smiles, and my stomach lurched. ‘Don’t you dare,’ I mouthed at him. His smile widened as he slipped an arm around Sharon. ‘I love boxing,’ he purred as they headed to the bar.
I started towards him but Greg put a warning hand on my arm. ‘He won’t do anything,’ he promised. ‘He’s the Red Guard, and they set the vampyr standard. If he flaunted the rules about feeding on an unwilling human, he’d be lynched. Besides, I have other eyes on her.’
‘What?’
‘I called in some back up,’ he admitted reluctantly.
‘Wolf back up?’
‘No, I didn’t think you’d want the pack to see you getting your drink on.’
‘Brethren back up?’
‘Yeah.’
I had mixed feelings about that. Yes, Sharon was safer, but Greg hadn’t told me beforehand about the other brethren helping out. Ugh, what if one of them was Mindy? His ‘whatever-they-were’? He was right though: I wouldn’t have wanted pack here. Not yet, not while their loyalty was as changeable as the shape of the moon.
‘Are you okay, Sugar?’ Greg asked.
‘I’m fine, but I guess it’s time to call it a night.’ The incident with Voltaire had sobered me right up. Damn the prick for ruining my buzz.
‘Good idea. Go and say goodbye to your friends and I’ll drive us home.’
Jane and Marla were giggling as I made my way over to them. ‘I’m going to leave.’
‘With tall, blond and yummy?’ Marla winked. ‘I would too.’