A man stared at me, nudged his friend, and said something. A group of four men, all ridiculously handsome, turned and stared like I was a strange creature entering their world. I ignored them and skirted cautiously around a stream of young barely clad adults. So much black, a hell of a lot of leather, tattooed limbs, and heavily made-up faces. A society of beautiful people all in one nightclub.
A blond-haired girl had her heavily tattooed arms wrapped around the neck of a dark-haired guy. A tattoo of a dagger on her forearm shimmered. I was sure it wasn’t ink, but metal she’d had poured into her skin. Her lips were fastened to his neck, her left leg hooked around his waist. Her tight black skirt had nowhere to go but up, and she wore no underwear. His hand wasn’t on her behind but at her front, minus a few fingers—which were buried inside her.
Two girls were French kissing beside them, and no one—not one person—took any notice, except me. Frazzled, I tore my eyes away. Mackenzie had warned me to expect to see Karson with a girl, but I never would have guessed I’d find him in a place like this. It was enough to tie my already knotted stomach into vice-like clenches.
I ducked around the back of a couple engaged in a deep kiss and headed toward the bar. If Karson was here, he’d be in the corner that gave him a full view of the room. I eased my body sideways through a narrow gap behind two men, and one stepped back, bumping into me. He swung around, and he was incredibly gorgeous, with dark hair and breath-stealing eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I rushed out.
His lips curled up, and he spoke with a low, sexy, accented drawl. “You can bump into me anytime, gorgeous.” He leaned forward and breathed me in. “You smell delicious.”
A vague feeling of uneasiness swept down my spine. I gave him a limp smile and fought not to step back.
“Oh, um, it’s Coco.” He smirked, like my perfume choice was funny. I lowered my head and took a step to move away. He grabbed my arm and swung me back. His fingers were ice cold and firm.
“Going so soon? But we haven’t danced yet, sweetheart.” His voice was silky—beautiful and friendly. And yet, a slow-moving cold rolled through my veins, turning my blood to slush.
A light glanced off his irises, giving the appearance they held their own weird glow. “You will dance with me.” It was a statement, not a question. I tensed, but before I could not so politely decline, a rough hand grabbed my other arm.
I gasped. Dahlia had hold of me. Confusion and unease spread through my entire body. Why would Dahlia be here? Perhaps she’d heard I was looking for Karson, and they were a couple—she certainly appeared angry.
“She’s Karson’s girl. Touch her, and I don’t need to tell you what will happen.”
That ruled my last theory out.
The guy held up his hands as if she pointed a gun at him and took a step back.
How dangerous is he?
“Please give Karson my apologies.” He darted his eyes over my neck and down my arms so fast I thought I’d imagined it. “I was unable to determine if she was spoken for.”
“Yeah, well she is, asshole, so I suggest you keep your eyes to yourself.”
She yanked me forward, and we surged through the crowd.
“What are you do?—”
“Shut up,” she hissed. Her gaze shifting warily around the room. “Stay by my side, and don’t fucking speak, or you will get us both killed.”
At no point did I think she was joking. I looked around wildly, but I could see no obvious threat. Still, with her voice and her demeanor, I wouldn’t put it past her to kill me herself, so I allowed her to tug me awkwardly through the crowded room.
To the left, leaning against the wall, a tall black-haired girl caught my eye. She was movie-star stunning, with sun-kissed, flawless skin and a figure to die for. She placed a hand behind the head of a dark-haired man beside her and kissed his neck. Groaning, he arched his head back and closed his eyes. After a long moment, she pulled her mouth from his neck and ran manicured nails down the side of his face as he looked at her with glazed pupils. She smiled, revealing her teeth, but they weren’t teeth—at least not like any human teeth I’d ever seen. Two were shaped like blades, and they were covered in a red, shiny smear.
Confusion racked my senses. It had to be some kind of dress-up party trick. Red liquid trickled down over her lips, and she licked it away with a sickening grin.
Then I noticed his neck.
Cold washed down my spine like a wave rolling over and over again, my pulse pounding in my ears. I squinted through the ghostly haze, struggling to believe what my eyes had seen. Two puncture marks pierced his skin, blood oozed in a sluggish trail down his neck, as if a snake had bitten him.
She was drinking his fucking blood.
Horror drained all the alcohol-induced heat from my face. I fought the urge to cry out as I ripped my arm from Dahlia’s grasp and staggered backward.
“For fuck’s sake,” Dahlia muttered, stopping.
We drew the attention of a nearby couple, and they turned and stared. A man and a woman, with pale porcelain skin, and red-shaded lips. White fangs peaked out from underneath. Their eyes changed color as if their irises glowed from the inside . . .
A cloak of frozen terror bled through my veins, filled up my heart, my mind, my whole body; it disabled everything.
