Celine kicks over one of the bodies with the toe of her leather boot, to look at the face. “Shit. We should have left one, to send a message to Cedric.”
Renata rolls her eyes. “You’realwaysgetting carried away. When are you going to let it go, Celine?”
Celine glares at her.
“Yuck,” says a prim voice from by the elevators. Lexi walks over, on her ridiculously high heels, her mini skirt riding up as she walks. “Was it Cedric’s vampires again? You guys have got to chill out sometimes, you know? It’sway17th century to go around staking everyone else…”
“We wouldn’t have had to, if you had kept an eye on Hallie like I told you to,” Celine lectures.
Lexi wrinkles her nose. “Oh please, you would have staked them anyway. Tudor’s going to beso madat you.”
Renata wipes the blood from a device on her wrist and speaks into it. “Lily, send a cleaning crew to the club immediately. And we need to do some damage control.”
Celine addresses her sister. “Lexi, take Hallie back to her crypt for the night. Anddon’tlet her out of your sight again.”
The younger vampire flips her hair haughtily, but takes Hallie to the elevators without another word.
“Nova, conduct a complete search of the club and the casino,” Celine continues. “Make sure there aren’t any other vampires lurking around.”
“You got it, boss,” Nova says, picking up the torn pieces of their uniform. “I’m sure I have a back up somewhere…”
Celine steps toward me. “Why don’t you take the rest of the night off?”
I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline flowing through my veins, or the way that Celine’s eyes gleam like two bright gems. But I feel a flutter in my chest.
“Ok,” I reply softly. I lower my voice so only she can hear. “I should say…thank you, again. You saved both Hallie and I.”
She pauses, regarding me slowly. The flutter intensifies into a full stomach flip. I inhale, trying to steady myself. I’m not sure why I’m having this reaction. I’m used to being around death and destruction. I’ve seen it countless times.
Perhaps it’s because I’m out of my element here, surrounded by vampires, away from my coven. Unable to use my magic for fear of being caught.
And there’s something about this vampire queen that throws me off my guard. The way she she took my hand…how she looked at me, like she wanted to make sure I was ok…I feel disarmed in a totally different way.
“It’s nothing,” she replies. “I appreciate how you watched over my sister. It was brave of you.”
I can’t stop a small grin from forming on my lips. If only she knew. “It was nothing, really. Happy to help.”
She takes a step toward me, and my stomach flutters again.
“You should go home, get some rest,” she says.
I nod, but to my surprise I realize…that the last thing I want to do is leave.
KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE
Amara
The next few weeks fly by. I don’t know why. The days seem to become shorter and the nights become endless with possibility. Something in me feels lighter, almost…excited. Maybe Callista was right. Maybe Iwasstarting to get bored of my small-town witch lifestyle.
It’s a Tuesday night, not nearly as busy as a weekend, although I’m still surprised by how many customers we have on weeknights. Must be all of those vampires. What do vampires evendo? Do they have jobs? Celine, Renata and Lexi all seem to keep themselves pretty busy with the hotel.
I guess you could say the same about witches. Except we have bakeries instead of speakeasies.
Nova brings a tray full of empty glasses to the bar. The club is almost empty. There are only a few customers left, their limbs wrapped around each other on a couch near the back.
“You don’t need to do that, Nova,” I tell them.
“It’s no problem,” they respond. “I see you’re flying solo.”
