“There she goes,” Anton murmured. “Off to save another victim from the big, bad vampires.”
I didn’t respond to the taunt as I stalked in Deborah’s direction.
Connor trailed me, something like interest showing on his face for the first time since Dominick had appeared.
Deborah cast about for help, her attempt finding only apathy and boredom in the vampires nearby.
“Don’t be a fool, kitten. Offers like this don’t come along every day,” the man coaxed.
Deborah finally spotted my approach. For a split second, desperation showed on her face before it blanked.
I moved a little faster as the vampire reeled her in closer, bending his face over her neck. Deborah’s impassive mask broke as she gulped back a sob.
I reached them in the next instant, palming the vampire’s face and giving it a shove.
A feral snarl came from him as he stumbled back with a bloody nose.
Oops. I hadn’t meant to be that aggressive. I guess I didn’t know my own strength.
The trickle of blood had already stopped as he flashed his fangs at me.
I lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed.
The man was a little feminine looking for my taste. His delicate bone structure made him seem younger and more innocent than he no doubt was. Everything from his clothes to the way his long blond hair was arranged said he was trying too hard.
Vampires were supposed to be the perfect hunters. They adapted with the times, becoming chameleons who blended in with their prey.
This vampire had done the opposite of that.
He looked like he belonged in a renaissance festival. How the hell did he get anyone to volunteer to be his blood donor?
“If I were you, I’d put those fangs away before someone snaps them off,” I said in a cool voice.
I don’t know if it was my warning or the way Connor stepped up behind me that made him stop emitting the pissed off yowls of an alley cat, but I was grateful.
I didn’t wait for him to speak as I turned my attention to Deborah. Sometimes momentum was the thing that assured victory. “We had an appointment. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Deborah took a shaky step forward, latching onto the salvation I was offering. “I apologize. There was a misunderstanding, and I was delayed. Are you free now?”
The vampire behind her puffed up like an angry sparrow. “Get in line. I was here first.”
My smile was nasty. “But I’m the one she wants to go with.”
I had to handle this carefully. Unattached companions didn’t have a lot of freedom in choosing who fed from them. They were there to provide a service. If they were unable, there wasn’t a lot of reason to keep them around.
Deborah knew that. There had to be something pretty bad about this vampire for her to risk her place in the Gargoyle.
It was all the more reason to help her.
“If Debs isn’t free, I’d be happy to take her place,” a man said, moving out of the crowd to stop a respectful distance away. “What do you say? Want to taste someone new?”
Despite his flirtatious smile and easy manner, strain lingered around the corners of the man’s eyes. He wasn’t quite as sanguine as he was presenting himself as his gaze flicked from Deborah’s face to the vampire’s.
“It’s fine, Drake,” Deborah assured him with a tight smile. “Go back to the others.”
Metal glinted from the piercing in his eyebrow as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his suit pants and struck a pose worthy of a model. Hips thrust forward and his elbows slightly away from his body.
At some point in the evening, he’d discarded his jacket and tie, leaving the top buttons of his collar undone over his vest. It revealed a tantalizing expanse of skin at his throat that I knew a lot of vampires would consider seductive.
